48 
taken place to such an extent with respect to fossil shells, as to have 
rendered the formation of a new classification absolutely necessary. 
This task the celebrated Lamarck has accomplished with such 
ingenuity and care, as to give him a strong claim on the gratitude of 
every lover of science : and, as was exceedingly desirable, he has, by 
his classification, secured the admission of all those shells which are 
found in a mineralized state*. 
The genius and accompanying zeal, possessed by this philosopher, 
has led him fully to avail himself of every opportunity of extending 
his observations ; and, happily for science, these opportunities have 
been afforded him in a most singular degree. His situation, as 
professor of zoology, and particularly in the departments of insects, 
shells, madrepores, See. with the superintendance of, and unrestrained 
access to, the Museum of Natural History, must have furnished him 
with unparalleled opportunities of information. 
The fossil riches of the country too, surrounding Paris, particularly 
as to shells, exceed those, perhaps, of any other tract of a similar size. 
At Courtagnon, near Rheims, an enormous bank of fossil shells is 
open, in different parts ; among which are very few that were known, 
or that had been described, until they had been subjected to the 
examination of Lamarck. At Grignon, about seven leagues from 
Paris, fossil shells are so exceedingly abundant, that M. Defrance, by 
his indefatigable industry, has collected at least five hundred distinct 
species, more than three fourths of which have never been before 
described. These fossil shells, discovered by M. Defrance, are most 
correctly copied, under the directions of the professors of natural 
history, and the drawings are carefully preserved in the Museum, 
for the purpose of ready examination. 
It is true that this bank of shells appears to be exactly correspondent 
with that which exists in Hampshire, the fossils of which have been so 
# This part of Lamarck’s labours commences in Les Annales du Museum d Histoire Naturelle , 
Tome I. p- 308, and is continued through the succeeding volumes. 
