420 BIOLOGY AND ITS MAKERS 



Packard, who has studied his writings with care, says 

 that he was an evolutionist through all periods of his life, not, 

 as is commonly maintained, believing first in the fixity of 

 species, later in their changeability, and lastly returning to 

 his earlier position. "The impression left on the mind after 



FIG. 116. BUFFON, 1707-1788. 



reading Buffon is that even if he threw out these suggestions 

 and then retracted them, from fear of annoyance or even 

 persecution from the bigots of his time, he did not himself 

 always take them seriously, but rather jotted them down as 

 passing thoughts. Certainly he did not present them in the 



