244 



SCIENTIFIC THOUGHT. 



years of his extraordinary life, he again and again reverts 

 to the subject, which with him is only one chapter in the 

 extensive science of morphology, of which he was indeed 

 the first to form a general conception. Goethe's ideas 

 hardly influenced the course of science, but in the history 

 of thought they form a remarkable anticipation of later 

 views, and have accordingly been frequently referred to 

 by contemporary writers, notably by Haeckel and Huxley 

 in their important works on Morphology and Evolution. 

 Of the foremost scientific writers, De Candolle was almost 

 the only one l who, during Goethe's lifetime, referred to 

 his views with approbation ; seeing in his theory of the 

 metamorphosis of the leaf a truly admirable divination 2 

 of vegetable organisation. Saint - Hilaire's honourable 

 mention of Goethe's morphological contributions to zoology 

 came only just in time to be seen by Goethe himself. 3 



1 See ' Organographie,' vol. i. p. 

 551 : " Les parties de chaque range'e 

 ou de chaque verticille sont sus- 

 ceptibles de se transformer dans la 

 nature de la range'e qui la touche 

 immediatement. Ainsi 1'on trouve 

 des se'pales change's en nature 

 petaloide (Primula calcycanthema), 

 des petales change's en examines 

 (Capsella Bursa - pastoris), des 

 etamines changees en carpelles 

 (Magnolia fuscata), ou bien 1'in- 

 verse, savoir : des carpelles changees 

 en e'tamines (Euphorbia palustris), 

 des e'tamines changees en petales 

 (toutes les fleurs doubles), ou les 

 petales transformed en nature de 

 calice (Ranunculus abortivus). M. 

 Goethe a tres-heureusement de"signe 

 la premiere de ces series de trans- 

 formations sous le nom de M&amor- 

 phose ascendante ou directs, et la 

 seconde sous celle de Metamorphose 

 descendante ou inverse." 



2 Ibid. vol. ii. p. 243: " C'est 



ainsi qu'en voyant la maniere 

 ve"ritablement admirable dont M. 

 Goethe, quoiqu' habituellement 

 occupe" d'ide"es si differentes, a 

 comme devine 1'organisation vege- 

 tale, on est bien tente* de croire 

 qu'il 1'a moins invente" qu'il n'a 

 generalise* avec genie quelques faits 

 partiels heureusement choisis." 

 This was written in 1827. 



3 See Goethe's ' Werke ' (Weimar 

 edition, Abth. II. Bd. vii.), the 

 review of "Principes de Philosophic 

 Zoologique. Discute"s en Mars 

 1830 au sein de 1'academie royale 

 des sciences par M. Geoffrey 

 Saint-Hilaire, Paris, 1830," especi- 

 ally p. 181, and dated Sept. 1830. 

 In 1831 Geoffrey says of the unity 

 of organisation : ' ' Elle est pre- 

 sentement acquise au doinaine de 

 1'esprit humain ; et 1'honneur d'un 

 succes aussi memorable appartient 

 a Goethe." Quoted by Huxley in 

 ' Life of Owen,' vol. ii. p. 291. 



