BUFFON. 107 



" In place," says Buff on himself, "of treal ing birds one 



by one, that is to say, by distinct and separate species, 

 I will unite them several together in one grim-." 

 And this he does, for to each principal species, or lli.it 

 which he takes as a type, he adjoins all the Bpeci< 3, 

 whether of our own or foreign climates, which agree 

 with it ; by these means he forms regular groups, families 

 and genera, and he almost always respects the great and 

 true characteristics. 



When we speak, then, of the ideas of Buff on regard- 

 ing method, we must take into consideration the epoch 

 in which he held them, and, if we may so express our- 

 selves, their date. No man, perhaps, more constantly 

 modified his thoughts than Buffon, because no man 

 more constantly elaborated them. An example of this 

 is before us — he commenced his labours by compara- 

 tively ridiculing method, and he ended by striking out 

 and pursuing a very good one of his own. 



When Buffon commenced his great work he was no 

 more an anatomist than he was a zoologist ; he became 

 a zoologist later, but never an anatomist, strictly speak- 

 ing ; and yet, on the one hand, he did much for anatomy, 

 and on the other, he owed much to it. Buffon is the 

 first who ever joined the anatomical, thai is to say the 

 interior, description to the exterior description of the 

 species. He it was who called and inspired his friend 

 and fellow-labourer Daubenton, and by his hands laid 

 the first foundations of comparative anatomy, and 

 perhaps he understood better than Daul u 'i it <>n himself 

 all the bearings of the science. 



In 1774 Button began to publish a supplemeul to hifl 



