The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-08-22
THE SUN, SUNDAY. AUGUST 22, 1897,

UN, SUNDAY. G 2
n9us and his school, applied themselves 10 the
classifying and naming OF plants and nnimalsi
the other represented by Cuvicr and his disci.
pies, investigated structure and function. Then.
through comparison OF corresponding organs
ana their functions. in various life forms, camo
a growing perception OF their unity. Only to a
row. however, came CLEANS OF that unity, as
proof OF the common descent of plants and ami
mais. Tor, save In scattered hints OF inter
relation between species, which occurred from
the time OF Bacon onward. the theory of the i'm
mutabiiity OF species was dominant until forty
years ago. The four men who formed the van
guard OF the biological movement were Lin
hhus, buHon, Cuvicr. and Lamarck. Out OF
the work OF the first. modern classihcatory
method and nomenclature have largely grown.
Inc modern conceptions Of biology as a sci
enco and OF its relation to climatoloey,
biography and geology are rooted as largely
In inc labors OF tho second. Comparative
anatomy and palmontoloRy owe a vast debt 10
the results reached by the third %scientlst named;
the idea OF evolution are Intimately dependent
unon inc WORK accomplished. by, the last men.
aiohGd scientist. In other words, tho main results
D. oioiVgy, up 10 the early years OF thls century,
searches OF these IN men or fRS," Work Of iiinnaens
cnmstance. conjoined to the Theological ideas
I Isrref eS Sncsiion is perhaps the ., r snssie. w sni,1 1n9
not into his puryiow. To him. each plant, and
animal became tho imprint OF the creative hand
tRn5 sfa shT bis w It I'm IN t The. P be- dannP,ea ' sSi
slightly from the premise with which no started,
namely, :. reckoning Ms many species as issued
IN pairs from the Almighty hat. with Bur
fon, 1t was otherwise. He was no believer. In
the permanent stability OF, species; and noted as
wise unexplained I presence oepe' Of nbortcd or rudi-
mmentary structures. For example, he. says;
The pig does not appear to have been formed
tits q compound OF other animals; 1t has evi-
IDENTIFY useless parts. or rather. parts OF which 1t
which arc perfectly formed, but which never.
theless, are Of no service to II. Nature Is far
f faS% tiiSsi sf bos c1 hs5,sls to FnaiS ssn. ss +, .ht sGo
Ing his CONVICTION that species are not fixed, no
points ont that many of them, being perfected
food. by tho prolonged Influences of climate.
hostile or favorable. are no longer what they
1t Is, on the other hand, with an eye on tho
Sorbonne that Button writes, when limiting at q
possible common ancestor of horse and ass. and
Of ape and man, he adds slyly that, since tho
Bible teaches the contrary. the thing cannot be.
Hampered though he was by his dread OF the
Church. Button may DO fairly described as the
most stimulating and suggestive naturalist Of
the eighteenth century. Cuvier. on the con-
trary. was to be quoted In 1860 by Owen against
Darwin. We. therefore,, pass over him and
como to Lamarck, whom Darwin. In his intro
duction to the Origin of Species refers to as
Tho first man whose conclusions on the sub
ject excited much attention." rendering tho
eminent service Of arousing some educated
minds to the probability of all change in the
organic as we'll as in the Inorganic world being
the result Of law and not Of miraculous interpo-
sition." Cuvier ridiculed him and Goethe never
heard of him. 1t was through Buttons infu-
ence that Lamarck. who. at the time, was a bank.
er's clerk. spending his leisure in the pursuit Of
natural history. procured q civil appointment
and ultimately became q colleague Of Cuvier
and Geoffroy st. Hilaire in the Museum OF
Natural History at Paris. or Cuvier. II will
suffice TO say in connection with the topic of
evolution, that he remained, to the end Of his
life. q believer in special creation, or. what
amounts to the same thing. a series of special
creations. which. he held. followed tho catas.
trophic humiliation Of prior plants and ami.
mails. Although orthodox by conviction, his
researches told against his tenets. because his
important work in tho reconstruction OF skele-
tons OF long-eItinet animals laid the foundation
aAA@AhA 10 WV ~ ,
Haeckel the immortal glory of having. for the
first time. worked out the theory of descent as
an Independent scientific theory of the first
order and as the philosophical foundation OF the
whole science Of biology" He taught that,
in tho beginnings Of life. only the very
simplest and lowest animals and plants came
into existence. those Of moro complex structure
developing from these. man himself being de.
scended from ape-like mammals. For the
Aristotelian mechanical figure Of life as a
ladder. with Its detached steps. he substituted
the moro appropriate figure of a tree as an
inter.related organism. He argued that the
course Of the earth's development. and also OF
all life upon 1t, WAS continuous. and not inter
rupted by violent revolutions. This is the key
note Of modern geology. Life adds Lamarck,
"is a purely physical phenomenon. All its
phenomena depend on mechanical. physical.
and chemical causes which are inherent in the
nature OF matter ITSELF" He believed In a form
Of spontaneous generation. Rejecting Buttons
theory OF the direct action OF the surroundings
as agents OF change In living things. he sums
up tho causes of organic evolution In the follow
ing propositions: First, life tends, by its
inherent forces. to increase tho volume OF each
living body, and OF all its parts up to a limit de-
wants In animals give rise to new
which produce organs: Thirdly, tho develop
hlent OF these organs Is in proportion to their
employment. Fourthly. new developments arc
transmitted to offspring. The second and third
propositions were illustrated by examples which
have provoked ,ridicule: Thus Lalnarck ,ac-
counted for the long neck OF the giraffe by that
organ being continually stretched out to reach
the leaves at the tree top; for the long tongue
OF the ant.eater or the wooipecker by the fact
tina, these creatures protrude 1t to get at food
In channel or c~reyice; FOR the webbed feet OF
aquatic animals by the outstretching of the
membranes between the toes In and
for the erect position Of man by the constant Of
dSrts or ms ape-like ancestors to keep upright.
The legless condition of the serpent, which, in
Genesis. is accounted for on moral grounds, Is
thus explained by Lamarck: :" Snakes sprang
from REPTILES with four extremities, but, having
taken up the habit Of moving along the earth
and concealing themselves among bushes, their
bodies. owing to repeated efforts 10 ~elonRate
themselves and to pass through narrow spaces.
have acquired = length out Of all proportion to
their width. Since long feet would have been
useless and short feet would have been ncapa-
PIE or moving their bodies, there resulted a
finally caused them to disappear totally. al.
though they originally entcr into the plan OF tho
9rgnnization Of these animals" This discovery on
Limarcks part OF an efficient caus' OF modlhca-
lions In the %efforts OF the creatures themselves
has placed his speculations in the museum of
biological CuriOAitiea. We need mot DOlnt ont