PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 201 



direction to the analytical 8,nd synthetical labors of those study- 

 ing practical questions respecting plants and animals. 



Those who have attended the lectures of the son at the Sor- 

 oonne, or Garden of Plants, well remember the enthusiastic eluci- 

 dation and application of the principles of " Mon Pere." At what 

 round on the scale of progress commenced the father, Etienne? 



This point cannot be seen without passing in enumeration, at 

 least, some of his cotemporaries and predecessors. 



Before the finishing strokes to Buffon's great work had been 

 drawn, his co-laborer, Daubenton, called the young St. Hilaire to 

 the (xarden of Plants, where Lacepede and Jussieu then labored. 



St. Hilaire had not been long in his new position before he 

 received some essays from young Cuvier, and discovering therein 

 marks of genius called him from obscurity to Paris. 



Cuvier, born in 1769, (the natal year of Wellington and Napo- 

 leon) was three years senior of St. Hilaire. 



At the points where BufFon and Linngeus closed, the young co- 

 laborers, Cuvier and St. Hilaire, commenced their work upon a 

 zoological classification; and there were but three years between 

 the completion of Bnflbn's Natural History and their first essays 

 on Comparative Anatomy. 



Before passing in review the three schools of natural science 

 wdiich occupied the attention of students in the first half of the 

 present centur}^ — the schools of Cuvier, of Schelliiig, and of Geof- 

 frey St. Hilaire — let us briefly enumerate some of the links 

 in the chain of progress anterior. 



Plato's most celebrated pupil was Aristotle, the prince of Natu- 

 ral Philosophers of Antiquity, Avho became the teacher of Alex- 

 ander. The spirit of conquest did not eradicate from the con- 

 queror his early implanted zeal for the advancement of .Natural 

 History. In all his military expeditions Alexander was accom- 

 panied by a body of scientific men, charged with the mission of 

 studying, collecting and sending into Greece whatever was deemed 

 of interest or practical utility. Thus, with the productions of 

 Southern Europe, Aristotle was able first to compare those of 

 Egypt, of Asia Minor, of Persia and of India — trophies which the 

 young king of Macedonia, at each victory, was pleased to send 

 home, as if he had charged himself with conquering the world 

 for science, as much as for himsef. It was worth}^ of Alexander 

 thus to acquit himself towards his preceptor, Aristotle. Thus 

 the rice plant and the bean from India were introduced into 



