CHAPTER II 



COMPARATIVE ANATOMY BEFORE CUVIER 



FOR two thousand years after Aristotle little advance was 

 made upon his comparative anatomy. Knowledge of the 

 human body was increased not long after his death by 

 Herophilus and Erasistratus, but not even Galen more than 

 four centuries later made any essential additions to Aristotle's 

 anatomy. 



During the Middle Ages, particularly after the intro- 

 duction to Europe in the I3th century of the Arab 

 texts and commentaries, Aristotle dominated men's 

 thoughts of Nature. The commentary of Albertus Magnus, 

 based upon that of Avicenna, did much to impose Aristotle 

 upon the learned world. Albertus seems to have contented 

 himself with following closely in the footsteps of his master. 

 There are noted, however, by Bonnier certain improvements 

 made by Albertus on Aristotle's view of the seriation 

 of living things. "He is the first," writes Bonnier, "to 

 take the correct view that fungi are lower plants allied to 

 the most lowly organised animals. From this point there 

 start, for Albertus Magnus, two series of living creatures, and 

 he regards the plant series as culminating in the trees which 

 have well-developed flowers." 1 



Aristotle's influence is predominant also in the w r ork 

 of Edward Wotton (1492- 1555), who in his book De differentiis 

 aniinalium adopted a classification similar to that proposed 

 by Aristotle. He too laid stress upon the gradation shown 

 from the lower to the higher forms. 



In the 1 6th century, two groups of men helped to lay 

 foundations for a future science of comparative anatomy 



1 Le Monde vegetal, p. 41, Paris, 1907. 



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