16 



INTRODUCTION. 



The first expedition was sent forth by George III. of Eng- 

 land, in 1765. Reaumur ( 1683-1757) made the earliest 

 zoological collection in France ; and the West Indian col- 

 lections of Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1752) were the nucleus of 

 the British Museum. The accumulation of specimens sug- 

 gested comparisons, which eventually resulted in the high- 

 est advance of the science. 



The brilliant style of Buffon (1707-1788) made Zoology 

 popular not only in France, but throughout Europe. While 

 the genius of Linnaeus led to classification, that of Buff on 

 lay in description. He was the first to call attention to the 

 subject of Distribution. Lamarck ( 1745-1829 ), of Paris, 

 was the next great light. The publication of his " Animaux 

 sans Vertebres," in 1801, was an epoch in the history of the 

 lower animals. He was also the first prominent advocate of 

 the transmutation of species. 



But the brightest luminary in Zoology was George Cuvier 

 (1769-1832), a German, born on French soil. Before his 

 time, " there was no great principle of classification. Facts 

 were accumulated, and more or less systematized, but they 

 were not yet arranged according to law ; the principle was 

 still wanting by which to generalize them and give meaning 

 and vitality to the whole." It was Cuvier who found the 

 key. He was the first so to interpret structure as to be able 

 from the inspection of one bone to reconstruct the entire 

 animal, and assign its position. His anatomical investiga- 

 tions revealed the natural affinities of animals, and led to the 

 grand generalization, that the most comprehensive groups 

 in the kingdom were based, not on special characters, but on 

 different plans of structure. Palissy had long ago (1580) 

 asserted that petrified shells were of animal origin ; but the 

 publication of Cuvier's " Memoir on Fossil Elephants," in 

 1800, was the beginning of those profound researches on the 

 remains of ancient life which created Paleontology. The 

 discovery of the true relation between all animals, living 

 and extinct, opened a boundless field of inquiry ; and from 

 that day the advance of Zoology has been unparalleled. 

 Special studies of particular parts or classes of animals have 

 so rapidly developed, that the history of Zoology during the 

 last fifty years is the history of many sciences. 3 



