LAMARCK. 157 



sion, whether Lamarck's factor is a factor in. Evolu- 

 tion at ajl ! If it prove to be no factor, Lamarck 

 will sink gradually into obscurity as one great 

 figure in the history of opinion. If it prove to be 

 a real factor, he will rise into a more eminent posi- 

 tion than he now holds, — into a rank not far below 

 Darwin's. 



Jeanne Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, other-j 

 wise known as the Chevalier de Lamarck, was,] 

 according to his biographer, a man of great phys-l 

 ical and moral courage. He distinguished himself' 

 by an act of singular bravery in the army, and, re- 

 ceiving an injury, re-entered life as a doctor. He 

 ^^ was first attracted to Botany by the rich flora ob- 



served during his military service near Monaco, and, 

 coming to Paris, he gained Buffon's attention, and 

 became an intimate friend of his household? His 

 Flore Franfaise, written in si.\ months, was printed 

 under Buffon's direction, and passed through many 

 editions. Thisjwas a^ systematic work, an adapta- 

 tion of the system of Linnaeus to the flora of France. 

 He seems to have been gifted with exceptionally 

 rapid observation, with great facility in writing, 

 and wTth unuTual powers of definition and descrip- 

 tjon^^ At tHe age of forty-nine he was transferred, 

 unde^r the Directory, to a Zoological_chair m the 

 Jardins _des_JPlantes. Lamarck was especially 

 placed in charge of the invertebrates, and at the 

 same time Geoffroy St. Hilaire was appointed to the 

 care of the vertebrates. He took up the study of 



