hunter's published paper on fossils. 287 



read, that single posthumous published contribution by Hunter to 

 Palaeontology, might fail to leave an adequate impression of the degree 

 in which Hunter knew and appreciated the value of fossil remains ; and 

 accordingly we find that Cuvier, usually so equal and exact in his notice 

 of the labours of his forerunners, characterizes the memoir on fossil 

 bones by " le celebre chirurgien Anglais," as one " qui n'a que leur ana- 

 lyse chimique pour objet," — as one that had only the chemical analysis 

 of the fossils for its object. 



It is true, that in this paper Hunter incidentally introduces the 

 results of a very extensive series of such chemical investigations, and 

 he describes the different conditions in which the original animal matter 

 may be found in petrified bones, teeth, and shells more truly and de- 

 finitely than it has since been done by any modern Palaeontologist, their 

 attention having been almost exclusively paid to the anatomical and 

 zoological characters of fossil remains. 



Thus he remarks, — " All operations respecting the growth or decom- 

 position of animal and vegetable substances go on more readily on the 

 surface of the earth than in it ; the air is most probably the great 

 agent in decomposition and combination, and also a certain degree of 

 heat. Thus the deeper we go into the earth, we find the fewer changes 

 going on ; and there is probably a certain depth where no change of 

 any kind can possibly take place. The operation of vegetation will 

 not go on at a certain depth, but at this very depth a decomposition can 

 take place, for the seed dies, and in time decays ; but at a still greater 

 depth, the seed retains its life for ages, and when brought near enough 

 to the surface for vegetation, it grows. Something similar to this takes 

 place with respect to extraneous fossils ; for although a piece of wood 

 or bone is dead, when so situated as to be fossilized, yet they are sound 

 and free from decomposition, and the depth, joined with the matter in 

 which they are often found, as stone, clay, <fcc, preserves them from 

 putrefaction, and their dissolution requires thousands of years to com- 

 plete it ; probably they may be under the same circumstances as in a 

 vacuum; the heat in such situations is uniform, probably in common about 

 52° or 53°, and in the colder regions they are still longer preserved. 



" I believe it is generally understood that in extraneous fossils the 

 animal part is destroyed ; but I find that this is not the case in any I 

 have met with. 



" Shells, and bones of fish, most probably have the least in quantity, 

 having been longest in that state, otherwise they should have the most ; 

 for the harder and more compact the earth, the better is the animal 

 part preserved ; which is an argument in proof of their having been 

 the longest in a fossil state. From experiment and observation, the 



