296 
OWEN’S POSITION IN 
none the better than those of his opponents 
because they happened to be in favour with the 
multitude, instructed and uninstructed. The doc- 
trines of emboitement in embryology; of periodical 
geological catastrophes ; of the fixity of species ; 
of physiological deduction as the basis of palaeon- 
tology ; and the restriction of the scope of bio- 
logical science to mere observation and classifica- 
tion which is fairly deducible from some of 
Cuvier s dicta, though I do not believe he ever 
intended that it should be — are not one whit 
more scientifically respectable than the least 
sober speculations of Geoffroy. 
T he irony of history is nowhere more ap- 
parent than in science. Here we see the men, 
over whose minds the coming events of the world 
of biology cast their shadows, doing their best to 
spoil their case in stating it ; while the man who 
represented sound scientific method is doing his 
best to stay the inevitable progress of thought 
and bolster up antiquated traditions. The pro- 
gress of knowledge, during the last seventy years, 
enables us to see that neither Geoffroy, nor 
Cuvier, was altogether right, nor altogether 
wrong ; and that they were meant to hunt in 
couples instead of pulling against one another. 
Science has need of servants of very various 
qualifications ; of artistic constructors no less 
than of men of business ; of people to design her 
palaces and of others to see that the materials are 
