CHAPTER II 



THE OUTSTANDING BIOLOGICAL ADVANCES 

 OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 



THE events of the nineteenth century have a 

 relatively near-by interest. Accordingly, it will be 

 first in order to inquire what are the biological ad- 

 vances of widest influence of the past century? 



Many advanced students of zoology would be 

 puzzled if called on to separate the truly outstanding 

 events of zoological progress from those of subor- 

 dinate importance. There were so many biological 

 advances in "The Wonderful Century" that the 

 task of selecting those to stand in the front rank re- 

 quires much discrimination. The basis for selection 

 is not the brilliancy of individual discoveries, nor 

 unprecedented progress in special fields, but the 

 consequences that followed unique discoveries and 

 the extent to which they influenced the whole field of 

 biology. 



Instances of notable advances will at once emerge 

 for consideration such as: the establishment of 

 embryology on modern lines by Von Baer (1828), the 

 discovery of the nucleus of plant cells by Robert 



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