20 ON THE METHOD OF ZADIG I 



If, however, Zadig was right in concluding from 

 the likeness of the hoof-pririts which he observed 

 to a horse's that the creature which made them 

 had a tail like that of a horse, Cuvier, seeing that 

 the teeth and jaw of his fossil were just like those 

 of an opossum, had the same right to conclude 

 that the pelvis would also be like an opossum's ; 

 and so strong was his conviction that this retro- 

 spective prophecy, about an animal which he had 

 never seen before, and which had been dead and 

 buried for millions of years, would be verified, that 

 he went to work upon the slab which contained 

 the pelvis in confident expectation of finding and 

 laying bare the " marsupial bones," to the satis- 

 faction of some persons whom he had invited to 

 witness their disinterment. As he says : " Cette 

 operation se fit en presence de quelques personnes 

 & qui j'en avais annonce* d'avance le resultat, 

 dans 1'intention de leur prouver par le fait la 

 justice de nos theories zoologiques; puisque le 

 vrai cachet d'une theorie est sans contredit la 

 faculte qu'elle donne de prevoir les phenomenes." 



In the " Ossemens Fossiles " Cuvier leaves his 

 paper just as it first appeared in the " Annales 

 du Museum," as " a curious monument of the 

 force of zoological laws and of the use which may 

 be made of them." 



Zoological laws truly, but not physiological laws. 

 If one sees a live dog's head, it is extremely prob- 

 able that a dog's tail is not far off, though nobody 



