Russia's Contrihution to Science. 235 



Of other Russian botanists whose work is known outside of 

 Russia I may mention Belajefif, Nawaschin, Gorojankin and 

 Golenkin as well as the distiguished bacteriologist Vinogradsky. 



Zoology, embryology, and allied sciences have been always 

 popular with the Russians. We have seen already that as early as 

 1725 Duvernoie was called to the first chair of anatomy and 

 zoology established at the St. Petersburg- Academy. Three 

 names of men who, because of their Teutonic origin and great 

 achievements in science are claimed by the Germans, may be even 

 with greater justice claimed by Russia because they spent most 

 of their life in Russia and became identified with the Imperial 

 Academy of Petrograd. These are Wolfif, Pallace and Baer. 



Kaspar Friedrich Wolfif, who by right should be called the 

 founder of the science of embryology, was born in Berlin in 1733, 

 the son of a tailor. In Halle where he studied medicine he wrote 

 his "Theoria generationis" published in 1759, a remarkable 

 work in which he attacked the so-called evolution or preformation 

 t' eory and advanced his own theory of epigenesis or gradual 

 development. Unable to continue his studies in Germany, WollT 

 ! adly accepted a call to the St. Petersburg Academy in 1766. 

 In 1768 and 1769 he published his second great work "De Forma- 

 tione Intestinarum" in the Memoirs of the Academy. Von Baer 

 spoke of this work as "the greatest masterpiece of scientific obser- 

 vation which we possess." Wolff died in St. Petersburg in 1794 

 and those Germans who claim him because of his origin and 

 still more because of the excellence of his work, should remember 

 the statement made by Ernst Haeckel himself in his Natuer- 

 liche Schopfungsgeschichte that "De Formatione Intestinarum" 

 remained unknown to the Germans until it was translated from 

 the Latin in which it is written into German in 181 2 — which 

 means that Wolff during his life did not exist for the Germans 

 since he left Germany at the age of 33. 



Peter Simon Pallas, born in Berlin in 1741, is also claimed by 

 the Germans. Yet he left Germany when 20 years of age, lived 

 in England where he was elected member of the Royal Society, 

 then in Holland, served for a short time as professor of surgery 

 in Berlin and was called to the Imperial Academy of St, Peters- 

 burg in 1767, i. e. at the age of 26 years. In Russia he spent 43 

 years, i. e., until 1810, and when his wife died, returned to Ger- 

 many only to die the following year. He was a great traveller 



