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i88i.; 
ANALYSES OF BOOKS. 
Lorenz Oken ; a Biographical Sketch. Being a Memorial Dis- 
course on the Centenary of his Birthday, delivered at the 
Second General Session of the Fifty-second Congress of 
“ German Naturalists and Physicians ” at Baden-Baden, 
September 20, 1879.* By Alexander Ecker. Stuttgart : 
E. Schweitzerbart. 
So rapid has been the advance of biological science in the latter 
half of the nineteenth century that, as the author truly remarks, 
“ if we read Oken’s ‘ Philosophy of Nature,’ we seem to listen to 
the language of the remote past as if proceeding from the mouth 
of some Egyptian priest.” Still, though the stream of time has 
swept over the discoveries and controversies of eighty years ago, 
- — though all, and more than all, that Oken ventured to predict 
has been fulfilled, — we may be permitted to offer our humble 
tribute of gratitude to the memory of the man whose writings 
were to us once what a solitary branch of mulberry might be to 
a silkworm pining amidst a wilderness of thistles. 
The author of the work before us disclaims the intention of 
furnishing — what we should gladly have seen — a thorough critical 
examination of Oken’s scientific achievements. Still he places 
before us a faithful summary of the chief points upon which the 
fame of the great German naturalist must rest. To these sub- 
jects we must beg to draw the attention of our readers, referring 
to the outward features of Oken’s life only in as far as may be 
needful for an understanding of his position. 
Lorenz Oken was born, as the son of a poor peasant, in what 
may almost be called the pre-scientific time of 1779. Thanks to 
his inflexible will, to his integrity of character, his shining abili- 
ties, and the aid of friends who were attracted and secured by 
the latter attributes, he contrived, amidst many privations, to 
obtain a learned education, and in 1804 he graduated at the 
University of Freiburg as DoCtor of Medicine. Even before 
this time he had come forward as an original investigator in 
biology. In his work on “ Generation ” (1805) he explains putre- 
faction as a catagenesis, — a resolution of the organic body into 
its primitive cells or protozoa, which he curiously enough terms 
“ Infusoria.” It may be fairly admitted that in this treatise he 
anticipated the modern doCtrine of the cell, and its part in animal 
* Lorenz Oken ; eine biographische Skizze, Gedachtnissrede zu dessen 
hundertjahriger Geburt stags feier gesprochen in der zweiten ceffentlichen 
Sitzung der 52 Yersamrnlung deutschen Naturforscher und Aerzte. 
