The general dissemination of good microscopes was accompanied by a
higher standard of requirement in the execution of drawings from
the instrument, especially after von Mohl had shown the way; and
the invention of lithography and the revival of wood-engraving
ministered to the needs of science, supplying the place of the old
costly copper-plate printing. Hence we find an increasing number of
beautiful drawings in scientific monographs; the text-books also
could now be supplied with an abundance of figures, and this greatly
promoted the general understanding of things which could otherwise
be seen only under the glass of each observer. From the close of the
16th century wood-cuts had fallen more and more into disuse, and had
been replaced by copper-plates; after 1840 wood-engraving was restored
to its old rights and was found to be a more convenient method of
pictorial illustration, especially for text-books; thus Schleiden’s
‘Grundzüge’ of 1842, von Mohl’s ‘Vegetabilische Zelle’ of 1851,
Unger’s and Schacht’s text-books were enriched with many and sometimes
very beautiful wood-cuts. Lithographs were generally preferred for
periodicals and monographs; the ‘Botanische Zeitung,’ founded by Mohl
and Schlechtendal in 1843, and till after 1860 the chief organ for
shorter phytotomic communications, was illustrated by a large number
of beautiful prints from the establishment of the Berlin lithographer,
Schmidt.
1. DEVELOPMENT OF THE THEORY OF CELL-FORMATION FROM 1838 TO 1851.
Since we are here dealing with questions of fundamental importance
not only to one branch of botanical study but to the whole science
of botany, and even to the rest of the natural sciences, it seems
imperative that we should follow step by step the founding and
perfecting of the theory of the cell, as far as is possible in the
limited space at our command; we shall deal with the sexual theory
further on in a similar manner.
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