History of Comparative Anatomy 345 



public opinion did not tolerate dissection of the human body. There- 

 fore much "human anatomy" was merely inferred or assumed from 

 study of dogs, monkeys, and other backboned animals which could be 

 dissected. While this was literally "comparative anatomy," it was only 

 incidentally comparative. Likenesses to human anatomy, if not as- 

 sumed, were at least hoped for because of their medical utility. Differ- 

 ences were unfortunate for medical purposes and otherwise had no 

 special significance. The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries wit- 

 nessed a great expansion of interest. The microscope had much to do 

 with this. The study of living things became increasingly comparative 

 because of the growing conviction — or at least the hope — that a full 

 knowledge of the world of life might have human significance even more 

 important than relief of bodily ills. And from this age emerged the 

 Theory of Evolution, a concept which, to those who held it, gave prom- 

 ise of an answer to the problem of human origin and even hinted at the 

 possibility of throwing light on human destiny. 



CHARLES DARWIN AND ALFRED R. WALLACE 



The beginning of the nineteenth century found comparative anat- 

 omy entering a new epoch. No longer merely the servant of medical 

 science, it had acquired a goal whose achievement would mean a revo- 

 lution in human thought. At the opening of the century, Evolution was 

 the view of only a small minority. Whether the theory should stand or 

 fall must await a massing of all evidence available from comparative 

 anatomy, comparative embryology, and the as yet little-developed 

 science of paleontology — collectively, Comparative Morphology. This, 

 then, was the great project which biology faced, although at first with- 

 out clearly seeing it. 



During the first half of the nineteenth century, progress was steady 

 but not spectacular. Especially valuable work was done in Germany by 

 J. F. Meckel (1781-1833), a student of Cuvier, by Rathke (1793- 

 1860), and by Johannes Miiller (1801-58), eminent both as compara- 

 tive physiologist and as comparative anatomist. At the middle of the 

 century, a dynamic center developed in England. In 1858 Charles 

 Darwin (1809-82) and Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) simul- 

 taneously announced the theory of "Natural Selection" as the main 

 causal factor in evolution. In 1859 was published Darwin's "Origin 

 of Species." Later appeared "The Variations of Animals and 

 Plants under Domestication" and "The Descent of Man." The 

 most important of Wallace's several books is "The Geographical 

 Distribution of Animals." In comprehensiveness, volume, and rich- 

 ness of accurately reported observations and results of experimenta- 

 tion, Darwin's work greatly exceeded Wallace's. 



