BUFFON 383 



BUFFON ON FOSSIL REMAINS 



In BuflFon's earlier days it was not yet universally 

 admitted that the earth contains the remains of animals 

 which are now altogether extinct. Some, and among 

 these was Buffbn himself, thought it possible that 

 ammonites might still survive in the depths of the 

 sea. Less than a century before it had even been 

 gravely maintained that fossils are not necessarily the 

 remains of animals or plants which once lived, but the 

 first volume of the Histoire Naturelle shows that 

 common-sense had at last settled this question in spite 

 of the philosophy of the schools. Buffon there explains 

 that fossil shells may retain the colouring and texture 

 of recent shells ; some are bored by whelks ; old and 

 young are often found together ; the fossil teeth of fishes 

 often show signs of wear.^ 



In his ninth volume (1761) he was able to declare 

 that " le prodigieux mahmout (mammoth) que nous 

 avons jug^ six fois au moins plus grand que le plus 

 fort 4l4phant, n'existe plus nuUe part" (p. 126); but, 

 in spite of his exaggerated notion of its superior size, he 

 was not certain that it was specifically distinct from the 

 existing elephants. A few years later he was able to 

 quote American mastodons as indubitably extinct, 

 and was by this time convinced that some moUusca 

 (ammonites, orthoceratites, belemnites), as well as some 

 fishes, had died out altogether.^ 



SPECULATION ON THE GROWTH OF STAGS' HORNS 



Bufi"on's propensity to unguarded speculation often 

 leads him into absurdity, as for example when he 

 attempts to explain the growth of a stag's horns. He 



^Hist. Nat., Vol. I, pp. 291-292. ^ m>it. 2^at., Suppt., Tom. V (1778). 



