The translation itself is based on a Leyden edition of 1748, ``evidently the work of a Dutch compositor unschooled in the French language... full of imperfections, inconsistencies, and grammatical blunders,'' corrected by the translators. The basic translation was by Miss Gertrude Carman Bussey, and revised by Professor M. W. Calkins, assisted by Mlle. M. Carret and Prof. George Santayana [!]. The Open Court edition includes notes by Miss Bussey, adapted from her master's thesis on La Mettrie (Wellesley College), but I intend to use those from Vartanian's critical edition (see the bibliography).
In the translation, all passages dealing with sex, reproduction, or the sexual organs were indicated by ellipses. I have not attempted to translate them, but instead inserted the original French words.