Essays on Life 



other. The most eminent of these writers 

 was a great French naturalist, Lamarck, who 

 published an elaborate work, the Philosophic 

 Zoologique, in which he endeavoured to prove 

 that all animals whatever are descended from 

 other species of animals. He attributed the 

 change of species chiefly to the effect of 

 changes in the conditions of life such as 

 climate, food, &c. ; and especially to the de- 

 sires and efforts of the animals themselves to 

 improve their condition, leading to a modifi- 

 cation of form or size in certain parts, owing 

 to the well-known physiological law that all 

 organs are strengthened by constant use, while 

 they are weakened or even completely lost by 

 disuse. . . . 



"The only other important work dealing 

 with the question was the celebrated ' Vestiges 

 of Creation,' published anonymously, but now 

 acknowledged to have been written by the late 

 Robert Chambers." 



None are so blind as those who will not see, 

 and it would be waste of time to argue with 

 the invincible ignorance of one who thinks 



Lamarck and Buffon conceived that all species 



244 



