Fig. 75.—M. Schleiden, 1804-1881.
His announcement of the cell-theory was his most important work. Apart from that his best-known contributions to science are: experiments upon spontaneous generation, his discovery of the "sheath of Schwann," in nerve fibers, and his theory of fermentation as produced by microbes.
Schleiden.—Schleiden (Fig. 75) was quite different in temperament from Schwann. He did not have the fine self-control of Schwann, but was quick to take up the gauntlet and enter upon controversies. In his caustic replies to his critics, he indulged in sharp personalities, and one is at times inclined to suspect that his early experience as a lawyer had something to do with his method of handling opposition. With all this he had correct ideas of the object of scientific study and of the methods to be used in its pursuit. He insisted upon observation and experiment, and upon the necessity of studying the development of plants in order to understand their anatomy and physiology. He speaks scornfully of the botany of mere species-making as follows:
"Most people of the world, even the most enlightened, are still in the habit of regarding the botanist as a dealer in barbarous Latin names, as a man who gathers flowers, names them, dries them, and wraps them in paper, and all of whose wisdom consists in determining and classifying this hay which he has collected with such great pains."
Although he insisted on correct methods, his ardent nature led him to champion conclusions of his own before they were thoroughly tested. His great influence in the development of scientific botany lay in his earnestness, his application of new methods, and his fearlessness in drawing conclusions, which, although frequently wrong, formed the starting-point of new researches.
Let us now examine the original publications upon which the cell-theory was founded.
Schleiden's Contribution.—Schleiden's paper was particularly directed to the question, How does the cell originate? and was published in Müller's Archiv, in 1838, under the German title of Ueber Phytogenesis. As stated above, the cell had been recognized for some years, but the question of its origin had not been investigated. Schleiden says: "I may omit all historical introduction, for, so far as I am acquainted, no direct observations exist at present upon the development of the cells of plants."
He then goes on to define his view of the nucleus (cytoblast) and of the development of the cell around it, saying: "As soon as the cytoblasts have attained their full size, a delicate transparent vesicle arises upon their surface. This is the young cell." As to the position of the nucleus in the fully developed cell, he is very explicit: "It is evident," he says, "from the foregoing that the cytoblast can never lie free in the interior of the cell, but is always enclosed in the cell-wall," etc.