In both these statements, imperfect as they were, great truths
were embodied--truths which were sure to grow.
Lamarck's declaration, especially, that the development of organs
is in ratio to their employment, and his indications of the
reproduction in progeny of what is gained or lost in parents by
the influence of circumstances, entered as a most effective force
into the development of the evolution theory.
The next great successor in the apostolate of this idea of the
universe was Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. As early as 1795 he had
begun to form a theory that species are various modifications of
the same type, and this theory he developed, testing it at
various stages as Nature was more and more displayed to him. It
fell to his lot to bear the brunt in a struggle against heavy
odds which lasted many years.
For the man who now took up the warfare, avowedly for science but
unconsciously for theology, was the foremost naturalist then
living--Cuvier. His scientific eminence was deserved; the
highest honours of his own and other countries were given him,
and he bore them worthily. An Imperial Councillor under
Napoleon; President of the Council of Public Instruction and
Chancellor of the University under the restored Bourbons; Grand
Officer of the Legion of Honour, a Peer of France, Minister of
the Interior, and President of the Council of State under Louis
Philippe; he was eminent in all these capacities, and yet the
dignity given by such high administrative positions was as
nothing compared to his leadership in natural science.
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