Biology and Its Makers: With Portraits and Other IllustrationsLocy, William A. (William Albert)
History
Biology and Its Makers: With Portraits and Other Illustrations
Locy, William A. (William Albert)
Biology -- History
R. Owen.--In England Richard Owen (1804-1892) carried on the influence
of Cuvier. At the age of twenty-seven he went to Paris and renewed
acquaintance with the great Cuvier, whom he had met the previous year
in England. He spent some time at the Jardin des Plantes examining
the extensive collections in the museum. Although the idea was
repudiated by Owen and some of his friends, it is not unlikely that
the collections of fossil animals and the researches upon them which
engaged Cuvier at that time had great influence upon the subsequent
studies of Owen. Although he never studied under Cuvier, in a sense
he may be regarded as his disciple. Owen introduced into anatomy the
important conceptions of analogy and homology, the former being a
likeness based upon the use to which organs are put, as the wing of a
butterfly and the wing of a bat; while homology is a true relationship
founded on likeness in structure and development, as the wing of a
bat and the foreleg of a dog. Analogy is a superficial, and often a
deceiving relationship; homology is a true genetic relationship. It
is obvious that this distinction is of great importance in comparing
the different parts of animals. He made a large number of independent
discoveries, and published a monumental work on the comparative
anatomy of vertebrates (1866-68). In much of his thought he was
singular, and many of his general conclusions have not stood the
test of time. He undertook to establish the idea of an archtype in
vertebrate anatomy. He clung to the vertebral theory of the skull long
after Huxley had shown such a theory to be untenable. The idea that the
skull is made up of modified vertebrae was propounded by Goethe and
Oken. In the hands of Oken it became one of the anatomical conclusions
of the school of _Naturphilosophie_. This school of transcendental
philosophy was founded by Schelling, and Oken (Fig. 45) was one
of its typical representatives. The vertebral theory of the skull
was, therefore, not original with Owen, but he adopted it, greatly
elaborated it, and clung to it blindly long after the foundations upon
which it rested were removed.
[Illustration: Fig. 46.--Richard Owen, 1804-1892.]
Richard Owen (Fig. 46) was succeeded by Huxley (1825-1895), whose
exactness of observation and rare judgment as to the main facts of
comparative anatomy mark him as one of the leaders in this field of
research. The influence of Huxley as a popular exponent of science is
dealt with in a later chapter.
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