THE EARLY DAYS OF COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 155 



translation of Ruini brought up to date, and the figures, 

 with a few exceptions, are close copies of most of his 

 plates, without any mention of his name. In one 

 instance Snape acknowledges that the figure is " taken 

 out of a French authour," which seems to indicate that 

 he was himself, like the receiver of stolen goods, 

 ignorant and careless of the real owner of the property. 

 In another plate the only original feature of importance 

 is the addition of a dragon-fly to the background, and 

 finally a caricature of Ruini's not very successful figure 

 of the entire skeleton is stated to have been " drawn 

 exactly by one that I keep standing in a Press." 

 Snape' s introduction can only be regarded as a reckless 

 exhibition of mendacity, which calls fo: the condemnation 

 of posterity. He boldly assumes the laurels of a pioneer, 

 and claims that none have gone before or showed him the 

 way. In submitting the merit of the figures he says : 

 " I have therefore accordingly by a curious draught or 

 delineation represented to you such observations as are 

 made in true dissections," and again, in discussing the 

 relative merits of books and dissections, he discovers an 

 unconscious vein of candour when he urges the student 

 "not to trust too much to these copies, as I may call 

 them, without practicing upon the original body itself." 

 The whole transaction, and the early literature of 

 Biology affords many such, recalls the indignant rhetoric 

 of Dr. Knox : " As to the hack compilers, their course is 

 simple : they will first deny the doctrine to be true ; 

 when this becomes clearly untenable they will deny that 

 it is new; and they will finish by engrossing the whole 

 in their next compilations, omitting carefully the name 

 of the author." 



Ruini's treatise, which passed through fourteen 

 editions from 1598 to 1769, but which is nevertheless 



