Goethe

http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/origin/chapter5.html
The elder Geoffroy and Goethe propounded, at about the same period, their law of compensation or balancement of growth; or, as Goethe expressed it, 'in order to spend on one side, nature is forced to economise on the other side
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metamorphosis_of_Plants
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethean_science
http://archive.org/details/versuchdiemetam00goetgoog