LAMARCK. 



17 i 



TABLEAU DU REGNE ANIMAL (1802). 



MONTRANT LA DEGRADATION PROGRESSIVE DES OrGANES SPECIAUX 



Jusqu'a Leur Aneantissement. 



JVota. — La progression de la degradation n'est nulle part r^gulifere 

 ou proportionnelle ; mais elle existe dans Tensemble d'une mani&re 

 dvidente. 



1. Les Mamraaux 



2. Les Oiseaux 



3. Les Reptiles 



4. Les Poissons 



5. Les Mollusques 



6. Les Annelides 



7. Les Crustac^s 



8. Les Arachnides 



9. Les Insectes 



10. Les Vers 



1 1 . Les Radiaires 



12. Les Polypes 



Une colonne vertdbrale, faisant la base d'un 

 squelette articul^. 



Point de colonne vertdbrale ; point de vdritable 

 squelette. 



In 1802 he expressly speaks of the shaded grada- 

 tion in the complication of organization, not as a 

 lineal series of species, or even of genera, for he 

 says such a series does not exist. But, " I speak of 

 a series quite regularly gradated in its principal 

 masses; that is to say, in the principal known 

 systems of organization. Such a series in this case 

 certainly offers lateral ramifications in many direc- 

 tions, the extremities of which are truly isolated 

 points." This early conception of Lamarck's may 

 be compared to a fir-tree with a single central stem 

 and radiating branches. He says, "that such a 



