BUFFON AND THE PROBLEM OF SPECIES 559 



sun. The task was, of course, undertaken prematurely; but Buffon 

 not only made the need of its eventual achievement evident, but also 

 indicated two of the essential means by which it was to be accom- 

 plished : the study of present phenomena which can throw light upon 

 the past processes through which existing conditions have been brought 

 about ; and the study of those natural " monuments which we ought to 

 regard as witnesses testifying to us concerning the earlier ages." He 

 insisted, moreover, with the utmost plainness upon (as it was then 

 regarded) the extreme antiquity not only of the earth, but also of 

 organic life. And in doing so he showed himself not at all disposed 

 any longer to permit " revelation " to settle scientific questions. 

 " How," he writes, " some one will ask me, do you reconcile this vast 

 antiquity which you ascribe to matter with the sacred traditions, which 

 give to the world only some six to eight thousand years? However 

 strong be your proofs, however evident your facts, are not those re- 

 ported in the holy book more certain still ? " Buffon replies that he 

 has all possible respect for scripture, but that it always pains him to 

 see it used in this way. Doubtless there is no real conflict between its 

 testimony and that of science; and he thereupon introduces what I 

 suppose is the first of the long series of reconciliations of Genesis and 

 geology. The six days were not really days, but long periods of time, 

 and so forth. But in any case, he concludes, the Bible was originally 

 addressed to ignorant men at an early stage of civilization, and was 

 adapted to their needs and their intelligence. Its science was the 

 science of the time, and ought not to be taken too literally. Finally, 

 it is to be noted that in the " Epoques " Buffon ceased to talk of the 

 simultaneous creation of all species, and advanced the doctrine of the 

 gradual appearance of different sorts of animals in conformity with 

 geological conditions. 



If, then, Buffon was desirous of inculcating the theory of the muta- 

 bility of species, here was the place in which, above all others, he might 

 be expected to do so fully and unequivocally. But here once more we 

 find him reiterating the substance of his old doctrine : 



A comparison of these ancient monuments of the earliest age of living nature 

 with her present products shows clearly that the constitutive form of each animal 

 has remained the same and has undergone no alteration of its principal parts. 

 The type of each species has not changed; the internal mold has kept its shape 

 without variation. However long the succession of time may be conceived to 

 have been, however numerous the generations that have come and gone, the indi- 

 viduals of each kind (genre) represent to-day the forms of those of the earliest 

 ages — especially in the case of the larger species, whose characters are more 

 invariable and whose nature is more fixed. 27 



By the " larger species " here, Buffon means those of greater size, 

 such as the elephant and hippopotamus; and when he says that these 

 are " especially " invariable, he means, as the whole context shows, not 



* "Hist. Nat.," Supp., V., p. 27. 



