Explanation, teleology, and analogy in natural history and comparative anatomy around 1800: Kant and Cuvier.

This paper investigates conceptions of explanation, teleology, and analogy in the works of Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) and Georges Cuvier (1769-1832). Richards (2000, 2002) and Zammito (2006, 2012, 2018) have argued that Kant's philosophy provided an obstacle for the project of establishing biology as a proper science around 1800. By contrast, Russell (1916), Outram (1986), and Huneman (2006, 2008) have argued, similar to suggestions from Lenoir (1989), that Kant's philosophy influenced the influential naturalist Georges Cuvier. In this article, I wish to expand on and further the work of Russell, Outram, and Huneman by adopting a novel perspective on Cuvier and considering (a) the similar conceptions of proper science and explanation of Kant and Cuvier, and (b) the similar conceptions of the role of teleology and analogy in the works of Kant and Cuvier. The similarities between Kant and Cuvier show, contrary to the interpretation of Richards and Zammito, that some of Kant's philosophical ideas, whether they derived from him or not, were fruitfully applied by some life scientists who wished to transform life sciences into proper sciences around 1800. However, I also show that Cuvier, in contrast to Kant, had a workable strategy for transforming the life sciences into proper sciences, and that he departed from Kant's philosophy of science in crucial respects.

Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire as a predecessor of the epigenetic concept of evolution.

The contribution of Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1772-1844) to evolutionary biology is reviewed in commemoration of his 250th birthday. Geoffroy's views on saltational changes during embryogenesis of animals characterize him as a predecessor of the epigenetic concept of evolution, which is now developing in the frames of the extended evolutionary synthesis or evo-devo. While Lamarck distinguished between the two modes of evolution, one within the same level of organization and the other characterized by the transition to a more complex organization, Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire attempted to explain the second mode by the changes in embryogenesis triggered by environmental influences. In this regard, he placed the phenomenon of complexification in the centre of the evolutionary context. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire can be considered also as an early predecessor of the cell theory. His ideas about the unique plan of structure for animal species and of the fundamental connections that establish the homology of anatomical parts represent an important contribution to the evolutionary concept.

Classics revisited, history of reptile placentology, part IV: Hanni Hrabowski's 1926 monograph on fetal membranes of lizards.

In 1926, the German biologist Johanna (Hanni) Hrabowski published a study of the morphology and development of the fetal placenta in lizards that has proven to be of historical importance. Her anatomical descriptions and interpretations identified developmental patterns that differ from other amniotes -- features now recognized as unique attributes of squamate (lizards and snakes) development. Her 1926 monograph presented the first histological comparison of fetal membranes in closely-related oviparous and viviparous reptiles, thereby establishing a comparative framework for understanding placental specializations for viviparity. Hrabowski reported that yolk sac development did not differ between oviparous and viviparous species. The novel, shared components of yolk sac development she identified are now recognized as the foundation for the unique yolk sac placenta of reptiles, the omphaloplacenta. In addition, Hrabowski's extensive ontogenetic sampling and the detail and accuracy of her anatomical descriptions set high standards for subsequent studies of comparative evolutionary embryology.

The mysterious death of Georges Cuvier (1832): An early case of severe Guillain-Barré syndrome?

Although Guillain-Barré syndrome was officially described in 1916, other cases had been reported earlier, such as some cases of Landry's paralysis. This year is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Georges Cuvier (1769-1832), one of the fathers of comparative anatomy and palaeontology: he died at age 63 from an unknown disease. By reading medical reports about his last days and hours, we conclude Cuvier died from a severe form of Guillain-Barré syndrome. Moreover, we think this observation could be the first complete report of acute polyradiculoneuropathy with pharyngeal-cervical-brachial onset.

Birth of primate comparative anatomy.

In 1698, a creature with a perplexing mix of human and "ape" features died in London. Brought back to England by merchants who had acquired it during a trading mission to West Africa, it attracted the attention of the Royal Society, and after the death of what we now know was a juvenile chimpanzee, Edward Tyson, a distinguished physician/anatomist, was commissioned to undertake its dissection. Tyson, who was assisted by William Cowper, prepared a detailed written and graphic description of their meticulous dissection, and this forms the major part of his 1699 publication Orang-outang sive Homo sylvestris: or The Anatomy of a Pygmie compared with that of a Monkey, an Ape, and a Man. Tyson records the many ways his "pygmie" resembled, and differed from, modern humans, including acute assessments of its brain and pelvic anatomy. Tyson's monograph is a text-book example of the comparative method. He, and it, deserve more recognition.

Andreas Vesalius (1515-1564) on animal cognition.

Until well in the 19th century, the Aristotelian concept of the scala naturae (ladder of nature) was the most common biological theory among Western scientists. It dictated that only humans possessed a rational soul that provided the ability to reason and reflect. Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (1533-1592) was the first philosopher influential enough to lastingly posit that animals are cognitive creatures. His view stirred a fierce controversy, with René Descartes (1596-1650) leading among his many adversaries. Only after it became accepted that animals and humans alike have cognitive abilities, did the research on the influence of conscious awareness and intention on the behavior of an animal become possible in the 20th century. We found the anatomist Andreas Vesalius (1515-1564) to have already rejected the Aristotelian view on the lack of the rational soul in animals in his 1543 opus magnum De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem. His observation "that there is a difference in size according to the amount of reason that they seem to possess: man's brain is the largest, followed by the ape's, the dog's, and so on, corresponding to the amount of rational force that we deduce each animal to have" resonated some 330 years later when Darwin concluded that "the difference in mind between man and the higher animals, great as it is, certainly is one of degree and not of kind." We conclude that Vesalius was instrumental in breaking with two millenniums of dominance of the concept of lack of animal cognition.

Congenital orthopaedic limp deformities in Corpus Hippocraticum.

During the fifth century BC in ancient Greece during the eve of orthopaedics, the Hippocratic School of Medicine diagnosed a series of congenital limb deformities. Congenital dislocation of the arm, elbow, wrist, hip, knee, tarsotibial joint, apex leg, as well as talipes valgus (clubfoot), congenital clavicle fractures, and thumb malfunction were all discussed by Hippocrates and his followers. Ancient Greek medico-philosophers, fond of a "perfect" human body, proposed an immediate non-interventional approach, while archaic orthotics and specialized footwear were suggested. The Hippocratic methodology was once more re-emerged in the sixteenth century by Ambroise Paré and in the nineteenth century by Wilhelm Roser, becoming since then the main principle for the confrontation of congenital deformities. Various surgeons until nowadays are still being influenced by the Hippocratic doctrine.

Anders Retzius and the Dental Histologists of the Mid-Nineteenth Century: Their Contribution to Comparative Anatomy, Histology and Anthropology.

Anatomy, comparative anatomy and embryology are fundamental to taxonomy and evolutionary biology. In the mid-nineteenth century many anatomists and zoologists made major contributions to more than one of these disciplines and a surprising number of them were also histologists. Historical accounts of discoveries and developments in anatomy, and in particular dental histology, rarely consider broader contributions and have tended to be concerned with establishing historical priority about who discovered or described what first. The period 1830 to 1840 saw new developments in light microscopy that enabled studies of histology, cellular pathology and embryology. It also saw a shift away from older ideas such as Naturphilosophie and vitalism towards a more rigorous experimental approach to scientific investigation. Many scientists with diverse research interests were working in parallel on comparative dental histology and were in many cases largely unaware of each other's work. One researcher, Anders Retzius, travelled widely across Europe, corresponded regularly with his scientific colleagues and, probably unbeknownst to himself in his own lifetime, made a lasting contribution to dental histology. Anders Retzius was a clinician, an anatomist, a comparative anatomist, a histologist and latterly an anthropologist. His life and career spanned the whole of this fast-moving period in the history of anatomy and histology.

The fault in his seeds: Lost notes to the case of bias in Samuel George Morton's cranial race science.

The discovery of nearly 180-year-old cranial measurements in the archives of 19th century American physician and naturalist Samuel George Morton can address a lingering debate, begun in the late 20th century by paleontologist and historian of science Stephen Jay Gould, about the unconscious bias alleged in Morton's comparative data of brain size in human racial groups. Analysis of Morton's lost data and the records of his studies does not support Gould's arguments about Morton's biased data collection. However, historical contextualization of Morton with his scientific peers, especially German anatomist Friedrich Tiedemann, suggests that, while Morton's data may have been unbiased, his cranial race science was not. Tiedemann and Morton independently produced similar data about human brain size in different racial groups but analyzed and interpreted their nearly equivalent results in dramatically different ways: Tiedemann using them to argue for equality and the abolition of slavery, and Morton using them to entrench racial divisions and hierarchy. These differences draw attention to the epistemic limitations of data and the pervasive role of bias within the broader historical, social, and cultural context of science.

Classics revisited: Miguel Fernández on germ layer inversion and specific polyembryony in armadillos.

BACKGROUND: Miguel Fernández was an Argentinian zoologist who published the first account of obligate polyembryony in armadillos. His contribution is here discussed in relation to his contemporaries, Newman and Patterson, and more recent work. FINDINGS: Fernandez worked on the mulita (Dasypus hybridus). He was able to get early stages before twinning occurred and show it was preceded by inversion of the germ layers. By the primitive streak stage there were separate embryonic shields and partition of the amnion. There was, however, a single exocoelom and all embryos were enclosed in a common set of membranes comprising chorion towards the attachment site in the uterine fundus and inverted yolk sac on the opposite face. He showed that monozygotic twinning did not occur in another armadillo, the peludo (Chaetophractus villosus). CONCLUSIONS: Fernández's work represented a major breakthrough in understanding how twinning occurred in armadillos. His work and that of others is of intrinsic interest to zoologists and has a direct bearing on the origin of monozygotic twins and birth defects in humans.

[The dorsoventral inversion: An attempt of synthesis]. / L'inversion dorsoventrale : un essai de synthèse.

The invertebrates, with known exception of echinoderms, are hyponeurian and protostomian. By contrast, echinoderms, chordates and vertebrate are epineurian and deuterostomian. Convinced of the uniqueness origin of all species, Etienne Geoffroy Saint Hilaire (1772-1844), had postulated a complete inversion of body plan to explain this difference. He had to face up to the hostility of the fixist Georges Cuvier (1763-1832). Much later, famous embryologists such as Maurice Caullery still believed that this idea was erroneous. However, the progress of comparative embryology and of developmental biology gradually contributed to validate this idea. Based upon ancient and recent literature review, and re-examination of arthropods (Acanthoscelides obtectus Say), amphibians (Discoglossus), echinoderms (sea urchin) and mammals (rodents) embryos, we can raise up difference and common points of the gastrulation processes. The dorsoventral gradient is ensured by the couple Dpp (dorsal in arthropods)/SOG/chordin (ventral in arthropods), which appears as "inverted" in epineurians. Blastopore invagination occurs in arthopods in the ventral region, opposite to the vitellus mass (initially diffuse, then predominant on the dorsal side), whereas it occurs at the vegetative side in other hyponeurians and epineurians. It has been accepted that the BMP inhibits oral development in protostomian, whereas it activates it in Chordates. Therefore we assume, as Lowe does, that the oral cavity of deuterostomians might constitute a new structure related to the branchial system. The comparative analysis of the blastopore' orientation, the sperm penetration site, and the polarity axes of various embryos species allows to follow the different modifications and to hypothesize their relative chronology during evolution.

Translation of Hecker's 1922 "the occipital-atlanto-axial ligament system": A study in comparative anatomy.

In 1922, Paul Hecker, a French physician and Head of Anatomy at the Medical College of Strasbourg, published a sentinel thesis on the ligaments of the craniocervical junction based on a study of comparative anatomy. Unfortunately, this dissertation has been lost to history and until now, was unavailable in the English language. Herein, we present a translation of Hecker's work with an update in its nomenclature, which with modern imaging capabilities of the craniocervical junction is germane and timely. Clin. Anat. 30:322-329, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Studies on Animals and the Rise of Comparative Anatomy at and around the Parisian Royal Academy of Sciences in the Eighteenth Century.

Argument This paper aims to understand the emergence of comparative anatomy in the eighteenth century in the Parisian Académie Royale des Sciences. As early as the 1670s, a program centered on animal anatomy was conceived, which was a first attempt to give some autonomy to studies on animals and to link anatomy with natural history, but it declined after 1690. However, a variety of studies on animals was published in the Mémoires of the Académie during the eighteenth century. We propose a descriptive typology of them in order to explore the status of animals and the significance of anatomy in each type, and to determine, in particular, which elements of Perrault's program were passed on at the Académie throughout the century. We discuss the influence of this legacy on the development of comparative anatomy after 1750, especially in Daubenton's work.

[Anatomy in the perspective of Kazimierz Kostanecki]. / Anatomia w ujeciu Kazimierza Kostaneckiego.

Kazimierz Telesfor Kostanecki (1863-1940) remains one of the most important figures in the history of Polish medicine and natural science. He was the creator of one of the biggest scientific schools on Polish soil, a researcher versatile, working in parallel on many fields of natural science exploration. In his view, anatomy has become a dynamic and comprehensive science, that combines what today belongs to histology, cytology and embryology. Kostanecki has created an universal model of research, referring to comparative methods and based on planned series of experimental studies, especially when it came to issues related to developmental anatomy and mechanics of fertilization. This model was used and developed by his students and followers. It is not surprising, therefore, that the name Kostanecki has been repeatedly reported in the world literature, and a number of phenomena and facts established by him has kept its value, which comes obviouswhen we still can find citations of Polish scholar works in the contemporary monographs and articles.