THE EARLY DAYS OF COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 167 



described in the order in which they fell into their hands, 

 and no attempt is made to classify them. The Parisians 

 are careful to identify their examples, and adequate space 

 is devoted to this; but they are above everything 

 committed to anatomical research. Over 30 species are 

 described, and the groups represented are those commonly 

 drawn upon in stocking a menagerie. The species 

 include 1 Elasmobranch, 1 Chamaeleon, 1 Chelonian, 

 8 Birds, 1 Insectivore, 2 Rodents, 8 Carnivores, 

 7 Ungulates, and 2 Monkeys. 



In the Lion they detected the independent blood 

 supply of the cortex and medulla of the kidney, and an 

 examination of the human kidney from the same point 

 of view revealed a similar phenomenon, contrary to the 

 statements of Vesalius. This they establish by injecting 

 the veins with milk. The anatomy of the Chamaeleon is 

 treated at length. They note the structure of the curious 

 eyelid, and draw attention to the old error of attributing 

 co-ordinated movements of the eyes to the optic chiasma, 

 or the " joining of the optic nerves," as it was then called, 

 for they found a chiasma in the Chamaeleon — an animal 

 with remarkable powers of independent movement of the 

 eyes- The stiffness of the neck is held responsible for this 

 free and antagonistic behaviour of the eyes. They describe 

 the unusual character and extent of the lungs, and 

 inflated them through the trachea. The anatomy of the 

 tongue claims a large share of their attention, and they 

 observed how it was used in feeding. Their discussion of 

 the mechanism of the tongue, however, is highly 

 ingenious, but unsound. It is nevertheless interesting 

 to note that the protrusion or erection of an organ, such 

 as the tentacle of the Snail, in response to vascular 

 pressure rather than to muscular contraction, was 

 familiar to these seventeenth century anatomists. But 



