75 



An Interpretation of GOETHE'S Blatt in his " Metamorphose 



der Pflanzen ", as an Explanation of the Principle 



of Natural Classification* 



By 



BUNZO HAYATA 



Since my return from Tonkin (Inclo-Cliina), in August 1917, I have been 

 reflecting on the principle of natural classification to which my attention was 

 drawn during the score of years that I devoted to the study of the flora of 

 Formosa. Current opinion demands that natural classification be based on 

 the evolution theory, and consequently that the classification of plants should 

 be in accordance with the phylogenetic tree. Much against my will, I have 

 come to entertain strong doubts as to the correctness of this principle, so 

 ^euerally accepted by modern systematizers ; for my twenty years' experience 

 in systematic botany has steadily led me into quite a different channel of 

 thought. This I now venture to make public, although I am aware that it will 

 - meet with a great deal of opposition. When studying the principles laid down 

 by great authors such as DARWIN, HAECKEL, EXGLER, HALLIER and others,* 



* I must ask ray readers' indulgence for the fact that this study was written before I had 

 seen the most important literature bearing on the subject. I refer to HANSEN, ADOLPH : Goethes 

 Metamorphose der Pflanzen (Geschichte einer Botanischen Hypothese), 1907. 



** Among the literature which treats of the principle of natural classification, I may men- 

 tion the following works : 



DAEWIN, C. On the Origin of Species, (New York, 1890) ; Divergence of Character, and the 

 Probable Effects of the Action of Natural Selection through Divergence of Character and Extinc- 

 tion, on the Descendants of a Common Ancestor, 1. c. pp. 86-'J7 ; Classification. 1. c. pp. 3G3-381. 



HAECKEI,, E. Prinzipien der Generellen Morphologie der Organismen (Berlin, 190G) ; Das 

 natiirliche System als Stammbaum (Prinzipien der Klassifikation), 1. c. p. 390. 



ENGLEE, A. Erl-iuterungen zu der Ubersicht liber die Embryophyta Siphonogaraa, in den 

 Natiirlichen Pflanzenfamilien, Nachtritgen ZULU II.-IV. Teil, |'1S'J7), pp. 358-380. 



, . Prinzipien der Systematischen Anordnung, im Syllabus der P flanzenfamilkn 

 siebente Auflage, Berlin, 1212. 



HALLIEE, H. Provisional Scheme of the Natural (Phylogenetic) System of Flowering Plants, 

 in the New Phytologist, Yol. IV., No. 7, July, 1905. 



, . Ein zweiter Entwurf des natiirlichen (phylogenetischen) Systems der Bliiten- 



pflanzen, in den Berichte der Deutschen Bot. Gesellsch. XXIII., 2, pp. 85-91. 



LOTSY, J. P. "Vortra'ge iiber Botanische Stammesgeschichte, I., Jena, (1907). 



WETTSTEIN, K. Handbuch der Systematischen Botanik (Zweite Auflage. 1911) ; AUgemeiner 

 Teil, 1. c. pp. 1-49. 



