BARON CUVIER. 59 



alive to the theory of the earth, that it overturns almost 

 ivery thing which concerns fossil remains. It has been 

 admitted that the fossils of the North have been animals 

 from Asia ; it was also allowed that the animals of Asia had 

 passed over into North America, and had been there bu- 

 ried ; but it appeared that the American genera had 

 come from their own soil, and had never extended to the 

 countries which now form the Old World. My disco- 

 veries lead to the contrary opinion, and this is the second 

 proof I have received. Fully persuaded of the futility 

 of all these systems, I congratulate myself whenever a 

 well-attested fact destroys some one of them. The great- 

 est service that can be rendered to science is, carefully and 

 decidedly to find the place of every thing before building 

 upon it, then to begin by overthrowing all those fantastic 

 edifices which choke up the avenues, and which prevent 

 the entrance of those men to whom the exact sciences 

 have given the excellent habit of relying solely on evidence. 

 or, in a dearth of positive evidence, on circumstances, ac- 

 cording to their degree of probability. With these precau- 

 tions there is no science which may not almost become geo- 

 metrical. Chemists have lately found this with regard to 

 their pursuits ; and I hope the period is not far distant 

 when as much will be said for anatomists." Can I be mis- 

 taken, after the perusal of the last two passages, in agree- 

 ing with M. Cuvier on the advantage of finding such a 

 collection of fossil remains within our reach, and from this 

 accordance to deduce the equal advantage of having had 

 such an intellect to explain, to apply, and to appreciate the 

 evidences thus presented to man of the changes which 

 have taken place in the earth which he inhabits ? 



I now have to notice the two editions of the Regne 

 Animal, which, with the Tableau Elementaire, I have al- 

 ready esteemed as one and the same work ; the first edi- 

 tion being a completion of the sketch contained in the Ta- 

 bleau, and the second edition being an enlargement of the 

 first, with a slight alteration in the classification, necessitat- 

 ed by the progress of discovery. Having used the dissect- 

 ing knife through every class of nature,* M. Cuvier was 



* One of M. Cuvier's most able assistants in the dissecting department 

 was M. Rousseau. 



