Abstract
THE science of zoology underwent a profound change at the end of the First World War. The orthodox approach to the subject through a study of comparative anatomy was largely abandoned, and all energies were devoted to the new outlook afforded by experimental zoology. Despite this complete change-over, no new academic posts were created to cater for this new method of approach. For a short time, there was a readership at Cambridge, but that was all. Now, to fill this obvious want, the University of Manchester has established a full chair in experimental zoology, to which Dr. Ralph Dennell has been appointed. Dr. Dennell has the advantage of having made his name first of all as a functional morphologist. He commenced work on the feeding mechanism of various Crustacea, and later turned his attention to the luminous organs of certain deep-sea prawns. During the Second World War, he undertook a study of the feeding mechanism of the grain weevil, and this led him to an experimental investigation of the process of hardening of the insect cuticle, a problem which he is extending to the whole of the Arthropoda. At present, he is in Bermuda, with a Leverhulme fellowship, studying deep-sea luminous forms.
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Experimental Zoology at Manchester: Dr. Ralph Dennell. Nature 162, 645 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1038/162645a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/162645a0