292 
OWEN’S POSITION IN 
Goethe was well acquainted with Caspar F. W olft 
and his writings. 
All this is mere justice to Goethe ; but, as it 
is the unpleasant duty of the historian to do 
justice upon, as well as to, great men, it be- 
hoves me to add that the germs, and more than 
the germs, of the worst faults of later speculative 
morphologists are no less visible in his writings 
than their great merits.^ In the artist-philosopher 
there was, at best, a good deal more artist than 
philosopher; and when Goethe ventured into the 
regions which belong to pure science, this excess 
of a virtue had all the consequences of a vice. 
‘ Trennen und zahlen lag nicht in meiner Natur,’® 
says he ; but the mental operations of which 
‘ analysis and numeration ’ are partial expressions 
are indispensable for every step of progress 
beyond happy glimpses, even in morphology ; 
while, in physiology and in physics, failure in the 
most exact performance of these operations in- 
volves sheer disaster, as indeed Goethe was 
afforded abundant opportunity of learning. Yet 
he never understood the sharp lessons he re- 
ceived, and put down to malice, or prejudice, the 
ill-reception of his unfortunate attempts to deal 
with purely physical problems. 
Goethe’s contributions to the science of 
^ See, for example, the essay ^ MorpJiologie : Geschichte 
‘Ueber die Spiraltendenz der meines botanischeii Studiums. 
Vegetation ’ in the Morphologic. 
