108 HISTORY OF GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY. 



Other remains from the Maestricht chalk that had been 

 erroneously classified by Faujas and his predecessors were 

 some large marine chelonians, which Cuvier again was the 

 first to identify correctly. 



Faujas' descriptions and illustrations of Invertebrate groups 

 were particularly good. Only the want of an adequate 

 scientific terminology, distinguishing the original specimens 

 according to genus and species, has prevented the monograph 

 from taking a permanent place in the works of posterity, as it 

 must otherwise have done. Faujas himself seems to have had 

 no further aim in view than to show how important the 

 accurate description of the fossils of one limited locality might 

 be for palaeontology and geology, inasmuch as these descrip- 

 tions could be used as a definite basis of comparison with the 

 fossil remains in other localities. 



There is little to relate about the geology of the Iberian 

 Peninsula at this period. After the brilliant successes 

 achieved by the Spanish and Portuguese mariners in the fif- 

 teenth and sixteenth centuries the sciences became neglected, 

 more especially the natural sciences. The first work devoted 

 to Spanish fossils in the Spanish language was written by 

 a Franciscan father, Jose Torrubia (The Natural History of 

 Spain, 1754). The author had travelled in America and the 

 Philippines, and had collected fossils and minerals from 

 various lands. He drew up a complete list of all localities 

 where fossils had been found, and gave illustrations of the 

 Spanish fossils on fourteen large plates,. Minor works were 

 published on local physical and geographical relations by 

 Bowles, an Englishman resident in Spain, and by the Spanish 

 botanist, Cavanilles, on the occurrence of fossils in the province 

 of Valencia. 



E. Great Britain. Researches into the constitution and 

 history of the earth were always held in high regard in Great 

 Britain. The natural wealth of the country in coals and useful 

 minerals, the early development of mining and smelting, the 

 frequent discovery of well-preserved fossils, had all contributed 

 to awaken widespread interest in a knowledge of rocks. Many 

 who had less sympathy for the scientific aspect of the subject 

 found themselves attracted by the literature that was called 

 forth in the effort to bring each new geological fact as it came 

 to light into harmony with the tenets of Biblical inspiration. 



