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History and Progress of C(ymparat\ve Anatomy. 147 



the structure of the human frame. Whatever be the cause, it 

 requires little penetration to perceive, that, with the exception of 

 those eminent and intelligent persons who have devoted their 

 lives almost to the cultivation of this branch of natural know- 

 ledge, very indistinct and inaccurate notions of the nature and 

 objects of comparative anatomy are entertained. Regarded as 

 an appendage to human anatomy, or as the occasional source of 

 comparative illustrations, animal anatomy has been appealed to 

 chiefly when it promised to explain obscure and anomalous 

 points in the structure of the human body ; and its cultivation 

 has consequently been too exclusively confined to those who 

 were known as mere human anatomists. 



That this is a sufficiently legitimate application of the lights 

 of comparative anatomy, I do not deny. But while it is defective 

 in giving a very limited view of the nature and objects of the 

 science, it has had the bad effect of giving currency to the opi- 

 nion, that comparative anatomy is merely a subordinate depart- 

 ment of human knowledge, occupying only an inferior rank in 

 the scale of natural science. The very name also by which it 

 has been distinguished, has contributed in no ordinary degree 

 to convey an erroneous impression of its objects. Though one 

 of the principal objects of all human inquiry is, in one sense, 

 comparison of different objects, and the formation of general 

 conclusions from these comparisons ; yet, so long as the structure 

 of animal bodies is studied merely in reference to the standard or 

 type, furnished by the organs of the human frame, it may be 

 safely asserted, that it can derive neither advantage nor illus- 

 tration from the general principles of philosophical research. 

 Animal anatomy, or zootomy, as it may be more justly deno- 

 minated, instead of being regarded as a subordinate appendage 

 of human anatomy, is itself a comprehensive science, embracing 

 the knowledge of all the varieties of structure exhibited by the 

 classes, orders, and tribes of the animal worlds and of which 

 that also of the human subject forms only a constituent part. 

 The latter, indeed, has justly acquired pre-eminent interest, from 

 its connexion with the art of preserving life and healing disease. 

 But these circumstances cannot give it, as a branch of science, a 

 rank higher than that of the organic constitution of animal 

 bodies generally, or erect the structure of the human frame into 



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