THE DOGMA OF EVOLUTION 



important step was, according to Darwin, taken by 

 Buffon who, he says in his historical preface to the 

 Origin of Species^ was the first author to treat evo- 

 lution in a scientific spirit. Amongst the naturalists 

 of the eighteenth century, Buffon ranked easily first 

 in the combination of erudition and a philosophical 

 bent of mind. Like Laplace and Humboldt he aimed 

 at omniscience. Profoundly impressed with the nebu- 

 lar hypothesis of Laplace, he attempted in his His- 

 toire Naturelle to annex the history of the earth to 

 that rational and mechanistic theory. He would give 

 the progress of the earth from the beginning both bio- 

 logically and geologically. Endowed with all the ad- 

 vantages of wealth, high birth, and indefatigable in- 

 dustry, he endeavoured to support his conclusions 

 with facts drawn from great collections and compre- 

 hensive experiments. 



Buffon first postulates the existence of God who 

 created the world not in a static condition, but sub- 

 ject to change in obedience to natural law. The first 

 living organisms were created with the ability to re- 

 act to their environment and to change their struc- 

 ture in order to meet new requirements of food and 

 other vital needs. God then revealed to man His laws 

 and His plan of creation in the Bible, not fully, but 

 as a parable suited to the intelligence of the times. 

 The real truths of nature can unfold themselves only 

 as man progresses in knowledge. Thus the six days 



C 140 3 



