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* ''Histoire Naturelle'' (1749-1789), the wide-ranging 44-volume study where Buffon reveals himself as an exponent of the doctrine of the Great Chain of Being, with man being placed at the top of the Chain. New creatures were constantly appearing at the bottom of the Chain, arising from inorganic matter through [[spontaneous generation]].<ref name="BuffonEvolutionist"/> By volume fourteen, Buffon was speculating about the evolutionary origin of similar species from common ancestral types. He proposed that native Native American mammals were, in response to “harsh” local climatic conditions, invariably smaller and weaker than their counterparts. Such thinking where the climate was ascribed a creative power pushed God back in time or out of picture altogether – Buffon never clarified this. Buffon’s views were countered by [[Thomas Jefferson]] who depicted large, strong native Native American animals in his 1787 book Notes on the State of Virginia.<ref name="Larson"/>