160 BIOLOGY AND ITS MAKERS 
anatomy of vertebrates (1866-68). In much of his thought 
he was singular, and many of his general conclusions have 
not stood the test of time. He undertook to establish the 
idea of an archtype in vertebrate anatomy. He clung to the 
vertebral theory of the skull long after Huxley had shown such 
a theory to be untenable. The idea that the skull is made up 
Fic. 45.—Lorenzo OKEN, 1779-1851. 
of modified vertebrae was propounded by Goethe and Oken. 
In the hands of Oken it became one of the anatomical con- 
clusions of the school of Naturphilosophic. This school of 
transcendental philosophy was founded by Schelling, and 
Oken (Fig. 45) was one of its typical representatives. The 
vertebral theory of the skull was, therefore, not original 
with Owen, but he adopted it, greatly elaborated it, and 
