118 MEMOIRS OF 



tiful method, which is every where practised by 

 his great colleague. *' The principles on which 

 M. Ciivier's divisions rest, will necessarily pre- 

 side over all the changes which still more ex- 

 tended observation will render indispensable; but 

 the basis of zoological classification is for ever 

 laid, and its solidity will prove, better than all 

 the discourses of future naturalists, the elevated 

 genius of the author."* 



The galleries of stuffed animals at the Jardin 

 des Plantes, containing thousands of species, are 

 all arranged according to the system of the above 

 series, the writer of which desired no better than 

 to lay before the world the reasons on which he 

 founded it, and to give at the same time an 

 equal opportunity for correction and admiration. 

 Among the specimens theie placed, are those 

 which he amassed for tlie labour I have next to 

 describe, many of which he had dissected with 

 the most minute attention, and which increased 

 this part of the collection to tlie amount of 

 nearly five thousand species. 



The great work on Ichthyology contains an 

 application of M. Cuvier's principles to one 

 peculiar branch of natural history, and was not 



* LauriJIard. 



