Lives of Eminent Zoologists, from Aristotle to Linnæus: with Introductory remarks on the Study of Natural HistoryMacGillivray, William
Philosophy
Lives of Eminent Zoologists, from Aristotle to Linnæus: with Introductory remarks on the Study of Natural History
MacGillivray, William
Zoologists
Fishes are next discussed with nearly equal brevity. He remarks, that
they have a peculiar elongated form, are destitute of mammae, emit by
their gills the water received at the mouth, swim by means of fins, are
generally covered with scales, and are destitute of the organs of
hearing and smelling.
His description of the internal parts of these tribes of animals
contains a mixture of truth and error. This book terminates with remarks
on the structure of serpents.
The third commences with observations on those parts of animals which
are homogeneous, such as the blood, the fibres, the veins, the nerves,
and the hair. Under the general title of nerve, he confounds the columnae
carneae of the heart, the tendons and fasciae; and it does not appear that
he had any idea of what modern anatomists call nerves. In speaking of
hair, he remarks that it grows in sick persons, especially those
labouring under consumption, in old people, and even in dead bodies. The
same remark applies to the nails. The blood is contained in the veins
and heart, is, like the brain, insensible, flows from a wound in any
part of the flesh, has a sweet taste and a red colour, coagulates in the
air, palpitates in the veins, and when vitiated is productive of
disease. On the subject of milk, his observations deserve attention.
Thus, he says that all viviparous animals which have hair are furnished
with mammae, as are also the whale and the dolphin; but those which are
oviparous are not so provided. All milk has a watery fluid, called
serum, and a thick part, called cheese; while that produced by animals
which are destitute of fore teeth in the upper jaw coagulates. On this
subject he mentions some curious circumstances. Some kinds of food
occasion the appearance of a little milk in women who are not pregnant.
There have even been instances of it flowing from the breasts of elderly
females. The shepherds about Mount Oeta rub the udders of
unimpregnated goats with nettles, and thus obtain abundance of milk from
them. It sometimes happens that male animals secrete the same fluid;
thus, there was a he-goat in the island of Lemnos, which yielded so much
that small cheeses were made of it. A little may be pressed from the
breasts of some men after the age of puberty; and there have been
individuals who on being sucked have yielded a large quantity. Instances
of this have been recorded by other observers; and Humboldt met with a
similar case in South America.[D]
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