BARON CUVIER. 103 



is doubtless an enviable possession. It has been 

 amassed by nature in the quarries which environ 

 oiu' city, as if reserved by her for the researches 

 and instruction of the present age. Each day 

 we discover some new relic; each day adds to 

 our astonishment by demonstrating, more and 

 more, that nothing which then peopled this part 

 of the globe has been preserved on its present 

 surface ; and these proofs will doubtless multiply 

 in proportion as our interest in them is in- 

 creased, and we are consequently induced to 

 give them more of our attention. There is 

 scarcely a block of gypsum, in certain strata, 

 which does not contain bones. How many 

 millions of these bones have been already de- 

 stroyed in working these quarries for the pur- 

 poses of building ! How many are destroyed by 

 negligence, and how many escape the most at- 

 tentive workman, from the minuteness of their 

 size ! Some idea of this may be formed from 

 the piece I am going to describe. The linea- 

 ments there imprinted are so faint, that they 

 must be narrowly examined in order to be re- 

 cognised. Nevertheless, these lineaments are 

 most precious, for they belong to an animal of 

 which we find no other traces ; to an animal 

 which, perhaps, buried for ages, now reappears, 



H 4 



