76 J. C. Doornik on Fossil Organic Retnaiiis. 



are in general simple ; while those of the former are more com- 

 plex. 



When we observe the highly uniform and decidedly crystal- 

 line structure in the primitive rocks ; when we view this charac- 

 ter much less distinctly in the transition, still less in the secon- 

 dary, and not at all in the tertiary, is it probable that a geolo- 

 gist could be found, who would maintain that they were, never- 

 theless, all formed at the same epoch ? 



It is well known, that over an extent of some thousand square 

 leagues (in Thuringia and all the northern part of Germany), 

 nine of the vipper formations, viz. the transition limestone, the 

 greywacke, the red sandstone, the zechstein, with bituminous 

 shale, the muriatiferous gypsum, the oohtic limestone, the gyp- 

 sum in clay, the muschelkalk, the white sandstone, and the qua- 

 dersandstein, have been distinguished from each other without 

 the aid of zoological characters. 



M. Cuvier, in his theory of the earth, after having done jus- 

 tice to the high reputation of Werner, observes, " that neither 

 M. Werner nor M. de Saussure, the geological historian of the 

 Alps, have described the species of' the organic remains in each 

 of the strata, with that accuracy which has now become neces- 

 sary, since the number of animals already known is so great. 



It is true, Werner was not so well versed in comparative ana- 

 tomy as M. Cuvier, who in this branch surpasses all his prede- 

 cessors, and probably his contemporaries also; yet I will ven- 

 ture to say to M. Cuvier, that it appears to me he is not ac- 

 quainted with the merits of Werner in contributing to the pro- 

 motion of the natural history of organic remains. Far from 

 confining himself to the mere science of mineralogy, in forming 

 his theory of the earth, Werner, from the first, occupied himself 

 with the study of the different relations of all the classes of or- 

 ganic remains. A genius like his must naturally have per- 

 ceived that a complete knowledge of these relations was abso- 

 lutely necessai'y to a geologist, and accordingly, with such a 

 conviction, he informed himself of all that was known of petri- 

 factions. During his lectures, he often called the attention of 

 his auditors to the importance of forming collections, which, be- 

 sides a complete series of rocks and minerals, to illustrate the 



