Zoonomia

Zoonomia; or the Laws of Organic Life (1794–96) is a two-volume medical work by Erasmus Darwin dealing with pathology, anatomy, psychology, and the functioning of the body.

Two chapters, "Of the Oxygenation of the Blood in the Lungs and Placenta" and "Of Generation" develop his theories about human reproduction, including observations related to evolution.

The historian of science Stephen Jay Gould says that "Zoonomia owes its modern reputation to a few fleeting passages that look upon organic transmutation with favor.

He stated, "[F]rom their first rudiment, or primordium, to the termination of their lives, all animals undergo perpetual transformations; which are in part produced by their own exertions in consequence of their desires and aversions, of their pleasures and their pains, or of irritations, or of associations; and many of these acquired forms or propensities are transmitted to their posterity.

[9] English Romantic poet William Wordsworth used Darwin's Zoonomia as a source for "Goody Blake and Harry Gill", a poem published in the Lyrical Ballads (1798).

[10] Zoonomia is the project name for a genomic sequence alignment effort, attempting to explore the genetic basis for heritable traits, conservation biodiversity, and human disease.