Page:The Last link.djvu/104

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THE LAST LINK

that, on the contrary, they can be nothing but passing stages, or series of stages, of development, which have been evolved by transformation out of common ancestral forms.

Johannes Mueller, born at Coblenz in 1801, established himself as Privat-docent at Bonn, where in 1830 he became Professor of Physiology. In 1833 he accepted the Chair of Anatomy and Physiology at Berlin, where he died in 1858.

He was one of the most distinguished physiologists and comparative anatomists. By summarizing the labours and discoveries already made in the field of physiology, by reducing them to order, and abstracting the general principles, he became the founder of modern physiology. But he was scarcely less distinguished by his researches in comparative anatomy. His 'Vergleichende Anatomie der Myxinoiden,' in Abhandlungen der Berliner Akademie, 1835-45, and 'Ueber die Grenzen der Ganoiden' (ibid., 1846), are standard works of lasting value.