A preprocessing apparatus comprising: a preprocessing container setting part in which a preprocessing container (50, 54) containing a solid sample comprising a specimen to be analyzed and a solid medium holding the specimen is to be set; a carrying mechanism that carries the preprocessing container (50, 54) set in the preprocessing container setting part; and a preprocessing part (30, 38, 40, 55) that has a port for setting the preprocessing container (50, 54) carried by the carrying mechanism and that is configured to perform preprocessing including extraction processing for extracting the specimen from the solid sample contained in the preprocessing container (50, 54) set in the port, and wherein the preprocessing container setting part is configured to allow an empty preprocessing container (50, 54) containing no specimen to be also set therein, the preprocessing apparatus further comprising: a specimen setting part in which a specimen container containing a liquid specimen is to be set; a specimen dispensing part that takes the specimen from the specimen container set in the specimen setting part and dispenses the specimen into the empty preprocessing container (50, 54) placed in a predetermined dispensing position; and a controller for controlling operations of the preprocessing apparatus, characterized in that the controller comprises a specimen recognition part configured to check whether a specimen to be analyzed is a liquid specimen or a specimen contained in the solid sample on the basis of previously-registered information, and the controller is configured to cause the preprocessing apparatus to perform preprocessing operations for a liquid specimen when the specimen recognition part recognizes that a specimen to be analyzed is a liquid specimen, and the controller is configured to cause the preprocessing apparatus to perform preprocessing operations for a solid sample when the specimen recognition part recognizes that a specimen to be analyzed is a specimen contained in a solid sample. a preprocessing container setting part in which a preprocessing container (50, 54) containing a solid sample comprising a specimen to be analyzed and a solid medium holding the specimen is to be set; a carrying mechanism that carries the preprocessing container (50, 54) set in the preprocessing container setting part; and a preprocessing part (30, 38, 40, 55) that has a port for setting the preprocessing container (50, 54) carried by the carrying mechanism and that is configured to perform preprocessing including extraction processing for extracting the specimen from the solid sample contained in the preprocessing container (50, 54) set in the port, and wherein the preprocessing container setting part is configured to allow an empty preprocessing container (50, 54) containing no specimen to be also set therein, the preprocessing apparatus further comprising: a specimen setting part in which a specimen container containing a liquid specimen is to be set; a specimen dispensing part that takes the specimen from the specimen container set in the specimen setting part and dispenses the specimen into the empty preprocessing container (50, 54) placed in a predetermined dispensing position; and a controller for controlling operations of the preprocessing apparatus, characterized in that the controller comprises a specimen recognition part configured to check whether a specimen to be analyzed is a liquid specimen or a specimen contained in the solid sample on the basis of previously-registered information, and the controller is configured to cause the preprocessing apparatus to perform preprocessing operations for a liquid specimen when the specimen recognition part recognizes that a specimen to be analyzed is a liquid specimen, and the controller is configured to cause the preprocessing apparatus to perform preprocessing operations for a solid sample when the specimen recognition part recognizes that a specimen to be analyzed is a specimen contained in a solid sample. a specimen setting part in which a specimen container containing a liquid specimen is to be set; a specimen dispensing part that takes the specimen from the specimen container set in the specimen setting part and dispenses the specimen into the empty preprocessing container (50, 54) placed in a predetermined dispensing position; and a controller for controlling operations of the preprocessing apparatus, characterized in that the controller comprises a specimen recognition part configured to check whether a specimen to be analyzed is a liquid specimen or a specimen contained in the solid sample on the basis of previously-registered information, and the controller is configured to cause the preprocessing apparatus to perform preprocessing operations for a liquid specimen when the specimen recognition part recognizes that a specimen to be analyzed is a liquid specimen, and the controller is configured to cause the preprocessing apparatus to perform preprocessing operations for a solid sample when the specimen recognition part recognizes that a specimen to be analyzed is a specimen contained in a solid sample.