CHAPTER X. 



A Mathematical Solution of Organic Forms — The Triangle and Crystal 

 — Lectures on Man — His Addresses and Correspondence — The 

 Kespect shown him. 



Towards the latter clays of his life Goodsir bestowed 

 the closest inspection upon the surface of organic 

 forms : thus he traced the minute lines upon the human 

 femur, their size, direction, and spaces of enclosure ; 

 then he mapped the palm of the hand, with all its 

 linear markings, and compared these with the hand of 

 the chimpanzee. It was not enough for him to note 

 the general differences of these allied organs in man 

 and his near neighbour, he must seek for the cutaneous 

 and finer-shaded distinctions or disparities. 



In 1864 he began to consider the type or plan 

 upon which textures were arranged. His attention 

 was first directed to the human muscular system of 

 which he made dissections, models, and drawings. 

 Having detached with great care the muscles from 

 their attachments, he dissected out the fasciculi to 

 show the manner in which they joined the tendon, 

 and the direction of the fibres to form a fasciculus. 

 He noted that fasciculi do not pass parallel to each 

 other to join the tendon, but obliquely or diagonally, 

 and ultimately to cross each other at angles ; it was 



