ANNALS OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



XXXV. — On the Writings of Goethe relative to Natural 

 History, By M. F. G. Pictet*. 



The labours of Goethe in natural history had for their object 

 comparative anatomy, botany, and geology. All bear the 

 stamp of the loftiness of conception and profoundness of view 

 which are characteristic of genius ; they treat of the most im- 

 portant, but also sometimes of the most disputed points of or- 

 ganization ; we would therefore confine ourselves to the part 

 which we can best appreciate, and chiefly point out the ser- 

 vices he has rendered to comparative anatomy. But pre- 

 viously, and in order to explain how and to what extent Goethe 

 was an anatomist, it is indispensable to take a slight view of 

 his life and the epoch of his labours. 



Born and reared at Frankfort on the Maine, Goethe directed 

 his first studies, as he himself tells us, to the knowledge of 

 ancient and modern languages. His literary taste displayed 

 itself early, and some poetical essays completed these first la- 

 bours. No circumstance had ever as yet led him to study 

 nature, and at most a vague desire of acquiring a knowledge 

 of her laws now and then crossed his mind. * Here and there 

 in my poetical essays," says he in the sketch which in 1831 he 

 gave of his botanical studies, u are to be perceived some traces 

 of a passionate love for the country, and of an earnest desire 

 to penetrate the great secret of the constant creation and an- 

 nihilation of beings ; but this desire evaporated in vain and 

 useless contemplations ." 



It was at Strasbourg, in 1770* that he first set about the 

 study of the natural sciences. Having come to this city to 

 take the degree of doctor of laws, he gave to this pursuit so 

 much time only as was strictly necessary, and followed with 

 ardour courses of chemistry, anatomy, medicine, and even of 



* Translated from the Bibliotheque Universelle de Geneve, vol. xv. 

 p. 338. 



Ann, Nat, Hist, Vol. 2, No. 11. Jan, 1839. y 



