CUVIER. 135 



brata, and the relation of its development to the in- 

 telligence ; the respiration, animal heat, muscular force, 

 sensory and digestive systems of these animals. For 

 this treatise he received one of the decennial prize- 

 instituted by Napoleon in 1810. 



Cuvier in his scientific labours stated positively only 

 that which he knew from personal observation, and 

 therefore early directed his attention to collecting 

 objects of natural history. The great collection at the 

 Jardin des Plantes, made chiefly through his own 

 exertions, contributed the materials of which he made 

 such remarkable use. This collection was also necessary 

 for the determination of fossil species, which he began 

 to investigate while living in Normandy. 



In 1796 appeared his treatise on the skeletons of 

 the megalonyx and megatherium, and on the skulls 

 of fossil bears from the caverns of Graylenreuth. 

 From this period till 1812 he contributed many 

 papers on fossil bones, the most important of which 

 were afterwards published under the title of 

 " Recherches sur les Ossemens Fossiles." 



Deposits of molluscs and other marine animals 

 had long been known to exist at great distances 

 from and heights above the sea, and wore attri- 

 buted to the Deluge. Large bones discovered in 

 caverns or dug from the earth had given rise to 

 traditions of the existence of giants in the early 

 ages; and even philosophers regarded the fossil 

 impressions in the rocks and the shells in the 

 ground as accidental freaks of nature. Bernard 

 Palissy, an unlettered potter, discovered the annua] 



