BOVINE ANATOMY – An Illustrated Text – First Edition / تشريح الأبقار – نص مصور – الطبعة الأولى

BOVINE ANATOMY – An Illustrated Text – First Edition:

This combination of a topographic color atlas and concise textbook of Bovine Anatomy is the third volume of a series on the anatomy of domestic mammals.

The first edition of the Atlas and Textbook of the Anatomy of the Dog appeared 20 years ago. It was followed years ago by the second volume, the Anatomy of the Horse. In several German and foreign language editions, they aroused world-wide interest.

Therefore our next project was an Atlas and Textbook of Bovine Anatomy following the proven model and thereby closing a previously existing gap: no comparable work on bovine anatomy was available.

The special features of the ox are presented to students in a well-grounded survey of topographic anatomy.

Special anatomy is summarized as brief data in tables of muscles, lymph nodes, and nerves, with references to the corresponding pages in the text. Comparative anatomy is addressed through references to the horse and dog.

In addition, the text atlas is intended to provide a valuable introduction to the Anatomy of the Living Animal. The authors were concerned with the preparation of a clear and graphic reference book of important anatomical facts for veterinarians in practice and research as well as anyone interested in morphology. This book can also serve as a dictionary of English anatomical nomenclature illustrated in color.

An appendix on Applied Anatomy, included in the first and second volumes of the series, was omitted from this edition.

Because of its extraordinary relevance for the practical instruction of students, it will be provided in the next edition.

Our work on the ox has an unexpected urgency for three reasons:

1. Specialized textbooks for each individual species are required for curriculum revision with the trend to premature specialization and the accompanying formation of species-specific clinics.

2. In the present time of economic and social change, new diseases like bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) attain enormous importance through their catastrophic effects.

To determine the neuronal pathways of infection, including the autonomic nervous system, and the lymphatic system, and to judge the risk of noxious substances in the nervous system and in many organs of the body cavities, a graphic survey of bovine anatomy is necessary.

3. A licensed veterinarian is legally qualified to serve in a wide variety of positions: in private practice with small mammals, birds, horses, ruminants, and swine; in public health, work to prevent transmission of diseases of animals to man; in governmental control of diseases of livestock; and in teaching and research with many species of experimental animals. To maintain public confidence in the profession, students should be required to master the basic as well as clinical sciences for food animals.

This places high demands on teachers and students because a very broad and important body of information must be transmitted even though our teaching time has undergone an ill-advised reduction.

Nevertheless, we are forced to accept the challenge, even with our compressed text atlas, to reach the intended goal – to cover a huge amount of subject matter in the short time available.

This English edition is the responsibility of Professor Habel. His translation and scientific engagement in the production of this atlas and the writing and revision of many chapters are his personal service. His collaboration in the community of authors is a great enrichment.