MODERN BIOLOGY 309 



that these "forces" are merely expressions by which to denote phenomena, 

 the cause of which we do not know, but the effects of which we can observe. 

 By the side of this, however, he speaks also of the body-mechanism. Thus 

 we find that Blumenbach did not create, like Stahl, any elaborated vitalistic 

 thought-system, and his speculation in general is not particularly logical. 

 His service lies rather in the field of comparative observation than in that 

 of speculation. 



Blumenbach's contemporary and equal in scientific reputation was Sam- 

 uel Thomas Sommerring (175 5-1830). He was born in the Polish town of 

 Thorn, though of a German family; his father was town physician, and the 

 son was destined early for the medical profession. He carried out his elemen- 

 tary studies at Gottingen, where Blumenbach was one of his younger teachers; 

 he afterwards studied anatomy, in Holland under Camper and in England 

 under Hunter. His youth recalls that of Swammerdam, in so far as his father 

 desired to see him early established in practice and stubbornly opposed his 

 going in for expensive scientific studies; but the young man refused to give 

 in; through his personal ability and the mediation of friends he managed to 

 secure extended help towards his studies away from home and thus continued 

 his scientific work in difficult economic circumstances, until he was able to 

 earn not only a good reputation, but also his daily bread. He held profes- 

 sorships, first at Kassel, then at Mainz and Munich; but during that period 

 spent some years as a practitioner at Frankfurt am Main, where he married 

 and found his true home. There, too, he spent the last ten years of his life 

 in peace and happiness, surrounded by friends and continuing his scientific 

 work until the end. 



In his general conception of nature Sommerring was to a certain extent 

 influenced by the speculations in mystical natural philosophy in which his 

 age indulged. At Kassel he entered the Rosicrucian Brotherhood and in it 

 carried on both alchemy and spiritualism, although he afterwards realized 

 his delusion in both respects. At Mainz, where his activities were most pro- 

 ductive, he applied himself exclusively to anatomy and carried out in this field 

 a number of valuable investigations on special subjects. Like Albinus, whom 

 he chose as his model, he employed a clever draughtsman and with his assis- 

 tance published several excellent compilations, one on the human body in its 

 entirety — which was never completed, but the published sections of which 

 are remarkable for their clear method of presentation and their sound de- 

 scriptions — as well as a number of special investigations, such as a treatise 

 on monstrosities of various kinds, which he spent some years in collecting, 

 and, further, a comparative study of the visual and auditory organs in differ- 

 ent races of mankind, and finally some investigations on various subjects 

 and of varying value. 



