SALAMANDERS. 87 



the vertebral hole, and the dome-like bones nothing 

 but modifications of the vertebra itself. In fact, the 

 skull is not an isolated structure, but is formed of a 

 simple modification of four vertebrae. 



On this beautiful discovery, so obscure before it was 

 made, and so simple afterwards, is based the whole of 

 our modern knowledge of the skeleton and its homo- 

 logies throughout the whole of the mammalia. The 

 subject is far too vast to be discussed in the present 

 work, and I can only refer my readers to Professor 

 Owen's " Lectures on Comparative Anatomy." Suffice 

 it to say that since the time when Goethe saw that 

 stray skull, the vertebra has been known to be the key 

 to the whole skeleton, all other parts being but modifi- 

 cations of it, however unlike they may appear to the 

 uninstructed eye. 



The second great discovery of this wonderful man 

 was the structure of fruit, which he found out while 

 eating an orange. I suppose, and certainly hope, that 

 most of my readers have eaten plenty of oranges in 

 their time ; but scarcely think that, unless as botanists, 

 they were aware of the fact that the orange contained 

 the key to the structure of the fruit, as the vertebra 

 contains the structure of the skeleton. 



Goethe, however, saw with other eyes than most 

 men, and, as he opened the orange, a mystery of 

 Nature was revealed. It is probable, and almost 

 certain, that he had eaten many oranges before this 

 particular one opened the eyes of his understanding. 

 On separating the various segments of which the 

 interior of an orange is composed, he was at once 

 struck with the fact that each segment was in reality a 



