raymond f. gasser

ATLAS OF HUMAN EMBRYOS

Acknowledgements (Page ix)

This book is the result of the assistance and goodwill of many enthusiastic and talented people. With one exception, all of the specimens are from the Carnegie Collection when it was housed at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Department of Embryology, Baltimore, Maryland. Several dedicated embryologists spent many years producing this outstanding collection of human embryos. The references in each chapter recognize those whose specimens were used. I wish to thank Dr. James Ebert for making the collection and the facilities in Baltimore available. The assistance given by Drs. Ronan O’Rahilly and Bent Böving is also appreciated. The idea for the atlas was a result of the guidance, encouragement and example of my friend and teacher, the late Dr. Tryphena Humphrey. The work began with her 18 mm embryo that is part of the Hooker-Humphrey Collection at the University of Alabama Medical Center, Department of Anatomy, Birmingham, Alabama.

Fortunately I was able to secure the services of Don Alvarado, whose exceptional artistic ability is so evident in each of his drawings. The many quality micrographs were made through the talented photographic efforts of Charles Falk, Dick Grill, Gene Miscenich and Elizabeth Candelario. Varia Adams did a superb job with the necessary retouching. I will forever be grateful to my technician, Cathy Chase, who performed a dozen different tasks including trimming the micrographs and placing the leader lines; she never complained when my inconsistencies caused her additional work. The efficiency and patience of the typist Eunice Schwartz are appreciated; she somehow managed to decipher my handwriting. My thanks are extended to Drs. Elizabeth Crosby and Jerry Brown for their valuable assistance with the identification of structures in the brain sections, and to Dr. Marjorie Fox for reviewing the cardiovascular system. I am indebted to Dr. Melvin Hess for the necessary travel funds and the proper environment in which to work. Most necessary was the generosity of the Edward G. Schlieder Educational Foundation without whose financial support the atlas could never have been assembled. I wish to thank the people at Harper and Row for the professional and friendly manner in which they handled its printing and publishing. Finally, I hope that the many hours spent at night and weekends on this endeavor are justified—they were taken primarily from my wife and children.