784 KARL ALFEED VON ZITTEL. 



papers, and " those on the Clielonia and pterodactyls from thj' litho- 

 graphic stone of P)avaria are especially valuable contributions to 

 science" (A. S. Woodward). 



Zittel's great versatility in paleontology showed how difficult it was 

 becoming for a person to master this one of the biologic sciences. 

 INIaterial was being accunndated in all parts of the world, and results 

 ^Yere being published in nuniy languages and in almost unlimited 

 places. A Avork ^vas needed to orient this great accumulation. In 

 i)art. this had been accomjdished by Bronn in his Lethaea Geognos- 

 tica, and in the text-books of Geinitz, Giebel, Quenstedt, Pictet, 

 d'Orbigny, Owen, and Nicholson. Some of these works, however, 

 had become antiquated, and none did justice to the growing science 

 of paleontology from the point of view of the paleontologist. Zittel 

 therefore undertook to orient all the material into one work, which 

 should not only be an aid to all expert paleontologists, but should also 

 form a basis of the science. From 1876 to 1803 he labored on the 

 animal fossils, while the i)aleobotanical part was undertaken by his 

 friend, W. Ph. Schimper, of Strassburg, and after the latter's death, 

 by A. Schenk, of Leipzig. Zittel thus gave to the scientific Avorld 

 his greatest and most distinguished work, his Ilandbuch der 

 Palaeontologie. This stupendous undertaking, which resulted in 

 seventeen 3'ears of continuous search and deliberation, is published in 

 G volumes, 4 of which are ZitteFs, containing 3,357 pages and •2,97() 

 figures. It is the Encyclopedia of Paleontology and the Dictionary of 

 Extinct (ienera of Plants and Animals, including their classification 

 and geological duration. Branco has justly said that it is the '' res- 

 cuing deed " in ])ale()ntology. Later the handbook was translated 

 through the joint work of seven savants, headed by Charles Barrois. 

 In 1895 Zittel rewrote and condensed his great work into one vol- 

 ume — the Grundziige der Tahieontologie (Taheozoologie), which has 

 since been translated into English, under the leadership of one of 

 Zitters American students, Charles K. Eastman. 



Osborn has stated in Science: "" It is proba!>ly not an exaggeration 

 to say that he did more for the promotion and dift'usion of paleontol- 

 ogy than any other single man who lived during the nineteenth cen- 

 tury. While not gifted with genius, he possessed extraordinary 

 judgment, critical capacity, and untiring industry." 



AVhile Zittel, since 18(58, Avorked in i)aleontology along the lines of 

 evolution, he never came to be a strong adherent of the neo- 

 Lamarckian school. In fact, the development of the individual 

 (ontogeny) did not seem to liim to be reliable evidence as indi- 

 cating the phylogeny of the stock and thus leading to a natural clas- 

 sification of organisms. The teachings of Cope and Hyatt did not 

 take a strong hold on him, and we see in the second edition of his 



