A lecture on the advantages of the study of natural history ... : delivered at the city of Westminster Literary & Mechanics Institution, February, 1851 / by Edwards Crisp.

  • Crisp, Edwards, 1806-1882.
Date:
1851
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A lecture on the advantages of the study of natural history ... : delivered at the city of Westminster Literary & Mechanics Institution, February, 1851 / by Edwards Crisp. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    ADVANTAGES OF THE STUDY OF. NATURAL HISTORY. \IllustrateS, by numerous Specimens and Biayrams.] It is scarcely necessary to point out to the members of a literary institution, the advantages of the study of natural history, as they must be apparent to all; but believing as I do, that these advantages are not so much appreciated as they deserve, I have been induced to bring the subject before you this evening, and my object will be, in the short space which is allotted me, to give in as concise and simple a manner as possible, an outline of some of the wonders of the animal kingdom. As a knowledge of grammar is necessary to the proper understanding of a language, so also is a correct classification essential to the student of natural history. Aristotle, Pliny, and all the older writers failed in their attempts at arrangement from their ignorance of anatomy. Bufibn, and many later writers, from the same cause, were equally unsuccessful. Linnseus was the first to arrange the animal kingdom in comprehensive and scientific divisions, but it was left to the immortal Cuvier to improve the system of classification, and to complete that which others had left imperfect. And here I cannot help alluding without some degree of pride, to the members of my own profession who have contributed so much to the perfection of this department of science, in all its branches. I mention some of them—Linnaeus, Haller, Pallas, Tiedemann, Daubenton, Sibbald, Barclay, Spix, Withering, Malpighi, Redi, Swammerdam, Blumenbach, Camper, Lamarck, Hunter, Cuvier, Jussieu, Ruysch, Spallanzani, Meckel, Leeuwenhoeck, Geofifroy, St. Hilaire, Shaw, Mandl, Milne Edwards, Owen, Grant, Mantel, and Queckett. Unfortunately, in this country scientific pursuits are gene- rally unrequited by the government, and men are more likely to be rewarded for political^ than for literary services. No people in the world have had such opportunities of cultivating the study of natural history as the English; our ships touch at every port, our countrymen are found in every quarter of the habitable globe, but the government has held out no rewards for scientific labours. We have societies and clubs; companies and private speculations, but nothing national. Professor Grant, the celebrated comparative anatomist says, in speak- ing of France— “ Every circumstance, to the minutest details, connected with medical education and government, is fixed by legislative decrees, like the other important affairs of the state. The Royal Academy of Sciences, or Institute of France, the Faculty of Medicine of Paris, and the Museum of Natural History, consist of men salaried by government, who have determinate duties, and represent every branch of literature, science, and the arts. They form a striking contrast with our country. In the Budget of the present year, (1841) for instance, there are fifteen professors in the Museum of Natural History alone, with salaries of 5,000 francs each; and in the National Museum of Natural History of England, there never has been a single instructor since the first foundation of the empire.” The improvement, however, that has taken place in the British Museum, both as regards the admission of the publie, and the internal arrangements, is a proof that the government is at length awakened to the importance of the subject, and I hope the time is not far distant when we shall have a National Museum of Natural History in every