ON THE MORPHOLOGICAL VIEW OF NATURE. 243 



the true orbit. It follows that " we must study the 

 different species as constant things," 1 and that this is a 

 more " dignified " occupation for a " naturalist than the 

 accumulation of doubtful cases in favour of the non- 

 permanence of species." 2 He agrees with Cuvier in 

 rejecting the older idea of the " e"chelle des etres," 3 and 

 he praises the sagacity of Linnseus, who suggests that 

 the vegetable kingdom resembles a geographical chart, 4 

 an idea which, in the hands of several French and 

 German botanists, has become a fruitful conception. 



In De Candolle we meet with a repeated accentuation 

 of the recurring symmetry of form, of the existence of 

 definite primitive types, in the vegetable kingdom. 

 Simultaneously with him there was labouring another 

 thinker and keen observer of nature, who was primarily 

 struck by the resemblance exhibited in the different 

 parts or organs of one and the same plant, and searched 

 for the type or plan on which they were modelled. He 

 introduced into the vocabulary of scientific language 

 the expression " metamorphosis of plants." It was 

 Goethe the poet who, in 1790, published under this 

 title his first contribution to morphological science. In 

 subsequent publications and essays, covering the last forty 



Goethe's 



1 "The'orie e'le'mentaire," p. 195. 



2 Ibid. 3 Ibid., p. 230. 



4 "Linnd a le premier, avec sa 

 sagacite" ordinaire, compare" le regne 

 ve'ge'tal a une carte gdographique ; 

 cette me'taphore, indique'e dans son 

 livre par un seul mot, a 6t6 de"- 

 veloppe'e ensuite par Qiseke, Batsch, 

 Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, L'HeY- 

 itier, Petit - Thouars, Ac. Et 

 quoi qu'on ne doive la prendre que 

 pour une simple image, cette image 



est tellement juste, tellement 

 fe"conde en consequences utiles, 

 qu'il est peut - dtre convenable 

 d'entrer dans quelques details 

 ulte"rieurs. Je suppose pour un 

 moment cette carte exe"cute"e ; les 

 classes re"pondent aux parties du 

 monde, les families aux royaumes, 

 les tribus aux provinces, les genres 

 aux cantons et les especes aux 

 villes ou villages," &c. (Theor. 

 e"l<5in., p. 231). 



