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. G-oethe'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 ^ 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 "^ 

 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.^ 



^ See ' Organograpliie, ' vol. i. p. 

 551 : " Les parties de chaque rangee 

 ou de chaque verticille sont sus- 

 eeptibles de se transformer dans la 

 nature de la rangee qui la touche 

 immediatement. Ainsi Ton trouve 

 des sepales changes en nature 

 petaloide {Primula calcycanthema), 

 des petales changes en etamines 

 {C'apsella Bursa - jmstoris), des 

 Etamines changees en carpel les 

 {Magnolia fuscata), ou bien I'in- 

 verse, savoir : des carpelles changees 

 en etamines (Euphorbia ■palustris), 

 des (Etamines changees en petales 

 (toutes les fleurs doubles), ou les 

 petales transformes en nature de 

 calice {Ranunculus abortivus). M. 

 Goethe a tres-heureusement designe 

 la premiere de ces series de trans- 

 formations sous le nom de Metamor- 

 phose aseendantc ou direete, et la 

 seconde sous celle de Metamorphose 

 descendante ou inverse.'^ 



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



ainsi qu'en voyant la maniere 

 v($ritablement admirable dont M. 

 Goethe, quoiqu' habituellement 

 occupe d'id^es si ditferentes, a 

 comme devine 1' organisation vege- 

 tale, on est bien tent^ de croire 

 qu'il I'a moins invents qu'il n'a 

 generalise avec genie quelques faits 

 partiels heureusement choisis." 

 This was written in 1827. 



■^ See Goethe's ' Werke' (W^eimar 

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

 review of " Principes de Philosophic 

 Zoologique. Discutes en Mars 

 1830 au sein de I'academie roj'ale 

 des sciences par M. Geoffroy 

 Saint-Hilaire, Paris, 1830," especi- 

 ally p. 181, and dated Sept. 1830. 

 In 1831 Geofifroy says of the unity 

 of organisation : " Elle est pre- 

 sentement acquise au domaiue de 

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

 succes aussi memorable appartieut 

 b, Goethe." Quoted by Huxley in 

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



