23 



the Romans. Cuvier, however, compared the fossils directly 

 with the bones of existing elephants, and proved them to be 

 distinct. The fact that these remains belonged to extinct 

 species was of great importance. In the case of fossil shells, 

 it was difficult to say that any particular form was not living in 

 a distant ocean ; but the two species of existing elephants, the 

 Indian and the African, were well known, and there was hardly 

 a possibility that another living one would be found. 



It is important to bear in mind, too, that Cuvier's preparation 

 for the study of the remains of animals was far in advance of 

 any of his predecessors. He had devoted himself for years to 

 careful dissections in the various classes of the animal kingdom, 

 and was really the founder of comparative anatomy, as we now 

 understand it. Cuvier investigated the different groups of the 

 whole kingdom with care, and proposed a new classification 

 founded on the plan of structure, which in its main features is 

 the one in use to-day. The first volume of his Comparative 

 Anatomy appeared in 1800, and the work was completed in 

 five volumes in 1805. 



Previous to Cuvier, the only general catalogue of animals 

 was contained in Linnteus' " Sy ■ sterna NatunvP In this work, 

 as we have seen, fossil remains were placed with the Minerals, 

 not in their appropriate places among the animals and plants. 

 Cuvier enriched the animal kingdom by the introduction 

 of fossil forms among the living, bringing all together into 

 one comprehensive system. His great work, " Le Regne 

 Animal" appeared in four volumes, in 1817, and with its two 

 subsequent editions remains the foundation of modern zoology. 

 Cuvier's classic work on vertebrate fossils — " Recherches sur 

 les Ossemens Fossiles" in four volumes, appeared in 1812-13. 

 Of this work, it is but just to say that it could only have been 

 written by a man of genius, profound knowledge, the greatest 

 industry, and with the most favorable opportunities. 



The introduction to this work was the famous "Discourse 

 on the Revolutions of the Surface of the Globe," which has 

 perhaps been as widely read as any other scientific essay. The 



