BUFFON. 151 



Buffon interested himself about the ancient history 

 of the earth. His writings were not original in that 

 part of his subject, but what he did write contained, 

 much common sense. Nevertheless, the Faculty of 

 Theology at Paris found fault with the geology, and 

 informed him that no less than fourteen proposi- 

 tions in his works were reprehensible and contrary 

 to the creed of the Church. Buffon was invited to 

 recant, which he very foolishly did ; and it must be 

 mentioned that the " improper statements " are now 

 believed in, by every educated man. It has been 

 written of the great naturalists of the past, that 

 Aristoteles has shown the profound combination of 

 the laws of nature, Plinius her inexhaustible riches, 

 Linnaeus her wonderful details, and Buffon her 

 majesty and power. Certainly his great work 

 contains such pictures of nature as were never 

 given before, and rarely since, by any naturalist. 

 Buffon therefore had the happiness of bringing the 

 cultivation of the science more generally into 

 fashion than it had been previously. He was defi- 

 cient in the orderly method of science, however; 

 his work, supremely interesting and popular, was 

 soon found to be inconsistent with the severely 

 scientific study of nature. This want of order and 

 classification led to the establishment of a new 

 school of zoology. 



Buffon's social position was of great value and 

 importance to him as a naturalist and to the state 

 also, for he became the object of personal regard 

 to many distinguished foreign princes, who did not 



