NATURAL HISTORY OF ORGANIZED BODIES. 279 



form wLicli it received from tlie Jnssicus. It was Autoinc Laurent ilo Jii^^bien,. 

 in effect, wLio first clearly a})i)reliende(l and distinctly defined the ])rinciple of 

 subordination of cLaracters. lie based his classification of plants on the anat- 

 omy of the most important apparatus in the vegetable kingdom — the apparatus 

 of reproduction. Hence the number of tbe lobes of the vegetable embryo, 

 that is to say, of the cof/jh'dons, the insertion of the stamens in the flower, became 

 the characters on which is still based the classification of plants. 



Since Cuvier and the Jussieus, zoological and botanical classifications have 

 continued to improve ; but naturalists have, on the whole, respected the plan 

 which has been handed down to them, liectifications have been made, and cer- 

 tain beings have been transferred from one family to another, with which they are 

 more closely allied by essential characters 5 at other times it has been found 

 necessary to enlarge the zoological and botanical outline for the admission of 

 newly discovered individuals, but these partial modifications constitute but a 

 development of the fundamental idea -which has remained unchanged : the 

 necessity, namely, of keeping constantly in view the classification of beings 

 according to the most important characters of their organization. 



Anatomy, which had produced these reforms, has itself advanced to new con- 

 quests. Up to our present century it had remained purely descriptive — that is 

 to say, it was limited to indicating the form of the organs considered each in its 

 OUT! mass. Thus it determined the form of the bones, of the muscles, of the 

 vessels, of the nerves, &c., whether in man or a lower species, or else it coni- 

 jiared the arrangement of these organs in a succession of individuals of the zoo- 

 logical series. It was Bichat who impressed on anatomy a new character. He 

 created general anatojui/, in the sense that he studied the tissues which enter 

 into the composition of the organism. The extended emplo3-ment of the micro- 

 scope gave a vigorous impulsion to these studies. This instrument conferred the 

 power of discerning distinct and well-defined elements in those tissues which 

 had till then appeared homogeneous. The globules of the blood, the animal- 

 cules of the sperm, the cellules of the epithelium, the tubes of the nerves, the 

 acini of the glands, have been all revealed to us by the microscope. The 

 knowledge pertaining to these subjects constitutes histology, henceforth insepara- 

 ble from general anatomy. TransfeiTcd to the domain of comparative anatomy, 

 histology acquires a new interest ; it shows us that certain elements of the tis- 

 sues imdergt), like the organs themselves, very decided modifications when we 

 follow them up in animals or plants of different families. 



The microscope further condu(;ts us to a discover}^ of great importance, that 

 of the development of the germs in animals and plants. Animal enibrgogcng 

 constitutes a now branch of science, with Avhich are connected illustrious names, 

 almost all being those of cotemporaries : Von Baer, Graaf, Purkinje, Cosie. 

 Nor is vegetable embr^yogeny less curious 5 the intimate phenomena of reproduc- 

 tion in the two kingdoms resemble one another in a striking manner. The 

 surprised observer hesitates in pronouncing whether he has not under his eyes 

 an animal organism, when he sees the antherozoid of certain vegetables agitated 

 as with spontaneous motion, seeking with persistence the orifice through which 

 it is destined to pass, or disengaging itself with apparent effort from the impedi- 

 ments which obstruct it. The two kingdoms thus appear to be confounded in 

 the elements of their origin, while tliey deviate so widely one from the other 

 when we contemplate them only as complete beings. 



This collective view of organized nature, important as it is, still exhibits it to 

 us only under one of its aspects. It makes us acquainted with existencies as 

 regards their form and structure, abstraction being made of what is most essen- 

 tial in them ; namel3\ life. We seem to have been traversing an immense 

 gallery of mechanisms of greatly varied 'comf)inations, some in appearance very 

 simple, others of an extreme c(aiq:)lication 5 these of enormous mass, those of an 

 infinite delicacy. But everything here was mysterious in its immobility; the 



