THE THEORY OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION 163 



bility of the transportation of ferocious beasts on long and 

 arduous voyages; while the voluntary transference of ani- 

 mals, which were positive pests, seemed highly improbable. 

 The Mosaic account of creation and the story of the Noach- 

 ian deluge became increasingly difficult to believe in view of 

 the facts. But there was, as yet, no alternative explanation. 



The classification of animals and plants, accomplished by 

 Linnaeus (1704-1778) during the eighteenth century, gave 

 additional emphasis to the facts which had produced these 

 difficulties. Increasing knowledge of anatomy, of embry- 

 ology, of heredity, and of variation gave clues for the for- 

 mulation of a theory of organic evolution on a scientific founda- 

 tion. To George Louis Lecler, Comte de Buffon (1707- 

 1788), more than to any other individual, belongs the credit 

 of having formulated this first scientific theory of organic 

 evolution. Buffon clearly expresses the idea that particular 

 types, like the vertebrates, the molluscs, and so forth may 

 have descended from a common ancestry. He even goes so 

 far as to suggest that all living things may have arisen from 

 an identical source. Had he not lived in an atmosphere of 

 orthodox tradition, Buffon might have gone much further 

 than he did. His phraseology is guarded and often self- 

 contradictory, but his meaning is clear. That his fears of 

 persecution were not unfounded is seen by the fact that he 

 was forced to recant (1751) by the faculty of the Sorbonne 

 at Paris. 8 



During the latter half of the eighteenth century there 

 were many other advocates of this new doctrine of descent 

 with modification. These men were called Transmutation- 



8 Buffon's printed recantation is as follows: "I declare that I had no inten- 

 tion to contradict the text of scripture; that I believe most firmly all therein 

 related about the creation, both as to order and as to order of time and matter 

 of fact, I abandon everything in my book respecting the formation of the 

 earth, and generally all which may be contrary to the narrative of Moses." 

 Quoted from: Clodd, E., "Pioneers of Evolution," p. 96. Buffon may be 

 accused of indirectness, but evidently his meaning did not escape the vigilance 

 of conservatism. 



