26 



supported by Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, but bitterly opposed by 

 Cuvier ; aud their great contest on this subject is well known. 

 In looking back from this point of view, the philosophical 

 breadth of Lamarck's conclusions, in comparison with those 

 of Cuvier, is' clearly evident. The invertebrates on which 

 Lamarck worked offered less striking evidence of change than 

 the various animals investigated by Cuvier; yet they led 

 Lamarck directly to Evolution, while Cuvier ignored what 

 was before him on this point, and rejected the proof offered 

 by others. Both pursued the same methods, and bad an abun- 

 dance of material on which to work, yet the facts observed 

 induced Cuvier to believe in catastrophes ; and Lamarck, in 

 the uniform course of nature. Cuvier declared species to be 

 permanent ; Lamarck, that they were descended from others. 

 Both men stand in the first rank in science; but Lamarck 

 was the prophetic genius, half a century in advance of his time. 



While the Paris Basin was yielding such important results 

 for Palaeontology, its geological structure was being worked 

 out with great care. The results appeared in a volume by 

 Cuvier and Alex. Brongniart, chiefly the work of the latter, 

 published in 1808.* This was the first systematic investigation 

 of Tertiary strata. Three years later, the work was issued in 

 a more extended . form. The separate formations were here 

 carefully distinguished by their fossils, the true importance of 

 which for this purpose being distinctly recognized. This 

 advance was not accepted without some opposition, and it is an 

 interesting fact that Jameson, who claimed for "Werner the 

 theory here put in practice, rejected its application, and wrote 

 as follows : " To Cuvier and Brongniart we are indebted for 

 much valuable information in their description of the country 

 around Paris, but we must protest against the use they have 

 made of fossil organic remains in their geognostical descrip- 

 tions and investigations."f 



* Essai sur la Geograjjhie Mineralogique des environs de Paris. 4to, 1808. 

 f Translation of Cuvier's Discourse. Note K. (B.), p. 103, 1817. 



