react a brief explanation is needed about several features wish to study particular physiologic mechanisms more of the 11th edition. Although many of the chapters deeply have been revised to include new principles of physi- The material in large print constitutes the funda ology, the text length has been closely monitored mental physiologic information that students will to limit the book size so that it can be used effec- require in virtually all their medical activities and tively in physiology courses for medical students and studies. health care professionals. Many of the figures have I wish to express my thanks to many other persons also been redrawn and are now in full color. New who have helped in preparing this book, includi references have been chosen primarily for their pres- my colleagues in the Department of Physiology entation of physiologic principles, for the quality of Biophysics at the University of Mississippi Medical their own references, and for their easy accessibility. Center who provided valuable suggestions. I am also Most of the selected references are from recently grateful to Ivadelle Osberg Heidke, Gerry McAlpin, published scientific journals that can be freely and Stephanie Lucas for their excellent secretarial accessedfromthePubmedinternetsiteathttp://servicesandtowilliamSchmittRebeccaGruliow www.ncbi.nlm.nihgov/entrezlquery.fcgi?db=pubmed.MaryAnneFolcher,andtherestofthestaffof from them, can give the student almost complete cov- tion excellence s for continued editorial and produc- Use of these references as well as cross-references Elsevier saunder erage of the entire field of physiology Finally, I owe an enormous debt to Arthur Guyton Another feature is that the print is set in two sizes. for an exciting career in physiology, for his friendshi The material in small print is of several different kinds: for the great privilege of contributing to the Textbook is needed for immediate discussion but that most stu- provided to all who knew ha t the inspiration that he first, anatomical, chemical, and other information that of Medical Physiology, and fo dents will learn in more detail in other courses second certain fields of clinical medicine: and. third. informa- JOHN E HALL tion that will be of value to those students who Jackson, Mississippixii Preface A brief explanation is needed about several features of the 11th edition. Although many of the chapters have been revised to include new principles of physi￾ology, the text length has been closely monitored to limit the book size so that it can be used effec￾tively in physiology courses for medical students and health care professionals. Many of the figures have also been redrawn and are now in full color. New references have been chosen primarily for their pres￾entation of physiologic principles, for the quality of their own references, and for their easy accessibility. Most of the selected references are from recently published scientific journals that can be freely accessed from the PubMed internet site at http:// www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed. Use of these references, as well as cross-references from them, can give the student almost complete cov￾erage of the entire field of physiology. Another feature is that the print is set in two sizes. The material in small print is of several different kinds: first, anatomical, chemical, and other information that is needed for immediate discussion but that most stu￾dents will learn in more detail in other courses; second, physiologic information of special importance to certain fields of clinical medicine; and, third, informa￾tion that will be of value to those students who may wish to study particular physiologic mechanisms more deeply. The material in large print constitutes the funda￾mental physiologic information that students will require in virtually all their medical activities and studies. I wish to express my thanks to many other persons who have helped in preparing this book, including my colleagues in the Department of Physiology & Biophysics at the University of Mississippi Medical Center who provided valuable suggestions. I am also grateful to Ivadelle Osberg Heidke, Gerry McAlpin, and Stephanie Lucas for their excellent secretarial services, and to William Schmitt, Rebecca Gruliow, Mary Anne Folcher, and the rest of the staff of Elsevier Saunders for continued editorial and produc￾tion excellence. Finally, I owe an enormous debt to Arthur Guyton for an exciting career in physiology, for his friendship, for the great privilege of contributing to the Textbook of Medical Physiology, and for the inspiration that he provided to all who knew him. John E. Hall Jackson, Mississippi