Page:The Last link.djvu/97

Rh or resultant condition, and adaptation as the mode of fitting the organism to, or making the best of, the prevailing surroundings or circumstances.

was born in 1772 at Étampes, Seine-et-Oise. He was originally brought up for the Church; but when already ordained he attended lectures on natural science and medicine in Paris. He managed to get the place of assistant in the Musée d'Histoire Naturelle; he became Professor of Zoology in 1793, and took the opportunity of encouraging young Cuvier. Later he became Professor of Zoology of the Faculté des Sciences, and in 1818 he published his remarkable 'Philosophie anatomique.' He died in 1844.

He had conceived the 'unity of organic composition,' meaning that there is only one plan of construction,—the same principle, but varied in its accessory parts. In 1830, when Geoffroy proceeded to apply to the Inverte-