4
MARCEL FLORKIN AND HOWARD S. MASON
velopment which started with Cuvier was that of the comparative study
of internal organization. Dissection became an important method of
comparative enquiry. Dissection and classification went hand-in-hand;
it was from the internal organization that true distinctions among
classes had to be derived.
In spite of the new character of his comparative enquiry, Cuvier
and his followers nevertheless remained tenants of the past in the degree to which they classified and determined the places of organisms in
a reticulum of resemblances: they were not observers of living organisms, performed no experiments to determine the function of an
observed apparatus, made no reference to development, and made no
use of magnifying devices. For Cuvier, the "character" which determined an order was a fact of organization which, by the condition it
imposed upon the life of the animal which possessed it, completely
determined the complexity of its organs and the nature of its physiological activity.
The general classification proposed by Cuvier in 1795 was a considerable advance over the division of animals based upon identification of physiologically dominating organs. Diversity was expressed by
Cuvier in nine "classes": mammals, birds, reptiles, fishes, mollusks,
worms, crustaceans, insects, and zoophytes. Mammals were the most
perfectly organized, with their hearts and complete vascular system.
For Cuvier, man was the basis of reference with respect to which all
other "classes" were to be analyzed and understood. The studies on
comparative physiological anatomy of which Cuvier was the initiator
made untenable the theory that organisms could be arranged in a
single continuous line. Cuvier separated animals into four phyla, characterized by four different general plans into which animal structures
seem to have been molded. Each subsequent division of phyla was
based only upon small modifications consisting of the development or
the addition of some parts which left unmodified the essence of the
plan. The four phyla (Vertebrates, Mollusks, Articulates, and Zoophytes) were not characterized by physiological properties, as the
classes were, but by morphological properties, as the names "Articulates" and "Zoophytes" attest. For Cuvier, there were no transitions
between the four phyla, no universal identity of plan, nor any series.
If there was a unity, it was not a unity of organs, but a unity of functions.
On the other hand, Lamarck (1744-1829) understood the "natural
order" as gradual and continuous progression. He was firmly opposed to
the concept of a network of resemblances at the knots of which each
species appears connected with innumerable relations. According to
MARCEL FLORKIN AND HOWARD S. MASON
velopment which started with Cuvier was that of the comparative study
of internal organization. Dissection became an important method of
comparative enquiry. Dissection and classification went hand-in-hand;
it was from the internal organization that true distinctions among
classes had to be derived.
In spite of the new character of his comparative enquiry, Cuvier
and his followers nevertheless remained tenants of the past in the degree to which they classified and determined the places of organisms in
a reticulum of resemblances: they were not observers of living organisms, performed no experiments to determine the function of an
observed apparatus, made no reference to development, and made no
use of magnifying devices. For Cuvier, the "character" which determined an order was a fact of organization which, by the condition it
imposed upon the life of the animal which possessed it, completely
determined the complexity of its organs and the nature of its physiological activity.
The general classification proposed by Cuvier in 1795 was a considerable advance over the division of animals based upon identification of physiologically dominating organs. Diversity was expressed by
Cuvier in nine "classes": mammals, birds, reptiles, fishes, mollusks,
worms, crustaceans, insects, and zoophytes. Mammals were the most
perfectly organized, with their hearts and complete vascular system.
For Cuvier, man was the basis of reference with respect to which all
other "classes" were to be analyzed and understood. The studies on
comparative physiological anatomy of which Cuvier was the initiator
made untenable the theory that organisms could be arranged in a
single continuous line. Cuvier separated animals into four phyla, characterized by four different general plans into which animal structures
seem to have been molded. Each subsequent division of phyla was
based only upon small modifications consisting of the development or
the addition of some parts which left unmodified the essence of the
plan. The four phyla (Vertebrates, Mollusks, Articulates, and Zoophytes) were not characterized by physiological properties, as the
classes were, but by morphological properties, as the names "Articulates" and "Zoophytes" attest. For Cuvier, there were no transitions
between the four phyla, no universal identity of plan, nor any series.
If there was a unity, it was not a unity of organs, but a unity of functions.
On the other hand, Lamarck (1744-1829) understood the "natural
order" as gradual and continuous progression. He was firmly opposed to
the concept of a network of resemblances at the knots of which each
species appears connected with innumerable relations. According to