What, then, is this "organic species"? Linne himself appealed directly to the Mosaic narrative; he believed that, as it is stated in Genesis, one pair of each species of animals and plants was created in the beginning, and that all the individuals of each species are the descendants of these created couples. As for the hermaphrodites (organisms that have male and female organs in one being), he thought it sufficed to assume the creation of one sole individual, since this would be fully competent to propagate its species. Further developing these mystic ideas, Linne went on to borrow from Genesis the account of the deluge and of Noah's ark as a ground for a science of the geographical and topographical distribution of organisms. He accepted the story that all the plants, animals, and men on the earth were swept away in a universal deluge, except the couples preserved with Noah in the ark, and ultimately landed on Mount Ararat. This mountain seemed to Linne particularly suitable for the landing, as it reaches a height of more than 16,000 feet, and thus provides in its higher zones the several climates demanded by the various species of animals and plants: the animals that were accustomed to a cold climate could remain at the summit; those used to a warm climate could descend to the foot; and those requiring a temperate climate could remain half-way down. From this point the re-population of the earth with animals and plants could proceed. It was impossible to have any scientific notion of the method of evolution in Linne's time, as one of the chief sources of information, paleontology, was still wholly unknown. This science of the fossil remains of extinct animals and plants is very closely bound up with the whole question of evolution. It is impossible to explain the origin of living organisms without appealing to it. But this science did not rise until a much later date. The real founder of scientific paleontology was Georges Cuvier, the most distinguished zoologist who, after Linne, worked at the classification of the animal world, and effected a complete revolution in systematic zoology at the beginning of the nineteenth century. In regard to the nature of the species he associated himself with Linne and the Mosaic story of creation, though this was more difficult for him with his acquaintance with fossil remains. He clearly showed that a number of quite different animal populations have lived on the earth; and he claimed that we must distinguish a number of stages in the history of our planet, each of which was characterised by a special population of animals and plants. These successive populations were, he said, quite independent of each other, and therefore the supernatural creative act, which was demanded as the origin of the animals and plants by the dominant creed, must have been repeated several times. In this way a whole series of different creative periods must have succeeded each other; and in