Buffon's Natural History. Volume 05 (of 10) / Containing a Theory of the Earth, a General History of Man, of the Brute Creation, and of Vegetables, Minerals, &c. &c

by comte de Georges Louis Leclerc Buffon

This question of which philosophers will find the generality, difficulty, and consequences, and which we treat of in this article, because it here offers itself for the first time, appertains to the production of beings nearest to each other, and renders it necessary that we should consider nature under a new point of view. If from the immense variety of animated beings which people the universe, we chuse an animal, or even the body of man, to serve as a foundation to our knowledge, and to find out, by way of comparison, the other organized beings, we shall find that each possesses an independent existence, and that all vary, by different gradations, almost to infinity; there exists also, at the same time, a primitive and general design, which we may trace very far, and of which the gradations are much slower than those of the form, and other apparent relations, for, without mentioning the organs of digestion, circulation and generation, which appertain to all animals, and without which they could neither subsist nor reproduce, there is even in the parts which contribute most to the variety of the exterior form a prodigious resemblance, which necessarily calls to our minds an original design, upon which all seem to have been projected and executed. The body of a horse, for example, which, by a single glance of the eye, appears so different from the body of a man, when it is compared part by part, instead of surprising by the difference, only astonishes by the singular and almost perfect resemblance, in fact, take the skeleton of a man, bend downwards the bones of the pelvis, shorten those of the thighs, legs, and arms, lengthen those of the feet and hands, join the phalanges, lengthen the jaws, by shortening the frontal bone, and extend the spine of the back, this skeleton would cease to represent the remains of a human figure, and would be the skeleton of a horse; for it is easy to suppose, that in lengthening the spine of the back and jaws we augment, at the same time, the number of the vertebræ, ribs, and teeth; and it is only by the number of those bones, which may be looked upon as accessory, and, by the prolongation, the shortening, or junction, of the others, that the skeleton of a horse differs from that of the human body. We see in the description of the horse these facts too well established to doubt; but, to follow these relations still further, let us consider separately some essential parts of the structure; for example, we find ribs in all quadrupeds, in birds, and in fish; and we find the vestiges even in the shell of the turtle. Let us also consider, that the foot of a horse, so different in appearance from the hand of a man, is, notwithstanding composed of the same bones, and that we have, at the extremity of each of our fingers, the same little bone resembling a horse-shoe, which terminates the foot of that animal. From this we may judge if this hidden resemblance is not more marvellous than the apparent differences; if this constant conformity and design followed from man to quadrupeds, from quadrupeds to cetaceous animals, from cetaceous animals to birds, from birds to reptiles, from reptiles to fish, &c. in which the essential parts, as the heart, intestines, spine, senses, &c. are always found, does not imply, that, in creating animals the Supreme Being has followed but one idea, and varied it, at the same time, in every possible manner, that man may equally admire the magnificence, execution, and simplicity of the design.

In this point of view, not only the ass and horse, but man, monkies, quadrupeds, and all animals, may be looked upon as making but one family; but ought we, therefore, to conclude, that in this great and numerous family, which the Almighty has conceived and created from nothing, there are smaller families projected by nature and produced by time? some of which are composed only of two individuals, as the horse and the ass; others of several individuals, as the weazle, the pole-cat, the ferret, &c. and also that in vegetables there are families of ten, twenty, thirty plants, &c. If these families existed, in fact, they could only be formed by the mixture, the successive variation, and the degeneration of the original species; and, if we admit, for once, that there are families in plants and animals, that the ass is of the family of the horse, and that he only differs because he has degenerated; we may say, with as much propriety, that the monkey belongs to the family of man, and he is a man degenerated; that man and the monkey had but one common origin, like the horse and ass; that each family, as well in animals as in vegetables, come from the same origin, and even that all animals are come from one species, which, in the succession of time, by improving and degenerating, has produced all the races of animals which now exist.

The naturalists, who have so easily established families and vegetables, do not seem to have considered the whole extent of these consequences, which would reduce the immediate product of the creation, to any number of individuals however small; for, if it was once proved, that animals and vegetables were really divided into families, and that there was a single instance of one species having been produced by the degeneration of another; if it was true, that the ass was only a horse degenerated, there would be no bounds to the power of nature, and, we might, with equal reason suppose, that from one single individual being, in the course of time, she might have produced all the organized bodies which are now spread over the universe.

But it is certain, by revelation, that all creatures have equally participated in the favours of creation; that the two first of each species, were formed by the hands of the Creator, and we ought to believe, that they were then nearly such as they appear at present in their descendants. Besides, since Nature has been observed with attention, from the time of Aristotle to the present, not a single new species has been seen, notwithstanding the rapid motion that drags on, or dissipates the parts of matter, notwithstanding the infinite number of combinations which must have been in the space of twenty centuries, notwithstanding the fortuitous couplings of different animals, from which nothing has ever resulted but vitiated and sterile individuals, and such as have not been able to become a stock for new generations. Were the exterior and interior resemblance in some animals still greater than they are between the horse and the ass, we ought not to confound these animals, nor give them to one common origin, for if they, in fact, came from the same stock, we might bring them back to their original state by new alliances, and undo by time, what time is already supposed to have done.

We must also consider, that although nature proceeds by gradual, and frequently by imperceptible degrees, the intervals are not always the same. The more exalted the species, the fewer they are in number, and the shades by which they are separated, are more conspicuous; the smaller species, on the contrary, are very numerous, and have more affinity to each other, so that we are the more tempted to confound them together in the same family; but we should not forget that these families are our own works, that we have made them for the ease of our memories, that if we cannot comprehend the real relations of all beings, it is ourselves, not nature that is in fault, who knows not these pretended families; and, in fact, contains only individuals.

An individual is a separate detached being, and has nothing in common with other beings, excepting that it resembles, or rather differs from them. All similar individuals which exist on the earth, are considered as composing the species of those individuals. Notwithstanding, it is neither the number nor collection of similar individuals which form the species, but the constant succession and renewing of these individuals which constitute them; for, a being which existed for ever would not be a species. Species, then, is an abstract and general term, the meaning of which can only be determined on by considering nature in the succession of time, and in the constant destruction and renewal of beings. It is by comparing the present state of nature with that of the past, and actual individuals with former, that has given us a clear idea of what is called species: for a comparison of the number or resemblance of individuals, is only an accessory idea, and frequently independent of the first; for, the ass resembles the horse more than the barbet the greyhound, notwithstanding the latter are but one species, since they produce fertile individuals, but the horse and ass are certainly of different species, since they produce together vicious and unfruitful individuals.

It is then in the characteristic diversity of the species, that the shades of nature are the most sensible and best marked; we may even say, that these shades between the species are the most equal and least variable, since we may always draw a line of separation between two species: that is, between two successions of individuals, who reproduce and cannot mix, as we may also unite into one species two successions of individuals which would reproduce by mixing. This is the most fixed point that we have in Natural History; all other resemblances, and differences that we can make in the comparison of beings, are neither so constant, real, nor certain. These intervals are the only lines of separation that will be found in this work; we shall not divide beings otherwise than they are in fact: each species, each succession of individuals which reproduce and cannot mix, will be considered apart, and treated separately; and we shall only make use of families, kinds, orders, and classes, which are marked out by Nature herself.

Species, then, being nothing more than a constant succession of individuals alike, and which reproduce, ought only to extend to animals and vegetables, and that it is only an abuse of the term, and confounding ideas when used to point out the different kinds of minerals. We should not then look on iron as one species, and lead as another species, but only as two different metals, and should be distinguished by lines of separation different from those made use of with respect to animals and vegetables.

But to return to the degeneration of beings, and particularly to that of animals. Let us examine more nearly still, the steps of nature, in the variety which she offers to our view; and, as the human species is best known to us, let us observe how far these steps of variation extend. Men differ in colour from black to white, they differ also one half in their height, bulk, lightness, strength, &c. and above all in their understandings; but this last quality having nothing to do with matter, ought not to be considered here. The others are the usual variations of nature, proceeding from the influence of climate and food; but, these differences of size and colour do not prevent the Negro and the White, the Laplander and Patagonian, the Giant and Dwarf, from mixing together, and producing fertile individuals; and consequently these men, so different in appearance, are all of one species, since this constant reproduction is that which constitutes distinct species. Besides these general variations, there are others more particular, which are also perpetrated; such as the enormous legs of the men who are called of the race of St. Thomas, in the island of Ceylon; the red eyes and white hair of the Dariens and Chacrelas, the six fingers and toes in certain families, &c. These singular varieties are either accidental defaults or excesses, which originating in some individuals, are propagated from race to race, like hereditary defects and diseases; but these differences should not be regarded as forming separate species, since the extraordinary races of these men with large legs, or six fingers, may mix with the ordinary races, and produce fertile individuals. The same thing may be said of all other deformities communicated from parents to their children. Thus far the errors of Nature, and the varieties among men extend, and if there are individuals which degenerate still more, those individuals reproducing nothing, neither alter the constancy nor uniformity of the species. Thus man constitutes but one and the same species, and, though this species is perhaps more numerous, inconstant, and irregular in all its actions, yet the prodigious diversity of nourishment, climate, and so many other combinations as may be supposed, have not produced beings different enough from each other to constitute new species, and at the same time so like ourselves, that we are not able to deny but that we are of the same race.

If the Negro and the White could not procreate together, or if their offspring remained unfruitful, they would be two distinct species; the negro would be to man what the ass is to the horse; or rather, if the white was the man, the negro would be a distinct animal like the monkey, and we might with reason think, that the white and the negro had not the same common origin. But this supposition is denied by the fact; for since all varieties of men can communicate together and transmit their kind, all men must have come from the same stock, and are of the same family.