410 HISTORY OF GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY. 



P. Gervais's Zoologie et Paleontologie Fran$aise (1848 to 1852), 

 in Albert Gaudry's Enchamements du monde animal dans les 

 temps geologiqties (1878-96), in Zittel's Handbuch der Pald- 

 ontologie (vols. iii. and iv., 1887-93), in Lydekker and 

 Nicholson's Manual of Paleontology (vol. ii., 1889), and in 

 Smith-Woodward's Outlines of Vertebrate. Palaontology (1898). 



A highly instructive line of original research was carried 

 out by Owen in his comparative study of the teeth of fossil 

 Vertebrates, and important advances were made by the 

 publication of his Odontography (1840-45). This work pro- 

 vides a fundamental exposition of the teeth in the different 

 classes, orders, and families of the Vertebrates. A similar 

 work by C. G. Giebel (1855) is far from equalling its English 

 model either in respect of its illustrations or its original 

 observations. 



The scientific knowledge of Fishes may be said to have 

 begun with the pioneer researches of Ray and Willoughby in 

 the seventeenth century. These zoologists, who were the first 

 observers to distinguish definite "species" in the organic 

 world, laid the foundation of empirical details regarding fishes 

 in their famous Historia pisdum (1686). Artedi (1705-34), a 

 contemporary and fellow-student of Linnaeus, made an excel- 

 lent classification of the genera known in his time. Towards 

 the close of the eighteenth century, Dr. Bloch's system of 

 classification was in great favour, although his work on fishes 

 was far less notable than that of his French contemporary, 

 Lacepede. But a complete reform was necessitated by 

 Cuvier's searching anatomical investigations, and the system 

 of Cuvier and Valenciennes superseded all previous systems. 

 In common with the earlier system, the Cuvierian classification 

 was founded exclusively upon living forms. What was known 

 of fossil fishes was inserted along with the living genera, in 

 whatever position seemed most expedient to the particular 

 author from his examination of external features. 



The famous investigations of L. Agassiz (1833-43) supplied 

 palaeontology with a much broader basis of detailed research. 

 Accompanied by capable draughtsmen, Agassiz visited all the 

 larger museums and private collections in Europe, examined 

 the fossil fishes preserved in them, and published, in five 

 volumes, a magnificently illustrated monograph as the fruits of 

 his ten years' labour. Starting from the standpoint of his 

 anatomical studies, in which he was fortunate in having the 



