HISTORY OF THE WORKS OF CUVIER 147 



toes differ little from those of tlie carnirora, but wlncli have only two sorts of 

 teeth, the molar and incisive; the cdcntafn, in which order the toes have become 

 less movable, and are almost confounded with large claws, and which have never 

 any teeth but the molar and canine, sometinies only molar, and sometimes none 

 at all ; the inarsupiaJs, or animals ivifh a poucli, a small series collateral to the 

 three preceding- orders, some of them corresponding to the carnivora, others to the 

 rodentia, and others to the edentata ; the rnminants, which form a strikingly dis- 

 tinct order in view of their cloven feet, their upper jaws without true incisors^ 

 their four stomachs ; the pachndcrmata^ which comprise all the other quadrupeds 

 with hoofs; and the cefacca, which are wholly destitute of posterior extremities. 



The principal modifications of the combined organs of touch and nianducation 

 having given the orders, secondary modifications of these same organs Avill sap- 

 ply the famiUcs ; and modifications more and more subordinated will give all the 

 other* groups, the tribes, the genera, the sub-genera, until we finally reach the 

 Sjiecies for which the whole scaffolding is constructed. 



Thus, to confine ourselves again to a single order of the mammifcrs, that of the 

 carnivora, for example, it has just been seen that one of tUe characters of that 

 order is to have movable toes. Now, if we suppose these toes to have become 

 very long, and to be united b}^ membranes, so as to form an organ of flight, as 

 in the bats, we shall have i\\Q fainiJy of clieiroptera ; if w^e suppose that the 

 animal, the toes remaining free, supports itself in walking on the entire sole of 

 the foot, or, on the contrary-, that it walks only on the ends of its toes, we shall 

 have in the first case the tribe of the pJanfigradcs, and in the second that of the 

 digitigradcs. And siniilarly as regards the organs of manducation, it has been 

 seen that this order has three sorts of teeth, and it is this which constitutes its 

 character as an order ; but let us suppose that the molar teeth (which by their 

 form always decide the diet of the animal) are feeble and furnished with conic 

 points, and we shall have i\\G family of insectivora ; or that these same teeth 

 have become stronger, and, instead of simple conic points, are armed with parta 

 more or less incisive, and we shall in that case have tlie family of carnivora ; 

 and in this latter family, according as the molar teeth are entirely cutting or 

 incisive, or more or less mingled with blunt tubercles, we shall have either the 

 genus bear, of which almost all the teeth are tuhercidar ; or that of dogs, which 

 have only two tubercular ; or that of cats, &c., which have none tubercular, and 

 which consequently are exclusively carnivorous, while the dog is capable of re- 

 ceiving a certain amount of vegetable nourishment, and the bear ma}" be entirely 

 nourished on vegetable food. And herein lies one of the necessary relations 

 between the organs which enables us to calculate with considerable certainty the 

 proportions of the alimentary canal, from the extent of the tubercular surface of 

 the teeth of animals, compared with the cutting or incisive surface. 



What has Ijeen here said might be easily exemplified as regards all other 

 families, tribes^ and genera; and it will hence be seen that the simple placing of 

 an animal iti one of these groups, teaches us as exactly as the most detailed 

 description, all that relates to the organization of that animal, or to the degree 

 of organization which corresponds to the group in which it is placed. Let me be 

 told, for instance, of some creature that its place is in the genus cat, and I shall 

 at once conclude not only that its molar teeth are all sharp or incisive, as being 

 a cat, but further, that it has three sorts of teeth, movable iocs, dr., as being car- 

 nivorous; that it has a double circulation and a complete respiration, as being 

 a mammal; that it lias, also, a s])inal marrow, a canal composed of vertebras, 

 five senses, &c., as being one of tlie vcrtcbrata. Thus I shall kn(jw the whole of 

 its organization from its place alone, and what will remain for "me to say of it 

 will, of course, be reduced to a few Avords, for the indication of its proper or 

 specific characters. 



Now, as the number of known beings is immense, and, immense as it is, can- 

 not fail to be much more augmented, we perceive the advantage of heing able 



