264 THEOEIES AS TO THE NATUEE OF SPECIES. [Ch. XXXV. 



F 



bodies of consecrated animals, sncli as tlie bull, the dog-, tbe 

 cat, the ape, the ichneumon, the crocodile, and the ibis. 



They who have never raised their conceptions of the 

 import of Natural History beyond the admiration of beauti- 

 ful objects or the exertion of skill in detecting specific diffe- 



enthusiasm 

 irv. amidst ' 



t? 



excitement 



precious remains 



official 



Museum 



up by the 



s 



mi 



unless we reflect how fully the reporters (Cuvier, Lacepede, 

 and Lamarck) appreciated the bearing of the facts thus 

 brought to light on the past history of the globe. 



seems 



mitting to after ages 



ipired by Nature, with a view of trans- 

 a monument of her history. That 

 extraordinary and eccentric people, by embalming with so 

 much care the brutes which were the objects of their stupid 

 adoration, have left us, in their sacred grottos, cabinets of 



almost com 

 )f embalmin 



climate 



and we can now assure ourselves by our own eyes what was 

 the state of a great number of species three thousand years 



ago. We 



nation, on beholding thus preserved, with their minutes 



smallest 



at Thebes or Memph 

 priests and altars.^ * 



many an animal 



mummies 



numerous 



but, what was perhaps o± still higher importance in helping 

 to decide the great question under discussion, there were the 

 mummies of domestic animals, among which those above 

 mentioned, the bull, the dog, and the cat, were frequent. 

 Now, such was the conformity, says Cuvier, of the whole of 

 these species and races to those now living, that there was no 



■^ Ann. clu Museum d'Hist. Nat. torn. i. p. 231. 1802. 



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