Catalogue 38, Part 3 - Jeremy Norman's HistoryofScience.com

Owen’s Principal Forms of the Skeleton was a popular
rendition of his On the Archetype and Homologies of the
Vertebrate Skeleton (1849), the work in which he laid
out his system of comparative osteology and developed
his concept of the vertebrate archetype. “The vertebrate
archetype (from the Greek arkhe, ‘original,’ and tupos,
‘imprinted image’) is one of the most fascinating constructs
of what has been called the ‘morphological
period’ in the history of biology (approximately 1800-
1860). It represented the fullest expression of a belief in
the fundamental relatedness, if not of all organisms, at
least of all animals with endoskeletons. Moreover, as
Darwin scholars have long recognized, the vertebrate
archetype provided a direct stepping-stone to the
notion of evolutionary ancestors” (Rupke, “Richard
Owen’s vertebrate archetype,” 231). The Principal
Forms of the Skeleton was issued in both parts and in
book form, and went through at least a dozen English
and American editions. Rupke, “Richard Owen’s vertebrate
archetype,” Isis 84 (1993): 231-251; Richard
Owen, Victorian Naturalist (1994), pp. 161-170.
40856
“Your Wicked Daughter has Notions in
her Pate about Nursing”
84. Osler, William (1849-1919). Autograph
letter signed to Mrs. [John A.] Mullin, with
stamped cover. [Baltimore], October 14, 1900. 1
page, on Osler’s 1 West Franklin St. stationery.
160 x 115 mm. Light soiling, a few spots on cover,
but very good. Docketed by recipient. $3750
A charming and humorous letter from Osler to
the widow of his old friend Dr. John A. Mullin (1835-
99) of Hamilton, Ontario. Osler had become
acquainted with the Mullins in the 1870s, around the
time he began teaching at McGill University. Osler
credited Dr. Mullin with being the first to observe
“Osler’s nodes,” the cutaneous nodes in subacute bacterial
endocarditis; Mullin had apparently demonstrated
the nodes to Osler at the Hamilton City
Hospital (Buchanan, pp. 163-64). Osler’s affectionate
relationship with Mrs. Mullin is apparent in the present
letter:
Dear Mrs. Mullin, Mrs. Osler tells me that your
wicked daughter has notions in her pate about
nursing. Do you encourage them? If so I would
also as I am sure she would make a first class nurse
& be most helpful & useful. She is certainly
strong enough. I hope you are keeping well. Love
to all the boys. You sincere friend, Wm. Osler.
Osler’s letter is also of interest in that it demonstrates
his approval of nursing as a career for women, an opinion
that he expressed more fully in his Medicine and
Nursing (1919). Buchanan, “Sir William Osler (1849-
1919): The Early Years,” Proceedings of the Royal College
of Physicians of Edinburgh 31 (2001): 155-168. Cushing,
Life of Sir William Osler, pp. 121, 487. 40797
Pasteur Autograph and Portrait
85. Pasteur, Louis (1822-95). Signed autograph
inscription in French (4 lines plus signature).
N.p., n.d. Approx. 173 x 118 mm.
Translation included. W ith:Lawford,T.Hamilton.Hand-colored
mezzotint portrait of Pasteur,
signed by the engraver in pencil, after the painting
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