228 PniLOSorHY of Botany. 



numerable forms of plants ouo^ht to be considered as one un- 

 interrupted series of development, which beg^ins with the first 

 dawn of life, and remodels form and structure of plants in ever- 

 increasing perfection, and not as accidental and isolated in- 

 dividuals. 



Unger, and others have even conclusively proven that the 

 history of their ancestors, which lie buried in the rocks of past 

 epochs, has to be considered, if the present distribution of 

 plants would be comprehended. 



Goethe had followed up the development of the plants to the 

 germ, but the starting point at which his examinations begin, 

 the radicle descends into the soil and presents its cotyledons 

 the moment when the germ breaks through its envelopes and 

 to the light, this is not the real beginning of vegetable de- 

 velopment. The question remains : How comes the germ 

 into existence? 



The unaided eye does not suffice, nor the simple magnify- 

 ing glass, which alone was at the disposal of the botanists of 

 the Linnsean time- The compound microscope had to come to 

 the aid of the botanist. 



The invention of the microscope gave the same impulse to 

 the study of objects of the smallest dimensions, as ^did the 

 telescope for the view of the infinite expanse of the firmament. 

 Without knowledge of each other, and fully independent, two 

 scientists, Marcello Malphighi, of Bologne, and Nehemias 

 Grew, of London, put before themselves the task to examine 

 microscopically the internal structure of plants. On Decem- 

 ber 29, 1671, happened the memorable incident that both these 

 men presented simultaneously to the Royal Society of Arts in 

 London the results of their researches. This day, therefore, 

 must be called the birthday of microscopical anatomy of 

 plants. 



From this date we know that plants are not made up of 

 flesh and blood, nerves and veins, as Theophrastus had 

 fancied, but throughout from small, vesicle-like particles, 

 which, on account of their resemblance to cells of the honey- 

 comb, received the name " Vegetable Cell." The importance 

 of this discovery failed at this time to be duly appreciated 

 and utilized, and had a century afterwards nearly fallen into 

 oblivion. 



