The Philosophy of Zoology Before Darwin: A translated and annotated version of the original French text by Edmond Perrier

273 Pages·2009·3.43 MB·English

by  Alex McBirney

The Philosophy of Zoology Before Darwin
The Philosophy of Zoology
Before Darwin
A translated and annotated version of the
original French text by Edmond Perrier
Originally published by Félix Alcan, Paris in 1884
Translated by Alex McBirney with annotations by
Stanton Cook and Gregory Retallack
University of Oregon
Alexander McBirney Stanton Cook
Department of Geological Sciences Department of Geological Sciences
University of Oregon University of Oregon
2780 Capital Drive 2780 Capital Drive
Eugene OR 97403 Eugene OR 97403
USA USA
[email protected]
ISBN 978-90-481-3008-5 e-ISBN 978-90-481-3009-2
Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York
Library of Congress Control Number: 2009930626
(cid:164) Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009
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Table of Contents
Foreword ...............................................................................................................xi
Translator’s Preface ............................................................................................xv
Preface ................................................................................................................xvii
Chapter I Introduction ......................................................................................1
The earliest ideas about the place of animals in nature. Myths
and philosophies of ancient people.
Chapter II Aristotle ............................................................................................7
The earliest notions about the analogies and homologies
of organs – Correlative forms – Establishing divisions within the animal
kingdom – The concept of species – The principle of continuity – Degrees
of perfection of the organs – Possibility that the forms of animals might be
transformed.
Chapter III The Roman Period .....................................................................15
Lucretius: Formation of the earliest organisms; the struggle for life. – Pliny:
attributed marvelous things to animals; the nature and origins of marine
monsters; notions about anatomy. –Elien, Oppien, and Galen: Progress
in anatomy; correlations between the external form of animals and their
organization and behavior.
Chapter IV The Middle Ages and Renaissance ..........................................21
Arabian medical doctors. – Alchemists. – Albert the Great. – The first
great voyages. – Renaissance of anatomy. – Belon, Rondelet. – Francis
Bacon. – Progress in physiology and anatomy. – The first
micrographs. – Prejudices that reigned until the XVIth century.

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Chapter V Evolution of the Concept of Species ............................................27
The great descriptive works: Wotton, Gessner, Aldrovandi. – Ray:
definition of species. – First attempts at nomenclature. – Linnaeus:
the fixity of species; binomial nomenclature.
Chapter VI Philosophers of the XVIIIth Century ........................................33
Charles Bonnet: the scale of living creatures; global revolutions; the past
and future states of plants, animals, and humans; the preformation
[emboîtement] of germ cells – Robinet: his ideas about evolution.
– De Maillet: fossils. – Erasmus Darwin: transformation based
on epigenesis. – Transformation of animals under the influence of habitat;
analogies between Lamarck and Darwin. Maupertuis: the roll of matter
in transformations. – Diderot: the life of species and the life of individuals.
Chapter VII Buffon ..........................................................................................47
Buffon’s opposition to classifications because they necessarily lead
to transformation. – The utility of artificial systems. – Geographical
distribution of animals. – Probability of modifications in species. – Extinct
species: the struggle for life. – Opposition to the doctrine of ultimate
causes. – The principle of continuity.
Chapter VIII Lamarck ....................................................................................59
The importance of the lower animals – Spontaneous generation – Gradual
perfection of organisms; the influence of needs and habits – Heredity
and adaptation – Transformation of species during earlier geological
periods – The absurdity of global cataclysms – Importance of ordinary
every-day processes – Genealogy of the animal kingdom – The origin of man.
Chapter IX Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire ...................................................73
The opposed doctrines of fixity and variability of species. – A unified
plan of composition – Importance of the rudimentary organs – Balancing
the organs – Analogy of the lower animals to the embryos of higher
animals – Arrested development – Monsters and teratology – Geoffroy’s
ideas about the variability of species; abrupt transitions; influence
of the environment – Extension of the theory of the unified plan
of composition of articulated animals: return of the vertebrates;
the ideas of Ampère – Genetic links between fossils and living species.
Chapter X Georges Cuvier ..............................................................................87
Affinities with Linnaeus; the influence of Cuvier on scientific work; global
revolutions; theory of successive creations and migrations. – Cuvier’s
inferences. – The order of appearance of animals; special creation
Table of Contents vii
of the principal groups. – Natural classification: adherence to the principle
of ultimate causes; the principle of environmental conditions; law of
the correlation of forms; law of subordination of characteristics.
– The four major branches of the animal kingdom.
Chapter XI Debate between Cuvier and Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire ................99
Attempts to extend the theory of a uniform plan of composition to
molluscs. – Cuvier’s opposition; what is the meaning of such a uniform
plan? – The relationships between embryology and epigenesis
are clarified. – Cuvier’s insistence on the pre-existence of the germ
cells. – Von Baer and the four types of development. – The school
of ideas versus the school of facts. – The influence of Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire,
Cuvier, and Lamarck.
Chapter XII Goethe ........................................................................................109
Goethe’s thoughts on the unity of types of organization. – Metamorphosis
and structure of plants: the ideal plant. – Studies of comparative anatomy;
research on the ideal type of skeleton. – Goethe’s conception of descent
with modification [transformisme] – Kielmeyer.
Chapter XIII Dugès ........................................................................................115
Attempts to reconcile the ideas of Cuvier and Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire – Organic
conformity in the scale of animals life – Moquin-Tandon and the zoonite
theory – Dugès’ generalizations of this theory – Theory of the constitution of
organisms: law of modification and complication, law of coalescence – Dugès’
ideas about the types of organisms.
Chapter XIV The German Natural Philosophers .......................................127
Schelling’s ideas. – Oken: polarities and the origin of the universe. – The
primitive mucus. – Equivocal generation of the infusoria, anatomical
elements. – The law of repetition deduced from natural philosophy. – Man
and the microcosm. – Degrees of organization. – Theory of the vertebrates;
constitution of the cranium as vertebrae. – Spix: application of the law
of repetition to comparative anatomy. – Carus: Extension of the theory
of vertebrates.
Chapter XV The Theory of the Organic Types and its Consequences .....139
Richard Owen – the archetypical skeleton. – Analogy, homology, homeotypes.
Theory of the vertebrate segment. – The ideal vertebrate; the existence
of God. – Owen’s views on Transformism. – Savigny: the uniform structure
of the mouths of insects. – Audouin; the uniform structure of skeletons
of articulated animals. – H. Milne-Edwards and the typical articulated
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animal; fundamental identity of the zoonites; significance of the regions
of the body; law of the division of physiological labor and its
importance. – The growth of the body and agamic reproduction
of the articulates; identity of these two phenomena; the significance
of zoonites. – Parallels between the laws of the constitution of animals
and the laws of political economics. – Studies of the lower animals:
de Quatrefages, Blanchard, and de Lacaze-Duthiers.
Chapter XVI Louis Agassiz ...........................................................................157
Philosophical consequences of the hypothesis of fixity of species. – The
possibility of setting up a classification that demonstrates the existence of
God. – The existence of a plan of creation is inconsistent with the doctrine
of transformism. – Arguments in favor of the fixity of species. – Weaknesses
of these arguments. – Characteristics of the graduated zoological
divisions. – A new definition of species. – Inconsistencies between
this definition and observed facts. – The reality of species. – Causes
of the physiological isolation of species.
Chapter XVII The Lower Animals ...............................................................169
Progressive discoveries relative to the lower animals – Trembley: the fresh-
water hydra. – Peyssonnel: the corals. – Cuvier: the pennatule. – Lesueur: the
siphonophores. – De Chaisso “ the alternating generation of the salpas. – Sars:
the alternating generation of the hydromedusas. – Steenstrup: a theory of alter-
nating generations. - Van Beneden: digenesis. – Leuckart: polymorphism. –
Owen: parthenogenesis and metagenesis. – M. de Quatrefages: geneogenesis.
– Milne-Edwards’ theory of reproduction. – General theory of the phenomena
of asexual reproduction.
Chapter XVIII Cell Theory and the Constitution of the Individual ..........185
Pinel: the membranes. – Bichat: the tissues; their general properties. –
Dujardin: the sarcode. – Schleiden: the cells of plants. – Schwann: extension
of cellular theory to animals. – Prévost and Dumas: segmentation of the
vitellus of the egg. – Studies of the origin of cells and anatomical elements
of organisms; significance of the egg – Definition of the cell; protoplasm
and the plastids. Constitution of the simplest individuals. – Animal colonies;
numerous transitions between colonies and the individuals of higher orders. –
Isadore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire: life in colonies as a sign of inferiority. – De
Lacaze-Duthiers: difference between the invertebrates and vertebrates. –
General theory of the individuality of animals.
Table of Contents ix
Chapter XIX Embryology .............................................................................199
Epigenesis and embryogenesis. – Harvey: influence of the cellular
theory. – The egg considered as a cell. – Theory of blastodermic
leaflets, - Exaggerated generalization of results obtained from studies
of vertebrates. – Embryology from the point of view of histogenesis
and organogenesis. – Serres and transcendent anatomy. – Embryology
considered as transitional comparative anatomy. – Arguments supporting this
theory. –Embryological Classification; their shortcomings. – The embryology
of an organism is its condensed genealogy – Embryological acceleration;
perturbing phenomena that result from it. – Links between embryogenesis,
general morphology, and paleontology.
Chapter XX Species and their Modifications ..............................................211
A brief review of ideas concerning species. – The true nature of the problem
of species; means of resolving this problem directly. – Attempts to find
solutions indirectly. – Differences between races and species. – Proposed
criteria for defining species and their limited usefulness. – The instability
of hybrid forms: – Godron’s theory. – Charles Naudin’s experiments and
theory. – Identity of race and species. – Isadore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire:
the theory of limited variability. – Comparisons of the doctrines
of Isadore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire and Charles Darwin. – Conclusions.
References ..........................................................................................................225
Glossary ..............................................................................................................229
Biographical Index ............................................................................................243
Index ...................................................................................................................259
Foreword
Jean Octave Edmond Perrier was a French zoologist who lived through the tumult
of British Darwinism and Lyellism, and reminds us in this revealing account that
French scientists had much to contribute to such perennial topics as evolution,
catastrophism and creationism. While very much a product of the Third Republic,
Perrier’s account also aimed to outline timeless issues and permanent advances in
taxonomic and developmental biology since classical Greece and Rome. In this
aim he succeeds with surprisingly modern perspectives for a book first published
in 1884.
Perrier was born May 9, 1844 at Tulle, the son of the principal of a school
which now bears his name, Lycée Edmond Perrier. In 1864 he was accepted to the
École Normale Supérieure, where he was strongly influenced by Louis Pasteur
and Henri de Lacaze-Duthiers. After working for three years at a high school in
Agen, he obtained a post of naturalist-aid at the Muséum National d'Histoire
Naturelle (1868), advancing in that institution to Chair of Natural History of
Molluscs, Worms and Corals (1876–1903) and then Director of the museum
(1900–1919) and Chair of Comparative Anatomy (1903–1921). Previous directors
of the museum included many of the scientists he discusses in this book: George
Cuvier (1822–1823, 1826–1827, 1830–1831), Isidore Geoffrey St Hilaire (1860–
1861), and Alphonse Milne-Edwards (1891–1900). Perrier’s own research on
echinoderms and earthworms took him on several expeditions in 1880-1885, mostly
to Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, but also to the Caribbean. He was president
of the Société Zoologique de France (1879), elected to the Académie des Sciences
(1892) and president of the Société Nationale d'Acclimatation (1901–1921). He
died in Paris, July 31, 1921, an established insider of French science.
Perrier was an early convert and evangelist for Darwinian evolution. He also
wrote a biography of Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck, whom he viewed as a cofounder
of the theory of evolution, but whose brilliant intuitions had been stifled by the
powerful Cuvier. In 1908 a statue of Lamarck was erected at the entrance of the
museum under Perrier’s direction. In this book Perrier demonstrates a complexity

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