In reptiles, as well as in the embryos of the higher 

 vertebrates, the right and left heart, the vein pouring into 

 it, and the pulmonary vein all have communication; therefore the 

 blood can pass more easily through the oval opening between 

 the auricles or through the valves directly to the aorta. 

 According to Shchurovskii, reptiles are characterized by 

 flexibility, a "cartilaginous composition," quick development, 

 almost non-stop growth, abundance of blood, and other features 

 characteristic of avian and mammalian infancy. "Reptiles are 

 always young, always found in embryonic condition, swimming 

 in the waters of the mother," Shchurovskii repeated (p. 205). 



All this discussion concluded with the confirmation that 

 the successive periods of heart development represent a fight 

 between the powers of "dilation" and of "contraction. The 

 first stretches the heart into a straight shape, and the 

 second tries to compress it into a round form. This play of 

 opposing powers is entirely similar to the systole and 

 diastole of the heart of the great organism of the animal 

 kingdom" (p. 206). And furthermore, all the nuances in 

 formation of the various hearts are inspired by one under- 

 standing, so that, regardless of external variability, they 

 are combined in internal unity. "Could it be otherwise? In 

 nature each organ, each part, is necessary, an additional 

 complementary voice to the general harmony of the universe" 

 Cpp. 207 - 208). Hence in Shchurovskii 's work, embryological 

 facts and suppositions were fantastically entangled in the 

 substance of the latest ontogenetic-phylogenetic parallels, 

 along with the Naturphilosophical snares of Oken and Vellanskii. 



Regardless of such efforts by a few Russian followers 

 of German idealistic philosophy, they did not succeed in 

 establishing it firmly in Russia. The famous Russian physician 

 Matvei Yakovlevich Mudrov (1776 - 1831) , the founder of 

 national internal medicine, who had heard in Germany a lecture 

 about Naturphilosophie, criticized its ideas. The following is 

 a quotation from one of his letters: 



Dazzled by the brilliance of the high-flown sophistica- 

 tions born in the depths of Naturphilosophie, the young 

 physicians search for new causes of disease in the 

 structure of the universe and do not want to accept 

 the empirical heights of the non-materialistic world, 



188 



