PALEONTOLOGY SINCE CUVIER. 65 



all living things. Pachyderms, Ruminants, Ro- 

 dents, Carnivora, all met with a rapid death to- 

 gether ; frequently the animals were buried while 

 their skeletons were still intact. The deposits at 

 Quercy have furnished the most important facts 

 that have yet been discovered for the study of 

 the fossil Mammalia in Europe. They are as im- 

 portant as the more recent discoveries in America. 

 The characteristics of the animals met with in 

 France are perhaps less remarkable and conclusive ; 

 they are not striking at first sight, and it is only by 

 a very careful study of them that we perceive their 

 true value. The transitions are extremely delicate ; 

 we have there to do with shades of difference, not 

 with differences clearly expressed. Hence the 

 period of Phosphorite witnessed great changes, and 

 the types now existing were giving signs of appear- 

 ing. The influence of natural circumstances, which 

 we are not able to define more narrowly, but the 

 traces of which have been discovered, changed the 

 species in various ways and gave rise to varieties 

 which became fixed, and thus passed over into a 

 new species. Thus far Filhol. 



Of the incredible wealth of forms among the 

 higher classes of animals in the South-western 

 Europe of those days, we have proofs in the fact 



