OF THE aENUS BUrFONIA. 187 



been no great harm in it ; nevertheless Siegeshechia orientalis, 

 which recalls the name of one of his most furious antagonists, is a 

 very beautiful Composita ; and one of the largest trees in creation 

 is dedicated to the memory of Adanson, a reformer who wished 

 to reform alone. Linnaeus knew neither envy nor hatred, and 

 showed himself satisfied with the share of esteem and of renown 

 which he had conquered. I have said elsewhere*, that on being 

 made acquainted with the injurious intentions with reference to 

 Buffon attributed to him by his enemies, he was indignant at the 

 imputation. 



And what has happened to those who attacked Linnseus ? Those 

 who founded on these attacks a hope of fame, have been forgotten ; 

 while the opposition of those whose labours have deserved well of 

 posterity is no longer remembered ; what they did for science 

 alone remains standing. Time, that great "justicer," puts every- 

 thing in its proper place, and leaves on the head of genius the 

 imperishable crown, from which the envious havo laboured in vain 

 to tear away some of the jewels. 



Buffon certainly, glorious and honoured, could have no envy 

 towards Linnaeus ; but how much preferable would it have been, 

 could he have refrained from writing against that ingenious 

 reformer ! Not only was his logic at fault, but even his science. 

 Por example, while blaming the construction of the class Mam- 

 malia, now universally adopted, he ought not to have said that it 

 had been known since the time of Aristotle f that the Horse has 

 no mammae, and he ought not to have concluded from this that 

 the Horse is an exception among Mammalia J. 



Let us go no farther ; if to blame is easy, let us not forget that 

 it has its dangerous side, and let us abstain from touching one of 

 the greatest of our national glories. Let us be satisfied with 

 having contributed to efface the slight spot which had been thought 

 to tarnish the brilliancy of a justly venerated name, that of a man 

 who by his genius has deserved to obtain the right of citizenship 

 in every country of the civilized world. 



* ' Vie de Linne,' p. 287. 



f Ta ^e fiojvvx^v ra dppeva ovk exovffi fiacTTOvs ttXt^v oaa eoiKacri ry firjTpiy 

 oirep (Tv/i/3aiVei eirl rov V ttttov. " In the Class of Solipeda the males have no 

 mammge, except in some individuals which resemble their mother : this is met 

 with among horses " (Aristotle, Hb. ii. 8). Thus Aristotle only says that thepi-e- 

 sence of mammse in the Class of Solijpeda is not universal, which, although false, 

 is less absolute than what Buifon says. 



X Buffon, Histoire Naturelle, 1749, i. p. 38 (Sur la Maniere d'ecrii'e I'His- 

 toire Naturelle). 



