Essay on the theory of the earth / Translated from the French of M. Cuvier by Robert Kerr ... With mineralogical notes, and an account of Cuvier's geological discoveries, by Professor Jameson.

  • Cuvier, Georges, baron, 1769-1832.
Date:
1813
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Essay on the theory of the earth / Translated from the French of M. Cuvier by Robert Kerr ... With mineralogical notes, and an account of Cuvier's geological discoveries, by Professor Jameson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    In the eighth Memoir there is an account of several gnawers, principally of the genus castor, some of which are found in peat or alluvial soil, and others in slate. The gnawers found in alluvial soil belong to the genus castor, and of these, two species are described: the one found in France appears very nearly allied to the com- mon beaver, the castor fiber; the other, found on the shores of the sea of Azof, by M. Fischer, differs from the former, and is named castor trogontherium. Two species of gnawers are described as occurring in slate: the one in the slaty limestone of Æningen, which Cuvier considers as belonging to the Guinea pig, cavia porcellus, or more likely to an unknown species of cavia or arvicola ; the other is found in slaty rocks at Walsch, in Bohemia, in the circle of Saatz, and is nearly allied to the mus terrestris. In the ninth Memoir there is an account of the oste- ology of the animals of the sloth tribe, inserted with the view of illustrating the nature of the fossil species. There are but two living species of the sloth genus, the Ai, or Bradypus tridactylus; and the Unau, or Bradypus didac- tylus. The fossil remains described by Cuvier, are allied not only to these animals, but also to the ant-eater, or myrmecophaga, a genus allied to bradypus. Two fossil species are described, viz. the Megalonix and Megatherium. 1. Megalonix. It is the size of an ox,