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The history and problem of the idea of evolution

The usual picture of the phylogenetic process is that there were first single-celled bacteria-like organisms followed by multicellular,»lower«and later»higher«, rather complex and differentiated forms of life. This succession of evolutionary changes has often been called»evolutionary… Read More

Concerning the evolutionary development of the blossom and fruit of the Ranunculaeeae

The fruit formation of the Ranunculaceae - evolutionarily early representatives of the angiosperms - is taken as a motif in examining the evolutiona1y path of the formation of both the angiosperm blossoms, exposed as they are to their surroundings, and… Read More

Correlation of the shapes of the shoot and leaf of annual dicotyledons

That the shape of a plant changes qualitatively and quantitatively during growth was noted as early as Aristotle. He tried to understand this process with the help of four»causes«(aitia) and four»rnotions«(kinesis). He thought that the formative force proceeds from… Read More

Streptocarpus with a brood leaf

In the genus Streptocarpus (Gesneriaceae) the usual generation of new leaves on the shoot is more or less replaced by a generation of new leaf parts on the bases of abundant leaves. This indicates a homology between shoot growth and leaf growth. ‚Interesting malformations are described which could help… Read More

On the threefoldness of beetles

Beetles are regarded in their systematic relationships as a superorganism. Concerning their evolutionary differentiation, is there any relation between the different organ-systems most animals have and the different beetle families, genera or species? Proceeding from a threefold analysis of highly… Read More

The effect of curative eurythmy on the rhythmical system

In anthroposophical medicine, eurythmy is used therapeutically in

many cases and with different forms of disease. We report on two studies in which the effects of this therapeutic approach were studied with respect to the rhythmical-functional order of cardiac and… Read More

Signatures of therapeutic speech formation in heart rate variability

Background: Anthroposophical Therapeutie Speech uses poems and exercises which typically induce rhythmical breathing. Speaking influences respiration, and thus directly, heart rate variability (I IRV) in particular via respiratory sinus arrhythmia which, together With… Read More

The tunicates - aspects of their threefoldness

The concept of threefoldness (sense-nerve system, metabolic system, rhythmic system) is applied to the hermaphroditic tunicates with their classes Appendicularia, Thaliacea, and Ascidia.

Ascidians are sessile organisms with a tadpole-like free-swimming larvae but often with a purely… Read More