Or perhaps more probably, he wished at once
"to turn to animals and plants under domestication," so as to insist
early on the main object of his work--the plasticity of animal forms.

I am inclined to think that a vein of irony pervades the whole, or much
the greater part of Buffon's work, and that he intended to convey, one
meaning to one set of readers, and another to another; indeed, it is
often impossible to believe that he is not writing between his lines for
the discerning, what the undiscerning were not intended to see. It must
be remembered that his 'Natural History' has two sides,--a scientific
and a popular one. May we not imagine that Buffon would be unwilling to
debar himself from speaking to those who could understand him, and yet
would wish like Handel and Shakespeare to address the many, as well as
the few? But the only manner in which these seemingly irreconcilable
ends could be attained, would be by the use of language which should be
self-adjusting to the capacity of the reader. So keen an observer can
hardly have been blind to the signs of the times which were already
close at hand. Free-thinker though he was, he was also a powerful member
of the aristocracy, and little likely to demean himself--for so he would
doubtless hold it--by playing the part of Voltaire or Rousseau. He would
help those who could see to see still further, but he would not dazzle
eyes that were yet imperfect with a light brighter than they could
stand. He would therefore impose upon people, as much as he thought was
for their good; but, on the other hand, he would not allow inferior men
to mystify them.

"In the private character of Buffon," says Sir William Jardine in a
characteristic passage, "we regret there is not much to praise; his
disposition was kind and benevolent, and he was generally beloved by his
inferiors, followers, and dependents, which were numerous over his
extensive property; he was strictly honourable, and was an affectionate
parent. In early youth he had entered into the pleasures and
dissipations of life, and licentious habits seem to have been retained
to the end. But the great blemish in such a mind was his declared
infidelity; it presents one of those exceptions among the persons who
have been devoted to the study of nature; and it is not easy to imagine
a mind apparently with such powers, scarcely acknowledging a Creator,
and when noticed, only by an arraignment for what appeared wanting or
defective i