382 HISTORY OF GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY. 



the genealogy of the horse, his elucidation of the genetic 

 relations of birds and reptiles, his memoir on Crossopterygia, 

 are among the classical productions of palaeontological and 

 zoological science. The works of Gaudry deal with the 

 genealogical relations of the different classes of animals and 

 their descent from primseval ancestors, and are written so 

 convincingly, and with such elegance of style, that they have 

 roused an interest for palaeontology in the widest circles. 

 Scientific interest is chiefly concentrated upon his admirable 

 contributions to the genealogies of the fossil Vertebrates. 

 E. D. Cope, 1 together with Herbert Spencer, may be regarded 

 as the head of the Neo-Lamarckian School, which has a strong 

 foothold in North America. In opposition to Darwin, the 

 gradual changes in the organic creation are not explained as 

 the result of natural selection, but chiefly attributed to the 

 influence of use and disuse of parts, and also to the influence 

 of the external environment, such as the supply of nourishment, 

 climatic conditions, mechanical agencies, etc. Upon these 

 principles Cope has attempted to explain the Kinetogenesis or 

 gradual evolution and modification of the skeletal structures 

 and teeth of Vertebrates. More recent work by H. F. Osborn, 

 carried out in accordance with Cope's conceptions, has attained 

 a certain success. 



Amidst the very large number of special memoirs and books 

 which treat individual sub-divisions and groups of fossil animals, 

 it is only possible here to single out those which have exerted a 

 marked influence upon the progress of systematic palaeozoology, 

 or on the phylogenetic relations of fossil faunas. 2 



1 Edward Drinker Cope, born 1840 in Philadelphia, belonged to an old 

 and wealthy family ; as a boy he was fond of travel, and at nineteen years 

 of age he published a valuable zoological memoir on Batrachians. On the 

 conclusion of his studies in Philadelphia, he made a journey to Europe in 

 1863 to become acquainted with the European museums. In 1864 he 

 accepted the post of Professor of Comparative Anatomy at Haverford 

 College, but he resigned it in 1867. From 1865 onward, Cope devoted 

 his time chiefly to the study of fossil Vertebrates, and partly at his own 

 expense, partly as a member of the Hayden and Wheeler Expeditions, he 

 made exploring tours in search of material through Kansas, Colorado, 

 Wyoming, New Mexico, and Texas, at the same time producing a large 

 number of memoirs. In 1889 he was appointed Professor of Geology and 

 Mineralogy at the Academy in Pennsylvania; he died on the I2th April 

 1897. His large collection of fossil Mammalia was secured by the 

 American Museum in New York. 



2 The works mentioned in the following pages are fully cited in the 

 references subjoined to Zittel's Handbook. 



