ON THE MOEPHOLOGICAL VIEW OF NATURE. 239 



modelled, and which have always existed. These types 

 or archetectonic models are capable of certain modifica- 

 tions, which, however, do not affect the main features of 

 the plan. The different classes of these main types, 

 called " embranchements," and designated as backboned, 

 molluscous, articulate, and radiated animals, stand near 

 each other in independence and form no scale. 1 



The morphological view of nature took a somewhat 

 different turn in De Candolle, the successor of Jussieu in 34. 



De Candolle. 



botany, who, while greatly indebted to Cuvier, acknow- 



Cuvier and his opponent, Geoffroy 

 St Hilaire. In 1816 Blainville gave 

 the " principles of a new classifica- 

 tion of the animal kingdom, in 

 which, for the first time, the totality 

 of structure of animals was used to 

 characterise larger divisions." He 

 divides animals first of all into 

 three sub-kingdoms symmetrical, 

 radiate, and those without regular 

 form. De Blainville seems to have 

 been an inspiring teacher, whose 

 ideas became suggestive and fruitful 

 in many other minds. Nearly the 

 whole of the third volume of 

 Comte's ' Philosophic Positive ' is 

 written under a sense of obligation 

 to De Blainville, whose ' Cours de 

 physiologic generate et compare'e ' 

 (1829-32) Comte considers " comme 

 le type le plus parfait de 1'etat le 

 plus avanc^ de la biologie actuelle " 

 (vol. iii. p. 269, Paris, 1838). The 

 ' Philosophic Positive ' was dedi- 

 cated to Fourier and De Blain- 

 ville. How the latter also antici- 

 pated the modern conceptions of 

 " Stoffwechsel " and " Metabolism " 

 see Claude Bernard, ' Phenomenes 

 de la vie communs aux auiinaux 

 et aux vegetaux ' (1885, vol. i. 

 p. 36). _ 



1 It is historically interesting to 

 note that about the time when 

 Cuvier was gradually defining more 



rigidly his four classes, Lamarck 

 was working at his ' Histoire natur- 

 elle des Animaux sans vertebres,' of 

 which the 'Systeme,' &c. (Paris, 

 1801), can be considered the first 

 edition, the larger work appearing 

 from 1816 to 1822. With him there 

 is no mention of a plan or a type. 

 His classes form a progressive series, 

 and he was the first to follow the 

 path from the simple to the more 

 complex. In opposition to Cuvier, 

 he thus wrote : " La nature, dans 

 toutes ses operations, ne pouvant 

 proceder que graduellement, n'a 

 pu produire tous les animaux a la 

 fois : elle n'a d'abord forme que les 

 plus simples, et passant de ceux-ci 

 jusques aux plus composes, elle a 

 etabli successivement en eux dif- 

 ferents systemes d'organes par- 

 ticuliers, les a multiplies, en a 

 augmente de plus en plus 1'energie, 

 et les cumulant dans les plus par- 

 faits, elle a fait exister tous les 

 animaux connus, avec 1'organisation 

 et les facultes que nous leur ob- 

 servons. Or, elle n'a rien fait 

 absolument, ou elle a fait ainsi." 

 ('Hist, des Animaux sans vertebres,' 

 2nd ed., par Deshayes et Milne 

 Edwards, Bruxelles, 1837, vol. i. 

 p. 42. Cf. also Carus, loc. cit. t 

 p. 615.) 



