Scientific Illustration

biomedicalephemera:

Valves of the Heart, Cardiac Skeleton, and Connective Tissue of Heart

The “skeleton” of the heart is, of course, not made of bone. Between the atria and the ventricles, a layer of thick connective tissues surrounds the valves of the heart, and provides an attachment point for the connective tissue that keeps the heart from over-expanding. The chordae tendineae also use the cardiac skeleton as one of their primary attachment points.

Traité complet de l’anatomie de l’homme comprenant la medecine operatoire, par le docteur Marc Jean Bourgery. Illustration by Nicolas Henri Jacob, 1831.

biomedicalephemera:

The Falkland Islands Wolf - Dusicyon culpaeus [now Dusicyon australis]

The Falkand Islands wolf was also known as the “warrah”, from the Guarani word for “fox”. It was the closest living relative to the maned wolf, an unusual-looking long-legged canid endemic to South America.

The Falkland Islands are geographically Argentinian, but were colonized by the British in the late 18th century. The military conflicts regarding the islands aside, British settlers introduced sheep very early on in the colonization, and have kept sheep on the islands ever since.

The colonists on the Falklands feared the wolves would eat their sheep, and poisoned or slaughtered large numbers of them every year. The fearless nature of this top carnivore was a major factor in its ultimate extinction. Even in the last days of their existence, they had no fear of man, and could be baited with nothing more than a chunk of meat held in an outstretched hand. The species was declared extinct in 1876.

Interesting side-note: The Latin name for the species means “foolish wolf of the south”.

The Zoology of the Voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle: Mammalia, part 2. Charles Darwin, 1838.

steelylaceribbon:

Dru Drury, Illustrations of Exotic Entomology - Plate 1/ Vol. 1, (1837)

biomedicalephemera:

The inner ear and labyrinth, in situ and isolated. Innervation and vasculature displayed in situ.

Arterial and venous circulation of the tympanum (eardrum).

You can see how the inner ear sits within the temporal bone in these illustrations, and can get more of an idea how it fits into the skull. The vestibulocochlear nerve is shown clearly as the white chord-like structure entering from the bottom of the center illustration. This nerve carries signals to the brain regarding both hearing and balance.

Traité complet de l’anatomie de l’homme comprenant la medecine operatoire, par le docteur Marc Jean Bourgery. Illustrated by Nicolas Henri Jacob, 1831.

biomedicalephemera:

Salmo scouleri (now Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) -  The Pink Salmon

Sometimes known as the humpback salmon or humpie, due to the humped back that males develop during spawning season.

Like all salmon, clearly one of the top predators in its ecosystem. The pink salmon is the smallest and most abundant of their family, but is still imperiled within California (though they only exist as far south as Sacramento) and Washington. On the West Pacific (throughout the Siberian and part of the Korean coastline), within British Columbia, and in Alaskan populations, the species is stable.  

Fauna Boreali-Americana; or the zoology of the northern parts of British America.: containing descriptions of the objects of natural history collected on the late northern land expeditions, under the command of Sir John Franklin. Part 3: The Fish. John Richardson, 1836.

biomedicalephemera:

The Sand Piper, The Ruff, The European Curlew (Numenius arquata)

The Eurasian [European] Curlew is currently not an uncommon bird in Europe, and is known as simply “the curlew”, or, in Scots, the whaup.

The breeding population has decreased by almost 80% in recent years, and though the population is still large, it’s considered to be Near Threatened. The rate of decline has slowed notably in recent years, but hunting of the bird in its southern range of African and Asian coastal areas is still prevalent. 

This is now considered a protected bird in one of its year-round homes, Ireland. Unlike the other curlews, Eurasian curlews are willing to settle in climates that are relatively temperate year-round, and have a permanent population throughout the United Kingdom and the British Isles.

The Animal Kingdom Arranged According to its Organization, Vol I: Mammalia-Birds. Baron George Cuvier, 1834.

moshita:

Hand colored copper engraving, 1837

(via biomedicalephemera)

biomedicalephemera:

Tapirus indicus - The Malayan tapir

The red eyes on this tapir are the result of light reflection upon the blue hazy sheen over their brown irises that’s common in most tapir species. They have poor eyesight to begin with, and though they’re naturally crepuscular (active around dawn and dusk), their eyes are very damaged by repeated light exposure, so despite not being nocturnal mammals, they still must rely primarily on their sense of smell and hearing.

This illustration was published in a posthumous edition of Buffon’s Histoire Naturelle, so I’m unsure of its true author - the Comte de Buffon died in 1788, and the first descriptions of the Malayan tapir were not recorded until 1819.

Histoire Naturelle. Georges-Louis Leclerk, Comte de Buffon, 1838 [posthumous edition].

biomedicalephemera:

Acipenser transmontanus and Acipenser rupertinus (now Acipenser fulvescens) - White Sturgeon and Lake Sturgeon

Some fish are just plain terrifying.

Fauna Boreali-Americana; or the Zoology of the Northern Parts of British America. John Richardson, 1836.

biomedicalephemera:

“The Black-Collared Ai”: Three toed sloth

“The Unau”: Two-toed Sloth

The Animal Kingdom, Arranged According to its Organization. Baron Cuvier, 1834.

(via mudwerks)