i84 THE HISTORY OF BIOLOGY 



all these being factors conducive to continued scientific production. The 

 colour theory was reprinted and amplified; the anatomical writings of his 

 youth were published and largely added to, the ideal primal type and Schel- 

 ling's polarity theory reappearing in several variations. In these works he 

 tries to find a primal form for the anatomical details, just as he did a primal 

 phenomenon in optics; he invented the word "miorphology," knowledge of 

 form, and it still survives in modern science, although, it is true, in an en- 

 tirely different meaning from that which Goethe originally gave it. Of these 

 works may be mentioned an article on the six vertebra; composing the 

 cranium. Ten years before, Oken had expounded a similar theory, which will 

 be referred to later on; he has thus the prior right to the idea and declared, 

 moreover, that he mentioned it to Goethe in the course of conversation, 

 which, however, the latter emphatically denied. It is scarcely possible now to 

 find out exactly what happened; besides, it is of not very great interest 

 nowadays, as the whole theory is out of date. 



Spiral theory 

 The article "tjber die Spiralfenden^' der Vegetation belongs to Goethe's last 

 years. Both in its idea and in its method this article is one of the most ec- 

 centric imaginative creations of the romantic philosophy, but for this very 

 reason it aroused great enthusiasm amongst the supporters of that tendency, 

 whilst those who hoped to see in Goethe a modern natural scientist passed 

 it over in complete silence. According to this article,^ the plant is composed 

 of two indissolubly connected "tendencies": the vertical, which represents 

 the eternal essence, and the spiral, which represents the nourishing, the culti- 

 vating, the reproductive. The latter tendency, naturally represented by the 

 spiral vessels, is given a number of utterly incomprehensible definitions: "das 

 Spiralsystem ist abschliessend, den Abschluss befordernd. Und Z}(-'ar auf gesetxjiche, 

 vollendete Weise. Sodann aber auch auf ungesefzliche, voreilende und vernichtende 

 IVeise." The aquatic plant Vallisneria, in particular, the male flower of which 

 grows straight, while the stalk of the female flower after fertilization con- 

 tracts into a spiral, is analysed in connexion therewith, the result being that 

 as a general rule the vertical represents the male in the plant, and the spiral 

 the female, which is confirmed by the ancient metaphor of the tree and the 

 vine-tendril which winds itself round it, as a symbol for the masculine and 

 the feminine in life. With this glimpse into the innermost soul of existence 

 Goethe concludes the "spiral" article, which was written six months before 

 he died, so that after all it is the poet in the old philosopher Goethe that has 

 the last word, which is only right, as the need for a deeper and wider poetic 

 view of nature was undoubtedly the true reason for his coming to grips with 

 the study of nature. 



1 Here, too, Oken had previously dealt with the question; in his natural philosophy 

 there is a fantastic exposition of the spiral vessels in plants. 



