P R E F A C E.

For he desired, on one hand, to deter those who had promised to reduce the sixteen books on pulses into a compendium compendium: a brief summary or concise compilation of a larger subject from such an attempt. On the other hand, he wished to offer medical students a book that would handle that very weighty subject of the pulse in a specific way. It was meant to hold a middle ground between the wordy length of the sixteen books and the somewhat meager brevity with which he had explained this teaching in his introduction isagoge: a formal introductory manual or textbook. GALEN himself declares this latter reason in chapter two of this book:

"And now the details regarding it will be stated for the sake of omitting nothing necessary for the present work. Those who wish to labor hard may have the primary and most essential points in the shortest form according to the introduction, the most complete details in the thorough treatment of the great work, and the current discussion as a middle point between both" original Greek: "λεχθήσεται δὲ καὶ νῦν τὰ κατ' αὐτὸ χάριν τοῦ μηδὲν ἐλλείπειν τῶν ἀναγκαίων τῇ νῦν ἐνεστώσῃ πραγματείᾳ, ἀλλ' ἔχειν τοὺς φιλοπονεῖν βουλομένους ἐν ἐλαχίστῳ τὰ μὲν πρῶτα καὶ ἀναγκαιότατα κατὰ τὴν εἰσαγωγήν, ἐν διεξόδῳ δὲ τελεωτάτη τὰ κατὰ τὴν μεγάλην πραγματείαν, ἐν τῷ μέσῳ δ' ἀμφοῖν τὰ νῦν λεγόμενα.".

Until now, only the Latin version of this book, made by AGOSTINO GADALDINO, was known. However, I have been fortunate enough, through the great kindness of OTTO DIETRICH BLOCH,