and is independent of all law. It alone can change Nature and her laws, and even annihilate them; and although we have no positive knowledge of this great object, the idea which we thus form of the Almighty Power, is at least the most suitable for man to entertain of the Divinity, when he can raise his thoughts to the contemplation of him. If Nature were an intelligence, it could exercise volition, and change its laws, or rather there could be no law. Finally, if Nature were God, its will would be independent, its acts unconstrained; but this is not the case; it is, on the contrary, continually subject to constant laws, over which it has no power: it hence follows, that although its means are infinitely diversified and inexhaustible, it acts always in the same manner in the same circumstances, without the power of acting otherwise16.”
While thus admitting the existence of the Deity, any direct interference in the affairs of the universe is wholly denied to him. His sovereignty is reduced to a mere nominal supremacy, as he is supposed to take no care or thought for the worlds which he authorized or permitted to be created, and can have no sympathy for the creatures which inhabit them. As with La Place, and so many other philosophers of the French school, every thing is ascribed to secondary causes, which are made to usurp the place and attributes of the Divinity. Lamarck’s deity, therefore, is the exact counterpart of the god of Epicurus, whose being is allowed seemingly more for the purpose of giving consistency to a theory, or a compliance with generally received opinions, than from any urgent conviction of his reality; and we may justly apply to him what was said of the Grecian philosopher; Re tollit, oratione relinquit Deum.
It has been already mentioned, that Lamarck’s attention was early directed to meteorology, and it seems long to have continued to form one of his most favourite studies. So comparatively limited is our positive knowledge of atmospheric phenomena, that a careful investigation of them afforded the prospect of new and important discoveries; while the endless variety of appearances which they present, and the complicated influences which operate in producing them, offered a wide and interesting field for the exercise of that speculative kind of inquiry which Lamarck loved to indulge. With his usual facility in such matters, he was not long in advancing a theory, according to which the atmosphere is regarded as resembling the sea, having a surface, waves, and storms; it ought, likewise, to have a flux and reflux, for the moon ought to exercise the same influence upon it that it does on the ocean. In the temperate and frigid zones, therefore, the wind, which is only the tide of the atmosphere, must depend greatly on the declination of the moon; it ought to blow towards the pole that is nearest to it, and advancing in that direction only, in order to reach every place, traversing dry countries or extensive seas, it ought then to render the sky serene or stormy. If the influence of the moon on the weather is denied, it is only that it may be referred to its phases; but its position in the ecliptic is regarded as affording probabilities much nearer the truth17.
So convinced was Lamarck of the accuracy and value of his theory, that he resolved on reducing it to practice, and thus at the same time establish its truth, and attract the attention of the public towards it. For this purpose he drew up a series of almanacks, which he had the perseverance to publish for ten consecutive years, the nature of which will be best understood from the title of that which first appeared. “Annual Meteorology for the Year VIII of the Republic (1800, A. D.), containing an Exposition of the Probabilities acquired by a long Series of Observations on the State of the Weather, and Variations of the Atmosphere, in different Seasons of the Year; an Indication of the Times when it may be expected to be fine Weather, or Rain, Storms and Tempests, Frosts, &c.: finally, an Enumeration, according to Probabilities, of the Times favourable for Fêtes, Journeys, Voyages, Harvest, and other Undertakings, in which it is of Importance not to be interrupted by the Weather; with simple and concise Directions regarding these new Measures.” His predictions, as might have been expected, proved more frequently erroneous than otherwise, but this circumstance was far from inducing him to discontinue his exertions. Every year he had recourse to some new consideration—such as the phases, the apogee and perigee of the moon, and the relative position of the sun, to account for his previous failure, and afford greater certainty in his future prognostications. After every expedient had been tried without success, he was at last obliged to renounce the labour as fruitless, satisfied that, however important it would be to foresee the state of the weather, it depends on causes far too remote and complex to be made the subject of calculation.
Speculations of an analogous character regarding the formation of the globe and the changes which it has undergone, were laid before the public, in 1802, in a work entitled “Hydrogeology, or Researches on the Influence exerted by Water on the Surface of the terrestrial Globe,” &c. &c. His opinions rest on the assumption that all composite minerals are the remains of living beings. According to him, the seas are continually hollowing out their bed in consequence of being unceasingly agitated by the tides, produced by the action of the moon; in proportion as the bed deepens in the crust of the earth, it necessarily follows that their level lowers, and their surface diminishes; and thus the dry land, formed by the debris of living creatures, is more and more disclosed. As the land emerges from the sea, the water from the clouds forms currents upon its surface, by which it is rent and excavated, and divided into valleys and mountains. With the exception of volcanoes, our steepest and most elevated ridges have formerly belonged to plains, even their substance once made a part of the bodies of animals and plants; and it is in consequence of being so long purified from foreign principles that they are reduced to a siliceous nature. But running waters furrow them in all directions, and carry their materials into the bed of the sea; and the latter, from continual efforts to deepen its bottom, necessarily throws them out on one side or other. Hence there results a general movement and a constant transportation of the ocean, which has perhaps already made several circuits of the globe. This shifting cannot occur without displacing the centre of gravity in the globe; a circumstance which would have the effect of displacing the axis itself, and changing the temperature of the different climates.—In order to silence any doubts that may arise in the minds of his readers from not observing these changes going forward, Lamarck is careful to add, as in the case of the supposed transformation of species, that an unlimited length of time must be allowed for their accomplishment.
But the work on which Lamarck’s fame is principally founded, and which has conferred a most important service on zoology, is his Histoire Naturelle des Animaux sans Vertébres. From the time of its appearance, this work has ever been regarded as one of the highest authority, and has formed the principal regulator of most departments of this extensive race of animals. The work extends to seven octavo volumes, and is entitled “Natural History of invertebrate Animals, presenting the general and particular Characters of these Animals, their Distribution, Classes, Families, Genera, and the principal Species referable thereto.” The first volume is entirely occupied with an introduction, the object of which is to determine the essential characters of an animal, its distinction from vegetables and other natural bodies, and to explain the fundamental principles of zoology. This introduction may be regarded as furnishing a synoptical view of all the author’s peculiar opinions on the origin and developement of living beings, which are illustrated more in detail in separate works. The first five volumes are written entirely by Lamarck, but he was assisted in the part relating to insects by M. Latreille. A portion of the sixth volume and the whole of the seventh, were drawn up by his daughter from his notes and papers, his want of sight preventing him from undertaking that labour himself; and that part of the sixth, which relates to the mytilacés, malliacés, pectinides, and ostracés, is written by M. Valenciennes. The first part was published in 1815, and the other parts appeared at intervals up to 1822, when the whole was completed. Besides a luminous and comprehensive account of the general history of the different groups and genera, the principal species are cited and briefly characterized, with their synonymes, reference to figures, and localities. The enumeration of species sometimes includes all the known kinds, and is particularly copious and instructive in relation to sponges and shell-bearing molluscæ. The genera are established with much discrimination, and judiciously characterized by obvious properties, such as form, proportion, nature of the surface, and structure. The synonymy is unravelled with great care, and the descriptions, though necessarily often very brief, are in general highly satisfactory. These circumstances have rendered this work the most
