BUFFON FULLER QUOTATIONS. l6/ 



and dates from the same period as other species ; that 

 it has spread itself even more widely than they ; and 

 that if man's creation has a later date than that of the 

 other animals, nothing shows that he has not been sub- 

 jected to the same laws of nature, the same alterations, 

 and the same changes as they. We will grant that the 

 human species does not differ essentially from others in 

 the matter of bodily organs, and that, in respect of 

 these, our lot has been much the same as that of other 

 animals." * 



Plants under Domestication. 



"If more modern and even recent examples are 

 required in order to prove man's power over the vege- 

 table kingdom, it is only necessary to compare our 

 vegetables, flowers, and fruits with the same species 

 such as they were a hundred and fifty years ago ; this 

 can be done with much ease and certainty by running 

 the eye over the great collection of coloured drawings 

 begun in the time of Gaston of Orleans, and continued 

 to the present day at the Jardin du Roi. We find with 

 surprise that the finest flowers of that date, as the 

 ranunculuses, pinks, tulips, bear's ears, &c., would be 

 rejected now, I do not say by our florists, but by our 

 village gardeners. These flowers, though then already 

 cultivated, were still not far above their wild condition. 

 They had a single row of petals only, long pistils, 

 colours hard and false ; they had little velvety texture, 

 variety, or gradation of tints, and, in fact, presented all 

 the characteristics of untamed nature. Of herbs there 



* Sup. torn. v. p. 187, 1778. 



