370 LAMARCK, HIS LIFE AND WORK 
In the “‘Principes primordiaux’’ he considers man 
as the only being who has the power of observing 
nature, and the only one who has perceived the 
necessity of recognizing a superior and only cause, 
creator of the order of the wonders of the world of 
life. By this he is led to raise his thoughts to the 
Supreme Author of all that exists. 
‘“ In the creation of his works, and especially those 
we can observe, this omnipotent Being has undoubt- 
edly been the ruling power in pursuing the method 
which has pleased him, namely, his will has been: 
‘Either to create instantaneously and separately 
every particular living being observed by us, to per- 
sonally care for and watch over them in all their 
changes, their movements, or their actions, to unre- 
mittingly care for each one separately, and by the 
exercise of his supreme will to regulate all their life; 
‘Or to reduce his creations to a small number, 
and among these, to institute an order of things gen- 
eral and continuous, pervaded by ceaseless activity 
(mouvement), especially subject to laws by means of 
which all the organisms of whatever nature, all the 
changes they undergo, all the peculiarities they pre- 
sent, and all the phenomena that many of them 
exhibit, may be produced. 
‘In regard to these two modes. of execution, if 
observation taught us nothing we could not form 
any opinion which would be well erounded. But it 
isnot so; we distinctly see that there exists an order 
of things truly created ( (veritablement créé), as un- 
changeable as its author allows, acting on matter 
alone, and which possesses the power of producing 
all visible beings, of executing all the changes, all 
the modifications, even the extinctions, so also the 
renewals or recreations that we observe among them. 
It is to this order of things that we have given the 
