54 



TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



points come after, and are situated behind. Direct ob- 

 servation has confirmed this induction." 



Again, at page 227 : u The disposition then of the 

 jaw teeth in the adult animal is as follows — two with six 

 points, and two with eight points above ; and two with 

 six points, and two with ten points below. 



u But besides these eight molars which remain in the 

 adult, there are others placed anteriorly to them in 

 young individuals, which are shed successively. 



u Thus the number of effective jaw teeth, which can 

 be brought into action at one time, is eight in the young 

 animal, and four only in the old. 



" The roots of these teeth, like those of other ani- 

 mals, are not formed until after the crown is perfected. 

 They are found complete only in such teeth as are al- 

 ready somewhat used." 



After reading the above quotations from Cuvier's 

 " Ossemens Fossiles," let any one attentively examine 

 the specific characters of the 66 new genus and species" 

 in the memoir above referred to, and judge for himself 

 of their validity. But for such readers as may not have 

 it in their power conveniently to refer to the memoir in 

 the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 

 we will now quote a paragraph in the author's own 

 words, which affords a fair specimen of his notions of 

 specific characters. 



" The cabinet of our society [Am. Philos. Soc] con- 

 tains a portion of an inferior maxillary bone, which 

 differs in its form from any of those hitherto described. 

 This fragment consists of the chin, the right ramus, 



