332 ZOOLOGY 



greatest acquisitions of human knowledge. " In the 

 establishment of this generalization a French zoologist, 

 LAMARCK, was the leader. Although the evolutionary 

 point of view had been vaguely suggested at different 

 times, Lamarck (1744-1829) was the first to announce 

 a comprehensive theory of organic evolution that has 

 maintained to the present time a creditable standing in 

 the intellectual world. His immediate predecessors, 

 BUFFON, GOETHE, and Erasmus DARWIN, dealt with the 

 same great theme, but much less rigorously than Lamarck, 

 whose theory was so much more thoroughly thought out 

 that it completely superseded all earlier attempts and 

 marks the beginning of evolutionary thought in its 

 modern sense. It was first announced by Lamarck in 

 1800 and was somewhat elaborated in 1802, 1803, and 

 1806. Finally, it was fully expounded in his " Philosophic 

 Zoologique," in 1809, and that year marks the first dis- 

 tinct epoch in the rise of evolutionary thought. 



This is not the place to enter into consideration of 

 the principles laid down by Lamarck; but it is a signifi- 

 cant circumstance that, a century after being promul- 

 gated, his principle of use-inheritance should have been 

 revived, and, under the title of "Neo-Lamarckism," 

 should occupy such a prominent place in the discussions 

 regarding the factors of organic evolution that are being 

 carried on at the present time. This shows better than 

 anything else the position commanded by this French 

 zoologist in the natural science of the nineteenth century. 



After a long lapse of time the field of organic evolution 

 is now represented in Paris by a professorship of organic 

 evolution under the charge of Maurice CAULLERY. 



(2) Protoplasm. The consequences that followed from 

 the discovery of protoplasm, and the recognition of its 

 true nature, form another notable scientific advance of 



