Artistic forms occurring in nature. Colour lithographs by A. Giltsch after E. Haeckel, 1899-1904.

The content is the visual evidence for Haeckel's adaptation of Goethe's "typological" biology, which demonstrates the existence of analogous forms in different domains, such as the antlers of the African antelope, the scales of fish and the sense-organs of bats. These analogous forms are demonstrated graphically in an overwhelmingly generous supply of colour plates. They purport to show how the simplicity and uniformity of nature is expressed in invertebrates and some vertebrates in an almost unbelievable profusion and multiplicity of repeating and varying patterns. Most are from Haeckel's favourite research areas (jelly-fish, protozoa, infusoria, corals) but higher animals such as insects, frogs, snakes and birds are also included