Experimental Morphology (Classic Reprint)

Download or read book Experimental Morphology (Classic Reprint) written by Charles Benedict Davenport and published by . This book was released on 2015-07-20 with total page 538 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Experimental Morphology The problem which, since the time of Aristotle, has stood first in interest and importance among the great questions of Biology is that of the causes which direct the development of the individual - that marvellous process by which the germ is built up into the complex organism, by which the embryo clothes itself with the characters peculiar to its species, by which even minute individual traits of form and action are exactly reproduced in the offspring from its parents. The burden of clearing up this problem has fallen, naturally enough, upon the shoulders of students of morphology. For since morphologists deal with form, they are properly especially concerned with the interpretation of form - they may well be asked to account for it. Thus the problem of development is an acknowledged morphological problem. Several distinct steps can be recognized in the progress which has been made in the interpretation of form. The earlier studies were concerned chiefly with answering the question, What are the differences between the various adult forms? The results of observations and reflections relating to this question constitute the sciences of descriptive and comparative anatomy. Next, a more fundamental inquiry was entered upon: How are these forms produced or developed? The results of observations and reflections upon this subject constitute the science of comparative embryology. Finally, in these later days a still more fundamental question has come to the front: Why does an organism develop as it does? What is that which directs the path of its differentiation? This is the problem which the new school of "Entwicklungsmechanik" has set for itself - it is likewise the problem with which this book is concerned. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.