Histology of the Nervous System of Man and Vertebrates

Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852-1934) mastered the Golgi stain to become the greatest neurohistologist to date. His autobiography has been reviewed in these pages.¹The Spanish histologist's great masterpiece on the structure of nerve cells was published in French in two volumes in 1909 and 1911. This work evolved from a series of invited lectures that were published in Spanish in 1904. Ramón y Cajal worked closely with a French translator and added more than 100 figures, so thatHistologie du Système Nerveuxwas really a new work. Now two Americans have translated this historical text into English and republished the work, complete with its original illustrations. The translators have transposed the complex French into American-style English with modern anatomical terms, but have resisted the temptation to correct or amplify Ramón y Cajal's observations. The work includes a thorough index using both modern and historical terminology. The figures are