he different animals known to us, shall we not be
stopped in this supposition by the simple consideration of the
admirable diversity which we observe in the _instincts_ of different
animals, and by that of the marvels of every kind presented by their
different kinds of _industry_?

"Shall we dare to extend the spirit of system so far as to say that
it is Nature who has herself alone created this astonishing
diversity of means, of contrivances, of skill, of precautions, of
patience, of which the _industry_ of animals offers us so many
examples? What we observe in this respect in the simple class of
_insects_, is it not a thousand times more than sufficient to make
us realize that the limit to the power of Nature in nowise permits
her to herself produce so many marvels, but to force the most
obstinate philosopher to recognize that here the will of the Supreme
Author of all things has been necessary, and has alone sufficed to
create so many admirable things?

"Without doubt, one would be rash or, rather, wholly insensate, to
pretend to assign limits to the power of the first Author of all
things; but, aside from that, no one could dare to say that this
infinite power could not will that which Nature even shows us it has
willed"[181] (p. 67).

Referring to the alleged proof of the fixity of species brought forward
by Cuvier in the _Annales du Museum d'Histoire naturelle_ (i., pp. 235
and 236) that the mummied birds, crocodiles, and other animals of Egypt
present no differences from those now living, Lamarck says:

"It would assuredly be very singular if it were otherwise, because
the position of Egypt and its climate are still almost exactly what
they were at that epoch. Moreover, the birds which live there still
exist under the same circumstances as they were then, not having
been obliged to change their habits.

"Moreover, who does not perceive that birds, which can so easily
change their situation and seek places which suit them are less
subject than many other animals to the variations of local
circumstances, and hence less restricted in their habits."

He adds the fact that the animals in question have inhabited Egypt for
two or three thousand years, and not necessarily from all time, and that
this is not time enough for marked changes. He then gives the following
definition of species, which is the best ever offered: "Species, then,
have only a relative