present age, one for the depth of his knowledge in astronomy and general physics; and the other in zoology. It will be easily seen that I allude to La Place and Lamarck, both of whom, from their disregard of the word of God, and from seeking too exclusively their own glory, have fallen into errors of no small magnitude. It is singular, and worthy of observation, that both have based their hypothesis upon a similar foundation. La Place says, "An attentive inspection of the solar system evinces the necessity of some central paramount force, in order to maintain the entire system together, and secure the regularity of its motions." One would expect from these remarks, that he was about to enforce the necessity of acknowledging the necessary existence of an intelligent paramount central Being, whose goings forth were co-extensive with the universe of systems, to create them at first, and then maintain their several motions and revolutions, so as to prevent them from becoming eccentric and interfering with each other, thus-Upholding all things by the word of his power. But 1 System of the World, E. Tr. ii. 330. no-when he asks the question, What is the primitive cause? instead of answering it immediately, he refers the reader for his hypothesis to a concluding note, in which we find that this primitive cause, instead of the Deity, is a nebulosity originally so diffuse, that its existence can with difficulty be conceived. To produce a system like ours, one of these wandering masses of nebulous matter distributed through the immensity of the heavens,' is converted into a brilliant nucleus, with an atmosphere originally extending beyond the orbits of all its planets, and then gradually contracting itself, but at its successive limits leaving zones of vapours, which, by their condensation, formed the several planets and their satellites, including the rings of Saturn!!4 It is grievous to see talents of the very highest order, and to which Natural Philosophy, in other respects, is so deeply indebted, forsaking the Ens Entium, the God of Gods, and ascribing the creation of the universe of worlds to a cause which, according to his own confession, is all but 1 System of the World, E. Tr. ii. 328. * Ibid. 357. 4 Ibid. 358. a non-entity. He speaks, indeed, of a Supreme Intelligence, but it is as Newton's god,-whom he blames for attributing the admirable arrangement of the sun, of the planets, and of the comets, to an Intelligent and Almighty Being,'-and of an Author of Nature, not, however, as the preserver and upholder of the universe,' but as perpetually receding, according as the boundaries of our knowledge are extended; thus expelling, as it were, the Deity from all care or concern about his own world. While the philosopher thus became vain in his imaginations, the naturalist attempted to account for the production of all the various forms and structures of plants and animals upon similar principles. Lamarck, distinguished by the variety of his talents and attainments, by the acuteness of his intellect, by the clearness of his conceptions, and remarkable for his intimate acquaintance with his subject, thus expresses his opinion as to the origin of the present system of organized beings. "We know, by observation, that the most simple organizations, whether 1 System of the World, E. Tr. ii. 331. 2 Ibid. 332. vege table or animal, are never met with but in minute gelatinous bodies, very supple and delicate; in a word, only in frail bodies almost without consistence and mostly transparent." These minute bodies he supposes nature forms, in the waters, by the power of attraction; and that next, subtle and expansive fluids, such as caloric and electricity, penetrate these bodies, and enlarge the interstices of their agglutinated molecules, so as to form utricular cavities, and so produce irritability and life, followed by a power of absorption, by which they derive nutriment from with out.' The production of a new organ in one of these, so formed, animal bodies, he ascribes to a new want, which continues to stimulate; and of a new movement which that want produces and cherishes." He next relates how this can be effected. Body, he observes, being essentially constituted of cellular tissue, this tissue is in some sort the matrix, from the modification of which by the fluids put in motion by the stimulus of desire, membranes, fibres, vascular canals, and divers 1 Anim. sans Vertèbr. i. 174. 2 Ibid. 181. organs, gradually appear; parts are strengthened and solidified; and thus progressively new parts and organs are formed, and more and more perfect organizations produced; and thus, by consequence, in the lapse of ages a monad becomes a man!!! The great object both of La Place and Lamarck seems to be to ascribe all the works of creation to second causes; and to account for the production of all the visible universe, and the furniture of our own globe, without the intervention of a first. Both begin the work by introducing nebulosities or masses of matter scarcely amounting to real entities, and proceed as if they had agreed together upon the modus operandi. As Lamarck's hypothesis relates particularly to the animal kingdom, I shall make a few observations upon it, calculated to prove its utter irrationality. When, indeed, one reads the above account of the mode by which, according to our author's hypothesis, the first vegetable and animal forms were produced, we can scarcely help thinking that we have before us a receipt 1 Anim. sans Vertèbr. i. 184. |