It is a lasting shame that his remains were not laid in a grave, but were allowed to be put into a trench, with no headstone to mark the site, on one side of a row of graves of others better cared for, from which trench his bones, with those of others unknown and neglected, were exhumed and thrown into the catacombs of Paris.

Lamarck left behind him no letters or manuscripts; nothing could be ascertained regarding the dates of his marriages, the names of his wives or of all his children.

Of his descendants but one is known to be living, an officer in the army.

But his aims in life, his undying love of science, his noble character and generous disposition are constantly revealed in his writings.
The name of Lamarck has been familiar to me from my youth up.

When a boy, I used to arrange my collection of shells by the Lamarckian system, which had replaced the old Linnean classification.