THE ANNALS 



AND 



MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY, 



[THIRD SERIES.] 

 No. 20. AUGUST 1859, 



VII. — On the Laws of Evolution of the Organic World during 

 the Formation of the Crust of the Earth. By H. G. Bronn*. 



Under the above title, Bronn has just published, in German, 

 his prize-essay sent to the Academy of Sciences of Paris. This 

 memoir was prepared in response to a question proposed in 

 1853 by that Academy, and referred to the concourse in 1854, 

 in the following form : — 



" Study the laws of the distribution of fossil organic bodies in 

 the different sedimentary strata according to the order of super- 

 position : 



'' Discuss the question of their successive or simultaneous 

 appearance and disappearance : 



" Investigate the nature of the relations existing between the 

 present state of the organic kingdom and its former states." 



The Academy has indeed decided that Bronn's important 

 work shall be printed ; but, in accordance with the usages and 

 customs of that Institution, we shall still, no doubt, have to wait 

 some years to see the completion of its printing. Tortunately, 

 M. Bronn has indulged us with a German translation of his 

 memoir, which has the advantages over the original, in the first 

 place, of being published, and, in the second, of being augmented 

 by a multitude of notes, which place this work at the level of the 

 state of science in 1858. 



In place of making an analysis of this remarkable work, we 

 have thought it best to submit to our readers a complete trans- 



* From " Untersuchungen iiber die Entwickekmgsgesetze der organi- 

 schen Welt wahrend der Bildungszeit unserer Erdoberfiache." Stuttgard, 

 1858. Translated by W. S. Dallas, F.L.S., from the Bibliotheque Universelle 

 de Geneve, 20th March, 1859, Archives des Sciences physiques et naturelles, 

 p. 217. 



Ann, ^ Mag, N, Hist, Ser. 3. Fb/.iv. 6 



