Nurse, It Was I Who

My Object Will Be, First, To Show By What Connections The History Of The Fossil Bones Of Land Animals Is Linked To The Theory Of The Earth And Why They Have A Particular Importance In This Respect.

A Famous Anecdote Concerning Cuvier Involves The Tale Of His Visitation From The Devil—only It Was Not The Devil But One Of His Students Dressed Up With Horns On His Head And Shoes Shaped Like Cloven Hooves. This Frightening Apparition Burst Into Cuvier's Bedroom When He Was Fast Asleep And Claimed: 'wake Up Thou Man Of Catastrophes. I Am The Devil. I Have Come To Devour You!' Cuvier Studied The Apparition Carefully And Critically Said, 'i Doubt Whether You Can. You Have Horns And Hooves. You Eat Only Plants.

All Organs Of An Animal Form A Single System, The Parts Of Which Hang Together, And Act And Re-act Upon One Another; And No Modifications Can Appear In One Part Without Bringing About Corresponding Modifications In All The Rest.

If They [enlightened Men] Take Any Interest In Examining, In The Infancy Of Our Species, The Almost Obliterated Traces Of So Many Nations That Have Become Extinct, They Will Doubtless Take A Similar Interest In Collecting, Amidst The Darkness Which Covers The Infancy Of The Globe, The Traces Of Those Revolutions Which Took Place Anterior To The Existence Of All Nations.

Why Has Not Anyone Seen That Fossils Alone Gave Birth To A Theory About The Formation Of The Earth, That Without Them, No One Would Have Ever Dreamed That There Were Successive Epochs In The Formation Of The Globe.