UNITY OF COMPOSITION. 257 
of Sciences appointed the 15th of February, 1830, as the day 
upon which the rival opinions should be argued. Europe watched 
the contest. The question at issue was, whether the opinion which 
the scientific men of every age since the days of Aristotle had 
held, was to be overthrown by a notion just conceived ; whether 
the painstaking labours of Cuvier, his beautiful dissections, his 
admirable descriptions, his graphic illustrations, all pointed to a 
wrong conclusion ; that, after all, there was no such diversity in 
the kingdom of Nature as to authorise a stringent classification, 
but that animals were all formed upon the same type, and that 
the differences were not radical, but were produced by new 
arrangements of the same organs. Each view found enthusiastic 
supporters. The eminent naturalists of the time were ranged on 
each side, for it was not a question of mere detail, but of great 
principles. The whole scientific world was agitated by the dis- 
cussion; and not only the scientific world, but the intelligent 
world was interested ; every thinking man was in one sense 
competent to enter the lists of argument; so that the interest 
produced was universal. The journals and periodicals of the day 
opened their columns to the combatants, and all the leading pens 
were engaged upon the subject. Even the illustrious Goethe, then 
only twenty-four, rejoiced “that natural science had opened for 
itself another channel.” France, where the contest originated, was 
its chief battle-field. - Even the Revolution which threw down the 
Bourbon throne did not eclipse its notoriety. A stranger, newly 
arrived from Paris, was introduced to Goethe. “ Well,” said the 
noted man, “what do you think of the great event ? The volcano, 
you see, has erupted.” “It is, indeed, a terrible catastrophe,” 
replied the visitor, “and the mere expulsion of the royal family 
is NOE the end, of it. lt is’not that,- mean; replied’ Goethe, 
“but the great debate between Cuvier and Geoffroy St. Hilaire.” 
The proposition which Geoffroy St. Hilaire brought forward 
was :—That Nature had constructed all forms of life upon one 
principle, and never deviated from the general plan, although 
its various component parts admitted of alteration—the larger 
development of one organ, or the suppression of another, might 
depend upon the circumstances and position of a particular 
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