3 o2 OWEN'S POSITION IN 



classificatory importance. The deeper structural 

 likenesses between a whale and a seal, or between 

 a bat and a shrew mouse, on the other hand, were 

 affinities : that is to say, the exhibitors of such 

 resemblances were 'affined ' or ' allied ' in the sense 

 of belonging to the same classificatory group. 7 

 So, for the anatomists, the shell of a tortoise and 

 the shell of a crab were merely analogous struc- 

 tures ; while the bones of the arm of a man and 

 those of the wing of a bird were homologous. 



Homology ( 6fxo\oy la) originally signified 

 agreement either of, or about, things. The word, 

 with its derivatives and allies, such as ' homony- 

 mous,' passed into Latin, French, and German ; 

 and Anglicised forms of them are to be found in 

 Nathan Bailey's ' Dictionary,' now a century and 

 a half old. Even in its present sense, as an ana- 

 tomical term, homology was well known as far 

 back as the early years of this century. Owen, 

 writing in 1 846, insists upon the fact that, in using 

 the word, he follows established precedent : — 



1 But, in thus illustrating the term homology, 

 I have always felt and stated that I was merely 

 making known the meaning of a term introduced 

 into comparative anatomy long ago, and habitually 

 used in the writings of the philosophical anatomists 

 of Germany aud France. Geoffroy St. Hilaire 



7 It is interesting to observe relationship, was adopted by 

 how readily the term ' affinity,' those who most strongly repu- 

 which ordinarily implies blood- diated the doctrine of descent. 



