292 THE STRUCTURE OF EVOLUTIONARY THEORY
statement of the awestruck Charles Lyell, visiting Cuvier at the height of his
influence, provides insight into the nature of his power:
I got into Cuvier's sanctum sanctorum yesterday, and it is truly
characteristic of the man. In every part it displays that extraordinary power
of methodizing which is the grand secret of the prodigious feats which he
performs annually without appearing to give himself the least trouble ...
There is first the museum of natural history opposite his house, and
admirably arranged by himself, then the anatomy museum connected with
his dwelling. In the latter is a library disposed in a suite of rooms, each
containing works on one subject. There is one where there are all the works
on ornithology, in another room all on ichthyology, in another osteology, in
another law books! etc.... The ordinary studio contains no bookshelves. It is
a longish room comfortably furnished, lighted from above, with eleven
desks to stand to, and two low tables, like a public office for so many
clerks. But all is for the one man, who multiplies himself as author, and
admitting no one into this room, moves as he finds necessary, or as fancy
inclines him, from one occupation to another. Each desk is furnished with a
complete establishment of inkstand, pens, etc.... There is a separate bell to
several desks. The low tables are to sit to when he is tired. The
collaborators are not numerous, but always chosen well. They save him
every mechanical labour, find references, etc., are rarely admitted to the
study, receive orders and speak not (in Adams, 1938, p. 267).Appel notes an interesting source of Cuvier's accumulated influence: "Cuvier
was able to remain on the Council [of State] through the Empire, three kings, and
several ministries because he held no extreme opinions and was willing to support
whatever regime was in power" (1987, p. 53). Yet, lest we view this chameleonic
shifting merely as cynical and self-serving, much like the Vicar of Bray in the old
song about maintaining office through all the vicissitudes of 17th century British
politics, Appel points out the underlying consistency of a true political and
biological conservative: after a bloody and traumatic revolution, any hierarchical
order, proceeding from any source holding promise for stability, must be preferred
over potential anarchy and populism.
Appel designates three broad domains of difference between Cuvier and
Geoffroy: Cuvier's conservative connection to substantial political power, his
insistence (largely for rhetorical purposes, since science cannot operate in such a
manner) that the profession restrict itself to reporting positive facts and shunning
speculation, and his commitment to one of the purest forms of functionalism ever
maintained in the study of morphology. Appel notes the evident connection
between political elitism and the call for a descriptive, factually based science of
experts:
In a politically volatile country which had recently experienced traumatic
revolution, Cuvier justly feared that speculative theories, most of