Scottish comparative anatomist; the major scientific advocate of transmutation in 1830's and 40's London. His views on evolution were based on Lamarck's. A life-long professor of anatomy, he was a prominent supporter of radical political movements in the medical community. Although he encouraged Charles Darwin's interests in natural history (specifically marine invertebrates) while the latter was a medical student in Edinburgh, they had little contact afterwards, even while both of them were living in London during the late 1830's. Opposed politically and philosophically by R. Owen.
