230 FROM THE GREEKS TO DARWIN 



written in 1776 and presented to the Academy 

 in 1780, but not published until 1794 (the date 

 of the Zoonomia) , Here Lamarck, as we have 

 seen, affirms his belief in the immutability of 

 species and strong disbelief in the theory of the 

 spontaneous origin of life, saying that all the 

 physical forces we know, combined, cannot form 

 a single organic being capable of reproduction. 

 All individuals in organic life descend from other 

 individuals altogether similar, which taken to- 

 gether constitute the entire species. It is certain 

 from this that in 1776 Lamarck held views simi- 

 lar to those of his master, Buffon, in his third pe- 

 riod. It is possible that prior to 1794 his own 

 opinions had become modified, but that he had 

 left his original manuscript unchanged for pub- 

 lication. 



In his Ht/drogeologie, published in 1802, he 

 developed his uniformitarian ideas in geology 

 and proposed the term 'biology' for the sciences 

 of life. It is in the preface of this work that he 

 speaks of projecting a 'Physique terrestre' to in- 

 clude three parts : Meteorologie, Hydrogeologie, 

 and Biologie. The first and last sections were 

 never completed. 



In the year 1802 also appeared his RechercJies 

 sur V Organisation des Corps vivans, in which he 

 first sketches his evolution theory. This work was 

 particularly upon the origin of the living body. 



