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INTRODUCTION, 15 
that in his essay “ On the Principle of the Unity of Organic 
Composition" he openly defended the doctrine of the trans- 
mutation of species. While in France Lamarck and St.- 
Hilaire were studying the transmutation of species, Goethe 
and Oken were investigating the same subject in Germany. 
Goethe is famous as a poet, but is not so well known as 
a man of science. He, however, made the capital dis- 
covery of the intermaxillary bone in Man, which gives 
him rank as an anatomist, while his theory of the “ Meta- 
morphosis of Plants" has always been regarded as a most 
important contribution to philosophical Botany. In this 
work on Plants, Goethe develops the view of the different 
parts of the flower being modified leaves. This theory, 
which is a beautiful illustration of Evolution, had been pre- 
viously promulgated by Wolff, but had fallen into perfect 
oblivion. Goethe was always pointing out the “unity of 
Nature," and advocating the doctrine of Development, and 
must be considered one of the most distinguished of the 
German Biologists. Oken was one of the most remarkable 
men Germany has ever seen, not only for the extent of his 
knowledge, but for the originality of his views. Although 
his ideas are very often mystified by obscure language, 
nevertheless it is certain that he had a clear perception 
of some of the most important modern truths, such as 
the mechanical theory of Heat, the doctrine of Cells, etc. 
His idea of a “primordial mucosity" as the basis of life is 
very much like that of the * protoplasmic" doctrine of the 
present day. However this may be, there is no doubt that 
Oken was a firm believer in the Development theory of 
Lamarck. 
Notwithstanding that the theory of the Transmutation 
of Species was defended by men of such ability as Lamarck, 
St.-Hilaire, Goethe, and Oken, it fell entirely into disrepute 
after 1830, the year of the famous discussion between 
Cuvier and St.-Hilaire at the Academy of Sciences. From 
