premises. But the very extravagance of the conclusions ought to have created a suspicion that the premises were erroneous; and they are, in fact, almost invariably found to be wholly inadmissible.
While, therefore, we acknowledge Lamarck's pre-eminent excellence in the ordinary subjects of natural history, we cannot fail to lament that his attention was so often engrossed by fanciful speculations; speculations of which, all things considered, it is no undue depreciation to affirm that they are at once absurd and impious—alike opposed to reason and religion; and the regret which must be felt in making such an assertion in regard to so celebrated a man, is not a little enhanced by the accompanying reflection, that, with Lamarck and others of his school, the latter imputation would be regarded as infinitely less discreditable than the former.
