88 THE EVOLUTION OF MAN. 



ideas of Lamarck contain the first and oldest gerias of a 

 real history of the human tribe. 



Toward the end of the preceding and the beginning 

 of this century, the great poet Goethe, whose genius 

 wa^ of the highest order, busied himself, independently of 

 Lamarck, with the problem of creation, and his thoughts 

 on this subject are of special interest. It is well known 

 that Goethe's ready recognition of all the beauties of 

 Nature, and his deep insight into her workings, early 

 attracted him to natural scientific studies of the most 

 various kinds. Throughout his life these formed the 

 favourite occupation of his leisure hours. The theory of 

 colours especially resulted in his well-known and compre- 

 hensive work on this subject ; but the most valuable and 

 important of Goethe's natural scientific studies are those in 

 connection with organic bodies, with " Life, that splendid, 

 priceless thing." In Morphology, the doctrine of forms, 

 he made most unusually deep researches. Aided by Com- 

 I.)arative Anatomy, he obtained most brilliant results in 

 this, and went far in advance of his time. His cranial 

 theory, his discovery of the temporal jawbone in man, and 

 his doctrine of the metamorphosis of plants, must be espe- 

 cially mentioned here.^^ These morphological studies led 

 Goethe to make those researches into the formation and 

 transformation of organisms which we must rank, after those 

 of Lamarck, among the oldest and profoundest rudiments 

 of phylogenetical science. He came so near the Theory of 

 Descent that he must be classed with Lamarck among the 

 founders of it. It is true that Goethe has nowhere g:.ven 

 a connected scientific exposition of his theory of evolution ; 

 but his brilliant miscellaneous writings, "J?wr Morphologie," 



