"After being frequently urged to write upon this subject, and as often declining to do it, from apprehension of my own inability, I am at length compelled to take up the pen, however unqualified I may still feel myself for the task. " William Withering, M. D. ' I have yet to find a description or a quote that better summanzes my initial ambivalence towards embarking on such an endeavor as partici- pating in putting together this monograph. The impetus...