THIRD EDITION. XV11 



mate, and other local circumstances, and 

 since brought to the present great difference, 

 by the operation of similar causes during a 

 long succession of ages, Cuvier shews that 

 the difference between the fossil species and 

 those which now exist, is bounded by cer- 

 tain limits ; that these limits are a great 

 deal more extensive than those which now 

 distinguish the varieties of the same species, 

 and consequently, that the extinct species 

 of quadrupeds are not varieties of the pre- 

 sently existing species. This very interest- 

 ing discussion naturally leads our author 

 to state the proofs of the recent population 

 of the world ; of the comparatively modern 

 origin of its present surface ; of the deluge, 

 and the subsequent renewal of human so- 

 ciety. 



In order to render this Essay more com- 

 plete and satisfactory, I have illustrated the 

 whole with an extensive series of observa- 

 tions, and have arranged them in such a 



b 



