On some points in the anatomy of the liver of man and vertebrate animals, with direction for injecting the hepatic ducts and making preparations.

Beale, Lionel S. (Lionel Smith), FRS., 1828-1906.

London : John Churchill, 1856.

Description : [i-ii], front., [iii]-xx., 13 l.s, 80 p., 32 p. adv. ; ill., 14 plates, 23 cm.

Photographs : salt prints ; front. & 25 photos on 13 leaves.

Subject : Anatomy, Histology.

Cited :

Taureck, Renata, Die Bedeutung der Photographie für die medizinische Abbildung im 19. Jahrhundert (1980) ; p. 198 :

This book contains 66 photographs [figures] from drawings — here the photograph is being used purely as a reproduction technique, a procedure which in his work "How to work with the Microscope" ¹ published in 1861, Beale praised as extremely useful when only a few examples are required. Consequently, he used the photograph as an alternative to engraving or other means of reproduction ; for him, photographic representations of microscopic objects were not yet applicable. Not until 1868 did he recommend photography for precise representations of microscopic objects.

Notes :

• Front. and Fig. 1. are full page plates.
• Multiple figures on several of the plates, 66 figures in total.
• Title on spine is "Beale on the Liver."
• Republished in v. 5. (of 5), Archives of medicine : a record of practical observations and anatomical and chemical researches connected with the investigation and treatment of diseases. ; Churchill, 1857-1870.

Beale's many innovations of slide preparation furthered the understanding of anatomical structures through microscopy. He was also an early advocate of photography and wrote about his dedication and struggle as an amateur photographer in the preface to this book on the liver.

Fig. 1. FRONTISPIECE. — Plan of the arrangement of tissues in a lobule of human liver :

¹ When only few copies of a work are required, the researches may be very cheaply illustrated by taking photographs of drawings. A large drawing of the object must first be made in the manner described in [section] 45. From this a negative reduced to the proper size is taken, from which any number of copies may be obtained. In this manner I have illustrated my memoir on the anatomy of the liver with upwards of sixty illustrations. ("The Anatomy of the Liver, 1856.") The results were not so satisfactory as they might have been, but as all the prints were prepared at home with very limited appliances, very good prints could not be looked for. When many copies of a work are likely to be required, this mode of illustration is not applicable, as the original cost of engraving would soon be covered; but when only a few copies of a great number of drawings are wanted, this plan possesses decided advantages.

---From How to Work with the Microscope, third edition.