X PREFACE. 



so comprehensive is the arrangement of this naturalist, 

 that of the numerous fossil shells which were unclassed, 

 there are hardly any which may not now be placed un- 

 der an appropriate genus. This circumstance alone, it 

 is presumed, will warrant the having introduced into 

 this volume the generic characters of this system. 



Very few successful anatomical examinations of the 

 fossil remains of amphibia, and of land animals, had been 

 attempted before the justly celebrated Cuvier made them 

 the subjects of his investigation ; but in consequence of 

 the ardour with which he has availed himself of the extra- 

 ordinary opportunities which he possessed, the history of 

 these fossils must now be chiefly formed with the materials 

 which he has furnished. The full range of the plaster 

 quarries, so rich in fossil bones, and the unlimited power 

 of examining the rich cabinets of fossils which have been 

 dragged to the National Museum, from different parts of 

 France and of the Continent; and, above all, the oppor- 

 tunity of comparing these with the recent bones in the 

 prodigious collections of skeletons, &c. in the Museum, 

 have placed before him a rich harvest, which he has 



