Baer generalized in the following words: "The developmental 

 history of individuals is the history of growing individuality 

 in every respect" (Sch. VI, 263). 



The first volume of OBER ENTWICKLUNGSGESCHICHTE 

 established the bases of embryology. Baer's contemporaries 

 were not, however, in a position to evaluate such an immense 

 contribution to science. Evidence of how far Baer preceded 

 his times is clear from the almost complete silence with 

 which his book was received. In his autobiography, written 

 thirty-five years later, Baer could not cite any single 

 serious objection to his work. He wrote only that within 

 three years (actually within eight years) a French edition 

 of his book appeared in a translation by Breschet.14 And 

 only after a quarter of a century did Huxley publish an 

 English translation of the fifth scholium. 15 



In a supplement to the German edition of his NACHRICHTEN, 

 commenting on the purpose of his major work, Baer wrote: 



Soon after my publishing of this work, Oken's 

 critique appeared in his ISIS (1829, pp. 206-212) 

 which pleased me greatly. Notwithstanding many 

 friendly acknowledgements, it becomes very lively 

 and pointed as soon as a statement deviates from 

 his prevailing opinion. This in particular 

 relates to the presentation about the development 

 of the intestine, which in Oken's opinion is 

 completely formed from the yolk sac and grows 

 in the direction of the embryo. In the supplements 

 (Baer means "the studies and corollaries." — L.B.) , 

 I made it my main task to correct the currently 

 dominant opinion that the more highly organized 

 forms, during their formation, gradually pass the 

 stages of the lower forms, correcting this 

 assertion with the idea that the early stages 



14. Baer, HISTOIRE DU DEVELOPPEMENT DES ANIMAUX, 

 Part I, trans, by G. Breschet, Paris, 1836. 

 Complete, 1846. 



15. Thomas Henry Huxley in SCIENTIFIC MEMOIRS (full 

 citation Chapter 16, fn. 8) . 



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