An introduction to the study of the anthropoid apes / by Arthur Keith.

  • Arthur Keith
Date:
1897
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An introduction to the study of the anthropoid apes / by Arthur Keith. 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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    (28) (17), but, unfortunately, it is the dissection of a foetal animal. Much of the work that has already been done, such as that of Owen and Hartmann, is almost useless for future purposes, as a list of the material used is never explicitly stated—the first essential—and only general statements are given. In short, Owen and his school may be said to have been anatomists of the individual; his successors were and are anatomical census-takers of the race. The aim and end to which all such work as this should be directed is, I take it, to find out not only how the individual, but also how the race, moves, lives, and has its being; and any fact which helps towards this end deserves to be recorded. We wish to dis- cover, also, how races have come into their present shapes and habits; how they are co-ordinated with their surroundings; and to what extent we may prophesy with truth as to how these races might be moulded in changed surroundings. Such studies pursued upon man’s nearer neighbours ought to give some understanding of the methods by which he has attained his present form and position. But, besides these more philosophical problems, the solution of which leads only to a certain mental satisfaction, the anthropoids offer, in the simplicity of their mind and body, a clue to the more practical study of the elaborate psychology and physiology of man. The Nervous System.—Seeing that the brain is regarded as the organ that keeps the individuals of the higher races sexually and socially congregated together in a group known as a species, and seeing further that the form of the brain is moulded by and dependent upon function, its study becomes of the first importance. About a dozen gorilla brains have been seen altogether: Bischoff (4, 5,9), Broca (n), Chapman (14), Deniker (17, a foetal brain), and Pansch (67) have given figures and descriptions of the convolutions; Fere (27), Gratiolet (32), Moeller (62), Thane (78), and Owen (66) have noted some points concerning it. As for the convolutions, we know neither their meaning nor what relationship they bear to function. They are probably of less value physiologically and morphologically than the basal parts of the brain, of the centres and tracts of which we know nothing. The cerebellum is still untouched. Waldeyer (85) has given us a splendid piece of research on the spinal cord, and Eisler’s (24) account of the distribution of the nerves is very good. Hepburn (45) also gives a full account of the main nerves of the limbs. The micro- scopical structure and distribution of motor areas of the cortex of the brain are unknown. [See also 143, 151, 188, 188a, 189, 190, and 209]. The Muscles.—The muscles of the gorilla have been well described by Deniker (17) and Duvernoy (22); Hepburn (45) gives a full account of the muscles of the limbs. Partial descriptions have been given by Bischoff (7), Chapman (13), Chudzinski (16), Ehlers (23), Huxley (496), Macalister (55), Ruge (70), Symington (76), and Wyman (87). As already pointed out, a standard dissection, to include at the same time the work already done, is still required.