B U F F O N. 



ina)'i, aJmit of no otlicr ornament than that of perfpicuity ; 

 topics of philofophy and argnment require a higher 

 and more lignrative cxprelTion ; and addrcfTes to the 

 pafTions and liner fcehngs of men, allow full fcope to 

 the exercife of genius and of tafte. Of thefe different 

 fpecies of writing, the works of Buffon afford nume- 

 rous examples. It has been obfcrved, however, that his 

 ftvle occafianally riies above the level of his fnbjeft ; and 

 this is particularly the cafe, when he is painting in glowing 

 colours the manners and habits of the lion, the horfe, the 

 elephant, and others of his favourite fuhjctts. By the in- 

 dulgence of this palTion for high painting, he has been be- 

 trayed into a deviat'on from tlie limits of limple truth, and 

 has been led to wander into the regions of fancy. In parti- 

 cular and minute obfervation he excels, and by his in- 

 defatigable rcicarches he has made a very copious addition to 

 the treafure of authenticated fads. In fume cafes he has 

 been milled by an undue attachment to theory, as well as by 

 the ambition of dillinguinied eloquence. " On various to- 

 pics," fays a judicious biograplier, " he had formed gene- 

 ral theorems, which he was inchned to fnpport againll ex- 

 ceptions by denying or neglefting the inllances produced on 

 the other fide. Faither, he not unfrequently gives the 

 mere inferences from his opinions as if they were known and 

 tried fafts ; thus dangerouily confounding hypothefis with 

 that experience which is the only true bafis of all natural 

 knowledge. He often attributes more to the operation of 

 certain caufes, fnch as change of climate, domeftication, and 

 the like, than fober reafon can warrant; and even, accord- 

 ing to the tenor of his argument, fometimes afcribes oppo- 

 fite effefts to the very lame ca\ife. Thcfe blemi(hes mate- 

 rially leffen the confidence with which his work can be ufed 

 as authority, and later inquirers are contmually detefting 

 errors in his llatements. Yet the great mafs of matter will 

 probably always remain unimpeachcd ; and certainly no 

 writer has ever done fo much to render natural hillory en- 

 tertaining, and to elevate its rank among the objefts on 

 which the human intelleft is employed. In one point, 

 however, he will by many be thought to have derogated 

 from the true dignity and value of his fubjed. He is every 

 where the enemy of the doctrine of final caufes, and fublli- 

 tutes, to a deligning and benevolent author, the fortuitous 

 operations of a certain unconfcious " Nature," which as 

 often exhibits examples of blunder and defctt, as of (Ivilful 

 and happy contrivance." " Studioudy to overlook fo beau- 

 tiful a part of the economy of things, as the adaptation of 

 means to ends, is furely as mconfillcnt with the philofophical 

 as the religious fpirit," which may, poffibly, in fome in- 

 llances, have betrayed him into error. This " fault is ag- 

 gravated in Buffon by the pleafure he occafionally takes in 

 declaiming upon the defetts of nature, in a llraiu which 

 would feem to impute malignity of intention to the Author 

 of being, and which he appears to have derived from the 

 fiiallow pliilofophy of his predeceffor Pliny. The moral reader 

 of Buffon will likewife be frequently offended with the 

 groffnefs of his defcripti<nis in all points relative to fex : 

 in which he not only indulges in an anatomical plainnefs of 

 language, but, what is much worfe, adopts a lludied fenfu- 

 alifm, the objeft of which is to exalt the value of fexual 

 gratifications, and make a propenfity to them one of the 

 indications of noblenefs of nature." 



After the completion of his hiilory of quadrupeds in 176;:, 

 Buffon was interrupted in the progrefs of his labours by a 

 f<vere and tedious indifpolition ; and therefore the two firft 

 volumes of his " Hillory of Birds" did not appear till the 

 year 1771. In the compofition of the grcatell part of thefe 

 he was indebted to the labours of M. Gnencau de Montbeil- 



lard, who adhered fo clofcly to Buffon's mode of thinking 

 and of expreffiun, tliat the public coidd not perceive any 

 difference. The four fubfequent volumes were the joint pro- 

 duction of both writers ; and each author prefixed his name 

 to his own articles. The three remaining volumes were 

 written bv Buffon himfclf, with the affillance of the abbe 

 Bexon, who formed the nomenclature, drew up moll of the 

 dcfcriptious, and communicated feveral iiniioitaut hints. 

 The work was completed in 17S;, but on account of the 

 much greater number of Ipecics of birds than of quadrupeds, 

 the want of fy Hematic arrangement is more to be regretted 

 in this than in the other hillory. A tranllation of Buffon's 

 " Natural Hiilory," by Mr. Smellie of Edinburgh, com- 

 priled in 8 vols. 8vo. was publiflied in 1781 ; to which a 

 9th volume was added in 1786, containing a tranllation of a 

 fupplementary volume of Buffon, and confilling chiefly of 

 curious and interelHng fafts wilii regard to the hillory 

 of the earth. The tranflator has omitted the anatomical 

 diffeftions and menfurations of M. D'Aubenton, which 

 greatly enhanced the bulk, as well as the price of the ori- 

 ginal, and which the author himfelf had omitted in the laft 

 Paris edition of his performance. There are likewile fome 

 other omiffions, which are not very important ; refpetlinjj 

 the method of ftudying natural hillory, methodical dillribu- 

 tions, and the mode of defcribing animals. Thefe omiffions 

 have been amply compenfated by the tranflator's addition of 

 fhort dillindlive dtfcriptions to each fpecies of quadrupeds, 

 of the figures of feveral new animals, and of the fynonyms, 

 as well as the generic and fpecitic charafters given by Lin- 

 neeus, Klein, Briffon, and other naturalifts, together with 

 occaflonal notes. A tranllation of Buffon's " Hillory of 

 Birds," in 9 vols. Svo. with notes and additions, was alfo 

 publifhed by Mr. Smellie in 179J. 



In 1774, Buffon began to publifli a " Supplement" to his 

 Natural Hiftory, confilling of the " Hillory of Minerals." 

 The firll volume contains an account of his burning g/a/s, 

 for which, fee that article. Thefe fnpplemental volumes, 

 of which the 5th, in 4to., appeared in 1778, contain many 

 curious and valuable experiments, as well as much theory, 

 too lax for the rigour of modern fcience. The concluding 

 volume may be confidcred as a kind of philofophical romance. 

 It comprehends what the author fancifully denominates the 

 " Epochas of Nature," or thofe great changes in the ftate 

 of the earth which he fuppofes to have fucccffively refulted 

 from his hypothefis of its original formation out of the fun. 

 Of thefe epochas he enumerates feven, of which fix are fup- 

 pofed to have been previous to the creation of man. In the 

 defcription of thefe epochas, as to both their caufes and ef- 

 fefts, the author has indulged the fport of fancy, and formed 

 a fort of fairy tale, which he has contrived to render amufing 

 and iullrutlive. Such as we have recounted are the prin- 

 cipal works of this great author, which have been collcfted 

 and publiflied in •; 5 vols. 4to. and 62 vols. izmo. ; and of 

 the whole or parts of which new editions occafionally appear. 

 After he had completed his " Hillory of Minerals," lie 

 had formed a dcfign of compofing the " Hiftory of Vege- 

 tables ;" but this projctl was defeated by his death. Several 

 of the fubjefts that occur in his " Natural Hiltor)-," and its 

 fnpplements, have been difcuffed in feparate memoirs, and 

 may be found in the Memoirs of the Royal Academy of 

 Sciences at Paris, for the years 17J7, J7j8, 1739, 1741, 

 and 1742. Some account of them will be found in different 

 articles of this diftionary. See particularly AcciDENTAf. 

 Co/ours, Hf AT, Maositiim, Timufr, Sic. Nouv. Did. 

 Hill. Encyclopedic Phyfique, torn. i. Lett, de Herault 

 Scchelles, 7ilii fupra. Smcllie's Tranflatioiis. Gen. Biog, 

 BUFl'"ONi, in Ont'ithology, a fj-ccies of Falco, called liy 

 i P ? Latham 



