THE OLD ACADEMY OF SCIENCE, PARIS 171 



but inasmuch as the members of the academy had received the best edu- 

 cation, both in science and in philosophy, which France could furnish, it 

 was entirely natural that the common people should accept their opin- 

 ions without hesitation. The members of the academy lived simply, 

 gave their time to their favorite pursuits, and through their publications 

 had large influence on the civilization of France and even of Europe. 

 The work of the academy through the century was directed by a few 

 able men. Fontenelle, who succeeded Duhamel, the first secretary, 

 felt the burdens of his position as early as 1730 and offered his resigna- 

 tion, which was not accepted till 1740. He was at that time eighty 

 years old and his successor, Mairan, eminent for his attainments, was 

 nearly as old. He was soon followed by Grand jean de Fouchy who had 

 won fame as an astronomer, who retained his secretaryship for thirty 

 years. Condorcet was his assistant, but the real control of the academy 

 was in the hands of Buffon. Yet Buffon was unable to prevent Condor- 

 cet from succeeding de Fouchy. 



At the death of Buffon there were other naturalists who were well 

 prepared to take up his work and carry it forward even more success- 

 fully than he. They were less prejudiced than he against new opinions. 

 Some of them could give more accurate descriptions of natural objects. 

 Buffon's knowledge of science prior to the century and in a good degree 

 up to his own time was extensive. It was not accurate like that of the 

 Jussieus and of Lavoisier. He did little for the future save through 

 his suggestions and his wide generalizations. He derived living beings 

 from molecules, and the atoms in which Epicurus believed. But he 

 did not solve the problem of generation. As an administrator he had 

 few equals. His gift for order and arrangement was very great. He 

 made the Garden of Plants a great help for students of science. Yet in 

 most departments of science, England during Buffon's life was fifty 

 years in advance of France. Yet the academicians were by no means 

 idle, nor did they fail to appreciate the discoveries of their contem- 

 poraries in other countries. Men like Daubenton gave lectures in con- 

 nection with the Eoyal Gardens and were on the lookout for young men 

 to take the place of their elders in the academy. In his investigations 

 he just missed having a share in making comparative anatomy a real 

 science. Vicq d'Azyr, of Normandy, a pupil of Antoine Petit, carried 

 the study of zoological anatomy to a great height. Buffon would gladly 

 have seen him director of the Eoyal Gardens, but Daubenton took care 

 to place him where his gifts as an anatomist would have full exercise. 

 He was a member of the academy in 1774. His reputation rests on 

 his work on anatomy and physiology published in 1786. Two years 

 later, at the death of Buffon, he became his successor. He was the pre- 

 cursor of Cuvier. He was one of the first to point out the importance 

 of the teeth in the study of animals. 



The conservatism of the academy is shown in various ways, but 



