n THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES 63 



A contemporary of Newton and of Leibnitz, 

 sharing therefore in the intellectual activity of the 

 remarkable age which witnessed the birth of 

 modern physical science, Benoit de Maillet spent 

 a long life as a consular agent of the French Gov- 

 ernment in various Mediterranean ports. For 

 sixteen years, in fact, he held the office of Consul- 

 General in Egypt, and the wonderful phsenomena 

 offered by the valley of the Nile appear to have 

 strongly impressed his mind, to have directed his 

 attention to all facts of a similar order which came 

 within his observation, and to have led him to 

 speculate on the origin of the present condition of 

 our globe and of its inhabitants. But, with all 

 his ardour for science, De Maillet seems to have 

 hesitated to publish views which, notwithstanding 

 the ingenious attempts to reconcile them with the 

 Hebrew hypothesis contained in the preface to 

 " Telliarned," were hardly likely to be received 

 with favour by his contemporaries. 



But a short time had elapsed since more than 

 one of the great anatomists and physicists of the 

 Italian school had paid dearly for their endeavours 

 to dissipate some of the prevalent errors ; and 

 their illustrious pupil, Harvey, the founder of 

 modern physiology, had not fared so well, in a 

 country less oppressed by the benumbing in- 

 fluences of theology, as to tempt any man to follow 

 his example. Probably not uninfluenced by these 

 considerations, his Catholic majesty's Consul- 



