170 FROM LAMARCK TO ST. HILAIRE. 



the extremity of the toes of their feet. The other mammals re- 

 mained amphibious, like the seals." 



He also explains the origin of the horns in the 

 ruminant animals by the efforts which they have 

 made to butt their heads together in their periods 

 of anger ; thus has been formed a secretion of matter 

 upon the forehead. The fleet types of ruminants 

 which have been exposed to the attacks of carnivo- 

 rous animals, have been obliged to fly, and have 

 thus acquired the habit of making very rapid move- 

 ments ; thus have been formed the types of Gazelle, 

 Deer, and so forth. Such crude illustrations cer- 

 tainly could not predispose his contemporaries in 

 favour of his theory. 



He was still less happy in his account of the limbs 

 of snakes : 



" The snakes sprang from reptiles with four extremities, but 

 having taken up the habit of moving along the earth and conceal- 

 ing themselves among bushes, their bodies, owing to repeated 

 efforts to elongate themselves and to pass through narrow spaces, 

 have acquired a considerable length out of all proportion to their 

 width. Since long feet would have been very useless, and short 

 feet would have been incapable of moving their bodies, there 

 resulted a cessation of use of these parts, which has finally caused 

 them to totally disappear, although they were originally part of the 

 plan of organization in these animals." 



It is evident that Lamarck was forced to give 

 such illustrations as these, because, shut off as he 

 was from experiment and further observation, they 

 were the only ones which came within his range of 



