Some observations on the comparative anatomy of the fibula / by William Mackenzie.

  • Mackenzie, William Colin, Sir, 1877-1938.
Date:
1911
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Some observations on the comparative anatomy of the fibula / by William Mackenzie. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    So when one comes to the question of which of the two lines is the correct one to follow one must decide for the latter—or deny the doctrine of evolution, and ignore the results of com- parative anatomy. It is a decision arrived at on philosophical grounds, and without appeal to the question of expediency, involved in the deficient vitality, and hence of energy of repair in the atro- phying parts, upon which one depends for union in the plastic operation—apart from the difficulty of obtaining suitable human bone with which to make the attempt. Recognising the lesson as previously stated that bone is dominated by muscle, it is scarcely understandable that ana- tomists should pay so much attention to the minute description of bones, and yet such little regard—as evidenced in any anatomical text book—to the important factor of muscular action, on which the bony changes depend, and which the science of evolution shows us existed before bone had its being. I beg to thank Dr. Stapley for valued assistance, and the use of material—Mr. Lewis, B.Y.S., Research Scholar, .or the photo- graphs, and Mr. Thwaites, M.Sc., for help in the preparations of the dissections, and for some physiological considerations of the functions of the parts concerned. EXPLANATION OF PLATES LXXYI.-LXXVIII. Plate LXXYI. Fig. 1.—Tibia and fibula of Koala (Phascolarctus cinereus). ,, 2.— ,, of Lace lizard or Monitor (Varanus varius). Plate LXXVII. Fig. 3.—Tibia and fibula of Kangaroo. ,, 4.— ,, of Sheep. Plate LXXVIII. Fig. 5.—Tibia and fibula of Opossum (Trichosurus). „ 6.— ,, of Agouti (Dasyprocta). ,, 7.— ,, of Hare (Lepus). ,, 8.— ,, of Echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus). ,, 9.— „ of Wombat (Phascolomys sp.).
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