374 THE HISTORY OF BIOLOGY 



and his opposition to any kind of hypotheses doubtless to a great extent 

 cleared the atmosphere in a generation that had been befogged by the fan- 

 tastic ideas of natural-philosophical speculation, all the more so as he cer- 

 tainly possessed all the authority to which a discoverer of the highest rank 

 in the world of natural phenomena can lay claim. His pupils were numerous 

 and brilliant; the most gifted chemists of the following generation received 

 their training from him and undoubtedly they disseminated the master's aim 

 to try to establish the actual phenomena in nature without any "explana- 

 tions by means of qualitates fere occulta ^ 



Experiments on live animals 

 The experimental research of which an account has been given above con- 

 cerned the chemical composition of the various organs. But the functions 

 of the organs as well — their vital manifestations, each separately and in 

 collaboration — ■ were during this period the subject of radical experimental 

 investigations. In this field of research Haller was a pioneer; in his foot- 

 steps there followed an increasing number of scientists who sought by means 

 of experiment on live animals — that is, vivisections — to ascertain the 

 course of events in animal life, both in the isolated organs and in groups 

 thereof, to an ever-increasing extent. These experiments led to the discovery 

 that the actual phenomena of life were themselves bound by laws to an extent 

 hitherto undreamt of; it was found that they could be made the subject 

 of exact research just like the chemical and physical processes in inanimate 

 nature. As pioneers in this sphere French and English scientists were con- 

 spicuous; in Germany, where formerly natural philosophy and afterwards 

 comparative morphology predominated, the representatives of experimental 

 research were also comparative morphologists, at least those of the older 

 generation, wherefore it is often hard to decide to which category this or 

 that scientist rightfully belongs. 



Charles Bell was born in 1774 in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, 

 the son of a country parson. Having studied in circumstances of great poverty 

 and taken his degree at Edinburgh University, he came as a doctor to London, 

 where he rapidly gained a great reputation, becoming professor of surgery 

 and curator of the Hunter Museum, mentioned in a previous section of this 

 book. In his later years he returned to his native country as professor of anat- 

 omy and died there in i84z. He enjoyed a universal reputation as a clever 

 doctor, a distinguished university tutor, and a warmly religious personality; 

 he was the recipient of an extraordinary number of honours. As a scientific 

 author he was very productive; he published a text-book on general anatomy 

 that gained a wide reputation, and also a large number of papers on special 

 subjects. In several of these latter his Christian piety is a marked feature, 

 particularly in an essay on the structure and function of the hand, which 

 represents from beginning to end a hymn of praise to the wisdom, power. 



