BARON CUVIER. 123 



hope, in our turn, that our endeavours may rank 

 among those which have marked the epochs of 

 science. It is to this that all our efforts tend." 

 From the history, M. Cuvier proceeds to give 

 a general idea of the nature and organisation of 

 Fishes. The following is an extract from this 

 part : — " Being aquatic, that is to say, living 

 in a liquid which is heavier, and offers more re- 

 sistance than air, their forces for motion have 

 been necessarily disposed and calculated for pro- 

 gression, and elevation, which is alsoaccomplislied 

 by them with ease. Hence arises that form of 

 body which offers least resistance, the chief seat 

 of muscular force residing in the tail, the brevity 

 of their members, the expansibility of these 

 members, and the membranes which support 

 them, the smooth or scaly teguments, and the 

 total absence of hairs or feathers. Breathing 

 only through the medium of water, that is, for 

 the purpose of giving an arterial nature to their 

 blood, profiting by the small quantity of oxygen 

 contained in the air, which is mingled with the 

 water, their blood is necessarily cold, and 

 their vitality, the energy of their senses and 

 movements, are consequently less than in Mam- 

 malia and Birds. Their brain, therefore, or ra- 

 ther a composition similar to it, is proportionably 



