Terminologie der Entwickelungsmechanik der Tiere und Pflanzen

Abstract

THE science of embryology has its own evolution. Once upon a time it was no more than a science of observation; its task was to describe the form and structure of the embryo during growth, as the naturalist or the anatomist had described those of the organism when it was grown. Later on, in the light of the cell-theory, in the spirit of Darwinism, and with the help of Wolff's and Von Baer's laws, embryology became dominated by, even subjugated to, the historical method; its chief aim was “to form a basis for phylogeny,” and its chief problems dealt with such matters as the retention of ancestral characters in embryonic and larval forms, the explanation on similar lines of functionless or atrophied organs, and the discovery of “homologies” between cells, germ-layers, and organs, even in distantly-related organisms.

Terminologie der Entwickelungsmechanik der Tiere und Pflanzen.

Herausgegeben von Wilhelm Roux. Pp. xii + 465. (Leipzig: W. Engelmann, 1912.) Price 10 marks.