62 EVOLUTION AND DOGMA. 



but never attempted to demonstrate a postulate 

 which since his time has provoked such widespread 

 discussion. 1 



Among the contemporaries of Lamarck, who did 

 much to develop and corroborate the theory of 

 Evolution, must be mentioned Goethe, who has just- 

 ly been called the greatest poet of Evolution, and 

 Treviranus. As a morphologist and osteologist, 

 Goethe exhibited talent of the highest order, and, 

 had he devoted his life to science instead of litera- 

 ture, he would have ranked with the most eminent 

 naturalists of modern times. In referring to his 

 essays on comparative anatomy, Cuvier declares that 

 " One finds in them, with astonishment, nearly all 

 the propositions which have been separately ad- 

 vanced in recent times." As to Treviranus, Huxley 

 places him alongside Lamarck as one of the chief 

 founders of the theory of Evolution, although there 

 are many who dissent from this opinion of the great 

 English biologist. The truth is he was rather an 



1 The nature and chief factors of Evolution according to 

 Lamarck, are expressed in the following four laws : 



Premiere Lot. La vie, par ses propres forces, tend con- 

 tinuellement a accroitre le volume de tout corps qui la possede, 

 et a etendre les dimensions de ses parties, jusqu' a un terme qu' 

 elle amene elle-meme. 



Deuxieme Loi. La production d'un nouvel organe dans un 

 corps animal resulte d' un notiveau besoin survenu qui continue 

 de se faire sentir, et d' un nouveau mouvement que ce besoin 

 fait naitre et entretient. 



Troisteme Loi. Le developpement des organes et leur force 

 d'action sont constamment en raison de 1'emploi de ces organes. 



Quatrieme Loi. Tout ce qui a ete acquis, trace ou change 

 dans 1'organisation des individus pendant le cours de leur vie, 

 est conserve par la generation et transmis aux nouveaux individus 

 qui proviennent .de ceux qui ont eprouve ces changements. Cf. 

 l> Histoire Naturelle," and " Philosophic Zoologique." 



