In presenting to our readers the first number of this Journal we appeal to urologists in all parts of the world to make our venture a success. We ask them to subscribe to the Journal, to contribute scientific articles, and also to take full advantage of its advertisement pages which we shall strive to fill with descriptions of aids to urology that are both novel and practical.
The development of urology as a specialty has arisen from the increasing complexity of the instruments and tests needed for the elucidation and treatment of urinary diseases. The pioneer work of Sir Henry Thompson, Sir Henry Morris, Mr. Hurry Fenwick and Sir Peter Freyer laid the foundations of a school of British urology that is enlarging its scope with every year that passes, and is embracing an ever-increasing number of workers, not only in Great Britain and Ireland, but in Egypt, India and the British Dominions overseas. These workers are already bound together in branches of the International Society of Urology. It is our hope that a special Journal will serve to unite them in still closer harmony and will lend to their work an added prestige.
We desire to invoke the interest of our colleagues in other countries, and we make a particular appeal to our friends in America who speak our language and whose visits to our hospitals are so warmly welcomed. We intend to publish in each number a list of the chief British Urological Clinics with their hours of working to aid visitors to find without difficulty what they are seeking. We hope to publish one article in every number from the pen of an American writer, as we feel that on scientific workers rests a great responsibility to encourage comity amongst the nations, and to work towards an age of peace.
We intend to introduce features into this Journal which will make it of interest not only to the specialist, but also to the general surgeon and the general practitioner. Another feature will be a regular series of abstracts from the urological literature and an index to that literature conceived on modern lines. We hope to publish a series of notes on developments of interest to urologists in bio-chemistry, chemotherapy and radiology.
We are well aware of the difficulties of our task. We ask for the forebearance of our readers and would appeal to them to write to us if they have any suggestions to put forward that might make for improvement. With this Foreword we launch our first number and pray for calm seas.