z6o THE HISTORY OF BIOLOGY 



the ear and the bottom of the nostril, the other at a tangent to the most 

 protuberant part of the forehead and the chin. When Camper expounded 

 this idea before the Amsterdam Academy of Painting, with a view to giving 

 the artists a more accurate conception of the human form, he little thought 

 that in doing so he was laying the foundations of an entirely new branch 

 of science — modern craniology. In close connexion with this interest in 

 the structure of the human body are his special investigations of the apes, 

 particularly of those resembling man. He had procured as many specimens 

 as he could possibly get of the orang-utan, at that time extremely rare in 

 Europe, and he not only dissected a number of them, but closely studied a 

 live specimen. As a result of especially careful investigations into the mus- 

 culature of the extremities and the structure of the larynx, he proved con- 

 clusively that the animal is unable to walk upright, as La Mettrie and other 

 "philosophers" at that time imagined; nor can it in any form pronounce 

 an articulate language. The philosophers, however, were certainly far too 

 firm in their belief to allow themselves to be convinced by anatomical proofs, 

 all the more so as it could be urged against Camper that he was in all respects, 

 both religious and political, a conservative man. 



Camper s anthropological and comparative-anatomical investigations 

 Camper was particularly interested in the anatomical investigation of un- 

 common and rare animals. He published monographs on the elephant, the 

 rhinoceros, and the reindeer, anatomically useful specimens of which he 

 succeeded in procuring owing to Holland's extensive shipping-communi- 

 cations. Of more general interest than these special researches is his study 

 of the bone-structure of birds, in which he describes for the first time how 

 the bones are filled with air to facilitate flight, and, in connexion therewith, 

 the air-sacs in the body which serve the same purpose. Of immense general 

 interest also are his comparative investigations into the auditory organs of 

 fish, whales, and reptiles, wherein he discusses the reproduction of sound 

 in various media and the ear's adaptability thereto, at the same time making 

 a close study of the different parts of the auditory apparatus. Finally, Camper 

 carried out an anatomical investigation of a highly original kind in his 

 essay "On the Best Form of Shoe," in which, after a detailed description 

 of the bone-structure of the foot, he sharply condemns the unnatural foot- 

 wear of his time and describes what he considers to be the most rational 

 shape of shoe. 



If, then, we find in Camper efforts at comparative anatomy, this is only 

 evidence of his foresight, for as a general rule his contemporary zoologists 

 were content with purely superficial descriptions of types in the Linn^an 

 style. There were a few praiseworthy exceptions, however, among whom 

 John Hunter and Pallas deserve special mention. 



John Hunter (172.8-93) was born in a country place in Scotland, the son 



