Heroes of science

by P. Martin Duncan

If the reader will turn to the short notice of Aristoteles, he will find the ordinary idea of what a species means given. But Lamarck added something: “A species consists of a collection of individuals resembling each other, and reproducing their like by generation, so long as the surrounding conditions do not alter to such an extent as to cause their habits, characters, and forms to vary.” He stated what is only known to those naturalists who have had experience; the more we advance in the knowledge of the different organized bodies which cover the surface of the globe, the more our embarrassment increases to determine what ought to be regarded as a species, and still more how to limit and distinguish genera. In proportion as our collections are enriched, we see almost every void filled up, and all our lines of separation effaced; we are reduced to arbitrary determinations, and are sometimes fain to seize upon the slight differences of mere varieties in order to form characters for what we choose to call a species, and sometimes we are induced to pronounce individuals, but slightly differing, and which others regard as true species, to be varieties. The greater the abundance of natural objects assembled together, the more do we discover proofs that everything passes by invariable shades into something else; that even the more remarkable differences are evanescent, and that nature has, for the most part, left us nothing at our disposal for establishing distinctions save trifling, and in some instances puerile, peculiarities. We find that many genera amongst animals and plants are of such an extent, in consequence of the number of species referred to them, that the study and determination of these last has become almost impracticable. From a great number of facts we learn, wrote Lamarck, that in proportion as the individuals of one of our known species change their situation, climate, and manner of living, they change also little by little, the consistence and proportions of their parts, their form, their faculties, and even their organization, in such a manner that everything in them comes at last to participate in the mutations to which they have been exposed. Even in the same climate, a great difference of situation and exposure causes individuals to vary; but if these individuals continue to live, and to be reproduced under the same difference of circumstances, distinctions are brought about in them which become in some degree essential to their existence; and, in a word, at the end of many successive generations, these individuals which originally belonged to another species are transformed into a new and distinct species.

All this came from the study of a man who had an enormous experience, and if he had not gone on any further it would have been better. Lamarck’s views already stated may be accepted by everybody, and the grand changes in living forms under law are doubtless true. But he introduced the notion that “wants” exercised an influence and produced new organs, and wrote about effects of internal sentiment, and the influence of subtle fluids. Thus he argued that otters, beavers, waterfowl, turtles, and frogs, were not made web-footed in order that they might swim; but their wants having attracted them to the water in search of prey, they stretched out the toes of their feet to strike the water and move more rapidly along its surface. By the repeated stretching of their toes, the skin that united them at the base acquired the habit of extension, until, in the course of time, the broad membranes which now connect their extremities were formed.

Lamarck taught that the first animals and plants which appeared on the globe were the simplest, and that the more complex are of comparatively late date. He insisted that nature was an order of things constituted by the Supreme Being, and subject to laws which are the expressions of His will. There is no doubt that these views of Lamarck were the result of many a pleasant hour of thought when things were dark enough around him. He was always poor, he married four times, had a large family, and a very small income. His genius led him to investigate other branches of natural science for which his education had not very well prepared him, and he got into disgrace with Napoleon for paying attention to meteorology. His patrimony and savings were lost in some wild speculation, and his thorough independence of thought and behaviour did not make him friends with the great and wealthy. His sight failed, and age grew apace, and he may be said to have simply existed for some years. Strangers and scientific men saw his state and poverty with surprise and regret; and their sympathy with Lamarck was redoubled when they observed the fortitude with which the illustrious old man supported the vicissitudes of fortune, and the failing of his natural powers. They also admired the devotion with which he had been able to inspire those of his children who remained under his roof. His eldest daughter consecrated her time to the duties of filial love for many years, never quitting her father for an instant, lending herself to every study which could in any way supply the defect of his vision, writing under his dictation part of his last works, accompanying him, and supporting him when he was able to take any exercise, and enduring sacrifices greater than could be expressed for his sake. When the father could no longer leave his chamber, the daughter no longer quitted the house. So long was she deprived of fresh air, that when she again faced the open breeze it was more than she could bear. If such conduct as this is rare, so is the power of inspiring such devoted affection; therefore we add to the renown of Lamarck, when it is told what his children endured for his sake. Lamarck died on the 18th December, 1829, aged eighty-five, and left two sons and two daughters behind him. Full of ability and perseverance, he has left such monuments of industry and solid learning behind him, that his favourite theory, containing indeed the germs of truth, may be well pardoned. People who know nothing of his good work, laugh at his memory; but every true student of nature constantly recognizes his obligations to the founder of philosophical zoology.

CHAPTER VIII.
THE LIFE OF CUVIER.

The union of zoology and comparative anatomy, and the examination and study of fossil remains.

George Léopold Chretien Fréderic Dagobert Cuvier was born at Montbéliard, in the Department du Doubs, a town which was subsequently united to France, although at the time of Cuvier’s birth it belonged to the kingdom of Wurtemberg. He was born on August 23rd, 1769. His family originally came from a village in the Jura mountains, which still bears the name of Cuvier; but, becoming the victims of religious persecution, they were obliged to leave and to go to reside at Montbéliard at the time of the Reformation. Cuvier’s grandfather had two sons, one celebrated for his learning, and the other belonging to a Swiss regiment in the French service. The soldier, after forty years’ service, retired on a small pension to Montbéliard, where he was appointed commandant of the artillery of the town. He was made Chevalier de l’Ordre Merite Militaire, which, among Protestants, was equal to the Catholic order of the Croix de St. Louis. The old soldier married, late in life, a young and highly accomplished lady, by whom he had three sons. The eldest died a short time before the birth of the second, who is the subject of this biography, and who was extremely delicate. The mother, sad at the death of her firstborn, took the curious fancy of calling her little weak second child by the name of George, which was that of her firstborn also. Cuvier was not baptized with that name, although he ever used it in deference to his mother; but in after years, when legal difficulties presented themselves, he took the necessary measures to have a right to use the name. Feeble in constitution, the child required all the attention of his mother, and he never forgot her loving care. She taught him carefully and well during his early years, and the child grew strong and able. He could read fluently at the age of four years, and when the time came for him to be placed at school, the mother went over his exercises at night, and by her good knowledge of Latin enabled him to be better prepared than any other boy in the school, for his daily tasks. She taught him drawing, and this necessary art was subsequently taught Cuvier by an architect in the town. At the age of ten years he was placed at a school of a higher description of teaching, called the Gymnase, where he remained until he was fourteen. Cuvier made rapid progress at this school, and he was constantly at the head of his classes, and he became a fair classic. It was at that time that the future great zoologist began to like natural history, and he began by studying animals. One of his relations had a complete copy of Buffon’s works, and the boy’s study of it was constant. He copied the plates of animals and birds, and coloured them according to the printed descriptions, and when he could not use water-colours, employed pieces of coloured silk to denote the tints of the wings. When he was able to borrow the book, a volume was his constant attendant, and he read the work over and over again. About this time, Cuvier, being the leading spirit in the school, began to collect his schoolfellows and to get them to discuss the merits of books on natural history, philosophy, and travels, etc., taking the chair as president. The assembly must have been amusing in the extreme, and these little “prigs” doubtless expressed their opinions very decidedly. Cuvier managed to teach himself to speak in public, however, and was not a bad hand at declamation. So, on the anniversary fête of the Duke of Wurtemberg, he composed an oration in verse on the prosperous state of the principality, and delivered it, fresh from his pen, in a manly tone which astonished the audience. Nevertheless, Cuvier was snubbed by his master, who put him down to the third place, giving the palm to two other boys. It is said that there was some favouritism in this affair; but it was a blow to the boy, whose future career depended on the place he might take at the school on the occasion. Nevertheless, as things turned out, Cuvier had every reason to be very thankful. The fame of the young student, and his disappointment, reached the ears of Duke Charles by means of the princess, his sister-in-law, and when he visited Montbéliard he saw Cuvier, and asked him questions and looked at his drawings. The duke, satisfied that he had a good subject before him, agreed to send him to Stuttgart to the university, where the youth would be well educated, free of expense, in the duke’s own academy. At this academy the pupils were instructed in every branch of knowledge that was actually useful to men destined to govern and direct the affairs of communities, and many who were educated there, became members of the various courts of Germany and Russia. The school had a military character, the scholars wearing uniforms and being under the orders of a colonel and major; but the education was not military, and such men as Schiller were taught there.

At the age of fourteen Cuvier quitted his home to go to this school, and under circumstances enough to frighten any schoolboy. He travelled with the chamberlain and secretary of the duke, sitting between them without understanding a word they said, as they spoke German the whole time. He always remembered this journey and its miseries. The youth quickly made himself comfortable at the academy, and his really good training soon placed him high amongst his fellows. For four years he studied all that was taught in the higher classes, mathematics, law, administration, tactics, and commerce, and obtaining various prizes, was made, with five or six others out of the four hundred, to belong to a class bearing the order of “Chevalerie.” These youths were under the immediate patronage of the duke, and had privileges besides that of dining at a separate table. Nine months after his arrival at Stuttgart, Cuvier gained the prize in German. But all this time Cuvier led a second life. Out in the fields and in the museum he was supremely happy. Collecting, observing, drawing, and describing were his occupations in his leisure hours, and his drawings of birds, insects, and plants were very excellent and correct. All the books he could get on natural history he read, and the works of Linnæus were especially learned with zeal. At the end of his academical career Cuvier was promised a place in the administration of the country, and if he had got it probably he would have become a kind of civil service clerk, and have never been heard of. But trouble came, and that of the bitterest kind for a rising young man. Circumstances against which he could not bear up necessitated his seeking a totally different kind of employment. The unsettled state of money and finance in France caused Cuvier’s father’s pension to be withheld, and the young man, very properly desiring to be no burthen to his parents, gave up all hopes of political distinction, and accepted the modest position of tutor to a French family, that of M. d’Hericy, at Caen, in Normandy. He was to educate the only son; and so, without bewailing his lot, which was thought a very sad one by his companions and admirers, Cuvier settled down to work and found that he was in the very position for using those remarkable powers as a naturalist, which determined his future career. The sea was close by, and Cuvier began to study the marine animals. After some time some fossils were discovered at Fécamp, and Cuvier began to compare them with the living things which most resembled them. Then the accidental discovery of a calamary led him to study the higher mollusca, or shell-fish. Cuvier also began to study the huge class of vermes, or worms, in which Linnæus had included a vast number of lower animals, and which Lamarck subsequently investigated. Cuvier examined the anatomy of the groups, and arranged them according to their resemblances in structure. This was an excellent piece of work, and it was done for the purposes of self-instruction, and not for fame. Nevertheless, the manuscript was full of good observations and of new truths. Whilst Cuvier was thus employed, and the time was that of the reign of terror, a society was formed at Valmont, in his neighbourhood, for the encouragement of agriculture. L’Abbé Teissier had sought at the place a refuge from the persecutions of the revolutionists of Paris, and under the disguise of a surgeon attended the meetings. On one occasion Cuvier was struck with the manner of speaking of the worthy old man, and thought that it resembled the writings of the well-known Abbé. Inadvertently Cuvier addressed him as L’Abbé, and this gave at first great alarm. He found in Cuvier, however, a great admirer and a generous friend, and was so pleased with his talents and industry, that he afterwards wrote to the celebrated botanist, Jussieu, as follows: “At the sight of this young man, I experienced the delight of the philosopher who was thrown on an unknown shore, and saw traced there the figures of geometry. M. Cuvier is a violet which was concealed among common herbs. He knows much, and draws figures for your work. I doubt your finding a more able person for comparative anatomy, for he demonstrates with much method and clearness. It is a pearl worthy of being gathered by you. I contributed to draw M. Delarbre from his retreat, help me to draw M. Cuvier from his; he is made for science and the world.”