178 LAMARCK, HIS LIFE AND WORK 
impetus to botany in France, and fully earned the 
Bileot “the French inne 
Lamarck not only described a number of genera and 
species of plants, but he attempted a general classifi- 
cation, as Cleland states: 
“In-1785,(f7est. ded Acad). he evinced his appreci- 
ation of the necessity of natural orders in botany by 
an attempt at the classification of plants, interesting 
though crude, and falling immeasurably short of the 
system which grew in the hands of his intimate friend 
Jussieu.” —E£ucycl. Brit., Art. LAMARCK. 
A genus of tropical plants of the group Solanacee 
was named J/arkea by Richard, in honor of Lamarck, 
but changed by Persoon and Poiret to Lamarckea. 
The name Lamarckia of Moench and Koeler was 
proposed for a genus of grasses; it is now Chrysurus. 
Lamarck’s success as a botanist led to more or less 
intimate relations with Buffon. But it appears that 
the good-will of this great naturalist and courtier for 
the rising botanist was not wholly disinterested. La- 
marck owed the humble and poorly paid position of 
keeper of the herbarium to Buffon. Bourguin adds, 
however: 
“Mais iw les dut moins a ses mérites quaux 
petits passions de la science officiclle. ‘Yhe illustrious 
Buffon, who was at the same time avery great lord at 
court, was jealous of Linné. He could not endure 
having any one compare his brilliant and eloquent 
word-pictures of animals with the cold and methodical 
descriptions of the celebrated Swedish naturalist. So 
he attempted to combat him in another field—botany. 
For this reason he encouraged and pushed Lamarck 
into notice, who, as the popularizer of the system of 
