* 



s 



256 



LAMAECK'S THEOKY OF THE 



XXXIT 



of development acted with such nneqnal and irregular force 

 on those classes of beings which have been greatly perfected 

 so that there are wide chasms in the series ; gaps so enorm- 

 ous^ that Lamarck fairly admits we can never expect to 

 fill them up by future discoveries ? 



The following hypothesis was provided to meet these ob- 



j e ct ions . N"atur e 



is not an intelligence, nor 



the Deity ; but a delegated power — a mere instrument — a 

 piece of mechanism acting by necessity — an order of things 

 constituted by the Supreme Being, and subject to laws which 



His 



Nature 



proceed gradually in all her operations ; she cannot produce 



and plants of all classes at once, but must always 



animals 



formation of the most 



more com 



m 



Hon. 



more their number and energy. 



This Nature is daily engaged in the formation of the ele- 

 mentary rudiments of animal and vegetable existence, which 

 correspond to what the ancients termed spontaneous genera- 

 She is always beginning anew, day by day, the 

 work of creation, by forming monads, or ^ rough draughts ' 

 (ebauches), which are the only living things she gives birth 

 to directly."^ 



There are distinct primary rudiments of plants and animals, 

 and prohaUy of each of the great divisions of the animal 

 and vegetable kingdoms.! These are gradually developed 



into the higher and more perfect classes by the slow but 

 unceasing energy of two influential principles : first, the 

 tendency to progressive advancement in organisation, accom- 

 panied by greater dignity in instinct, intelligence, &c. ; 

 secondly, the force of external circumstances^ or of variations 

 in the physical condition of the earth, or the 



mutual 



animals 



Tor, as species spread them- 

 selves gradually over the globe, they are exposed from time 

 to time to variations in climate, and to changes in the 



* Phil. ZooL pp. %b and 204. 



t Animaux sans Vert. torn. i. Introduction, p. ^(j note 



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