The majority of these illustration plates are from a plant systematics wall chart series – the Dodel-Port Atlas – released between 1878 and 1888, writes Paul K.
Arnold Dodel (1843-1908) was a Swiss-German botanist who held professorships at Swiss universities where he studied plant reproduction and algal species and he founded a botanical microscopy laboratory at the University of Zurich.
Dodel was a prolific author of popular educational works on plants and an enthusiastic supporter of socialism. He was a regular correspondent with the eminent German biologist-artist, Ernst Haeckel, as well as Charles Darwin. Dodel was an early and vocal advocate for the Theory of Evolution (see).
Dodel married Carolina Port in 1875 and she contributed a large number of the illustrations to the series displayed above. He was subsequently known as Arnold Dodel-Port.
Volvox globator
“This shows the freshwater green alga Volvox globator. Many individual cells live together forming a beautiful spherical colony. Some of them are specialized for reproduction.”^
Stem Tillia sp.
(Probably Tilia cordata^ cross section)
“Living nature is the best teacher and pedagogue; an artistic medium of representation tries to replace nature and this can be possible in practice only if the images are true to natural objects. [..]
We had in mind not only the needs of Hochschule, but also those of the Mittelschule. Pupils of different age mainly have been served badly in regard to schematic representations of all kinds, so that it is actually difficult for them to gain a correct underestanding of natural living things… Accordingly, the ‘Anatomisch physiologische Atlas der Botanik’ will be designed to be used at every level of botanical teaching and in every branch of botanical knowledge.
…
Natural, scientifically reliable wall charts can replace a natural object in classroom teaching and in lectures; they are more enlightening than the spoken word.”
– Arnold and Carolina Dodel-Port, 1883
Taxus baccata
(common Yew tree^)
Stigma and pollen Tubes of Lilium martagon
Martagon or Turk’s cap lily
Selaginella helvetica
(after Pteridophyta before Gymnosperms
– spikemosses^)
Root, transverse Section
Prothallus (Gametophyte)
Aspidium species
(wood fern)
Polysiphonia subulata
(red algae genus^; species name is likely deprecated)
Monocot^ root
ris sibirica^
Iris sibirica
Iris sibirica
Flower – Violaceae (Viola tricolor^)
Elodea canadensis, Gaspary
(Canadian waterweed^)
Cycas circinalis = Queen palm
Cycas revoluta = Japanese sago palm
Cycads are seed plants typically characterized by a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk with a crown of large, hard and stiff, evergreen leaves.
Cork
Aspidium filix Sporangia
(Wood fern^)
Prothallus (Gametophyte)
Aspidium species
(wood fern)
The Dodel-Ports’ schematics were far superior as teaching aids versus a contemporary wall chart of the same species, immediately above. {The Dodel-Ports Atlas is noted as a very influential contemporary model for educational chart design}
Archegonia
The flask-shaped female organ in lower order plants (mosses for instance)^ containing the ovum or female gamete at its base. I presume this illustration series shows fertilisation occurring.
By: Paul K
Via: European Library, Historic Charts Collection at New Zealand’s McGregor Museum
Would you like to support Flashbak?
Please consider making a donation to our site. We don't want to rely on ads to bring you the best of visual culture. You can also support us by signing up to our Mailing List. And you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For great art and culture delivered to your door, visit our shop.
