Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1928

CARL GEGENBAUR (1826-1903) Untersuchungen zur vergleichenden Anatomie der Wirbelthiere. Wilhelm Engelmann 1864-1872 Vol. I: viii, 127 pp., 6 plates; Vol. II: vi, 176 pp., 9 plates (1 fold., 5 col.); Vol. III: x, 316 pp., 22 plates (20 col.). 28 cm.

Gegenbaur studied medicine at Würzburg and served there on the medical faculty before moving to Jena where he became professor of anatomy and zoology. For the greater part of his career he was professor of anatomy and comparative anatomy at Heidelberg. Gegenbaur was one of the first investigators to study anatomy from an evolutionary point of view and his work provided valuable support for Darwin's theories. His research on fishes supported Huxley's refutation of the theory that the skull originated from expanded vertebrae. Gegenbaur also showed that the eggs and sperm of vertebrates are single cells and demonstrated how the embryonic parts which form the gill apparatus in fish are also used for other organs in land vertebrates. These three comparative studies of the skeleton were Gegenbaur's finest contribution to the confirmation of Darwin's theories. Perhaps the most important is that on the carpus and tarsus in which he compares the bones of the hand and foot in different vertebrate animals. He followed that up with another study of the shoulder girdle and bones of the thorax and completed the series with his lengthy work on the skull.

Gift of John Martin, M.D.