biomedicalephemera: Reginald Southey with human and monkey skeleton Albumen photograph by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (nom de plume Lewis Caroll, author of Alice in Wonderland), 1857. Reginald Southey was an English physician who invented a specialized cannula (tube) for draining the excess fluid from limbs suffering from edema (dropsy). He was lifelong friends with Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. The pensive expression on Southey’s face betrays the fact that he’s standing with his arm around a skeleton rather than a live human. The composition of the photograph and the portrayal of the abnormal as mundane strikes me as incredibly reminiscent of the worlds Dodgson created in his writings.
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biomedicalephemera:

Reginald Southey with human and monkey skeleton

Albumen photograph by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (nom de plume Lewis Caroll, author of Alice in Wonderland), 1857.

Reginald Southey was an English physician who invented a specialized cannula (tube) for draining the excess fluid from limbs suffering from edema (dropsy). He was lifelong friends with Charles Lutwidge Dodgson.

The pensive expression on Southey’s face betrays the fact that he’s standing with his arm around a skeleton rather than a live human. The composition of the photograph and the portrayal of the abnormal as mundane strikes me as incredibly reminiscent of the worlds Dodgson created in his writings.

biomedicalephemera: Skull of juvenile Bornean orangutan (top) compared to adult Homo sapiens Like most great apes, Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) have large, sharp, canine teeth. However, these do not grow in until the juvenile orangutan loses its milk teeth, a couple years after weaning (typically between 4-6 years of age). You can see the evolutionary differences in diet between orangutans and humans, simply by looking at the teeth and shape of the skull. The orangutan has large, broad molars, sharp incisors, and mandibular musculature that has a very broad attachment point on the skull. Bornean orangutans are generally vegetarian, feeding on leaves, berries, and even bark at times. The broad molars are necessary for grinding and breaking down roughage in their diet. While the human skull given is not the best example, we have smaller molars, weaker mandibular muscles, and fairly dull incisors and canines. Homo sapiens evolved as strict omnivores, but with a very distinct difference from our more simian (and even most of our hominid) ancestors - we cooked our food. Though the roughage early humanity consumed was much tougher than what we eat today (unless you eat roots and nutmeats as a primary diet), cooking foods such as meats and roots broke them down before we ate them. Our skulls required less space for jaws and jaw muscles, and we required less energy to eat than ever before. Die Säugthiere in Abbildungen nach der Natur. J.C.D. Schreber, 1774.
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biomedicalephemera:

Skull of juvenile Bornean orangutan (top) compared to adult Homo sapiens

Like most great apes, Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) have large, sharp, canine teeth. However, these do not grow in until the juvenile orangutan loses its milk teeth, a couple years after weaning (typically between 4-6 years of age).

You can see the evolutionary differences in diet between orangutans and humans, simply by looking at the teeth and shape of the skull. The orangutan has large, broad molars, sharp incisors, and mandibular musculature that has a very broad attachment point on the skull. Bornean orangutans are generally vegetarian, feeding on leaves, berries, and even bark at times. The broad molars are necessary for grinding and breaking down roughage in their diet.

While the human skull given is not the best example, we have smaller molars, weaker mandibular muscles, and fairly dull incisors and canines. Homo sapiens evolved as strict omnivores, but with a very distinct difference from our more simian (and even most of our hominid) ancestors - we cooked our food. Though the roughage early humanity consumed was much tougher than what we eat today (unless you eat roots and nutmeats as a primary diet), cooking foods such as meats and roots broke them down before we ate them. Our skulls required less space for jaws and jaw muscles, and we required less energy to eat than ever before.

Die Säugthiere in Abbildungen nach der Natur. J.C.D. Schreber, 1774.

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