410 Correspondence of J. Nickles. 



Etienne Geoffrey St, Hilaire, who died in 1844, was not only the wor- 

 thy rival of Cuvier, but he appreciated Cuvier before he did himself; he 

 attracted him to Paris, and opened to him his career and education. His 

 ■works are characterized by philosophical thought and a power of gene- 

 ralization w^hich are becoming daily more appreciated. He was thus the 

 means of creating two sciences, Philosophical Anatomy and Teratology. 

 The monument to his memory will be erected at Etampes, where he was 

 born iu 1772, The expenses wn'l! be borne by a subscription. 



HUtory of Science. The Natural Method in Botany and Zoology. 

 All botanists are not of the opinion that the natural classification of plants 

 by Jussieu is a work that will endure. It is true that the number thus 

 thinking is a very small minority. Among them is M. Payer, a yoimg 

 botanist, who quite recently declared to the Academy of Sciences that 

 the Jussieu system is an edifice tottering to its ruin. This opinion is 

 not shared by his associates. The botanists present at the session, among 

 them DeCandolle, protested against it, all agreeing that while Jussieu^s 



system had undergone modifications made necessary by the progress ot 

 the science, it still stood, as chemical nomenclature stands to the honor 

 of Lavoisier and Guyton Morveau. However an interesting fact was 

 elicited by the discussion. It relates to the important part which Lin- 

 naeus took in the establishment of the natural method in botany as well 

 as in zoology. This was long since brought out by Geoffroy St. Hilaire. 

 Most authors date the natural system in zoology from a paper published 

 hy Cuvier and St. Hilaire in 1795. That system underwent three revis- 

 ions by Cuvier, and in each he approximated to the Linnsean system; and 

 finally he ended in reconstructing that system entire. G, St. Hilaire, per- 

 ceiving the accordance^ mentioned it to Cuvier; this was in 1827. Ihe 

 great zoologist was surprised, for he had thought that he had been follow- 

 ing the ideas of Jussieu, and supposed he was going in an opposite direc- 



tion from Linnaeus, The following are the two classifications, as given 

 by M. Geoflfroy. 



Classification of Lisnaeusu Ciassification of Cuvier. 



L Primates. H, Quadrumanes (Quadrumana). 



IL Bruta. V. Edentes (Edentata). 



HL Ferae. HI Carnassiers (Carnivora). 



IV. Glires. IV. Rongeurs (Rodentia). 



V. Pecora. VIL Ruminants (Ruminantia)- 

 VL Belluse. VL Pachydermes (Pachydermata). 

 VIL Cetas. VUL Cetacees (Cetacea). 



The first order in Cuvier^s system included the Bimana (Man). 



Theory of SubHltutions.— The theory of substitutions has been attrib- 

 uted by some to Dumas, and by others to Laurent, and others still to 

 Gay Lussac. This question of priority, discussed by Laurent in his Meth- 

 ode de^ Chimie, p. 241, has been recently taken up by Dumas, who has 

 established the precise £act-s upon exact documentary evidence. It ap- 

 pears that the first idea of substitution is due to Dumas, who, on the 

 13th of January, 1834, made the formal statement that, ''when a hydr(^ 

 genated subntame is subjected to the action of any dehydrofjenating suO- 

 stance, it takes up a portion of the latter, equivalent to that of the hydro- 



gm lost.'' Dumas at this same time desis:nated this class of phenomena 



\ 



