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PRELUDE TO CHAP. I.
57
and the ductility of his language. Essence is said to be a genus, to be constitutive, that is, with matter, which, in itself, is no particular thing, of each genus of beings or things; but then it is form, which realises, so to say, that combination by conferring upon it a specific character. For form harmonises with all the organisation of an animal; and every organised body, Cuvier observes, over and above the common qualities of its tissues, has a peculiar form, not only generally and exteriorly, but even down to its minutest details ; and it is " this form which determines the direction of each particular movement, which supports the complicity of its life, constitutes its species, and makes it what it is[1] ."
- ↑ Blainville, 1re leçon.
