
GOETHE ON THE METAMORPHOSIS OF PLANTS. 38 
which these variations are developed. For we may say with equal 
truth that a stamen is a diminished petal, or that a petal is an ex- 
panded stamen ; that a sepal is a diminished stem-leaf in a more re- 
fined condition, or that a stem-leaf is a sepal in a state of expansion 
occasioned by crude juices. 
121. Thus also it is immaterial whether we speak of the stem, as the 
flower and fruit in a state of extension, or whether, as above, we re- 
gard the flower and fruit as a shortened stem. 
122. At the end of this treatise I have taken into consideration the 
development of duds ; and have endeavoured to explain by their means 
the nature both of composite flowers, and of those seeds which are un- 
protected by a seed-vessel (unbedeckten Fruchtstünde).* 
123. It has been my object in what I have here brought forward, to 
state, as clearly and fully as possible, a view, which J think carries 
much conviction with it. But should the evidence be insuflicient, or 
should my theory meet with much opposition, and appear incapable of 
general application; it will become so much the more incumbent 
on me to note all suggestions, and at some future time to diseuss these 
subjects more minutely and circumstantially ; that by giving greater 
perspicacity to my view, I may earn for it a more universal approbation 
than can be expected at the present time. + 
EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE. 
Fig. 1. Passage of leaves to bracts in Anthyllis vulneraria. 2. Passage of sepals 
(a) to petals (5), stamens (c c), and stigma (7), in Nymphea blanda. 3. Transi- 
tion from sepal to tubular petal or nectary in Zranthis hyemalis. 4. Anther of 
Pterandra. 5. a, Stamen, and 2, style of Canna Indica. 6. a, Stamen, and 4, pistil, of 
Thalictrum. 1%. Stigmas of Brachypteris. 8. Exceptional flower of Zpilobiwm hir- 
sutum, in which all the floral while are replaced by leaves; æ, foliaceous petal from 
the same. 9. Exceptional flower of Dianthus, sp. The se and some of the 
petals are removed, to show stalked flower-buds occupying the position of the sta. 
mens. 9a. Stalked flower-bud from the same; the stalk has a petaloid strap-like 
scale projecting from it; the sepals and petals are increased in number, the stamens 
abortive, and the carpels open and disjoined, and in this case destitute of ovules, 

* See note, §§ 83, 101. 
+ For a brief sketch of the origin and progress of the theory of vegetable morpho- 
logy, prior to the publications of Wolff, Linné, and Goethe, as well as for an attempt 
to show what share each author had in the establishment of the doctrine, the reader 
is referred to an article in the Brit. and For. Medico-Chirurgical Review, January, 
1862, entitled “Vegetable Morphology: its history aud present condition,” by 
Maxwell T, Masters. ( 
