PA Rod al 
METAMORPHY. 
Mucu of the objection with which Goethe’s famous 
essay on the ‘ Metamorphosis of Plants’ was met on 
its publication may be traced to a misapprehension of 
the sense in which Goethe employed the word. As 
used by him, it had nearly the same signification 
as now applied to the word development by organo- 
genists. It does not necessarily imply that there has 
been a change in any particular organ, but rather that 
there has been, to some extent, a ‘change i in the plan 
of construction, in accordance with which a deviation 
from the customary form results. The particular 
organ was never anything else than what it is; it has 
not been metamorphosed in the ordinary sense of the 
word; for instance, in a double fiower, where the 
stamens are, as it is said, changed or metamorphosed 
into petals, no absolute change really has taken place— 
the petal was never a stamen, although it occupies the 
position of the latter, and may be considered a sub- 
stitute for it. 
The term metamorphosis, then, really imphes an 
alteration in the organizing ace. taking effect at a 
very early period of the life of the flower, at or before 
the period when the primitive aggregation of cells, of 
which it is at that time composed, becomes separated 
or “ differentiated’’ into the several parts of the flower. 
In other words, the “‘ development” of the flower pur- 
sues a different course from what is usual. In the 
preceding sections the effects of arrest and of excess 
in this process have been partly treated of ; other devia- 
tions arising from similar causes will be mentioned 
