152 NATURAL HISTORY. 



ichthyologists, has remarked that 'the investigation of 

 their anatomy, and especially of their skeleton, was taken 

 up by Cuvier at an early period, and continued till he had 

 succeeded in completing so perfect a framework of the 

 system of the whole class, that his immediate successors 

 could content themselves with filling up those details for 

 which their master had no leisure. 



Lastly, Cuvier effected the most important advances as 

 regards the natural history of former periods of the 

 development of the earth. Indeed, it is not too much 

 to say that Cuvier may fairly claim to have been the chief 

 founder of the modern science of 'Palaeontology;' a 

 science which has enormously expanded during the last 

 fifty years, and which, when fully mature, will obtain the 

 recognition to which it is justly entitled, of being from all 

 points of view one of the most important branches of 

 scientific zoology. It is true that palaeontology is often 

 spoken of in some cases even by scientific writers as 

 a branch of geology. It has even been termed ' the hand- 

 maid of geology.' A more erroneous conception of the 

 entire aim and scope of palaeontology could not well be 

 formed ; and it is one which will certainly not be accepted 

 by any one who is himself a palaeontologist in the proper 

 sense of the term. It may be freely admitted that many 

 of the earlier palaeontologists dealt with fossils to a large 

 extent from the geological point of view, rather than in 

 their zoological aspect. It is also true that some so-called 

 palaeontologists have been little more than 'collectors/ 

 and have had no real grasp of the scientific side of 

 palaeontology. This is, however, equally true of zoology 

 in its earlier days ; and, even now, ' collectors ' are by no 



