MEMOIR OF LAMARCK. 57 



remains to be mentioned, to which he communicated 

 a remarkable impulse ; namely, the history of fossil 

 shells. This highly important and interesting sub- 

 ject had long attracted the attention of geologists, 

 but owing to the difficulties with which it is in- 

 vested, it still remained in comparative obscurity. 

 One of the facts most desirable to be ascertained in 

 relation to these remains, was, whether they were 

 identical with species now living, a point which 

 could be determined only by a careful comparison. 

 Applying to this investigation that profound know- 

 ledge which he had acquired of recent shells, La- 

 marck was enabled to illustrate the subject in a 

 most satisfactory manner, and to throw light on 

 some of the most anomalous phenomena which it 

 presents to the inquirer. Besides his extensive 

 acquaintance with the testacea, he enjoyed another 

 advantage for entering upon an inquiry of this nature 

 by residing at Paris, the vicinity of which has long 

 been celebrated for the number and variety of its 

 fossil productions*. The result of his investigation 

 appeared in several of the earlier volumes of the 

 Annals of the Museum ; but the memoir was never 

 brought to a conclusion. It was accompanied with a 

 quarto volume of plates, containing figures of great 

 beauty and accuracy. 



Such are the principal subjects to which Lamarck's 



* Cuvier conceives that the basin of Paris contains a greater 

 accumulation of fossil shells than any other place of equal 

 extent. At Grignon, no fewer than six hundred different 

 species have been collected in a space not exceeding a few 

 square toises. 



