Preparation of a text intended largely for review of material to which students have been previously exposed through a formal course requires certain considerations and compromises. By nature, effective review books are shorter in length and less comprehensive in scope than texts utilized as course adjuncts. The reduction of a large body of information for review purposes should be one of selective condensation and not one of global, random deletion so that content remains significant and relevant. To be most useful, a review text should not be so general that it becomes ineffective and at the same time not so detailed that it represents an additional exhaustive treatise. Additionally, continuity and coherence must be maintained within the abbre viated format allowed. This work fulfills those criteria. Histology or microanatomy, as an individual subject, is an amalgamation of many different but related disciplines including cytology, microscopic morphology, developmental microstructure, molecular biology, cellular genetics and physiology. As such, it encompasses an immense information base, some of which is repeated and hopefully reinforced in other courses of study.
