OF XÉFOLIUS.

I will not occupy myself solely by seeking the means by which certain lands were populated; first, because beyond the fact that such knowledge is not necessary for our happiness, it is also because, with all possible education and wisdom, man, in this type of research, can never offer anything but conjectures that often contradict themselves. Secondly, I am no more surprised to have found men in America than to have found wolves, stags, dogs, bears, moose, squirrels, rabbits, etc.; but what would surprise me greatly would be if this half of the globe had remained deserted until the day when the descendants of the seven of each species A reference to Genesis 7:2, where Noah is commanded to take seven pairs of every "clean" animal onto the ark to preserve their lineage., saved from the flood in Noah’s ark—those intrepid navigators—had gone to settle there, each with his mate. Therefore, to respond to the impulses I feel, I shall concern myself only with the science of man During the Enlightenment, the "science of man" (science de l'homme) referred to the study of human nature, ethics, and society through observation and reason, rather than through religious dogma..

III.

After having considered the works of nature that were within my reach, and having found in each of them so many wonders, I raised my soul toward the Master of all things, and