Elephant anatomy
Date
1710
Creator
Gilbert Orum (Scottish) , Engraver
Creator - Organisation
The Royal Society, Publisher
Object type
Article identifier
Material
Technique
Subject
Content object
Description
Four plates from issue 326 of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.
Plate 1. Zoological study of an elephant, in left profile.
Plate 2. Zoological study of an elephant’s skeleton, in left profile.
Plate 3. Various bones and internal organs of the elephant specimen:
Figures 1-3. Fore, side and back part of the head.
Figures 4-5 Base of the skull.
Figure 6. Upper part of the skull.
Figures 7-9. Lower, upper and side part of the jawbone.
Figures 10-12. Petrosal process on the sphenoid bone.
Figure 13. Bones of the ear.
Figure 14. The seat of the brain.
Figure 15. Uterus.
Figure 16-18. Nose.
Figure 19. Rudiment incisor.
Plate 4. Various bones and internal organs of the elephant specimen:
Figures 1 and 3 (A-B). Vertebrae of the neck.
Figure 2. Shoulder bone.
Figures 4-5. Fore and back part of the pelvis.
Figure 6. Bones of the fore foot.
Figure 7. Bones of the hind foot.
Figure 8. Carpus bones.
Figure 9. Tarsus bones.
Figure 10. Liver.
Figure 11. Hyoid bone.
All four plates inscribed: ‘Blair Gilb: Orum Taodunens pinx et sculp: Pat Blair Taodunens Erundit’
Illustrations to ‘Osteographia Elephantina: A full and exact description of all the bones of an Elephant, which died near Dundee, April the 27th, 1706. with their several dimensions. Communicated in a letter to Dr. Hans Sloane, R, S, Secr. By Mr Patrick Blair, Surgeon, &c’ in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, vol. 27, issue 326 (July 1710).
Patrick Blair (ca.1670–1728), Scottish surgeon, anatomist and botanist, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1712. In 1706, Blair famously dissected an elephant, which was being toured around the United Kingdom, and which had died on the road between Broughty Ferry and Dundee. This article contains his description of this dissection.
‘Gilb Orum’ refers to Gilbert Orum, a Dundonian based engraver, responsible for these engravings.
Plate 1. Zoological study of an elephant, in left profile.
Plate 2. Zoological study of an elephant’s skeleton, in left profile.
Plate 3. Various bones and internal organs of the elephant specimen:
Figures 1-3. Fore, side and back part of the head.
Figures 4-5 Base of the skull.
Figure 6. Upper part of the skull.
Figures 7-9. Lower, upper and side part of the jawbone.
Figures 10-12. Petrosal process on the sphenoid bone.
Figure 13. Bones of the ear.
Figure 14. The seat of the brain.
Figure 15. Uterus.
Figure 16-18. Nose.
Figure 19. Rudiment incisor.
Plate 4. Various bones and internal organs of the elephant specimen:
Figures 1 and 3 (A-B). Vertebrae of the neck.
Figure 2. Shoulder bone.
Figures 4-5. Fore and back part of the pelvis.
Figure 6. Bones of the fore foot.
Figure 7. Bones of the hind foot.
Figure 8. Carpus bones.
Figure 9. Tarsus bones.
Figure 10. Liver.
Figure 11. Hyoid bone.
All four plates inscribed: ‘Blair Gilb: Orum Taodunens pinx et sculp: Pat Blair Taodunens Erundit’
Illustrations to ‘Osteographia Elephantina: A full and exact description of all the bones of an Elephant, which died near Dundee, April the 27th, 1706. with their several dimensions. Communicated in a letter to Dr. Hans Sloane, R, S, Secr. By Mr Patrick Blair, Surgeon, &c’ in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, vol. 27, issue 326 (July 1710).
Patrick Blair (ca.1670–1728), Scottish surgeon, anatomist and botanist, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1712. In 1706, Blair famously dissected an elephant, which was being toured around the United Kingdom, and which had died on the road between Broughty Ferry and Dundee. This article contains his description of this dissection.
‘Gilb Orum’ refers to Gilbert Orum, a Dundonian based engraver, responsible for these engravings.
Related fellows
Patrick Blair (1706 - 1728, British) , Physician and Botanist, Surgeon
Associated place