LAMARCK’S THEORY OF EVOLUTION 263 
“ Assuredly, whatever has been his will, the omnipo- 
tence of his power is always the same; and in what- 
ever way this supreme will has been manifested, 
nothing can diminish its greatness. As regards, then, 
the decrees of this infinite wisdom, I confine myself 
to the limits of a simple observer of nature. Then, 
if I discover anything in the course that nature fol- 
lows in her creations, I shall say, without fear of 
deceiving myself, that it has pleased its author that 
she possesses this power. 
“The idea that was held as to species among living 
bodies was quite simple, easy to grasp, and seemed 
confirmed by the constancy in the similar form of the 
individuals which reproduction or generation per- 
petuated. There still occur among us a very great 
number of these pretended species which we see 
every day. 
‘“ However, the farther we advance in the knowl- 
edge of the different organized bodies with which 
almost every part of the surface of the globe is 
covered, the more does our embarrassment increase 
in determining what should be regarded as species, 
and the greater is the reason for limiting and distin- 
guishing the genera. 
“ As we gradually gather the productions of nature, 
as our collections gradually grow richer, we see almost 
all the gaps filled up, and our lines of demarcation 
effaced. We find ourselves compelled to make an 
arbitrary determination, which sometimes leads us to 
seize upon the slightest differences between varieties 
to form of them the character of that which we call 
species, and sometimes one person designates as a 
variety of such a species individuals a little different, 
which others regard as constituting a particular 
species. 
“I repeat, the richer our collections: become, the 
more numerous are the proofs that all is more or less 
shaded (zwancé), that the remarkable differences be- 
