IRONICAL CHARACTER OF BUFFON'S WORK. 85 



begins a fresh chapter or half chapter when he does so 

 — he writes no more about evolution, but gives an admi- 

 rable description, which no one can fail to enjoy, and 

 which I cannot think is nearly so inaccurate as is com- 

 monly supposed. These descriptions are the parts 

 which Buflfon intended for the general reader, expect- 

 ing, doubtless, and desiring that such a reader should 

 skip the dry parts he had been addressing to the more 

 studious. It is true the descriptions are written ad 

 ea'ptandvm, as are all great works, but they succeed in 

 captivating, having been composed with all the pains a 

 man of genius and of great perseverance could bestow 

 upon them. If I am not mistaken, he looked to these 

 parts of his work to keep the whole alive till the time 

 should come when the philosophical side of his writings 

 should be understood and appreciated. 



Thus the goat breeds with the sheep, and may there- 

 fore serve as the text for a dissertation on hybridism, 

 which is accordingly given in the preface to this animal. 

 The presence of rudimentary organs under a pig's hoof 

 suggests an attack upon the doctrine of final causes in so 

 far as it is pretended that every part of every animal or 

 plant was specially designed with a view to the wants of 

 the animal or plant itself once and for ever throughout 

 all time. The dog with his great variety of breeds 

 gives an opportunity for an article on the formation of 

 breeds and sub-breeds by man's artificial selection. The 

 cat is not honoured with any philosophical reflections, 

 and comes in for nothing but abuse. The hare suggests 

 the rabbit, and the rabbit is a rapid breeder, although 

 the hare is an unusually slow one ; but this is near 



