NATUKAL HISTORY^ OF ORGANIZED BODIES. 



From the Course of Lectures of M. Marey at the College of France. 



Translated by C. A. ALEXANDER/or the Smithsonian Institution. 



I. — Historical evolution of the sciences. 



The course of instractiou in tlie College of France is not limited to a simple 

 exposition of the state of science at each epoch, but, as a school of discovery, 

 extends its views to the actual tendencies of the human mind. It aims to sig- 

 nalize the new horizons which are opening for science, and which hold out to us 

 the promise of further acquisitions. In order, however, to judge of the direction 

 to be pursued, it is necessary, from time to time, to cast our glance backward, 

 to consider the space which has been traversed, to recall the windings, the haz- 

 ards, the difficulties of the route. Such a recurrence to the past is one of the 

 most useful preparations for a new departure, and will enable us to attain om" 

 end much more promptly and certainl}'- than it Avas possible for our predecessors 

 to do. It is by availing ourselves of their experience that the march of improve- 

 ment has been constantl}* accelerated, i;ntil, in our day, more discoveries are pro- 

 duced in ten years than fonnerly in an age. 



The history of the natural sciences has, not long since, been retraced in this 

 chair by the professor whom I have the honor of replacing. M. Flourens here 

 passed in review the life and labors of the learned naturalists of the XVIth, 

 XVIIth, XVIIIth, and XlXth centuries, having devoted to this subject several 

 3'ears of his instruction. I shall not undertake to unfold anew this historic 

 tablet, however instructive may be its lessons. Permit me merely to retrace, 

 with a rapid glance, the principal phases of the evolution of science. "We shall 

 thus see more clearly the tendency of scientific inquuy and the direction in 

 which we should look for its further advancement. 



The natural history of organized beings comprises zoology and botany. If 

 we open the most ancient treatises on these subjects, we perceive that the engross- 

 ing occupation was to make an enumeration of the objects of nature. Science 

 might be said to have been then engaged in taking possession of its domain ; 

 in making the inventory of its treasures. Each object received a name which 

 might distinguish it, by recalling, as far as possible, its exterior characters. The 

 " embarrassment of riches" soon gave rise to the necessity of a methodical 

 arrangement. The first step was to separate animals from plants, and thus 

 were formed the two great Idngdoms of the natural world. Afterwards, in each 

 kingdom, were created new divisions; first, branches, each of which was dis- 

 tributed into classes, and these again, b}' successive divisions, into orders, families, 

 tribes, genera, and species. To be useful, these classifications should combine in the 

 same group the beings analogous to one another, so that, by knowing to what fam- 

 ily an animal or a plant belongs, a preliminary idea may be formed of its principal 

 characters. It is for the attainment of this end that classifications have been so 

 often modified, tending constantly to became more natural — that is to say, to 



* Revue des Cours Scientijiques dc la France et dc Velranger, March, 1867. 



