THE CELL DOCTRINE. 21 



The theory of Wolff, however, full as it was of origi- 

 nal conception, and based on actual observation, seemed 

 to claim little attention, and would have been still 

 less known but for the labors of Prof. Huxley. The 

 " fibre " theory of Haller was still further expanded, 

 and that fibres were the groundwork of nearly all 

 the tissues, continued the prevailing view, until the 

 latter part of the eighteenth century, and there are 

 few of the older Physiologies even of a later date, 

 which do not contain an account of it. IsTaturally, 

 it maintained itself longest in the case of the fibrous 

 tissues, since the appearances of these tissues, when 

 examined by the highest powers, are those of struc- 

 tures apparently composed of fibres. 



Oken, 1808 .-^The first clear expression with regard 

 to the cellular or vesicular composition of animal or- 

 ganisms as well as vegetable, comes from the physical 

 school in the language of Oken, who, as early as 

 1805, in his work on " Generation," refers to elemen-~' 

 tary parts as " vesicles;" and who says in his " Pro- 

 gramm fiber das Universum " in 1808, " The first 

 transition of the inorganic to the organic is the con- 

 version into a vesicle (Blaschen), which I, in my 

 theory of generation, have called infusorium. Ani- 

 mals and plants are throughout nothing else than mani- 

 foldly divided or repeating vesicles, as I shall prove 

 anatomically at the proper time." This most ex- 

 plicit statement seems also to have been overlooked. 

 The Globular Theory, 1779-1842.-.-The reaction 

 which took place at the date referred to against the 

 ■ " fibre " theory, culminated in the " globular '' theory,' 

 due less to speculation than erroneous methods of ob- 



