1885.] NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 47 



The ni;iss of s^enorul knowledge and the nutural culture of tlie 

 huriuui mind culled for a more dignified and scholarly view of 

 zoology. France now took the lead, and appreciating the value 

 of system as then excmplilied in the Linnaean school, began to 

 review its proportions and reconstruct, more or less, its weaker 

 points, and supply its deficiencies as well as might be in the 

 present state of the science. Lamarck, Cuvier, Latrcille yvcvo 

 tlie luminaries of the then ])resent horizon. Lamarck undertook 

 the invertebrates; Cuvier assumed care of tlie vertebi'atcs, and 

 Latreille made special observations on the class then termed 

 Annulosa. 



The work of Lamarck, " Hisioire Nat. des Animaux sans 

 Vert.^^ was produced in seven volumes, Svo, in 1815. The 

 " lUyiie Animal," of Cuvier was issued in 1817. Latreille 

 wrote his " Genera," ... in 1806. 



From the days of Linnaeus, our ideas of nature rapidly became 

 more defined and rational. Species of animals came to light in 

 an amazingly increasing ratio. Even the genera of Linnaeus would 

 not accommodate them. There were new objects that required 

 new genera to be framed to admit them. The more enlightened 

 investigators of this period found it incumbent on them to look 

 carefully into the state of the prevailing system. They also 

 found it necessary to look closely to the structure of animals. 

 The study of interior anatomy was growing to be serviceable. 

 Cuvier had taken the science of zoology by storm; it was all 

 hail to the great French savan, and by unanimous consent, 

 Cuvier was the master and leader of the time. His great suc- 

 cess led naturalists to believe that internal anatomy was the 

 essential basis for classification. The enormous increase in the 

 number of species of invertebrate animals brought home by 

 scientific observers and travellers caused an extensive reconstruc- 

 tion and important invention of members of the edifice of classi- 

 fication. 



Geoffioy St. Hilaire is a notable name in this connection. In 

 the anatomy of Mollusca, Poli and Savigny were elucidating 

 and contributing largely. Entomology, Cuvier trusted to La- 

 treille; the master, as is well known, devoted his energies 

 greatly in geology, in the treatment of fossil vertebrate remains. 

 Like the Systenia Nature of the illustrious Swede, the " Regne 

 Animal," of Cuvier, will stand as a beacon to mark the period 

 of a bygone era. 



The exquisite woi'ks of Poli, on the '' Mollusca of Sicily," 

 are viewed of great value. 



A plan of a simple scale in nature had long been on the minds 

 of zoologists, but was now nearly abandoned. Lamarck, how- 

 ever, gave great attention to the subject. 



