Comparative Mammalian Anatomy

It wasn't until I'd saved most of these that I realised that the author/illustrator of this book was none other than the dinosaur sculptor, Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins - from a couple of days ago. Vincent Brooks completed the 10 lithographic plates.

Hawkins intended with his publication "to give a comparative view of the variation in form of the bony skeleton or framework of those animals most frequently required by the artist, designer, or ornamentist."

The accompanying text didn't incorporate Darwinian evolutionary theory and I get the strong feeling that either Hawkins himself or at the behest of Sir Richard Owens, held contrary views. Nevertheless the work is regarded as a positive contribution to the understanding of mammalian anatomy.

A Comparative View of the Human and Animal Frame by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins 1860 is online among the History of Science website at the fabulous University of Wisconsin - my favourite repository.

[I'm away in the countryside at the moment so posting is a tad intermittent. Sunstroke from sailing and a dodgy internet connection hasn't helped. Things should be back to normal in a few days.]