CUVIER. 139 



In the years 1797 and 1798, Cuvier continued to enrich 

 the science of natural history by a long series of memoirs. 

 In the former of these years we find him writing upon such 

 diverse subjects as the nutritive processes in insects, the 

 structure of the Ascidian Molluscs, the anatomy of the 

 bivalve shell-fish, the nostrils of the Cetaceans, and the 

 characters of the different species of rhinoceros. In the 

 second of these years he was offered the opportunity 

 of accompanying the expedition which Napoleon was to 

 lead to Egypt, but he declined the offer. In this year he 

 not only published his first memoir upon the wonderful 

 series of fossil bones which are found in the Tertiary rocks 

 ( ' Gypseous Series ') of Montmartre, near Paris ; but he also 

 gave to the world the first of his separate works namely, 

 the ' Tableau elementaire de PHistoire naturelle des 

 Animaux.' This volume contained, in an abbreviated form, 

 the course of lectures which he delivered at the l Ecole 

 Centrale du Pantheon;' and it may be regarded as the 

 first general statement of the classification of the animal 

 kingdom which he subsequently elaborated more fully, 

 and which, in its main outlines, is still the accepted 

 arrangement of animals. 



In the year 1799 Daubenton died, and the chair of 

 natural history in the College de France was thus rendered 

 vacant ; Cuvier being appointed his successor in 1 800. In 

 the latter year he was also appointed secretary of the 

 class of physical and mathematical sciences in the National 

 Institute, an appointment which was made perpetual in 

 1803, and which he held to the time of his death. In 

 this year he published a number of memoirs, dealing for 

 the most part with the bones of extinct animals. In this 



