CUVIER. 151 



it is therefore no disparagement to Cuvier's pre-eminent 

 merits, to say that naturalists are at present able to 

 construct a system of classification which in many respects 

 is greatly in advance of the arrangement proposed by the 

 great French zoologist. Moreover, there is one depart- 

 ment of zoology which in Cuvier's time was almost non- 

 existent, and which has the most important bearings upon 

 the classification of animals namely, the department 

 of Embryology. It is now possible to supplement the 

 knowledge gained from an anatomical examination of 

 the bodies of adult animals by an investigation into the 

 various changes, anatomical and physiological, which 

 precede the attainment of the adult condition. The 

 true relationships of animals thus become much more 

 clearly recognisable than they can be when we have to 

 compare together only the much modified and specialised 

 structures of the fully-developed organisms. 



Apart altogether from the merits of his system, or from 

 his recognition of the principle that comparative anatomy 

 is the true basis of scientific classification, Cuvier's con- 

 tributions to morphology are of the most extensive kind. 

 His 'Lemons d' Anatomic comparee' was the first systematic 

 treatise upon the science of comparative anatomy; for 

 John Hunter had not been able to publish any complete 

 work on this subject. In certain special departments, 

 Cuvier's anatomical researches form the basis of every- 

 thing which has been since accomplished. We may 

 instance more particularly his contributions to the 

 comparative anatomy of the Molluscs, the osteology of the 

 Mammalia, and the fishes. As regards the last of these 

 groups, Dr Giinther, one of the most eminent of living 



