Note 105 — Chapter IX · LAMARCK THE FOUNDER OF INVERTEBRATE PALÆONTOLOGY

In his valuable and comprehensive Geschichte der Geologie und Paläontologie (1899), Prof. K. von Zittel, while referring to Lamarck’s works on the tertiary shells of Paris and his Animaux sans Vertèbres, also giving a just and full account of his life, practically gives him the credit of being one of the founders of invertebrate palæontology. He speaks of him as “the reformer and founder of scientific conchology,” and states that “he defined with wonderful acuteness the numerous genera and species of invertebrate animals, and created thereby for the ten years following an authoritative foundation.” Zittel, however, does not mention the Hydrogéologie. Probably so rare a book was overlooked by the eminent German palæontologist.