Hugo von Mohl continued Moldenhawer’s work after 1828,
and Meyen was a contemporary and a zealous student of phytotomy; but
the period in the study of vegetable anatomy which reaches to 1840 may
be said to have been brought to a conclusion chiefly by von Mohl’s
contributions. Weak as the beginnings were at the commencement of this
period (1800-1840), and important as was the advance made by von Mohl
towards the end of it, yet we may include all that was done during that
time in one view, since the questions examined were essentially the
same; like Mirbel and Treviranus, Moldenhawer and Meyen, von Mohl was
chiefly occupied up to the year 1840 in deciding the questions, what
is the nature of the solid framework of cellulose in the plant in its
matured state, whether a single or double wall of membrane lies between
two cell-spaces, what is the true account of pits and pores, and of the
various forms of fibres and vessels; one great result of these efforts
must be mentioned, namely, the establishment of the fact that all the
elementary organs of plants may be referred to one fundamental form,
the closed cell; that the fibres are only elongated cells, but that
true vessels are formed by cells which are arranged in rows, and have
entered into free communication with one another.
Phytotomists before 1840, and von Mohl especially, had occasionally
paid attention among other things to circumstances connected with the
history of development, and single cases of the formation of various
cells had been described by von Mohl and Mirbel between 1830 and
1840, but greater interest was taken in the right understanding of
the structure of mature tissues; physiological questions also, though
no longer of the first importance in anatomical investigations, were
still of weight, so far as the enquiry was influenced by the relation
of anatomical structure to the functions of elementary organs. But
with Schleiden and Nägeli the question of historical development and
the purely morphological examination of interior structure assumed
an exclusive prominence in phytotomy. The first commencement of
vegetable cells especially and their growth were the subjects now
discussed. Schleiden had proposed a theory of cell-formation before
1840, which, resting on too few and inexact observations, referred
all processes of cell-formation in the vegetable kingdom to a single
form; it attracted great attention in the botanical world, but could
not easily be reconciled with what was already known; and in 1846 it
was completely refuted by Nägeli, who substituted for it the history
of the formation of the various kinds of vegetable cells in their
main features, based on profound and extensive investigations. It was
natural that these researches into the formation of cells should turn
the attention of observers, which had hitherto been almost exclusively
devoted to the solid framework of cell-tissue, to the juicy contents of
cells.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account