ON THE MORPHOLOGICAL VIEW OF NATURK. 223 



a peculiar fascination as forming the transition from the 

 abstract science of geometrical forms and statical equili- 

 brium to tlie study of the actual forms of real things. 

 Here, if anywhere, it seemed as if we might dis- 

 cover the link that connects the theoretically calcul- 

 able with tlie actually existing, the possible with the 

 real. Accordingly, we find a very general and recur- 

 ring tendency to carry over the notions of crystal- 

 lography into other sciences — into the morphology 

 of plants and animals. The planes and axes of 

 geometry, and the forces of attraction between particles 

 of matter, have formed a theme which has been end- 

 lessly repeated and varied in explaining the elements 

 and the forms of living matter. IJut whilst these 

 fanciful analogies^ of organic crystals, of polar distribu- 

 tion, and the network of tissues, to which are also allied 

 the spiral theories of leaves and branches in plants and 

 other geometrical arrangements, have at times attracted 

 much attention,- and have served to give at least the 



1 " Ces comparaisous entre les for analogies, Jul. Sachs, ' Gesch. 



formes minerales et les formes d. Botanik,' p. 173, &c. 

 vivantes ne constituent certaine- - I shall revert to this subject 



ment que des analogies fort loin- when speaking of the elder De 



taines, et il serait imprudent de Candolle. Here only a passing re- 



les exagcrer. II suffit de le.s signal- mark on^ the "spiral theory," which 



er. Elles doivent simplement nous was mainly developed by K. F. 



faire mieux coucevoir la separation Schimper and Alexander Braun, 



theorique de ces deux temps de la after the regular geometrical ar- 

 creation vitale : la creation ou ! rangement of leaves around their 



synthase chiviiqxie, la creation ou 

 synthase movphologiqiic, qui en fait 

 8ont confondues par leur simul 



stalks had already been nt)ticed in 

 the eighteenth century by Charles 

 Bonnet, following Civsalpinus. For 



tan^it^, mais qui u'en sont pas about thirty years, from 1830 on- 



moins essentiellement distinctes ward, the spiral theory was very 



dans leur nature " (Claude Bernard, popular in Germany. In France, 



'Le(;on8 sur les Ph^nomfenes de l;i tht> sninewhat related theories of 



Vie,' &c., vol. i. p. 296). See also on \ nuufiry of De Candolle, of meta- 



the extravagances of such search i uiorphosis of Goethe, and of spiral 



