1910.] E. Gcofjroij Saint Hilaire and G. Ciivicr. 57 



already discern traces of tlie unity of composition,. . . .to which Geoff roy 

 has subjected all comparative anatomy" (op. cit., p. 165). 



Witliin three months after Cuvier's appointment at the ' Jardin' he and 

 Geoffroy published their classification of the mammals (p. 58) in Volume 

 VI of the 'Magasin Encyclopedique,' 1795. From this circumstance and 

 from the fact that after completing his course at Stuttgart, the young Cuvier 

 went to Burgundy where he engaged in tutoring and in the study of shells, 

 and hence apparently had little opportunity for the study of the mammals, 

 Dr. T. S. Palmer inclines to the belief that Cuvier's share in the classification 

 now under consideration was a minor one. Nevertheless it seems not im- 

 possible that this brilliant man could, in a short time, acquire sufficient 

 acquaintance with the admirable work of Buffon and Daubenton, of Storr 

 and Blumenbach, to enable him to form his own ideas as to the natural 

 arrangement of the mammals. After tliis Geoffroy confined himself to 

 monographic work (I. Geoffroy, 1826, p. 68), and the subsequent changes 

 in the classification were introduced by Cuvier alone. 



The obligations of this classification are apparently to Blumenbach and 

 Storr, and also to Vicq d'Azyr, whose terms "Carnivores," "Pedimanes," 

 "Rongeurs," " Edentes," " Ruminans " and " Solipedes " are used. Blumen- 

 bach's term "Chiroptera" is also used (in the French form). It thus seems 

 altogether likely (see also pages 47, 48), that Cuvier and Geoffroy were 

 familiar with the works of Blumenbach and Storr; and indeed in the 

 'Tableau Elementaire,' Cuvier refers to Blumenbach's system as one of the 

 leading ones of that time, and later, in the ' Ossemens fossiles' (Ed. 3, pt. 1, 

 p. 3) he remarks that Storr was the first naturalist to recognize the group of 

 " Pachydermes " (" Multungula " Storr). 



The classification under consideration departs from that of Vicq d'Azyr 

 (p. 53) in the following respects: 



(1.) Vicq d'Az\T's orders "Taupens" and "Soriciens," including the 

 moles and shrews are united with the arctoid carnivora, as in Storr's system, 

 and are called "Plantigrades." 



(2.) The "Verminei" of Storr, after the exclusion of Vivcrra, are sepa- 

 rated, under the term " Vermiformes," from "les Carnivores" of Vicq d'Azyr. 



(3.) Vicq d'Azyr's term "Pedimanes" which included, besides the 

 monkeys and lemurs, the genera Didelphis and Phalanger, is restricted to 

 include only the two last named genera and is thus coextensive with the 

 "Plantares'' of Storr. 



(4.) "Les Rongeurs" includes besides the rodents, the Kangaroo, 

 "Kangurus," which had been treated as a gigantic relative of the Jerboa 

 by Erxleben in 1777. 



(5.) The sloths, Bradijpus, are separated from Vicq d'Az}T's "Edentes" 

 as a new order "Tardigrada." 



