"We see from this that if there are extremes in these changes there are also gradations (_nuances_), that is to say, steps which are intermediate, and which fill up the interval; consequently there are also gradations in the differences which distinguish that which we call _species_. "Indeed, as we constantly meet with such shades (or intermediate steps) between these so-called _species_, we find ourselves forced to descend to the minutest details to find any distinctions; the slightest peculiarities of form, of color, of size, and often even of differences only perceived in the aspect of the individual compared with other individuals which are related to it the more by their relations, are seized upon by naturalists to establish specific differences; so that, the slightest varieties being reckoned as species, our catalogues of species grow infinitely great, and the name of the productions of nature of the most interest to us are, so to speak, buried in these enormous lists, become very difficult to find, because now the objects are mostly only determined by characters which our senses can scarcely enable us to perceive. "Meanwhile we should remember that nothing of all this exists in nature; that she knows neither classes, orders, genera, nor species, in spite of all the foundation which the portion of the natural series which our collection contains has seemed to afford them; and that of organic or living bodies there are, in reality, only individuals, and among different races which gradually pass (_nuancent_) into all degrees of organization" (p. 14). On p. 70 he speaks of the animal chain from monad to man, ascending from the most simple to the most complex. The monad is the most simple, the most like a germ of living bodies, and from its nature passes to the volvoces, proteus, vibrios; from them nature arrives at the production of "polypes rotifères"--and then at "Radiaires," worms, Arachnida, Crustacea, and Cirrhipedes. FOOTNOTES: [162] _Discours d'ouverture du Cours de Zoologie donné dans le Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, le 21 floréal, an 8 de la République_ (1800). Floréal is the name adopted by the National Convention for the eighth month of the year. In the years of the Republic 1 to 7 it extended from April 20 to May 19 inclusive, and in the years 8 to 13 from April 21 to May 20 (_Century Cyclopedia of Names_). The lecture, then, in which Lamarck first presented his views was delivered on some day between April 21 and May 20, 1800. [163] Lamarck by the word _génération_ implies heredity. He nowhere uses the word _hérédité_. [164] "L'oiseau que le besoin attire sur l'eau pour y trouver la proie qui le fait vivre, écarte les doigts de ses pieds lorsqu'il veut frapper l'eau et se mouvoir à sa surface" (p. 13). If the word _veut_ has suggested the doctrine of appetency in meaning has been pushed too far by the critics of Lamarck.