Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/604

 600 CUVIER great distances from and heights above the sea, and were attributed to the deluge ; large bones discovered in caverns or dug from the earth had given rise to traditions of the existence of giants in the early ages ; even philosophers re- garded the fossil impressions in the rocks and the shells in the ground as accidental freaks of nature. Bernard Palissy, an unlettered potter, discovered the animal origin and former exist- ence of these objects; though he defied the learned men of the 16th century to disprove his statements, it was not until the end of the 17th that his ideas met with a scientific apprecia- tion. Founded on these now acknowledged facts, many theories, all more or less fanciful, were successively adopted and abandoned until the middle of the 18th century, when more ra- tional views began to prevail, and the study of fossils to excite that attention which, in the hands of Cuvier, resulted in establishing many of the positive laws of geology and palaeon- tology. The bones of the giant Teutobochus had been long since recognized as those of ele- phants ; the skeleton of the supposed antedilu- vian became under the eye of Cuvier that of a gigantic aquatic salamander. The fact of an- cient creations of animals, entirely distinct from the present species, and long since exter- minated, was established by the comparison of living and fossil animals by Ouvier. In his first memoir on fossil elephants in 1800 he announced his views on extinct animals, the commence- ment of a series of observations unparalleled in the annals of science for brilliancy, profound insight into natural laws, and importance of their results. With him a bone, or even a por- tion of one, was sufficient for the restoration of a fossil animal which he had never seen, simply from the principle of the unchangeable relations of organs. He made several epochs of creation : the first comprised the mollusks, fishes, and monstrous reptiles ; the second, the anaplotJierium and palceotherium, the singular pachyderms of the neighborhood of Paris ; the third, the mammoth, mastodon, gigantic sloths, &c. ; then came a fourth, the age of man, and the present creation. Anterior to the first epoch was a period in which no organic life, either animal or vegetable, existed on the earth. To Cuvier was principally due the dis- covery and exploration of this terra incognita of remote ages. In 1817" was published the first edition of the Eegne animal (4 vols.), which has served as the basis for subsequent zoological classifications. The last great work of Cuvier, which he undertook in conjunction with Valenciennes, is the Histoire naturelle des poissons ; this contains the application of his principles of classification to the class of fishes ; eight volumes were published at the time of his death, the first having appeared in 1828, and the eighth in 1831 ; Valenciennes was intrusted with the task of completing it in 20 volumes, but several more than this number have been published. Linnaeus had determined about 500 species, and Lacepede 1,500 ; the ti- tle of Cuvier's work implies the magnitude and successful prosecution of his own labors, viz. : "Natural History of Fishes, containing more than 5,000 Species of these Animals, described after Nature, and distributed according to their Affinities, with Observations on their Anatomy, and Critical Researches on their Nomencla- ture, ancient as well as modern." Besides the " Report on the Progress of the Physical Sci- ences," undertaken at the request of Napoleon, Cuvier displayed the extent of his acquire- ments by his reports before the institute on meteorology and natural philosophy in general, chemistry and physics, mineralogy and geolo- gy, botany, anatomy, and physiology, zoology, travels connected with natural science, medi- cine and surgery, the veterinary art, and agri- culture. He contributed many articles on nat- ural history to the Dictionnaire dee sciences naturelles ; prominent among these is the one on "Nature," in which he combats the meta- physical systems of pantheism and the physio- philosophers, and refers everything to the wis- dom and goodness of an almighty Creator. He wrote many articles for a kindred work, the Dictionnaire des sciences medicales, the most important of which is that on "Animal." As secretary of the academy of sciences, it was his duty to read historical notices of deceased members at its public meetings ; three volumes of these sketches have been published, contain- ing 39 articles. Besides these, he delivered several discourses at funerals of academicians. He was quite as eminent a legislator as natu- ralist, though less known as such ; and, as roy- al commissary, councillor of the university, member of the state council, and president of the committee of the interior, he introduced beneficial changes in the municipal and provin- cial laws, and in public instruction. His lan- guage, both written and spoken, was clear, forcible, precise, and animated, frequently rising to the highest eloquence. The benignity and noble expression of his countenance was re- markable. In private, he was kind, affable, and ready to communicate information. He had the greatest love for order and regularity ; he rarely allowed himself to be disturbed du- ring the hours set aside for study, but during his hours of audience he was accessible to everybody. With his other accomplishments, he was an expert draughtsman ; many of his plates were drawn by himself, and he left a large collection of designs intended to illustrate his unfinished work on comparative anatomy. The disinterestedness of Cuvier's character is shown not only by the acts of his life, but by the small fortune he left at his death ; having filled offices of the highest trust, which he might have turned to his pecuniary advantage, he left only about $20,000 and a library which cost him a similar sum ; this was purchased by gov- ernment, and given to various institutions, principally to the jardin des plantes. When we consider the number of offices he held, and whose duties he conscientiously performed,