1 86 HEROES OF SCIENCE. 



separating them from others. But Cuvier had seen 

 and studied the bones and skulls of animals which 

 had been dug out of the earth in a mineralized 

 condition. The strata at Montmartre, near Paris, 

 had yielded a great number of bones, which pre- 

 sented some resemblances to those of animals still 

 living but which were clearly not the bones of any 

 existing genera or species. Comparative anatomy 

 was made to connect the past and present animals, 

 and to indicate the possibility of all the past and 

 present creation being placed in one great classifi- 

 cation. As Cuvier progressed in this study, he 

 endeavoured to restore, and with considerable 

 success, the extinct animal's shape, to discover 

 its habits and method of life, and to find out its 

 nearest modern ally. Palaeontology, or the study 

 of extinct animals, is under the greatest obliga- 

 tions to this great Frenchman, and it may be 

 called the zoology of the past ages of the earth. 

 He did not, however, forget his one great desire, 

 which was to form a perfect book on comparative 

 anatomy, and one in which all animals would find 

 a place, called " La Regne Animal." (The animal 

 kingdom.) 



As soon as Cuvier found himself well established 

 as assistant to M. Mertrud, the professor of com- 

 parative anatomy to the Jardin des Plantes, he sent 

 for his old father, then eighty years of age, and for 

 his brother, M. F. Cuvier, to live with him. The 

 first thing he did was to collect all the available 

 specimens of bones and preparations of animals, 



