vi EVOLUTION IN BIOLOGY 209 
deductive application to geological phenomena of 
the principles established inductively by the study 
_ of the present course of nature. Somewhat later, 
- Maupertuis! suggested a curious hypothesis as to 
_ the causes of variation, which he thinks may be 
| sufficient to account for the origin of all animals 
from a single pair. Robinet ? followed out much 
~ the same line of thought as De Maillet, but less 
_ soberly ; and Bonnet’s speculations in the “ Paling- 
énésie,’ which appeared in 1769, have already 
been mentioned. Buffon (1753-1778), at first a 
_ partisan of the absolute immutability of species, 
subsequently appears to have believed that larger 
or smaller groups of species have been produced 
_ by the modification of a primitive stock ; but he 
contributed nothing to the general doctrine of 
_ evolution. 
Erasmus Darwin (“ Zoonomia,” 1794), though a 
_ zealous evolutionist, can hardly be said to have 
| jmade any real advance on his predecessors ; and, 
_ notwithstanding that Goethe (1791-4) had the 
advantage of a wide knowledge of morphological 
- facts, and a true insight into their signification, 
while he threw all the power of a great poet into 
_ the expression of his conceptions, it may be ques- 
_ tioned whether he supplied the doctrine of evolu- 
. Systeme dela Nature, “‘ Essai sur la Formation des Corps 
Organisés,” 1751, xiv. 
4 Considérations Philosophiques sur la gradation naturelle des 
_ formes de Vétre ; ow les essais de la nature qui apprend a faire 
Vhomme, 1768. 
VOL. II P 
