Organization in Phanogamous Plants, 173 



by him, it has hitherto been of comparatively but little service. 

 If we understand by the term metamorphosis the principle 

 that a plant has only a certain limited number of different fun- 

 damental organs, and that all other organs distinguish them- 

 selves from these potentially, only inasmuch as the tendency 

 exists in them of allowing a certain peculiar degree of develop- 

 ment and variety of form, which, however, is not so absolute 

 but that it can be suppressed under certain circumstances, 

 allowing the usual form of the organ to manifest itself, — I say, 

 if we lay down this principle as a foundation, it is clear that 

 this doctrine must furnish the most important results for the 

 science, and give it an internal unity which no other branch of 

 empirical natural science has hitherto obtained ; that is, if this 

 idea can be substantiated by fact ; and it must only be received 

 so far as it can be proved, since as much as does not actually 

 exist in nature and cannot be perceived by the senses, is no 

 longer an object of natural science and can never serve to ex- 

 tend our knowledge of the material world. 



C. F. Wolff adopted the only correct plan, that of the study 

 of the development, and proved the identity of the greater 

 part of the foliaceous organs quite satisfactorily. He was, 

 however, not at all appreciated, and Goethe was the first who 

 introduced the doctrine of metamorphosis, but not as an in- 

 duction arising out of practical consideration of the process of 

 development, but as the speculative result of the comparison 

 of the different forms of the developed organ. Now such a 

 comparison may certainly lead us to conjecture the existence of 

 such a law, but can never lead to its absolute establishment. 

 Goethe says in another place : 



*' Alle Gestalten sind ahnlich, doch Keine gleichet der Andern j 

 Und so deutet der Chor auf ein geheiraes Gesetz." 



Analogy pervades all forms, — yet all unlike; 

 The whole thus indicate a hidden law. 



Thus it was that the botanists received this important doc- 

 trine, one which was capable of yielding such valuable results, 

 Under a wrong light, since it was presented to them only as a 

 philosophical idea, and indeed it seems as if a tolerably gene- 

 ral conviction prevailed that the demonstration of what was 

 true in the theory was not possible. At a later period Fran- 

 cis Bauer, who like Wolff was no botanist, again had recourse 

 to the only correct method, inasmuch as he traced the indi- 

 vidual organs to their original forms, in order to explain their 

 proper nature ; his investigations have, however, unfortunately 

 become too little known and have been used to advantage by 

 scarcely any one else than Robert Brown. 



