|
|
||||||||
Cover Legend: Batrachia: Frosche (Chordata: Anura). Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919) was the German scientist who coined the phrase "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny" and the terms "Darwinism" and "ecology." Haeckel traveled far and wide, from Sicily to Ceylon, to the North Sea, and beyond. Sketchpads and watercolors accompanied his microscope wherever he went. His on-the-spot drawings of deep-sea vegetation, aquatic creatures, frogs, birds, and higher animals were turned into more than 1000 engravings. From this treasure trove, a selection of 100 colored lithographs were produced for publication in his Kunstformen der Natur. This work is considered one of the marvels of 19th century naturalist illustration. This plate, which shows an amazing variety of frogs leaping off the page, includes some rare and exotic species: The Flying Frog from Borneo has four paddle-shaped, web feet that it uses to propel itself through space. The Military Frog from Surinam carries tadpoles on her back, lined up in two symmetrical platoons. The babies are holding on by the skin of their teeth. The Banded Frog from Java is about to snare its dinner. Note the transition in shape of the feet of the tree frogs from webs to long, almost surreal talons. (From an exhibition at the MBLWHOI library, curated by Ann Weissmann http://www.mblwhoilibrary.org/haeckel/wallcharts/images/large/plate_68.jpg.)
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |