Development of Animal Organization. 211 



to be given to De Maillet, who lived at the end of the 17th and 

 beginning of the 1 8th centuries, and was French consul in 

 Egypt and afterwards at Palermo. His opinions are explained 

 in a book entitled ' Telliamed, ou Entretiens d'un Philosophe 

 Indien avec un Missionnaire Fran9ois sur la Diminution de la 

 Mer, la Formation de la Terre, POrigine de 1' Homme, etc/* 



From the supposition that animals now living and plants 

 growing on the land all originated from organisms hving in the 

 sea, he endeavours to establish that all forms occurring among 

 animals and plants on the continent have their representatives 

 and corresponding species in the ocean. Birds are to be derived 

 from flying-fishes, which, entangled by accident between the 

 reeds, were prevented from returning to their former abode. 

 Their tins were cloven, their rays were clothed with feathers, 

 and the ventral fins were transformed into legs. "II se fit encore 

 d'autrcs tres-petits changements dans leur figure. Le bee et le 

 col des uns s'allougereut, et des autres se raccourcireut. II en 

 fut de meme au reste du corps. Cependant la conformite de la 

 premiere figure subsiste dans le total, et elle est et sera toujours 

 aise k reconnoitre" (pp. 320,321). It is hardly necessary to 

 say that such conceptions are inconsistent with calm and un- 

 prepossessed inquiry, and are dissipated by its touchstone. 



Provided with a larger knowledge of natural history, the 

 French naturalist Lamarck was, at the beginning of our century, 

 the warm defender of similar views. He believed that there is 

 a slow development, by which, from the most simple infusorium, 

 originate different other animals, till the highest forms are at- 

 tained. If all animals were confined to the same conditions, the 

 same medium, the same temperature, and the same external 

 circumstances, this ladder of development would be uniform 

 and very regular. This would be the case if, for instance, there 

 were only marine animals living at the same depth and in the 

 same temperature. But such not being the fact, another agent 

 steps in, in addition to that of gradation — the influence of ex- 

 ternal conditions, their relation to the wants and acts of animals, 

 which, by constant repetition, produce habits. These habits 

 modify the organization. Some parts, being more constantly 

 used, increase in bulk and strength ; others, by rest and inac- 

 tion, lose their importance, are reduced in size, or disappear 

 entirely. So habits form new organs, as, he says, is generally 

 known, because it gave rise to the proverbial expression, " Lea 

 habitudes forment une uouvelle naturt*."t Even passions pro- 



• There are various editious of this book, i have that published at 

 Basle, 1749, iu small 8vo. " Telliamed" is an anagram of the author's name. 



+ Philosophie Zooloeique, par J. B. P. A. Lamarck. Paris, 1809. 2 vols. 

 8vo. See vol. i. p. 23?. 



14* 



