From Man's to Practical Anatomy: The evolution of an anatomical textbook.

This paper traces the history of Man's Anatomy, one of the most influential anatomy textbooks produced on the African continent. Authored by the two renowned South African educators Phillip Vallentine Tobias and Maurice Arnold, the first volume of this book was published in 1963. Both an anatomy textbook and a dissection manual Man's Anatomy included an in-depth exposition of structures of the human body, presented in an innovative and engaging way. In 1999, in line with the developments in medical and anatomy education as well as broader societal changes, the book was significantly condensed, and its name changed to Practical Anatomy. The second edition of Practical Anatomy was published in 2020 and is currently still in use at many South African universities.

The Allan Burns mummies: A history and future prospect of an anatomical collection.

Acquiring adequate resources for anatomy education has represented a challenge throughout the discipline's long history. A significant number of collections housed in anatomy departments contain human tissue of unknown provenance with some obtained in morally dubious ways. This paper outlines the history and future prospects of one such anatomical assemblage - the Burns Anatomical Collection, currently housed at the University of Maryland (UM). The collection originally contained more than 1000 anatomically prepared mummified human remains. They were produced by the renowned Scottish anatomist Allan Burns in Glasgow in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The prepared cadavers became a commodity and after Burns' death, were acquired by his pupil Granville Pattison, who later sold them to the UM. While the origin of these human remains is unknown, historical data suggests that most of the cadavers for the collection were obtained through grave robbing. While intensely used in anatomy teaching in the nineteenth century, specimens from the collection should now be treated primarily as historical artifacts, appropriate only for teaching medical history and ethics. Other perspectives may include repatriating and reburying the human remains and providing a memorial service. Most importantly, this collection and others similar to it should initiate dialog and reflection on the ethical aspects of the past and present medical practice.

Giambattista Canano and his myology.

Giambattista Canano was a sixteenth century Italian anatomist and physician. He was educated at the University of Ferrara where, upon graduation, he was appointed professor of anatomy. While at the university, Canano carried out a pioneering study of skeletal muscles. This study was to be published in a multi-volumed book entitled Musculorum Humani Corporis Picturata Dissectio. However, only the section on the muscles of the upper limb was published, as Canano stopped the printing of his book. It is hypothesized that he met Vesalius at the time and saw the proofs of his Fabrica which he assessed as far superior and, consequently, decided to abort his project. The preserved copies of the Dissectio, however, show that the standards of Canano's work surpassed most of the anatomical studies published up to that time. Canano subsequently left the academic position and made a notable career as a physician. His appointments included prestigious positions of physician to the Pope and protomedicus of the House of Este in Ferrara.

Raymond Dart as a pioneering primatologist.

Raymond Dart is best known today for his groundbreaking research in palaeoanthropology. It is often forgotten, however, that Dart was a scientist of many interests, who made significant contributions to various disciplines. One of these is the study of living non-human primates. Dart became aware of the importance of primate studies and their relevance for research in other disciplines early in his career. In the late 1920s Dart established a colony of captive baboons in the Anatomy Department, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. On these animals, members of his Department, most notably Joseph Gillman and Christine Gilbert, carried out a number of significant behavioural and endocrinological researches. In 1930, as a member of an Italian Scientific Expedition, Dart was involved in hunting a mountain gorilla (for research purposes). He was also active in primate field studies. In 1957 he and Phillip Tobias founded a Witwatersrand University Uganda Gorilla Research Unit for the study of the Virunga mountain gorillas. The unit produced pioneering studies, conducted by Jill Donisthorpe, on the behaviour of these primates in their natural habitat. At the same time Dart was actively engaged in conservation of the mountain gorillas. He also studied South African chacma baboons in the wild. In the field of primate studies Raymond Dart figures prominently as a pioneering catalyst as well as researcher and conservationist.