Lamarck, the Founder of Evolution: His Life and WorkPackard, A. S. (Alpheus Spring)
History
Lamarck, the Founder of Evolution: His Life and Work
Packard, A. S. (Alpheus Spring)
Evolution (Biology); Lamarck, Jean Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet de, 1744-1829; Naturalists -- France -- Biography
"The serpents which glide along the surface of the ground are
obliged chiefly to see elevated objects, or what are above their
eyes. This necessity has brought an influence to bear on the
situation of the organs of vision in these animals; and, in fact,
they have the eyes placed in the lateral and upper parts of the
head, so as to easily perceive what is above or at their sides; but
they only see for a short distance what is in front of them.
Moreover, forced to supply the lack of ability to see and recognize
what is in front of their head, and which might injure them, they
need only to feel such objects with the aid of their tongue, which
they are obliged to dart out with all their power. This habit has
not only contributed to render the tongue slender, very long and
retractile, but has also led in a great number of species to its
division, so as to enable them to feel several objects at once; it
has likewise allowed them to form an opening at the end of their
head, to enable the tongue to dart out without their being obliged
to open their jaws.
"Nothing is more remarkable than the result of habits in the
herbivorous mammals.
"The quadruped to whom circumstances and the wants which they have
created have given for a long period, as also to others of its race,
the habit of browsing on grass, only walks on the ground, and is
obliged to rest there on its four feet the greater part of its life,
moving about very little, or only to a moderate extent. The
considerable time which this sort of creature is obliged to spend
each day to fill itself with the only kind of food which it
requires, leads it to move about very little, so that it uses its
legs only to stand on the ground, to walk, or run, and they never
serve to seize hold of or to climb trees.
"From this habit of daily consuming great amounts of food which
distend the organs which receive it, and of only moving about to a
limited extent, it has resulted that the bodies of these animals are
thick, clumsy, and massive, and have acquired a very great volume,
as we see in elephants, rhinoceroses, oxen, buffaloes, horses, etc.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account