n THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES 65 



of knowledge of the day, two circumstances 

 appear very well worthy of remark. The first, 

 that De Maillet had a notion of the modifiability 

 of living forms (though without any precise 

 information on the subject), and how such modi 

 fiability might account for the origin of species ; 

 the second, that he very clearly apprehended the 

 great modern geological doctrine, so strongly 

 insisted upon by Hutton, and so ably and 

 comprehensively expounded by Lyell, that we 

 must look to existing causes for the explanation 

 of past geological events. Indeed, the following 

 passage of the preface, in which De Maillet is 

 supposed to speak of the Indian philosopher 

 Telliamed, his alter ego, might have been written 

 by the most philosophical uniformitarian of the 

 present day : 



&quot;Ce qiril y a d etonnant, est que pour arriver a ces connois- 

 sances il semble avoir perverti 1 ordrc naturel, puisqu au lieu de 

 s attacher d abord a rechercher 1 origine de notre globe il a 

 commence par travailler a s instraire de la nature. Mais a 

 1 entendre, ce renversement de 1 ordre a etc pour lui 1 effet d un 

 genie favorable qui 1 a conduit pas a pas et comme par la main 

 aux decouvertes les plus sublimes. C est en decomposant la 

 substance de ce globe par une anatomic exacte de toutes ses 

 parties qu il a premierement appris de quelles matieres il etait 

 compose et qucls arrangemens ces memes matieres observaient 

 entre elles. Ces lumieres jointes a 1 esprit de comparaison 

 toujours necessaire a quiconque entreprend de percer les voiles 

 dont la nature aime a se cacher, ont servi de guide a uotre 

 philosophe pour parvenir a des connoissances plus interessantes. 

 Par la matiere et l arrangement de ces compositions il pretend 

 VOL. II F 



