PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE 
 
 ON. Til it': TOF 
 
 f ( , 
 
 WILLIAM SWAIN SON ESQ R 
 

 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 RISE AN1> PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 
 
 Preliminary Observations. Division of the Subject First 
 
 Epoch. Aristotle. Pliny. Second Epoch Ronde- 
 
 letius. Gesner Aldrovandus. Mouffet. Topsal. 
 
 Maurice of Nassau. Marcgrave. Piso. Merrett. 
 Goedartius. Redi. Swammerdam. Lister. General 
 Remarks on the Era of Willughby and Ray. Grew. 
 
 Pettiver. Albin. Sloane Seba. Third Epoch. 
 
 Linnaeus. Ellis Linnrean School. Rumphius. D'Ar- 
 
 genville. Regenfuss. Rcesel. Edwards. Trembley. 
 Gronovius. Reaumur. Comparison between Linnaeus 
 and Buffbn Linnaean School. Artedi. Sulzer. Sepp- 
 Scopoli. Schceffer. Hasselquist. Osbeck. Forskal- 
 Sparrman. Pennant. White. Drury. Martini and 
 Chemnitz. Wilks. Fabricius. Thunberg. Miiller. 
 Forster. Villers Schrank Moses Harris. Cramer 
 Stoll Schreber. Pallas. Schroeter. Born Merrem. 
 Hermann Bloch. Schneider. Schoepf. Latham. 
 Shaw. Sir J. Smith. Berkenhout. Lewin. Otho 
 Fabricius. Olivi. Entomological Illustrative Works of 
 
 this Period Ernst. Esper. Hiibner. Herbst 
 
 Jablonsky. Voet Wolf. Minor Writers. _ Panzer. 
 Petagni. Rossi. Paykull. Lespeyres. Gmelin. 
 Buffon's School. Planches Enluminees. Bonnet. 
 De Geer. Brisson. Adanson. Duhamel. Sonnerat. 
 Sonnini. Levaillant. Fuessly. The Modem French 
 School. Cuvier. Discovery of the Circular Nature of 
 Affinities - - - Page 1
 
 PART II. 
 
 NATURE AND ADVANTAGES OF THE STUDY 
 OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Introductory Remarks. What Natural History is, in a 
 general Sense, and as now restricted. Division of the Sub- 
 ject Reflections on Nature and Art. Distinctions, and 
 Object of the Study - Page 93 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Natural History viewed in its Connection with Religion 
 As a Recreation. As affecting Commerce and the economic 
 Purposes of Life. As important to Travellers - 107 
 
 PART III. 
 
 OF THE PRINCIPLES ON WHICH NATURAL HISTORY RELIES FOR 
 ITS SUCCESSFUL PROSECUTION, AND THE CONSIDERATIONS BY 
 WHICH THE NATURAL SYSTEM MAY DE DEVELOPED. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 On the Dismissal of Prejudice - . - 152 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 On the Principles on which Natural History, as a Branch of 
 Physical Science, is to be studied - - - 165 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 On Arrangements generally; and on those Considerations 
 which should form the Basis of every Attempt to classify 
 Objects according to the System of Nature - - 188
 
 vii 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 On Theories in general; and on the Modes and Consider- 
 ations by which they are to be verified - Page 201 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 On the Characters of Natural Groups - 236 
 
 CHAP. vi. ; 
 
 On the Importance of Analogy when applied to the Confirm- 
 ation of Theory - - - - 282 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 ON THE PRESENT STATE OF ZOOLOGICAL SCIENCE IN BRITAIN, 
 AND ON THE MEANS BEST CALCULATED FOR ITS ENCOURAGE- 
 MENT AND EXTENSION. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Introductory Remarks. Some Account of the Nature and 
 present State of our Scientific Societies and Institutions, 
 and of the Means they possess of encouraging Science. 
 National Encouragement - 296 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 On the National Patronage of Science in other Countries, 
 as compared to its Neglect by the British Government. 
 The Causes which produce this Neglect, and the Expediency 
 of removing them - 339
 
 viii CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 On'the Means possessed by the Government and Universities 
 for protecting and encouraging Science, On Titular 
 Honours - Page 367 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Suggestions for the Reform and Improvement of our 
 Scientific Societies - - - - 428
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE 
 
 ON 
 
 THE STUDY 
 OF 
 
 NATURAL HISTORY, 
 
 PART I. 
 
 ON THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 
 
 PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. DIVISION OF THE SUBJECT. 
 
 FIRST EPOCH. ARISTOTLE. PLINY. SECOND EPOCH. 
 
 RONDELETIUS. GESNER. ALDROVANDUS. MOUF- 
 
 FET. TOPSAL. MAURICE OF NASSAU. MARCGRAVE. 
 
 PISO. MERRETT. GOEDARTIUS. REDI. SWAMMER- 
 
 WILLUGHBY AND RAY. GREW. PETTIVER. ALBIN. 
 
 SLOANE. SEBA. THIRD EPOCH. LINNAEUS. ELLIS. 
 
 LINN^EAN SCHOOL. RUMPHIUS. D*ARGENVILLE. BE- 
 
 GENFUSS. RCSSEL. EDWARDS. TREMBLEY. GRONO- 
 
 VIUS. REAUMUR. COMPARISON BETWEEN LINNAEUS AND 
 
 BUFFON. LINN.SAN SCHOOL. ARTEDI. SULZER. 
 
 SEPP. SCOPOLI. SCHCEFFER. HASSELQUEST. OSBECK. 
 
 FORSKALL. SPARRMAN. PENNANT. WHITE. 
 
 DRURY. MARTINI AND CHEMNITZ. WILKS. FABRICIUS. 
 
 THUNBERG. MULLER. FORSTER. VILLERS. SCHRANK. 
 
 MOSES HARRIS. CRAMER. STOLL. SCHREBER.
 
 2 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 PALLAS. SCHROETER. BORN. MERREM. HERMANN. 
 
 BLOCK. SCHNEIDER. SCHCEFF. LATHAM. SHAW. 
 
 SIR J. SMITH. BERKNHOUT. LEWIN. OTHO FABRICIUS. 
 
 ^OLIVI. ENTOMOLOGICAL ILLUSTRATIVE WORKS OF THIS 
 
 PERIOD. ERNST. ESPER. HCBNER. HERBST. JABLON- 
 
 SKT. VOET. WOLF. MINOR WRITERS. PANZER. 
 
 PETAGKI. ROSSI. PAYKUI.I. 1ESPETRES. GMELIN 
 
 BUFFON'S SCHOOI PLANCHES ENLUMINEES. BONNET 
 
 DE GEER. BRISSON. AOANSON. DCHAMEL. SONNERAT. 
 
 SONNINI. LEVAILLANT. FUESSLT. THE MODERN 
 
 FRENCH SCHOOL. CUVIER. DISCOVERT OF THE CIRCULAR 
 
 NATURE OF AFFINITIES. 
 
 (1.) To form a just estimate of the relative position 
 of any science at a given period, it is necessary that 
 the prominent events in its history be rightly under- 
 stood. It seems, therefore, expedient to commence 
 this discourse with a slight sketch of the rise and 
 progress of zoological science ; or, more properly, 
 of the progressive discovery of the forms, structures, 
 and habits belonging to the animal world ; a world 
 replete with such an infinity of beings, each pos- 
 sessing so many peculiarities of habit and economy, 
 that, notwithstanding the united efforts of human 
 research for thousands of years, there is not one of 
 them whose history, as yet, can be pronounced 
 complete. 
 
 (2.) The vast and diversified field of enquiry over 
 which zoology extends, and the many distinct por- 
 tions into which it is now distributed, rendti' it 
 extremely difficult to embrace the whole in one 
 general exposition. For it has happened, that at 
 one period of time while our knowledge has made 
 gigantic progress in one department, it has been 
 stationary, or even retrograde, in others; and at
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY 3 
 
 another epoch we find that original research has 
 been abandoned, and the technicalities of system 
 and nomenclature alone regarded. To meet the 
 first difficulty, and to preserve, nevertheless, a 
 connected narrative, it seems advisable to treat 
 the subject historically; and pre-supposing certain 
 epochs in this science, to detail the peculiar charac- 
 teristics of each. This will of course lead to some 
 enquiry into the merits of those who have successively 
 promoted or retarded the progress of knowledge ; or 
 who have been the founders of systems and methods, 
 which for a time have endured, and then been laid 
 aside. The revolutions of science are almost as 
 frequent, and often more extraordinary, than those 
 of political institutions. Both are results, not so 
 much of the talents or efforts of large communities 
 acting simultaneously, as of the influence of some 
 one individual, whose qualities, good or bad, have 
 not unfrequently worked the overthrow of laws, and 
 modes of thinking, which had long been supported 
 by the voice of a nation. It is, therefore, the part 
 of the natural not less than of the political historian, 
 to trace the causes of such revolutions, as far as 
 possible, to their sources ; and not to rest contented 
 with the bare enumeration of the facts themselves, 
 or of the results which followed. 
 
 (3.) Nor is the above the only difficulty of the 
 task before us. To estimate aright the progress of 
 this science, it is essential to draw a just distinction 
 between analogical research and systematic arrange- 
 ment; or, in other words, between the minute in- 
 vestigation of the properties and characters of an 
 animal, and its subsequent arrangement among other 
 B 2
 
 4 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 animals. It has been the misfortune of those who 
 have written in some respects ably upon the 
 rise and progress of zoology, that this distinction 
 has either not been perceived, or has been entirely 
 set aside. Hence it has resulted that praise and 
 blame have been frequently misapplied; while 
 discoveries of the highest interest have been quite 
 overlooked in the fancied importance attached to 
 the maker of a system, or to the industry of a 
 nomenclator. Without, at present, entering further 
 into these essential differences between the labours 
 of naturalists, we must bear in mind that all true 
 knowledge of the laws of natural combination takes 
 its rise from minute analysis ; and that the value of 
 a system is to be judged of according to the degree 
 with which it arranges in harmonious order, all 
 the various and infinitely diversified facts resulting 
 from analysis. Of artificial systems there may be 
 no end, because the materials of which they are 
 composed show a diversity of relations : each system 
 may differ from the other, yet each may have some- 
 thing to recommend it. But with the materials 
 employed for their construction the case is quite 
 different : the analysis of a species, if correctly made, 
 remains for ever, unchangeable and unchanged : it 
 is permanent ; it cannot be gainsaid, nor does it 
 perish with the system into which it may be incor- 
 porated. The system may be overthrown, yet the 
 analysis remains. True it is that minute research is 
 of more easy accomplishment than the power of ge- 
 neralising : the one requires only a simple accuracy 
 of observation, the other an enlarged and compre- 
 hensive judgment. But, when once a system, like that
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 5 
 
 either of Aristotle or of Linnaeus, has been framed, 
 it is easy for a host of imitators to follow, each 
 making some fresh modifications, or some small 
 improvements upon the models before him; and 
 thus dazzling the world with a new system, which 
 the inventor would never have composed, had he 
 been left to his own unassisted powers of com- 
 bination. In estimating, therefore, the respective 
 merits of the two classes of naturalists here alluded 
 to, we shall be obliged to assign a much lower 
 station to some names than has been done by our 
 predecessors, and transfer that praise which has 
 been bestowed upon them to others whose labours, 
 although less brilliant, have more contributed to 
 the advancement of science. 
 
 (4.) In reference to the above observations, we 
 shall now take a rapid sketch of the history of 
 zoology under the following epochs : 1. Its found- 
 ation by Aristotle ; 2. From the revival of learning 
 to the time of Linnaeus ; and, 3. From the appear- 
 ance of the Systema Naturae of Linnaeus, to that of 
 the Regne Animal by Cuvier. 
 
 (5.) The state of natural history, in the early ages 
 of the world, must ever remain more a matter of 
 conjecture and of theory than of positive fact. Some 
 acquaintance with the properties of animals was cer- 
 tainly possessed by our first parents, who were en- 
 abled, by the Divine agency, to assign names to tne 
 beasts of the field, and to distinguish such as were 
 adapted to their wants. The wisdom of the wisest 
 of men, also, was extended to the works of that 
 God whom he worshipped ; but these and similar 
 B 3
 
 O STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 .ntimations in ancient history, whether sacred or 
 profane, must not be interpreted too literally, or be 
 supposed to imply more than that the knowledge of 
 natural history, possessed by the early inhabitants of 
 the earth, was commensurate with what was known 
 of astronomy or other of the physical sciences. 
 
 (6.) Passing over, therefore, those obscure ages, 
 when all human learning was in its infancy, we may 
 date the rise of zoology, as a study, from the time 
 when the immortal Aristotle directed the powers 
 of his mind to the animal world ; and in his famous 
 book, TIspi ZuSv c I<TTo/a?, first sought to define, by 
 the precision of language, those more prominent and 
 comprehensive groups of the animal kingdom, which, 
 being founded on nature, are exempt from the in- 
 fluence of time and the mutability of learning. Had 
 this extraordinary man left us no other memorial of 
 his talents than his researches in zoology, he would 
 still be looked upon as one of the greatest philo- 
 sophers of ancient Greece, even in its highest and 
 brightest age. But when it is considered that his 
 eloquence, and his depth of thought, gave laws to 
 orators and poets, that he was almost equally 
 great in moral as in physical science, and that no 
 department of human learning escaped his research, 
 or was left unilluminated by his genius, we might 
 be almost tempted to think that the powers of the 
 human mind, in these latter days, had retrograded ; 
 and that originality of thought, and of philosophic 
 combination, existed in a far higher degree among 
 the heathen philosophers than in those who followed 
 them. A moment's reflection, however, will show
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 7 
 
 that such ideas are grounded upon partial consider- 
 ations, and they are at once refuted by such names 
 as those of Newton and Bacon. Furthermore, it 
 should be remembered that the most ordinary ob- 
 server can readily distinguish a quadruped from a 
 bird, a snake from a fish, and a vertebrated from 
 a boneless animal. All these distinctions are obvious, 
 and, therefore, known even to the vulgar. Nor does 
 it require any great skill to express these differences 
 in words. The same may be said of those secondary 
 divisions by which a beetle may be known from a 
 butterfly, and these, again, from a bee. It is not 
 so much, therefore, from having embodied facts like 
 these into classic language that the philosopher of 
 Stagyra derives his high fame ; it rather reposes 
 upon the peculiar tact with which he brought the 
 rules of philosophic reasoning to bear upon a 
 subject hitherto neglected, upon the extent and 
 depth of his personal researches, upon the clear- 
 ness with which he arranged his results, and, above 
 all, upon those obscure perceptions which he ac- 
 quired, while so employed, of hidden truths, which 
 were only to be developed in subsequent ages. Nor 
 should that innate grandeur of his mind be forgotten, 
 which led him, in an age of universal superstition, 
 to discard from his work all those popular tales, and 
 fancies, and beliefs, which were received by the 
 mass of his countrymen as religious truths, sanc- 
 tioned by antiquity, interwoven in their history, and 
 consecrated in their poetry. The death of this 
 great father of our science was the death of natural 
 history in the Grecian era. The splendour of his 
 discoveries passed like a comet. He left no luminary 
 B 4
 
 8 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 behind to follow in his wake, still less to throw 
 additional light upon realms which he had but 
 glanced upon. From the decline of Grecian learn- 
 ing until its partial revival among the semi-barbaric 
 Romans, a long interval of darkness intervened ; and 
 it was only after a lapse of nearly 400 years that we 
 find a solitary philosopher the elder Pliny call- 
 ing the attention of his countrymen to the wonders 
 of nature, and following up the pursuits of the 
 Grecian sage. The Roman naturalist strove to 
 follow in the path of his great predecessor ; for, 
 like him, he undertook to illuminate the whole em- 
 pire of science and of learning : but he had neither 
 the erudition nor the genius requisite for his gi- 
 gantic project. His voluminous works rather show 
 us a compilation of other men's thoughts and dis- 
 coveries, than a selection of well digested inform- 
 ation, or of original research. We find the wheat 
 intermixed with an abundance of chaff: the nu- 
 tritive grain and the useless straw are equally 
 hoarded, and brought into the garner. Amidst all 
 the polished graces of diction, great and diversified 
 erudition, and no inaptitude for occasionally de- 
 scribing with clearness and precision, we look in 
 vain for the powerful genius and the originality of 
 thought of his great master, and we at once per- 
 ceive that natural history, or rather zoology, under 
 the Romans, had made a retrograde movement. The 
 powerful mind of Aristotle, which led him to reject 
 with disdain the credulous tales and fabulous stories 
 of the age, can nowhere be traced in the writings 
 of Pliny, whose works, on the contrary, abound in 
 fables and in prodigies, at once manifesting that
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 9 
 
 weakness of mind inseparable from credulity, or that 
 disinclination to investigate truth, which is the sure 
 mark of a secondary order of intellect. It is difficult 
 to account for this paucity of original information 
 and abundance of fable in the writings of Pliny, 
 seeing that he lived in an age when Rome might be 
 said to have possessed the most magnificent mena- 
 gerie the world ever witnessed. Her barbarous ex * 
 hibitions of animal combats, conducted on a scale 
 of savage splendour, which almost shakes our credu- 
 lity, 'assembled within her walls fresh supplies of 
 hundreds of living animals, collected from all the 
 regions over which her empire extended, and aug- 
 mented by the forced or voluntary contributions of 
 those allies who sought the protection or friendship of 
 the mistress of the world. These menageries were 
 not only filled with lions and other ferocious animals, 
 destined for the circus, but contained, in all proba- 
 bility, whatsoever was rare or curious among the 
 more peaceable tribes ; since these creatures fre- 
 quently formed a conspicuous feature in triumphal 
 processions, and were no doubt taken care of after- 
 wards. * The Camelopardalis of northern Africa 
 (C. antiquorum, Sw.) was well known to the 
 Romans ; but that of the southern regions, we may 
 Dresume, was too far removed from their empire. 
 Certain it is, however, that of all these advantages 
 
 * Pliny himself is the authority for these facts. He informs 
 us that Quintus Curtius first began the custom. Scylla ex- 
 hibited the terrific spectacle of a combat of 100 male lions; 
 but this savage amusement was far outdone by Pompey, who 
 assembled at one time no less than 600 of these beasts. Caesar, 
 also, had one of 400.
 
 10 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 Pliny made but little effective use. If any further 
 proofs were requisite to show the declension of 
 natural history under the Romans, it would only 
 be necessary to cite the fables and absurdities of 
 .Silian, and one or two others, with whom expired 
 all records of the science for nearly 1400 years. 
 
 (7.) The second era of our history commences 
 with the revival of learning in the sixteenth century, 
 and terminates with the institution of system by 
 our celebrated countrymen Lister, Willughby, and 
 Ray. It is difficult to trace the first dawn of natural 
 history during this period, or to ascertain which 
 was the first printed book that treated on the nature 
 of animals. The Ortus Sanitatis*, printed in 14-85, 
 a most curious and exceedingly rare book, is the 
 earliest we have seen; and, to judge from the 
 grotesque rudeness of its figures, was, perhaps, one 
 of the very first attempts to represent animals by 
 wood-cuts. Passing over, however, this and similar 
 memorials of a dark age, the first writer who really 
 deserves notice is Belon of Mans, who was born in 
 1517, and who seems to have made the history of 
 birds his exclusive study. He may not have been 
 the first writer on natural history, in regard to 
 priority, since the revival of science, but he was 
 most assuredly the first who treated the subject with 
 any regard to system ; and when we consider the 
 unenlightened era in which he lived, and the diffi- 
 
 * Ortus Sanitatis. De herbis et plantis, de animalibus et 
 reptilibus, de avibus et volatilibus, de piscibus et natatilibus, 
 de lapidibus, &c. 1485. Small folio. Ascribed by some to 
 a Doctor Cuba.
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 11 
 
 culties he must have had to contend with, he may 
 justly be considered the reviver of natural history 
 in the sixteenth century. Belon, it is true, seems 
 to have paid very little attention to Aristotle, and to 
 have been totally ignorant of the philosophy of his 
 subject; yet his arrangement, so far from being 
 despicable, is much more natural than has been 
 generally supposed : this will at once appear from 
 a glance at his system. Commencing with the land 
 birds of prey, as the vultures, falcons, shrikes, and 
 owls, he passes to the water birds of prey, as the 
 cormorant, albatross, &c.; the wading order naturally 
 follows, and from this he proceeds to the gallinaceous 
 tribe, including the ostrich family. The two last 
 chapters are devoted to the pigeons, crows, and 
 thrushes, and all the smaller perching birds. Now 
 if we look to this arrangement, not in regard to its 
 details, but to the general character of its primary 
 groups, we have, in fact, precisely the same disposi- 
 tion as that which we now know to be the natural 
 series. Here we find the modern orders of Raptores, 
 Natatores, Grallatores, Rasores, and Insessores fol- 
 lowing each other in the order of their true affinities, 
 and exhibiting the circular disposition of the whole 
 feathered creation. The chief objection to Belon's 
 arrangement is to be found in his details, where he 
 places not only the plovers but the larks and bunt- 
 ings within his gallinaceous division, instead of as- 
 sociating them with his perching families. But what 
 more could be expected in the infancy of science, 
 and from the first who gave to it a definite form ? 
 In this branch of zoology, therefore, Belon musi 
 be considered as much the master of Willughby, as
 
 12 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 the latter was of Linneeus. He was, moreover, a 
 perfectly original writer, and described his subjects, 
 considering the age in which he flourished, with re- 
 markable exactness. As he was the first systematist 
 of this period, so he was the only eminent writer on 
 birds between Aristotle and Ray ; while the manner 
 in which he treated his subject showed a mind much 
 superior to his contemporaries in other branches. 
 
 (8.) Natural history seems to have again revived 
 in the countries which gave it birth in ancient times, 
 for nearly all the remaining writers of this period 
 were natives of Italy, or at least of southern Europe. 
 The year 1554 was remarkable for the appearance of 
 two works on ichthyology, the one by Rondeletius*, 
 (or, as the French write the name, Rondelet,) an 
 early professor of medicine at Montpellier ; the 
 other by Salviani , a physician of Rome. The 
 first treats at great length on the nature of fish in 
 general, and describes, with considerable exactness, 
 a large number of those found in the Mediterranean. 
 There is no attempt at systematic arrangement, yet 
 the subjects are not promiscuously introduced ; for 
 the sharks, the eels f the rays, and other natural 
 groups, are placed in distinct chapters. These being 
 dismissed, our author proceeds to notice a variety 
 of other animals belonging to different classes, 
 merely, as it would appear, because they have 
 something of the nature of fish by living in the sea. 
 In his sixteenth chapter he accordingly jumbles 
 
 * Gulielmi Rondeletii. Libri de Piscibus Marinis, in 
 quibus verae Piscium effigies expresses sunt. Lugduni, 1554. 
 
 f Hyppolyti Salviani de Citta di Castello. Aquatilium 
 Animalium Historias Romae, 1554.
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 13 
 
 together tortoises, whales, and seals ; and concludes 
 with giving us various descriptions and grotesque 
 figures of certain marine monsters, designated as 
 de montro leonino, de pisce monachi habitu, and 
 de pisce episcopi habitu. Where he found the 
 extraordinary originals from which these cuts were 
 taken does not exactly appear : they were probably 
 fabricated from the skins of some large species of 
 shark or ray, by the ecclesiastics of that period, to 
 attract the superstitious veneration of the populace, 
 by persuading them that even the sea contained 
 monks and bishops. The letter-press exhibits all 
 the prolixity and cumbrous learning of the age, 
 with abundant quotations from Aristotle, yet without 
 the least spark of his philosophic spirit or of his 
 arrangement. With all these defects, this early 
 specimen of ichthyology has great and even extra- 
 ordinary merit in the excellency of the wood-cuts 
 copiously introduced in its pages : they are bold and 
 accurate, and in general so characteristic, that nearly 
 all the species may be at once identified. Salviani's 
 work on the same subject appeared simultaneously 
 with that of Rondeletius, both being printed, as before 
 observed, in 1554 ; but the former is now very rare, 
 and is not in our library: the figures, which are 
 engraved upon copper, a.re generally mentioned as 
 very good. While these two patriarchs of ichthy- 
 ological science were directing their investigations 
 to one branch of natural history, two other, equally 
 zealous and more ambitious in their projects, were 
 respectively labouring on a general history of all 
 animals, influenced no doubt by the example of 
 Pliny, whose work was more adapted to the mental
 
 14 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 comprehension and the credulity of the sixteenth 
 century, and was doubtless held in- much higher 
 estimation than the masterly but too philosophic 
 treatise of the great Aristotle. The laborious 
 naturalists alluded to were Conrad Gesner* and 
 Ulysses Aldrovandus ; the first a physician of 
 Zurich, the latter of a noble house of Bologna, in 
 the university of which city he was a professor. 
 Gesner was born in 1516, and died at the age of 49 ; 
 so that it would seem he did not live to see the 
 publication of his work, which was printed in three 
 folio volumes at Frankfort, in the year 1585. He 
 appears to have been an industrious compiler of 
 other men's labours, adding little of his own, and 
 quite destitute of all notions of system, the subjects 
 being arranged alphabetically. This voluminous 
 compendium is ornamented with wood- cuts of very 
 unequal execution ; some being very tolerable, others 
 very bad. Aldrovandus, who must have been work- 
 ing at the same time (for he was born in 1525), 
 dedicated his life and his fortune to a similar under- 
 taking, still more diffuse and voluminous than the 
 compilation of Gesner: he, likewise, lived not to see 
 the publication of his work, which extended to no 
 less than fourteen folio volumes, the greatest portion 
 of which were printed after his death. The original 
 descriptions in this work are more numerous and 
 accurate than those of Gesner, but its author had 
 little judgment and still less genius for his task : he 
 collects from all quarters every thing that had been 
 
 * Conrade Gesneri Tigurini, Historia Animalium. Franco- 
 furti, 1585.
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 15 
 
 written upon animals, whether true or false ; while 
 the facts he must have had the power of verifying, 
 and the fables that he might have detected and 
 exploded, are confusedly mixed together, as if to 
 swell the cumbrous folios upon which he had spent 
 his life in compiling. * That both these works, how- 
 ever, were greatly instrumental in diffusing a taste 
 for the study of nature is very apparent, even from 
 the simple fact of their sale being so great as to 
 induce the publishers of that period to incur the 
 enormous expense of printing them. We question 
 very much, whether any bookseller of the present 
 age would undertake to bring out fourteen folio 
 volumes upon natural history, even were they 
 to contain the joint labours of all the eminent 
 naturalists of the present age. While this great 
 compilation, or rather encyclopaedia, of zoological 
 knowledge was in progress, Fabius Colonna, a phy- 
 sician of Rome, published two treatises on natural 
 history, of a much higher character than those of 
 his contemporaries, and which have procured for 
 their author a high reputation from the moderns. 
 
 (9.) A taste for natural history had hitherto 
 been confined to the Continent, but in the year 
 1634- it had at length reached England ; and the 
 Theatrum Insectorum of Mouffet came forth as 
 the first zoological work ever printed in Britain. 
 Mouffet appears to have been physician to the 
 earl of Pembroke, and to have made insects his 
 sole object of study : nor was he the only one who 
 
 * Ulysses Aldrovandus. Philosophi et Medici Bononien- 
 sis Historia Naturalium, in Gymnasio Bononiensi profitentis. 
 Bononi, 1.599 1640.
 
 16 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 at this early period found pleasure in entomological 
 recreations ; for we find in the title-page the names 
 of two congenial friends, Edward Wotton and 
 Thomas Penn, associated with his own as fellow- 
 labourers in the production of this curious volume. 
 In a work of so early a date, we must not look for 
 any great departure from the prolixity and credulity 
 of contemporary writers, or any thing beyond the 
 rude classification of separate groups into distinct 
 caputs or chapters ; overloaded, as was the fashion 
 of the age, with heavy details of common truths, 
 and obscured by a want of precision and by absurd 
 fables, handed down by Pliny to all succeeding com- 
 pilers. The contents, however, are so far digested 
 as that the winged and the apterous orders form the 
 two principal divisions of the work ; but then, in the 
 latter, the author treats of caterpillars and grubs as 
 if they were insects arrived at maturity, and of 
 genuine worms as if they also were insects: the 
 wood-cuts are many, but of great inferiority, even 
 for the period of their execution ; and they show 
 how tardy the progress in England had yet been of 
 the fine arts. It is worth while observing, that, with 
 the exception of Belon, all the authors we have yet 
 spoken of published their works in Latin : this, in 
 fact, was then the universal language of learning and 
 of science. Knowledge was chiefly confined to the 
 ecclesiastical and the medical professions, and to 
 those few of the higher orders who had been 
 educated by the clergy ; but the mass of the 
 people, even those of the gentry and middle classes, 
 were profoundly ignorant. The religious establish- 
 ments and the collegiate institutions were at the same
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 17 
 
 time the national libraries; and few, not residing 
 within their walls, ever dreamed of pursuing know- 
 ledge as a recreation. We may, therefore, fairly infer, 
 that some taste for natural history had begun to show 
 itself among the common people, when we find that 
 in the year 1658 one Edward Topsel*, an ecclesiastic 
 of St. Botolph's, London, published an English trans- 
 lation in folio, not only of Gesner's work upon 
 quadrupeds, but also of the aforesaid Theatrum 
 Insectorum of Dr. Mouffet; thus placing in the 
 hands of our countrymen, in their own language, 
 the two best works upon beasts and insects that 
 had appeared since the revival of learning. 
 
 (10.) That a love of knowledge had found its way 
 beyond the precincts of cloisters and the halls of pro- 
 fessors was now evident ; for it was about this time 
 that our science was protected by one of the most 
 remarkable men of his age, the greatand chivalrous 
 Count Maurice of Nassau ; a name which will be 
 immortalised by the historian, no less than by the 
 naturalist. In Count Maurice was united the ac- 
 complished statesman, the victorious general, and 
 the munificent patron of science ; and in each of 
 these characters his merits were so high, that the 
 history of modern times cannot afford us his parallel, 
 unless it be found in the late Sir Stamford Raffles, 
 a name equally dear to our science, although per- 
 haps not so brilliant for " battles won, and standards 
 taken." Count Maurice, upon his assuming the 
 
 * Topsel's History of Four-footed Beasts and Serpents ; to 
 which is added, Mouffet's Theatre of Insects. London, 1658. 
 1 vol. folio.
 
 18 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 command of the Dutch armament, which sub* 
 sequently dispossessed the crown of Portugal of 
 nearly all its Brazilian possessions, took with him, 
 as if anticipating victory and subsequent ease, a 
 young and enthusiastic naturalist, whom we now 
 look on as the venerable Marcgrave, the father 
 of Brazilian zoology. Not content with his aid, 
 the count employed artists and botanists to draw, 
 and collect, and preserve, every thing that might 
 interest the naturalists of Europe. To this mu- 
 nificent patron was the learning of the seven- 
 teenth century indebted for the first account, ever 
 published, of the natural history of tropical 
 America. Considering the then state of science, 
 Marcgrave's work, written probably when he was 
 iiot more than twenty-five, abounds with a vast mass 
 of new and original information, very different from 
 what was to be found in the crude and verbose com- 
 pilations of this period. Unfortunately, however, 
 Marcgrave lived not to arrange and digest these 
 materials, as he no doubt would have done had he 
 returned to Europe. Anxious to extend his dis- 
 coveries, he accompanied one of the bold expeditions 
 of his patron to attack the Portuguese possessions 
 on the coast of Guinea, where he fell a victim to the 
 climate at the early age of thirty-four. His original 
 MSS., and a collection of drawings chiefly of the rare 
 fishes of Brazil, made by his accomplished patron, 
 are said to be preserved in the Royal Library of 
 Berlin. His work on Brazil Avas published, with 
 those of Piso and Bontius on India, in 1768. Marc- 
 grave had talents of a very high order; for, besides 
 his zoological and botanical labours, he wrote on
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 19 
 
 the customs of the natives, studied and ana- 
 lysed their language, made astronomical observ- 
 ations, and evinced, in short, the possession of all 
 that varied knowledge which we should only look 
 for in an accomplished traveller of this century. 
 Such a man was worthy of so great a patron ; and 
 he must be considered as by far the most emi- 
 nent naturalist of the era in which he lived. On 
 looking back to the hisiory of our science from the 
 revival of letters, it will be observed that nearly all 
 who had contributed to its advancement were little 
 better than voluminous compilers ; who, to a scanty 
 stock of original information, superadded a pon- 
 derous load of ancient lore, gathered from the fables 
 of Pliny, and the credulous writers who followed 
 him t they seemed to think that the value of their 
 works would be estimated by their bulk, or they 
 were probably deterred from prosecuting original 
 research, by their veneration for antiquity. This 
 school, which had been founded by Pliny, seems to 
 have expired with Mouffet ; for in Marcgrave and 
 Bontius we have the first specimens of local faunce, 
 or natural histories of particular regions. Our own 
 country followed this example ; for in 1667 appeared 
 the Pinax of Dr. Merrett*, the first work that was 
 devoted exclusively to the animals and plants of 
 Great Britain. It is written in Latin ; and although 
 very curious in its way, is yet a very imperfect per- 
 formance, for there are no specific names, and the 
 
 * Pinax Rcrum Naturalium Britannicarum, continens Ve- 
 getabilia, Animalia, et Fossilia, in hac Insula reperta inchoatus. 
 Loud. 1667. 
 
 c 2
 
 20 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 descriptions are so short, that very few of the com- 
 monest insects can be identified. 
 
 (11.) While entomology was thus making a slow 
 and painful progress in England, the science received 
 a new impulse on the Continent from the experiments, 
 as they were then termed, of two celebrated men, 
 Goedartius and Redi : the one undertook to inves 
 tigate the metamorphoses of insects, the other was 
 chiefly occupied in tracing their vital functions, and 
 both may be thus considered as the founders of 
 zoological analysis. The little volumes of Goedart, 
 printed in 1662, showed a very marked improve- 
 ment in the entomology of the seventeenth century, 
 not so much in the descriptions as in the faithful- 
 ness of the numerous copper-plates, representing 
 the larva, pupa, and perfect insect of a considerable 
 number of lepidoptera : these "experiments" are ex- 
 tended to many species of the other orders ; and the 
 lates are so good, that they may be consulted with 
 advantage even in the present day. * It is curious 
 to trace, even at this more advanced period, the 
 remnant of that superstition regarding common 
 animals which was so prevalent in the preceding 
 century. Upon turning to such plates of the work 
 before us as represent the angulated chrysali of 
 butterflies, the reader will perceive them transformed 
 into the likenesses of swarthed mummies, where the 
 nose, eyes, and chin, are distinctly marked out: 
 there is certainly a curious resemblance to the human 
 
 * Metamorphosis et Historia Naturalis Insectorum. Autore 
 Joanne Goedartio, cum Comentariis D. Joan iris de Mey. Me- 
 droburgi, 3 vols. The date only appears at the end of the 
 dedication, " 27 Januarii, 1662."
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 21 
 
 head in these coffins, as they were called by our 
 ancestors ; and if this relation is looked upon not 
 as a resemblance, but as an analogy, it is in 
 perfect accordance with truth. The experiments of 
 Goedartius obviously led the way to those of Redi, 
 on the generation of insects*, published also in 
 three small volumes in different years. On the 
 value of their contents we know but little ; for the 
 work is not now before us. Nor is this to be 
 regretted, for both these names were eclipsed by 
 one who was then labouring in the same field of 
 analysis ; but gifted, in every respect, with far 
 greater talents. This was the celebrated Swammer- 
 dam, who died, at the early age of forty-three, a 
 worn-out martyr to laborious study. The limits of 
 this sketch will not permit us to expatiate on the 
 life and discoveries of this extraordinary man. Suf- 
 fice it to say, that the lapse of nearly one hundred 
 and fifty years has in no degree weakened the value 
 of his anatomical discoveries ; and that so far as his 
 researches were prosecuted, he has not been ex- 
 celled by the greatest comparative anatomists of 
 modern times. All the great truths on the meta- 
 morphosis of insects originated from this laborious 
 and indefatigable observer, who was unquestionably 
 the master and the guide of Lyonnet, Roemer, 
 Bonnet, and all those who subsequently pursued the 
 same path. Swammerdam, in short, was the great 
 father of analysis, as Aristotle was of philosophic 
 generalisation ; and although their excellencies are 
 
 * Francesco Redi. Experiments circa Generationem In- 
 sectorum. Amstelodami, 167 , 1686, 1712. 
 C
 
 22 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 of different degrees of merit, and have never perhaps 
 been united in one person, yet they are both essential 
 to the perfection of our science. Swammerdam 
 sunk into an early grave, before he could give to 
 the world the result of his labours ; and but for the 
 patriotic feeling and the munificent liberality of the 
 great Boerhaave, his manuscripts, drawings, and 
 engravings would probably never have seen the 
 light. Were it not customary to date the different 
 stages of this science from the periods when parti- 
 cular systems of arrangement were in vogue, we 
 should consider that a new era was commenced by 
 Swammerdam, rather than by Ray; for the one 
 enriched science with a mass of important facts, 
 entirely and absolutely new ; while the other merely 
 employed these facts to construct a system, and this 
 system chiefly modelled from that already sketched 
 out by Aristotle. The original edition of Swam- 
 merdam's incomparable volume, in Latin And Dutch, 
 was published at Leyden, under the superintendence 
 of Boerhaave, in 1738 ; and it at length obtained 
 so much reputation, that an English translation* 
 appeared twenty years afterwards. We have intro- 
 duced the name of Swammerdam in this part of our 
 history because he was the contemporary of Goedart, 
 Merrett, and Lister ; and was prosecuting his re- 
 searches at the same time, although science received 
 no benefit from his discoveries until many years after. 
 (12.) Resuming, therefore, the thread of our 
 narrative from the rude performance of Merrett, 
 
 * The Book of Nature ; or, the History of Insects. By 
 John Swammerdam. Translated by Thomas Floyd. Revised, 
 &c. by John Hill, M,D. London, 1758. 1 vol. folio.
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 28 
 
 in his Pinax, published in 1667, we find that the 
 next publication of any moment bears the name of 
 one of the great naturalists of this era, Dr. Martin 
 Lister, secretary to the Royal Society (then but 
 recently instituted), and chief physician to queen 
 Anne. The first work of this father of conchology 
 makes known the spiders, the shells, and the fossil 
 echini, c. of Great Britain ; all of which are not 
 only well described, but are accompanied by tabular 
 systematic arrangements, superior to any that had 
 yet been framed, and fully equal to those subse- 
 quently given by Ray. Lister, in fact, is unques- 
 tionably the inventor of system; for he not only 
 arranges the whole of the British araniae under 
 greater and lesser divisions, but draws up a short 
 and expressive specific character for each, which 
 precedes his subsequent and more general descrip- 
 tion. Had this remarkable man imposed upon each 
 species a single additional word, by which it could 
 have been at once distinguished, had he, in short, 
 given but a generic name to his groups, and a 
 specific one to his species, he would have been the 
 first of nomenclators as he was of systematists ; and 
 the unbounded praise that has been so profusely 
 lavished upon Linnaeus for the simplicity of his 
 distinctions, would have been more justly, merited 
 by Lister, inasmuch as the invention of precise sys- 
 tematic arrangement unquestionably belongs to the 
 latter. Nor is this the only point in which Lister, 
 so far as his researches extended, showed his su- 
 periority over the great Swede, who subsequently 
 monopolised the applause of mankind. Lister looked 
 to the habits and economy of these insects for the 
 c 4
 
 24; STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 indications of their natural arrangement, all of which 
 Linnaeus, in his zeal for simplification, passed over ; 
 and thus fell infinitely below our countryman in his 
 classification of the Aranice no less than in his 
 general arrangement of the testaceous animals. 
 The greatest work of Lister, however, only appeared 
 in 1685. It contains his general system, or synopsis, 
 of conchology, and is enriched with no less than 
 1059 plates or figures of shells ; among which 
 several represent, with great accuracy, the internal 
 structure of the animals themselves : most of these 
 figures are so accurate, and all are so characteristic, 
 that even to this day they are indispensable to the 
 conchologist, and this remarkable volume forms one 
 of the most valuable and standard works in this de- 
 partment of zoology.* 
 
 (13.) About this time natural history began to 
 be pursued in England with greater zeal, and in 
 a more philosophic spirit, than in any other part of 
 Europe. No writer had appeared in France, since 
 the days of Belon ; nor had Italy contributed any 
 thing to natural science, since the desultory yet 
 curious observations of Boccone, the famous Sicilian 
 botanist. On the other hand, Britain, which had 
 been far behind in contributing to the early restor- 
 ation of learning, seemed now to have suddenly 
 sprung into life, and produced a constellation of 
 
 * Martin Lister (1.) Historiae Animalium, Anglia Tres 
 
 Tractibus : unus de Araneis ; alter de Cochleis turn terrestribus 
 turn fluviatilibus ; tertius de Cochleis Marinis. Londoni, 
 1678 ; small quarto. (2.) Historia sive Synopsis Methodica 
 Conchyliorum. Folio. Londoni, 1685 1693. There is also a 
 translation, by Lister, of Goedart's insects, published in 1685.
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 25 
 
 talent which left her without a rival. It is difficult 
 to trace, at this present time, the real causes which 
 led to this new and vigorous prosecution of science; 
 yet we are disposed to trace it, at least in part, to 
 the writings of the immortal Bacon, the effect of 
 whose sound philosophy first began to appear in the 
 land of his birth, where it disencumbered science 
 from the trammels of scholastic lore and ancient 
 tradition, teaching men to think for themselves, 
 and not to pin their faith upon the legends of 
 antiquity. Certain, however, it is, that simplicity 
 and perspicuity in writing upon the works of 
 nature first originated in this country, and that the 
 introduction of order and of system in the arrange- 
 ment of his works, in this age of the world, entirely 
 originated from the great and united talents of 
 Lister, Ray, and Willughby, contemporaries of each 
 other, and alike directing their labours, though in 
 different departments, to one and the same object. 
 Of Lister we have already spoken, while the labours 
 of Ray and Willughby are so much interwoven, 
 that at first it appears difficult to decide which was 
 the most pre-eminent. Ray, with that candour and 
 simplicity which pervades all his writings, assigns 
 to his learned friend and patron the whole merit of 
 that ornithological arrangement which subsequent 
 writers have so erroneously given to himself* ; nor 
 does it appear that Ray did more than augment the 
 " descriptions and histories" of his deceased friend's 
 
 * Viewing his manuscripts after his (Willughby's) death, 
 I found the several animals in every kind, both birds, beasts, 
 fishes, and insects, digested into a method of his own contriving." 
 Ray's Preface, p. 4.
 
 26 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 Ornithology.* Of this work, and of its accomplished 
 author, a short notice is all that we can give. 
 Francis Willughby was a gentleman by birth and 
 education, being connected with two noble families 
 of that name, the Willughbys of Eresby in Lincoln- 
 shire, and the Wolds in Nottinghamshire : he was 
 also allied by blood to the earls of Londonderry. 
 We introduce these facts to show that science was 
 even then not unknown among the aristocracy, and 
 that young Willughby, although " endowed with ex- 
 cellent gifts and abilities both of body and mind, and 
 blessed with a fair estate," which might have tempted 
 him to seek pleasure and honour in the circle of the 
 court, had yet such a love for learning, that " he 
 was from his childhood addicted to study, and ever 
 since he came to the use of reason so great a hus- 
 band of his time, as not to let slip unnoccupied the 
 least fragment of it." That the greatest part if not 
 all the original information contained in this admir- 
 able volume came solely from the pen of Willughby 
 is also proved by the words of his pious editor-f-, 
 who thus confesses that the additions made by 
 himself were mere compilations from former writers. 
 
 * The Ornithology of Francis Willughby, of Middleton, in 
 the County of Warwick, Esquire. In three books. By John 
 Ray. 1678. 
 
 f " But because Mr. Willughby (though sparing neither 
 pains nor cost) could not procure, and, consequently, did not 
 describe, all sorts of birds to perfect the work, I have added 
 the descriptions and histories of those that were wanting, out 
 of Gesner, Aldrovandus, Bellonius, Marcgravius, Clusius, Her- 
 nandez, Bontius, Wormius, and Piso, disposing each kind, a* 
 near as I could, in its proper place."
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 27 
 
 Hence it becomes evident that the chief design of 
 Willughby was only to admit into his history such 
 birds as he had himself seen, or of whose existence 
 there could be no doubt, an admirable principle, 
 in full accordance with the Baconian philosophy; 
 and which, in this instance at least, establishes the 
 superiority of his judgment over that of his editor. 
 It was clearly with this view of acquiring original 
 information that Willughby travelled in different 
 parts of the Continent, " where he made so good 
 progress in this work (his Ornithology) that few of 
 our European animals, described by others, had 
 escaped his view." And so ardent was his love of 
 personal investigation, to the intent " that he might, 
 as far as in him lay, perfect the history of animals, 
 that he actually designed a voyage into the New 
 World ; " but the fiat of that beneficent Being, whose 
 works he studied, and whose precepts he observed 
 for he was eminently pious ordained otherwise : 
 the hand of death arrested his bright career, and he 
 died, in the year 1672, at the early age of thirty- 
 seven. Willughby was the most accomplished 
 zoologist of this or any other country ; for all the 
 honour that has been given to Ray, so far as con- 
 cerns systematic zoology, belongs exclusively to 
 him. He alone is the author of that system which 
 both Ray and Linnaeus took for their guide, 
 which was not improved by the former or confessed 
 by the latter. It has been customary for writers to 
 represent Willughby more as a wealthy and in- 
 telligent amateur than as an original thinker; as 
 the disciple and pupil of Ray in zoological pursuits 
 rather than as his master and instructor. How far
 
 28 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 these opinions on their respective characters are 
 supported by facts has been already shown. The 
 system of Ray, in his Synopsis, is almost precisely 
 a transcript from that of Willughby ; and it is not 
 one of the least beauties in the character of the 
 survivor, that so far from wishing to appropriate 
 to himself the laurels of his deceased patron, he 
 seems particularly anxious to disclaim all pretensions 
 to them. As the exposition of systematic details 
 and of tables suits not with the nature of this 
 sketch, we may at once pass from the patron to 
 the protegee, and endeavour to form a just estimate 
 of the real merits possessed by the third, though 
 not perhaps the least, member of this zoological 
 triumvirate. The life of Ray, unlike that of his 
 friend, was protracted to a lengthened period ; for 
 he lived to the age of 77. The time, therefore, 
 which he enjoyed for prosecuting his researches 
 was nearly doubled : and hence he was enabled to 
 expand them over a much wider field. Botany 
 was his chief, if not his sole, study for the greatest 
 part of his life ; for he only began his w r ork upon in- 
 sects at the advanced age of seventy-five; although he 
 had doubtless been collecting his materials for some 
 time previously. In botany, and in no other science, 
 was Ray the author of a system, for he confessedly 
 adopted Willughby's, both in ornithology and 
 ichthyology ; while his arrangement of quadrupeds 
 and of insects was doubtless derived from the same 
 source. Indeed he himself informs us, that among 
 the MSS. of his friend he found the histories of 
 " beasts and insects," no less than of " birds and 
 fishes, digested into a method of his own!' It belongs
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 29 
 
 not to our present object to enquire into the merits 
 of Ray's botanical system, which takes for its 
 basis the old divisions of trees (arbores) and plants 
 (herbfz). Suffice it to say, that although useful 
 and even excellent when compared to former me- 
 thods, this system has nothing very original in its 
 structure, nor does it make the least approach to 
 that masterly precision, which belongs to the ar- 
 rangement of Linnaeus. The merit of Ray, there- 
 fore, as a zoologist, must repose on his Historia 
 Insectorum* t published by Derham after his death. 
 That we may not be accused of undervaluing the 
 talents of this most amiable man, we shall quote the 
 words of one who was well qualified to speak on 
 the subject, and who was enthusiastic in his praise. 
 " The descriptions given in the Historia Insectorum, 
 especially considering the dark ages of this science 
 in which they were written, are masterpieces of 
 clearness and precision, and such as in general 
 render it tolerably easy to ascertain the articles they 
 belong to: but with respect to the arrangement 
 and distribution of its materials, the work is in both 
 these essential points unquestionably very far inferior 
 to that of Linnaeus ; and, indeed, in some particulars, 
 is not much superior to its predecessors. For, like 
 them, it also incongruously blends the Linnaaan 
 class of Vermes with the genuine and natural one 
 of insects I " f Having thus divested Ray of those 
 inappropriate honours with which his memory has 
 
 * Historia Insectorum, autore Joanne Raio, &c. opus post- 
 humum Jussu, Regiae Societatis Londinensis editum. Londoni, 
 i710. 
 
 f Haworth, Review of Entomology.
 
 30 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 been clothed, and which, had they been bestowed 
 upon him when alive, he would have been the first 
 to reject, we shall still find him a bright ornament 
 to the age in which he lived, and in every way 
 entitled to rank in the list of British worthies. 
 True it is, that but for the patronage and protection 
 of Willughby, he might probably have done little 
 or nothing in science; and had he not been the 
 editor of his patron's works, his name, as a zoologist, 
 would have been far inferior to that of Lister, for 
 he had neither the talents of the first, or the 
 originality of the last: yet he laboured conjointly 
 with both, and his name assumes a superiority from 
 the variety of subjects he wrote upon, and from the 
 number of works which bear his name, either as 
 author or editor. Ray cannot be said to have 
 possessed great genius, but he had sound judg- 
 ment, great zeal, unwearied application ; a pious, 
 amiable, and benevolent spirit, ever ready to ac- 
 knowledge and to praise the labours of others, and 
 do justice to their merits, even when he might have 
 appropriated those merits to himself. But, above 
 all, the name of Ray will ever be revered by the 
 wise and the good, from the use he made of his 
 extensive knowledge of nature. His " Wisdom of 
 God manifested in the Works of the Creation" was 
 the first attempt, we believe, ever made in the Chris- 
 tian era to confirm the truths of revealed religion by 
 facts drawn from the natural world. Another of his 
 works, " Persuasive to a Holy Life," shows us also 
 how deeply his pure and pious spirit was imbued 
 with those truths he taught to others. None but a 
 philosopher could have written the first, none but
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 31 
 
 a Christian the second. It is enough for the illus- 
 trious Ray that he united these characters in him- 
 self; nor should we, by investing him with fictitious 
 qualifications, detract from the scientific fame of 
 him who was his friend on earth, and who, we may 
 humbly hope, is his companion in heaven ! 
 
 (14.) From looking to the brightness cast upon 
 the horizon of science by such names as Lister, Wil- 
 lughby, and Ray, we must now bestow a hasty 
 glance on a few humbler men, who about this time 
 aided, in different ways, the cause of natural history. 
 Dr. Grew, better known as a botanist than as a 
 zoologist, published, in folio*, and at the expense 
 of the Royal Society, an account of the rarities in 
 their museum ; of which not a wreck is now left. 
 It is worth remarking that in this extinct museum 
 was the leg of a Dodo (mentioned at p. 60.) : can 
 this be the one now in the British Museum? or 
 was it the companion ? Grew's catalogue is a poor 
 performance, although interesting to show how 
 greatly natural history was at one time cultivated 
 by the Royal Society. About this time, indeed, 
 museums and collections were formed with much 
 assiduity : the two most remarkable were those of 
 Pettiver, a most zealous and indefatigable collector 
 in all departments of nature ; and whose museum 
 was considered so valuable by his great but friendly 
 rival, Sir Hans Sloane, that the latter eventually 
 purchased it for the sum of 4000/. Pettiver was 
 
 * Museum Regalis Societatis, or a Catalogue and Descrip- 
 tion of the Natural and Artificial Rarities belonging to the 
 Royal Society, and preserved at Gresham College, made by 
 N. Grew, M.D. London, 1681.
 
 32 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 a wealthy apothecary, and drew up a curious code 
 of instructions for preserving animals and plants, 
 which he gave to captains of ships, and other per- 
 sons. These formulas, as may be supposed, were 
 very rude, yet they contributed to till the worthy 
 apothecary's museum with a variety of new and 
 curious objects; which he had engraved, without 
 the least regard to order, and then published. 
 Albin, also, who seems to have been a miniature 
 painter, published in 1731 a quarto volume of 100 
 copper-plates, representing English lepidoptera in 
 their different stages. As a work of art, this was, 
 for the period, a very splendid undertaking; and, 
 although devoid of any science, it must have 
 materially advanced the cultivation of entomology. 
 From the same hand originated, between 1731 and 
 1738, three volumes upon birds, and one upon 
 British spiders ; yet not of equal merit. We pass 
 over the works of Bradley, Fermin, Klein, Knorr, 
 Renard, Brown, and others of inferior note. But 
 we may pause at the name of Sir Hans Sloane, then 
 the most eminent patron of natural history in 
 Britain ; and holding the high professional station 
 of court physician. A greater lover of natural 
 history could not exist ; for he expended a princely 
 fortune in forming that museum and library which 
 was ultimately purchased by the government, and 
 made the foundation of the present national collec- 
 tion. Sloane, however, unlike the accomplished 
 Willughby, was rather an amateur than a master, 
 and his Natural History of Jamaica *, &c., although 
 
 * A Voyage to the Islands of Madeira, Barbadoes, Nevis, 
 St. Christopher's, and Jamaica, with the Natural History, &e. f 
 by Sir Hans Sloane, Bart 2 vols. folio. London, 1728.
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY 33 
 
 it has never been superseded by a better, cannot be 
 looked upon as having advanced either the precision 
 or the arrangement of Zoology. Another of the 
 great collectors of this period was Albertus Seba, 
 of Amsterdam, who, like our Pettiver, was a wealthy 
 apothecary. He collected all sorts of animals from 
 all regions, and went to an enormous expense in 
 publishing their figures and descriptions. * The en- 
 gravings, for the most part, are very good, particu- 
 larly those of the shells ; but the descriptions are 
 beneath criticism. Another splendid publication of 
 this sort, in two folio volumes, was published by 
 Catesby on the Natural History of Carolina f, which 
 is even now very useful, from the plates being 
 coloured, and tolerably accurate. The descriptions, 
 likewise, are in general faithful, although destitute 
 of any scientific merit. 
 
 (15.) Such were the ample materials existing in 
 the year 1730, which the distinguished reformer of 
 systematic Natural History, the great Sir Charles 
 Linne (otherwise Linnaeus), first began to model 
 into shape ; and which he ultimately condensed into 
 the most simple, inviting, and luminous system the 
 world had yet seen. The life of this extraordinary 
 man is too well known, and has been too often written, 
 to require any notice in this place ; but his merits 
 have been so extravagantly extolled by one party, 
 
 * Albertus Seba. Locupletissimi Rerum Naturalium The- 
 sauri accurata Descriptio. Amsterd. 1734. 1765. 
 
 f The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Ba- 
 hama Islands. By Mark Catesby, F.R.S. Lond. 1731. 
 1743. With 220 plates. Another edition was edited by 
 Edwards in 1771. 
 
 B
 
 34 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 and so disparaged by another, that we may fairly 
 enquire how far these conflicting opinions are 
 founded in truth. That he was not the inventor of 
 system, or of arrangement, even in his own age, is 
 abundantly evident from the facts already stated: 
 for the works of Lister and of Willughby were 
 unquestionably his guides. Nor can he be said to 
 have originated those large and comprehensive views 
 in zoology, which had long ago been opened, like 
 permanent lights in the firmament of science, by 
 the immortal Aristotle. Great as were his talents 
 and his genius, they were decidedly inferior to 
 those of the Grecian philosopher. Neither had he 
 at all times that accurate perception of affinities 
 which can be traced both in the systems of Aristotle 
 and of Willughby. His personal vanity, moreover, 
 was excessive, surpassing all bounds, and all 
 instances upon record * ; and this led him to do 
 injustice towards some of those who were his con- 
 temporaries, no less than to Lister and Willughby, 
 who were the real founders of scientific classification, 
 and upon whose systems he framed his own. But, 
 when we have said thus much, we have said all that 
 can justly be charged against this illustrious natu- 
 ralist. That he possessed great genius cannot be 
 questioned, or he never could have conceived the 
 herculean task of arranging all Nature ; and without 
 sound judgment and unwearied zeal he never could 
 have accomplished his task. In his zoological 
 works there is every indication of a powerful, com- 
 prehensive mind, while in his botanical writings 
 
 * Maton's Life of Linnaus, pp. 500. 561563.
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 35 
 
 we trace the spirit of a philosopher. The services 
 he rendered natural history, at the time he wrote, 
 were immense ; nor will they ever be forgotten. 
 His unrivalled invention of nomenclature, which 
 came from his hands, as it were, perfect, will re- 
 main of undiminished value so long as science exists ; 
 while the simplicity of those rules by which he 
 arranged all the productions of nature then known, 
 cannot be too closely imitated, however different 
 may be the series in which these productions are 
 disposed. He may be said to have created a lan- 
 guage, peculiar to natural history, for the sole ex- 
 pression of the ideas pertaining to it : a language 
 which all, even his greatest opponents, are con- 
 strained to adopt, if they desire to be understood. 
 Linnaeus excelled in botany (for he loved it much 
 more*), rather than zoology: but in both, his 
 systems are confessedly artificial : the first will 
 long be studied as a preliminary introduction to the 
 natural system, but the latter, having served its pur- 
 pose, above all others, in advancing the cultivation 
 of zoology, has almost passed away in form, although 
 not in spirit. His unrivalled invention of nomen- 
 clature, and the clear and lucid manner in which he 
 arranged his materials, gave a facility to the culti- 
 vation of natural history, perfectly delightful ; and 
 
 * This is quite evident, from observing the superior finish 
 he bestowed upon his botanical works. And the following 
 passage, in one of his letters to Ellis, places this partiality in 
 a strong light : "I care little about the larva of the iguana ; 
 but our mutual friend, Dr. Gardner, mentions some dried 
 plants, destined for me. These f shall be very glad to have, 
 whenever thev arrive." Linn. Corr. i. p. 17g. 
 D 2
 
 36 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 introduced a precision it had never before possessed. 
 His object was to make known every natural pro- 
 duction there discovered, in the most simple and 
 concise terms ; and to institute rules and forms of 
 description, by which other objects, as they were 
 progressively discovered, might be distinguished 
 and registered in the same manner. In this he 
 succeeded more completely than any who had 
 then, or who has since, undertaken the same task. 
 Unlike his great successor Cuvier, he knew the 
 difference between a natural and an artificial system ; 
 he appreciated the value of the former, but he pro- 
 secuted his invention of the latter, because he saw 
 it was more suited to the then state of science. 
 That he possessed no inconsiderable knowledge of 
 comparative anatomy, is abundantly evident ; but he 
 knew that the external characters of most animals 
 were quite sufficient for the purpose of identifying 
 them : and he wisely refrained from overburdening 
 his definitions with unessential details and characters. 
 Simplicity, in short, was his ruling passion, and it 
 Avould be well for modern science if this principle 
 had been imbibed by his successors. That he was 
 ever anxious to improve his classification, to institute 
 new divisions, modify his old genera, and make new 
 ones, is attested by every succeeding edition of his 
 Sy sterna Natura, which he went on to improve until 
 his death. These augmentations, however, were 
 almost solely the result of personal knowledge. He 
 possessed the spirit, the judgment, and the caution of 
 Willughby, in rejecting all the vague and ill-defined 
 species both of plants and of animals, mentioned 
 by other writers and thus purged the science of a
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 37 
 
 cumbrous and inextricable mass of" good-for-nothing 
 lore," which confused, without instructing, the stu- 
 dent. The amiable and gentle Ray, on the contrary, 
 wanted the courage to do this : his own botanical 
 works* are loaded with descriptions, even then ob- 
 solete, from the early writers, and he ingrafted the 
 same useless lore, as he himself confesses, into the 
 pure nervous descriptions of his master Willughby. 
 
 (16.) The publication of the Sy sterna Naturce gave 
 to the study of Natural History a new form and a new 
 life. Naturalists were astonished and delighted to 
 see so much information condensed in so small a 
 compass, and arranged in such luminous order. In 
 those days, no other knowledge was sought for than 
 the correct name of an animal or a plant, whether 
 it was known or unknown, and what were its 
 distinguishing characters. No wonder, therefore, 
 that he who so admirably succeeded in communi- 
 cating this information, insured immediate applause, 
 and was suddenly raised to the rank of an oracle. 
 His merits could be at once appreciated ; no course 
 of previous study was requisite to comprehend them, 
 no train of laborious investigation was essential to 
 reveal their beauties. This was the true cause of 
 the brilliant success experienced by Linnaeus, and 
 of the rapid adoption of his system. He rose into 
 favour with his sovereign. Natural History counted 
 kings and princes among her patrons. Linnaean 
 Societies were formed in different parts of Europe ; 
 and the disciples of the great Swede travelled and 
 
 * Particularly in his Stirpium Europsearum extra Briton- 
 nias Nascentium Sylloge, a compilation from the works of 
 Clusius, Bauhinius, F. Columna, &c. 
 D 3
 
 88 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 collected in all the regions of the globe. The merits 
 of that little band of British worthies, composed of 
 Lister, Willughby, and Ray, whose writings brought 
 about this sudden revolution in our science, seem 
 to have been completely forgotten, in this general 
 and exclusive homage paid to the great Northern 
 Star. Yet England, as if determined to maintain 
 her high character for original discovery, produced 
 at this epoch one to whom even Linnaeus himself 
 was to bow. This genius was John Ellis, im- 
 mortalised by the discovery of the true nature of 
 the coralline animals, and by the masterly investi- 
 gation he bestowed upon them. The value of this 
 discovery is best stated in the words of Linnaeus 
 himself. In a private letter to Ellis he observes, 
 " You have enriched our science by laying open a 
 new submarine world to the admirers of nature * ;"' 
 and " You have taken so lofty a rank in science, by 
 your discovery concerning corallines, that no vicis- 
 situde in human affairs can obscure your reputation." 
 No one more fully or more justly predicted the 
 lasting fame of our celebrated countryman, whose 
 discoveries were not confined, like that of Trembley 
 on the polype, to a single genus, but comprehended 
 a vast division of the animal kingdom.f Say what 
 
 * Linn. Corr. i. p. 164. 177. 
 
 f And yet, with these confessions, the unfortunate vanity of 
 Linnaeus prevented him from publicly confessing his own error 
 regarding corals, and admitting to the full the splendid dis- 
 covery of Ellis. " He has, consequently," as Sir James 
 Smith truly observes, " fallen into half measures and ambigui- 
 ties, which disgrace that part of his immortal Systema Na- 
 turae, where these productions are described." Linn. Corr. I.
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 39 
 
 we will, the best test of the merits of a writer, is 
 the value which posterity attaches to his works; 
 and, if we measure the researches of Ellis by this 
 rule, we shall find, that, unlike systems claiming far 
 higher pretensions, the two volumes of our illustrious 
 countryman are now of as high an authority as they 
 were on their first publication. His Natural History 
 of Corallines *, now become scarce, was immediately 
 translated into French, and we understand another 
 edition has recently been published on the Continent. 
 He was the author of no less than twenty-five papers 
 in the Transactions of the Royal Society, and he was 
 honoured by receiving the Copley medal for 1768 
 For some time previous to his death he had been 
 gathering materials for a grand work on the zoo- 
 phytes, and a considerable number of most admir- 
 able plates had already been executed, when this 
 event took place, in 1776. These materials, however, 
 were arranged by Dr. Solander, but only published f 
 in 1786, under the auspices of Sir Joseph Banks; 
 when both the Author and the editor had gone to 
 their last home. Ellis was also an accomplished 
 
 p. 80. He not only did this, but stoutly denied, to the last, 
 in his own works, the discovery of Ellis. See Maton's Life 
 of Linn., p. 560. 
 
 * Ellis. (1.) Essay towards a Natural History of the Coral- 
 lines found on the Coast of Great Britain and Ireland. By 
 John Ellis, Esq. London, 1755. 1 vol. 4to. (2.) Letter to 
 Dr. Linnseus on the Animal Nature of Zoophytes, called Co- 
 rallina. London, 1768. 4to. 
 
 f Natural History of many curious and uncommon Zoo- 
 phytes, collected from various Parts of the Globe. By Ellis and 
 Solander. London, 1786. 1 vol. 4to,
 
 40 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 and an acute botanist, and his name must ever 
 rank among the most endearing of those which 
 add lustre to our science. 
 
 (17-) It is impossible, in the rapid survey we are 
 now taking, to dwell upon all the names, much less 
 to enumerate all the works, which now propagated 
 the system of Linnaeus, and gained fresh converts to 
 the study of nature. For about fourteen years the 
 illustrious Swede reigned, without a competitor, over 
 the empire of zoology. But a formidable rival then 
 arose, who divided with him the honours of su- 
 premacy. It will be necessary, however, before 
 anticipating this part of our history, to notice a 
 few writers, whose names occur between the years 
 1734 and 1754, or a period of about twenty years ; 
 during which time, nearly every thing that was 
 published on systematic natural history emanated 
 alone from Linnaeus. Humph (or, as he is more 
 generally called, Rumphius), was a Dutch merchant 
 resident for many years in Amboyna, during which 
 time he investigated both the botany and concho- 
 logy of that productive island, and he published the 
 result in two separate works, still of much value.* 
 There is a very interesting portrait of this venerable 
 worthy, who nearly completed seventy years, pre- 
 fixed to one of his works, representing him, as he 
 became in his latter days, blind; yet still taking 
 delight in examining his favourite shells by touch, 
 when he could no longer do so by sight. The 
 
 * G. E. Rumphius. (1.) Thesaurus Imaginum Piscium 
 Testaceorum, &c. Hagae Comitum, 1739. folio. (2.) Cabinet 
 d'Amboine, en Hollandois. Amst. 1705. 1 vol. folio. 
 fCuvier.)
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 41 
 
 conchology of D'Argenville, which appeared in 
 1742*, although costly in its execution, has little 
 claims to merit ; the drawing of the figures, which 
 constitutes its only value, renders it greatly inferior 
 both to the volumes of Lister and of Rumphius. 
 In 1758, conchology received another addition in 
 the coloured plates of Regenfuss, published at 
 Copenhagen: but the work was never completed, 
 and the only volume that exists is so very rare, that 
 we know but of two copies in this country, f A 
 splendid addition was made to illustrated entomology 
 in 1746, by the coloured figures of RosselJ ; and here 
 also we may notice the valuable collection of figures 
 by our countryman Edwards ; whose works, although 
 terminated at a time when most writers arranged 
 their materials according to the Linnaean method, 
 were commenced in 1743, and belong to the illus- 
 trative, more than to the scientific class, of zoological 
 publications. Edwards was the friend of Sir Hans 
 Sloane, and for many years filled the office of 
 librarian to the College of Physicians. He has no 
 pretensions to scientific talent, or to original research ; 
 yet it is an extraordinary fact, that, destitute of such 
 
 * D'Argenville. L'Histoire Naturelle eclaircie dans une de 
 ses principals Parties, la Conchylcologie. Paris, 1 742. An- 
 other edition appeared in 1757 ; and a third, augmented by 
 Favanne, in 2 vols. 4to, in 1780. 
 
 f Regenfuss. Choix de Coquillages et de Crustaces. Co- 
 penhagen, 1758. Folio. 
 
 | A. J. Roesel. Der Monatlich, Herausgegebenen Insecten 
 Blustigung ; or, a Monthly Publication on the Amusements 
 of Insects. Nurenberg, 1746 1761. 4 vols., small 4to. The 
 fourth volume is a Supplement by Kleeman.
 
 42 STUDY OP NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 qualifications, his works are assuredly the most 
 valuable, on general ornithology, that have ever 
 appeared in England. This arose from his being 
 the first who figured and described a vast number 
 of birds, then new to naturalists, who consequently 
 refer to him as the original authority for all such 
 species. The figures of Edwards were copied and 
 recopied by nearly all succeeding writers, up to the 
 year 1820, when we ventured, in the Zoological 
 Illustrations, to introduce a new style of delinea- 
 tion ; and to substitute original figures for those 
 which were then copied into nearly all the popular 
 compilations. Edwards was remarkably exact in 
 his descriptions, and sufficiently so in his figures, 
 so that f.o zoological library, especially one for 
 reference, should be without his volumes. * In the 
 year 1744, the famous discovery was made by 
 Trembley, a native of Geneva, of the reproductive 
 powers of the freshwater polype, f The develope- 
 ment of this wonderful fact entitles his name to a 
 high, station in the records of analytical research; 
 although, in its general effect, this discovery exer- 
 cises far less influence on zoological arrangement 
 
 * Edwards. (1.) The Natural History of uncommon Birds, 
 and of some other rare and undescribed Animals. By George 
 Edwards, Library Keeper to the Royal College of Physicians. 
 In 4 vols. 4to. 1743 1750. Edwards is erroneously termed 
 by Cuvier, Peintre Anglais. (2.) Gleanings of Natural History, 
 exhibiting Figures of Quadrupeds, Birds, Insects, Plants, &c. 
 By George Edwards, F.R.S. and F.A.S. In 3 vols. 4to. 
 17581764. 
 
 f Trembley. Memoires pour servir a 1'Histoire des Po- 
 lypes d'eau douce, a bras en forme de comes. Leyden, 1744. 
 1 vol. 4to.
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 43 
 
 than that of Ellis. Ichthyology had received no 
 additions since the time of the illustrious Willugh- 
 by, but in 1754, Gronovius, a wealthy collector of 
 Leyden, published an account of the fish con- 
 tained in his museum.* This work, now become 
 very rare, we do not possess. It is evident, however, 
 from a subsequent publicationf , that Gronovius 
 received the Linnaean system with a strong and 
 even an absurd prejudice. He quotes the works of 
 its author, it is true, but he neither adopts his 
 specific characters, or his nomenclature, preferring 
 to designate his subjects after the old method, rather 
 than by a positive name. So strongly, indeed, does 
 he seem prejudiced on this point, that he carefully 
 excludes the specific names of Linnaeus from his 
 entire work ! Gronovius, however, gives the cha 
 racters of several genera, not to be found in the 
 Systema Natura, and so far his opposition to 
 Linnaeus was perfectly justifiable ; while his de- 
 scriptions and characters are copious and excellent. 
 (18.) But it is time for us to notice a new school 
 of naturalists, which arose in France even before the 
 publication of the first edition of Linnaeus's system, 
 and which was brought about by the celebrated 
 Reaumur's Memoirs towards a History of Insects ^ ; 
 the first volume of which was published at Paris, in 
 
 * Laur. Theod. Gronovius. Museum Ichthyologicum. 
 
 vol. in fol. Leyden, 1754. (Cuvier.) 
 
 f Zoophylasii Gronoviani, exhibens Animalia quadrupeda, 
 Amphibia, atque Pisces, &c. Lugd. Batav. 1763. 1 vol. 
 fol. 
 
 \ Memoires pour servir a 1'Histoire des Insectes, par M. de 
 Reaumur Paris, 17341742. Six vols. 4to.
 
 44 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 1734. There can be no doubt that it was this valuable 
 and beautifully written work, full of interesting 
 facts, detailed in popular and elegant language, 
 that first induced Buifon to adopt a similar style, 
 and to clothe natural history in such a dress 
 that it should interest the world. That he 
 completely succeeded in so doing, by those graces 
 of composition and those charms of eloquence 
 which he possessed, is notorious to all. These 
 qualifications were his own, but they would have 
 been altogether useless, at least in this undertaking, 
 but for the sound information, the knowledge, and 
 the experience of his friend and fellow labourer. 
 Daubenton, who supplied the eloquent biographer 
 of the animal kingdom with that solid information 
 he did not possess, and without which compara- 
 tively he could have done nothing. It is unreason- 
 able to expect that a man like Buffon should excel 
 in such opposite qualities as rigid and laborious 
 research, cautious deduction, and flowery eloquence. 
 Upon the two first is built every thing valuable in 
 pure science; while the latter, however desirable, 
 is merely ornamental; it may captivate the world, 
 but it is rather detrimental than otherwise to the 
 advancement of sound knowledge, and the calm 
 investigation of truth. Hence it led the vivid and 
 excursive fancy of Buffon into wild and fanciful 
 theories, positive assertions, and palpable blunders. 
 And these errors, although clothed with all the 
 charms of eloquence, faded away like the mists 
 of a summer morn before the rays of truth. That 
 the writings of this celebrated man promoted, 
 indirectly, the extension and the advancement of na-
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OP ZOOLOGY. 45 
 
 tural history, is beyond all doubt ; but it may safely 
 be affirmed, that its science, or its philosophy, 
 derived little or no direct benefit from his splendid 
 compositions. His character and his writings were 
 in complete accordance with those of the nation to 
 which he belonged ; and his immediate popularity 
 was the consequent result. From that time the 
 cultivators of zoology were divided into two schools ; 
 one party following the systematic investigation 
 inculcated by Linnaeus, the other ranged them- 
 selves under the banners of Buffon, and gathered 
 the flowers, without probing for the honey. 
 
 (19.) The disciples of Linnaeus, whose proceed- 
 ings we shall first briefly sketch, followed, with 
 little deviation, the line of enquiry and the plan of 
 arranging their discoveries, pursued by their great 
 master. Artedi, who was among the earliest and 
 most eminent disciples of this school, studied fish : 
 and his Ichthyology is one of the most valuable 
 treatises of those animals we even now possess. By 
 the recommendation of Linnaeus, the wealthy Seba 
 intended to have engaged him in describing and 
 arranging the ichthyological portion of his volu- 
 minous work, already alluded to : but by the sudden 
 and premature death of young Artedi, occasioned 
 by his falling into one of the canals on returning at 
 night to his lodgings, this project was defeated. 
 Linnaeus, who edited the works of his friend and 
 pupil, prefixed to the volume an interesting Life of 
 its author, which will be perused with pleasure.* 
 The curious reader will find in the first part an 
 
 * P. Artedi. Ichthyologia, sive Opera omnia de Piscibus. 
 Lug. Bat. 1738. 1 vol. 8vo.
 
 46 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 admirable and erudite chronology of all the writers 
 upon ichthyology, from the most remote records, up 
 to the time of Willughby and Ray. It is singular 
 that no specific names appear in this volume, although 
 edited by Linnaeus : and, while ample descriptions 
 are given of such as were new species, little is stated 
 in regard to others, beyond innumerable references 
 to ancient writers. Artedi fell into the prevalent 
 notion of considering whales, and all the cetaceous 
 quadrupeds, as true fish : but with this exception he 
 so far surpassed all his predecessors in clearness of 
 arrangement, and in the extent of his materials, that 
 he deserves to be considered the father of systematic 
 ichthyology. Artedi was followed in this depart- 
 ment by Gronovius, whose name we have excluded 
 from this school, rather on account of his strange 
 rejection of the Linnaean nomenclature, than from a 
 departure from that mode of arrangement which ori- 
 ginated with the great Swede. Sulzer was the first 
 who adopted the Linnaean entomology, for in 1761 
 he published a work with coloured plates, expressly 
 to illustrate this system of insects * ; and this was 
 followed, fifteen years after, by others, having the 
 same object. 
 
 (20.) Entomology now began to be pursued with 
 much avidity on the Continent, but more espe- 
 cially in Germany ; where, to this day, it has con- 
 tinued to flourish more than in any other part of 
 
 * J. H. Sulzer. (1.) Die Keunzeichen der Insecten, &c.; or, 
 The Characters of Insects, according to Linne. Zurich, 1761. 
 1 vol. 4to. (2.) Abgekiirzte geschichte der Insecten, &c. ; or, 
 The abridged History of Insects, according to Linne. Win- 
 terthur, 1776. 2 vols. 4to.
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 47 
 
 Europe. No better evidence of these facts can be 
 adduced than the rapid increase of new works in 
 this department towards the middle of the last cen- 
 tury. Entomology, in the following year, was en- 
 riched with the most inimitable delineations of insects 
 which this or any age has produced; and which 
 form the plates to that beautiful work by Sepp (in 
 Dutch) on the insects of the Low Countries.* This 
 publication came out in numbers, and perfect sets 
 are now exceedingly rare : those portions we possess 
 relate exclusively to the Lepidoptera, each species 
 being delineated, in all its several transformations, 
 from the egg to the perfect insect : the drawing of 
 the subjects is chaste, elegant, and cannot be excelled 
 for accuracy ; while the style of engraving is ad- 
 mirably suited to express all the softness of the 
 original drawings. These plates, in fact, have never 
 been equalled, far less excelled, by any of the most 
 celebrated in modern times. Sepp undertook, in 
 like manner, to figure all the birds of his native 
 country, but his talents were quite unsuited to this 
 department ; and his figures have all the stiffness 
 and roughness of badly preserved dried specimens. 
 The works of Sepp, who is the Van Huysum of our 
 science, are more illustrative than scientific, while that 
 of Scopoli, on the entomology of Carniolaf , which 
 soon followed, is purely descriptive : he does not, 
 however, implicitly follow Linnaeus in the names of 
 
 * Sepp. Beschouwing der Wonderen Gods in de Minst- 
 geachte Schepzelen of Nederlandsche Insecten. Amsterdam, 
 1762, &c. :3 vok. 4 to. 
 
 f- J. A. Scopoli. Entomologia Carniolica, exhibens Insecta 
 Carnioliaj indigena. Vindobonje, 1763. 1 vol. 8vo.
 
 48 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 his orders, and he proposes several new genera : but 
 he writes in the spirit of the Systema Natures, and 
 the excellence of his descriptions shows he was an 
 accurate observer and a really good naturalist. 
 Scopoli was Botanical Professor at Pavia. With 
 that moral courage which bespeaks an honest and a 
 good heart, he had the " temerity" to expose the 
 disgraceful thefts made by Spalenzani of objects 
 from the public museum. The interest of the 
 accused, however, supported him ; and although the 
 proofs adduced were unanswerable, the remainder 
 of Scopoli's life was rendered miserable by the per- 
 secution of Spalenzani's friends. He was subsequently 
 the author of three other works*, and he is stated 
 to have published some plates, illustrating his Ento. 
 mologia Carniolica, but which we have never met 
 with in any library. Three years afterwards, the 
 industrious Schreffer, of Ratisbon, began to publish 
 his voluminous and expensive works, chiefly upon 
 the insects of his native province : they are now 
 valuable only for the numerous coloured figures, of 
 poor execution as works of art, yet very useful for 
 reference. He was not altogether a disciple of 
 Linnaeus, for he endeavoured to set up a system of 
 his own, of which he published the Elements f, 
 
 * Scopoli. (1.) Introductio ad Historiam Naturalcm. 
 Praga, 1777. 1 vol. 8vo. (2.) Anni Historico Naturales. 
 Lipsiae, 17681772. 1 vol. 8vo. (3.) Deliciae Flora et 
 Faunas insubricas. Ticini, 1786 1788. 1 vol. folio. 
 
 f J. C. Schceffer. (1.) ElementaEntomologica. Regensburg, 
 1766. 1 vol. 4to. In Latin and German. (2.) Icones Insecto- 
 rum circa Ratisbonam indigenorum. Regens. 1769. 3 vols. 
 4to.
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 49 
 
 containing many new genera, not to be found in 
 Linnaeus ; yet the characters are short and unsatis- 
 factory ; and, strange to say, he nowhere uses spe- 
 cific names. Schaeffer was a clergyman of Ratisbon, 
 and lived to the age of seventy-two ; but, although 
 industrious, his abilities were very moderate. 
 
 (21.) While entomology was thus advanced by de- 
 scribers and painters, the disciples of Linnaeus were 
 returning from their travels, and pouring into the lap 
 of their master the innumerable novelties they had 
 discovered in distant regions. Hasselquist, who had 
 been travelling in the East, published his narrative 
 in 1757. Osbeck returned from China, loaded 
 with its plants and animals. Forskal* was no less 
 zealous and successful in investigating the little 
 known tracts of Egypt and the shores of the Red 
 Sea: and Sparmann-j- travelled both to Southern 
 Africa and China. The treasures collected by these 
 enterprising and accomplished travellers went to 
 augment the accumulating materials of Linnaeus, 
 and rapidly swelled the bulk of each succeeding 
 edition of his Sy sterna Natures. It is really surprising 
 to witness with what rapidity this celebrated man 
 could arrange and incorporate materials so numerous 
 and so varied, as they came pouring in upon him 
 from all quarters, and which, to ordinary men, 
 would have been perfectly overwhelming. While 
 Zoology was thus proceeding with rapid strides upon 
 
 * Forskal, P. Descriptiones Animalium, &c., qua in Iti- 
 
 nere Oriental! observavit. 1775. 4to .Icones Rerurn Natu- 
 
 ralium quas in itinere Oriental! depingi curavit. 1776. 4to. 
 
 f Sparmann, A. Museum Carlsonianum. Holmiae, 1786 
 1789. Four parts, forming 2 vols. small folio.
 
 50 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 the Continent, it seems to have made no great pro- 
 gress among us, were we to judge from the paucity 
 of works then published in Britain. Edwards, it 
 is true, was going on with his excellent History of 
 Birds; and Borlase had done something to illustrate 
 the natural history of Cornwall ; but no new work 
 of any moment appeared in England between the 
 years 1755 and 1766 ; when our accomplished coun- 
 tryman Pennant gave that impetus to the science, 
 which it seems to have required. Pennant was a 
 scholar and a gentleman, possessing great and varied 
 acquirements. He was versed in classic and in his- 
 torical learning; and passionately attached to the 
 natural history of his own country. His works, in 
 all these departments, are numerous ; but he is 
 chiefly known among us as the first who treated the 
 natural history of Britain in a popular and interesting 
 style.* He followed the system of Linnaeus, except 
 in that strange and unnatural arrangement of the 
 primary orders of birds, which he fell into, and 
 which was the more inexcusable, after the writings 
 of Willughby. There are no novelties of arrange- 
 ment in the works of Pennant, and no original re- 
 search, beyond the accession of new species ; but he 
 contrived to give great interest to his descriptions, 
 by enriching them from the stores of his classic and 
 antiquarian knowledge. Hence he enjoyed great 
 
 * Thomas Pennant. British Zoology, 1 vol. folio. Lon- 
 don, 1766. Ditto, in 4to. Ditto, in Svo., 4 vols. 1812. 
 Synopsis of Quadrupeds. Chester, 1771. 1 vol. 8vo. 
 History of Quadrupeds. London, 1793. Genera of Birds. 
 
 London, 1781. 1 vol. 4to Indian Zoology. London, 1790. 
 
 1 voL 4to. Arctic Zoology. London, 1792. 2 vols. 4to,
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 51 
 
 popularity ; and his works may be perused, even 
 now, with pleasure and advantage. Although he 
 must have greatly contributed to extend a taste for 
 these pursuits, yet his example assisted, without 
 doubt, to throw upon our succeeding writers those 
 fetters of implicit obedience to the authority of 
 Linnaeus, which every fresh example more firmly 
 riveted ; until at length it was deemed a sort of heresy 
 to propose a new division, or to name a new genus. 
 Pennant for many years held a constant corre- 
 spondence with the ingenious and amiable White 
 of Selborne ; who, though not a professed writer 
 upon systematic natural history, contributed very 
 much to the information of Pennant, and whose 
 popular and interesting letters have recently been 
 published by so many different editors. White, in 
 short, was one of those very few who then devoted 
 his attention to the observance of nature, without 
 making any attempt to generalise the facts so ac- 
 quired. Natural history, to such observers, is but a 
 mere amusement, fascinating indeed, and even use- 
 ful, but totally disconnected with the objects of phi- 
 losophic science. Entomology, which had been so 
 much advanced on the Continent by the figures of 
 Rcesel, Sulzer, Sepp, and Schaeffer, and by the scien- 
 tific volume of Scopoli, now began to make some 
 progress in England ; more indeed by the admirable 
 figures of Moses Harris, than by the descriptions 
 which accompanied them in the three volumes of 
 Drury's Exotic Insects * ; the first of which appeared 
 
 * Illustrations of Natural History. By D. Drury. Lon- 
 don, 1770 1772. 3 vols. 4to. 
 
 E 2
 
 52 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 in 1770. Drury was a wealthy jeweller, and expended 
 large sums in sending out practical collectors to all 
 parts of the world, to enrich his cabinet with new 
 insects. It is to one of these, Mr. Henry Smeathman, 
 that we are indebted for an elaborate and most in- 
 teresting account of those wonderful insects, gene- 
 rally termed white ants; this remarkable discovery 
 was published in the Philosophical Transactions, 
 and subsequently translated into French.* This 
 is unquestionably one of the most valuable discoveries 
 in the natural history of insects ever made ; yielding 
 only to that of Huber's on the bees. 
 
 (22.) Nearly at the same time that the first vo- 
 lume of Drury 's Insects was published in England, 
 the great work of Martini f, on General Conchology, 
 made its appearance in Germany. This bold and 
 costly undertaking at once shows how great a 
 taste for shells then existed ; for it extended, 
 with the continuation by Martini, to no less than 
 eleven quarto volumes ; and, notwithstanding the 
 poorness of its figures, it still continues to be one 
 of the standard authorities for reference in this 
 department : the arrangement, however, is defective, 
 and it possesses none of the judgment or the correct 
 views of Lister. In 1773, another addition to the 
 already numerous collections of entomological figures 
 was made by Benjamin Wilks, who published 124? 
 plates of English moths and butterflies. 
 
 * Memoire pour servir a 1'Histoire de quelques Insectes 
 connus sous les Noms de Termis ou Fourmis Blanches. Par 
 M. H. Smeathman. Ouvrage redige en Frangois par M. Cy- 
 xille Rigaud. Paris, 1786. 8vo. 
 
 f Martini und Chemnitz. Neue Systematisches Conchi- 
 lien Cabinett Numb. 1769 18OO.
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 53 
 
 (23.) It deserves notice, that, notwithstanding the 
 numerous works upon entomology that appeared be- 
 tween 1734 and 1773, they were all, excepting Sco- 
 poli's, more or less illustrative ; that is, intended to 
 delineate insects, rather than to describe them. The 
 letterpress, in fact, was subordinate to the plates ; so 
 that all that the science gained was an immense ac- 
 cession of new species, requiring the institution of 
 new genera, and new divisions for their reception in 
 scientific arrangement. This task was undertaken, 
 in 1775, by a distinguished disciple of Linnaeus, the 
 celebrated Fabricius, who in that year commenced 
 the publication of his voluminous works*, which 
 subsequently extended to nearly twenty octavo 
 volumes. Fabricius, although in one sense the 
 founder of an entomological system, was never- 
 theless a disciple of that purely systematic school, 
 of which we are now tracing the progress. Had 
 he been content to have increased the genera of his 
 original instructor, to suit the vast additions that 
 had now been made to the knowledge of species 
 and groups, his fame would have been equally 
 brilliant and more lasting : but, like very many of 
 those who went before, and who came after him. 
 
 * Jo. Christ. Fabricius. Systema Entomologies. Lipsia, 
 1775. 1 vol. Species Insectorum. Hamb. 1781. Sup- 
 plementum Entomologies Systematic. Hafniae, 1798. Ge- 
 nera Insectorum. Chilonii. Mantissa Insectorum. Hafniae, 
 1787. Philosophia Entomologias. Hamb. 1778. Ento- 
 mologia Systematica, emendata et aucta. Hafniae, 17921796. 
 5 vols. Supplementum Entomologia; Systematical. Hafniae, 
 1798. Systema Eleutheratorum. Kiliae, 1801. 2 vols. Sys- 
 tema Piezatorum. 1804. Systema A ntiliatorum. Bruns.1805. 
 E 3
 
 54> STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 he chose to affect entire novelty; he made alter- 
 ations and innovations in matters where none were 
 called for; and he built his arrangement upon 
 characters which, when taken by themselves, are 
 not only extremely difficult of detection, but also 
 very artificial. He devised new names for the orders, 
 and he founded his generic characters entirely on 
 the parts of the mouth, excluding all others of 
 external structure. It seems difficult to account 
 for the great popularity which Fabricius at one time 
 enjoyed on the Continent, and even in England ; 
 seeing that, althoug'h his zeal and industry were 
 unwearied, his principles of classification were 
 troublesome and complicated, and his ideas on the 
 philosophy of his science crude and superficial. 
 But this popularity entirely arose from his having 
 no competitor in systematic entomology. Linnaeus, 
 having defined his orders, and indicated the chief 
 generic groups, seems to have almost relinquished 
 further improvements in this branch of his studies, 
 and to have tacitly resigned entomology into the 
 hands of his pupil. The consequence was, that the 
 entomologists of the day, continually discovering 
 new species, and finding the Linneean genera totally 
 inadequate to contain such accumulating novelties, 
 had no alternative but to adopt the system of 
 Fabricius, at least so far as his genera were con- 
 cerned, for very few were disposed to relinquish 
 the Linnasan names of the orders ; and Fabricius, in 
 some of his subsequent works, was induced to bring 
 in the external characters of his genera, in addition 
 to those taken from their oral organs. Fabricius 
 lived long, and wrote much ; so that he may be said
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 55 
 
 to have presided over systematic entomology for 
 nearly thirty-two years; that is, from 1775 to the 
 beginning of the present century : he lived, how- 
 ever, to see the rapid declension of his system, be- 
 fore the rising star of the celebrated Latreille. 
 
 (24.) Those who still adhered to the entomolo- 
 gical arrangement of Linnaeus, were Thunberg, one 
 of his most eminent disciples, who travelled in China, 
 Japan, and Southern Africa, and ultimately filled 
 the botanical chair of Upsal ; Miiller*, who wrote 
 a valuable Fauna of the animals of Denmark and 
 Norway; Forsterf, the companion of Captain 
 Cook, who has left us a Century of Insects; and 
 Villers, who:}:, even so late as 1789, made a vain 
 and retrograde movement in the science, by reducing 
 all the genera of Fabricius and of others to the 
 Linnaean standard. We may here mention the ex- 
 cellent work of Schrank , who systematically in- 
 vestigated and described the insects of- Austria. 
 
 * O. F. Miiller. Zoologies Danicas Prodromus. Hafnias, 
 1776. 1 vol. 8vo. Also, Fauna Insectorum Fridrichsdalina. 
 Hafniaj, 1764. 8vo. 
 
 f J. R. Forster. Novae Species Insectorum. Centuria 1 
 Londini, 1771. 8vo. A Catalogue of British Insects. 
 Warrjngton, 1770. 8vo. 
 
 f Villers. Car. Linnaji Entomologia, Faunae Suecica; 
 Descriptionibus aucta ; D. D. Scopoli, Geoffroy, De Geer, 
 Fabricii, Schrank, &c., Speciebus vel in Systemate non enu- 
 meratis, ve) nuperrime detectis, vel Speciebus Galliae Australis 
 locupletata, Generum Specierumque rariorura Iconibus ornata; 
 curante et augente Carol, de Villers. Lugduni, 1789. 3 vols. 
 8vo. 
 
 F. Schrank. Enumeratio Insectorum Austriae indige- 
 norum. Aug. Vind. 1781. 8vo. 
 E 4
 
 56 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 Of illustrated works belonging to this school, 
 there are two of great merit. Fabricius found 
 a powerful supporter in the celebrated French 
 entomologist Olivier*, who, after travelling exten- 
 sively in Turkey, Egypt, and Persia, returned, and 
 commenced his great work upon coleopterous in- 
 sects ; the richest in figures and in description we 
 yet possess. Rcemer-j-, also, has illustrated the 
 genera of Fabricius with remarkably good figures, 
 drawn with a boldness rarely seen in those of other 
 artists. But the most splendid work of this descrip- 
 tion relative to British insects, which appeared in 
 this era, is the Aurelian of Moses Harris J, the 
 executor of Drury's figures, already mentioned, 
 and whose beautiful plates far exceed those of 
 Albin, Wilks, or Donovan, on the same subject; 
 Harris cannot be regarded as a scientific entomolo- 
 gist, yet it is curious to trace the perception he had 
 of natural arrangement. He was the first, in fact, 
 who distributed all the British Diurnal Lepidoptera 
 into those genera termed modern, long before those 
 who have the credit of so doing were born. The 
 excessive rarity of the little tract which substantiates 
 this fact, so honourable to our countryman, is no 
 doubt the reason why it has never been noticed , a 
 
 * Olivier. Entomologie, ou Histoire Naturelle des In- 
 sectes. Paris, 1789 1808. 5 vols. 4to. 
 
 t J. J. Roemer. Genera Insectorum Linnaei et Fabricii 
 Iconibus illustrata. Vit. Helv. 1789. 4to. 
 
 \ Moses Harris. The Aurelian ; or, Natural History of 
 English Insects, namely, Moths and Butterflies. London, 
 1778. folio. 
 
 Moses Harris. An Essay preceding a Supplement to the
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 57 
 
 publication upon the Lepidoptera, inferior, indeed, 
 to that of Harris in execution, but much more 
 comprehensive, was commenced, in 1779, by Cra- 
 mer *, and terminated by Stoll ; comprising, upon 
 442 plates, the largest collection we possess of 
 coloured figures of the exotic Lepidoptera : the fifth 
 volume is entirely by Stoll f, and is enriched with 
 numerous representations of larvae and pupae, drawn 
 iif Surinam. Although these figures are indifferently 
 drawn and coarsely coloured, yet they are never- 
 theless sufficiently accurate to render this work of 
 much value. 
 
 (25.) Leaving entomology for the present, let us 
 trace the progress of the Linnaean school in other de- 
 partments. The work upon quadrupeds, by Schreber, 
 commenced in 1775, is of little value ; most of the 
 plates being copies, and inaccurately coloured. But 
 in 1776, the most celebrated of all the disciples of 
 Linnaeus, Professor Pallas, began to publish his 
 various essays and dissertations on almost every 
 branch of zoology.;): The commencement of his 
 
 Aurelian. London, no date : but at the corner of the 2d and 
 6th plates is inscribed, " M. Harris del. et sculp. Oct. 20. 
 1767." An Exposition of English Insects. London, 1782. 
 
 1 vol. 4to The English Lepidoptera ; or, the Aurelian's 
 
 Pocket Companion, &c. London, 1775. 8vo. 
 
 * P. Cramer. Papillons Exotiques des Trois Parties du 
 Monde ; 1'Asie, 1'Afrique, et I'Am^rique. Par M. Pierre Cra- 
 mer. Amsterdam, 1779, &c. 4 vols. 4to. 
 
 | C. Stoll. Supplement a 1'Ouvrage du M. Cramer. Am- 
 sterdam, 1791. 1 vol. 4to. 
 
 { Pallas. Miscellanea Zoologica. 1776. 1 vol. 4to. 
 Spicilegia Zoologica. Berl. 17671780. 1 vol. 4to. 
 Nova; Species Quadrupedum e Glirium Ordine. Erlang.
 
 58 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 career gave, little promise of his subsequent pro- 
 ficiency; for he rashly and ignorantly entered the 
 lists against the celebrated Ellis, and maintained 
 that corallines were plants ! * Pallas was engaged by 
 the court of Petersburgh for many years : he travelled 
 
 1778. 1 vol. 4to. Icones Insectorum prassertim Rossis 
 Siberiajque peculiarium. Erlang. 1781. 2 Nos. 
 
 * Ellis thus writes to Linnaeus : " There is now printing, 
 in Holland, a book on Zoophytes, by Dr. Pallas of Berlin, whc 
 was two years in England. This gentleman, I find, has 
 treated both you and me with a freedom unbecoming so young 
 a man. I find Pallas has used me with so much ill-nature, 
 because I exposed the absurdities of (his friend) Baster's doc- 
 trines and experiments, in our Phil. Trans." (Linn. Corr. i. 
 p. 186.) Again : " Dr. Pallas, in his article of Corallines 
 (vide Pallas, Zoophytes, p. 418.), depending on Count Mar- 
 sigli's chemical analysis of them, considers them as vegetables. 
 But if we observe how Pallas has confounded the calcareous 
 crust of corallines with the farinaceous covering of vegetables, 
 it will be no longer a matter of surprise : for had he put the 
 true corallines into an acid menstrum, and the Fucus pavo- 
 nius, which he calls Corattina pavonia (Pall. Zoophy. 419.), 
 and the Lichen fruticulosus, which he calls Corallina terrestris 
 (vide p. 427.), he would have found that the true corallines 
 would ferment strongly, while the Fuciis and Lichen would 
 not be in the least affected. " (Linn. Corr. i. p. 198.) The 
 high praise bestowed upon Pallas in the Regne Animal, and 
 the slight notice taken of Ellis in the same work, is the occa- 
 sion of this note. That Pallas published a great deal more 
 than Ellis, is very true, because the one was by profession a 
 naturalist, in the service of Russia ; while the other held a high 
 and responsible appointment under government, and could only 
 pursue natural history at his leisure. But talents are not to be 
 esteemed in this way : and the subsequent confession, by Palla* 
 himself, of his errors (Linn. Corr. i. p. 227.), places the re- 
 lative powers of these observers in their true light.
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 59 
 
 extensively both in Europe and Asia ; and described 
 with more than usual accuracy the animals he met 
 with ; he was also a very good comparative anato- 
 mist, and having no other profession to distract his 
 attention, and being blessed with a long life, he 
 had time to acquire considerable knowledge in all 
 departments of nature, not excepting botany and 
 mineralogy. He was more especially engaged by 
 Catherine II. to travel through the Asiatic pro- 
 vinces of Russia, with a view to investigate their 
 natural productions. His travels, published at the 
 expense of his munificent patron, were translated 
 into French, and subsequently into English. Pallas 
 was undoubtedly the most accomplished zoologist 
 of the Linnsean school, and, if he was not, the author 
 of any striking or important discovery, he accom- 
 plished more, in other ways, than any one of the era 
 in which he lived. Two works upon systematic con- 
 chology appeared in 1779, by Schrceter* and Born, ]-, 
 illustrated by figures ; those of the latter are very 
 well drawn, and delicately coloured, but those of 
 Schroeter, in this and his subsequent publications, 
 are indifferent, even for this period. Merram J 
 
 * Schrceter. A Treatise on River Shells (in German). 
 Halle, 1779. 4to. An Introduction to the Linnasan System 
 of Conchology (in German). Halle, 17831786. 3 vols. 
 8vo. An Account of the internal Structure of Sea Shells, 
 &c. (in German). Frankfort, 1783. 1 vol. 4to. 
 
 f Born. Testacea Musei Cassarei Vindobonensis. Vienna, 
 1780. Folio. 
 
 f Merram, B. Avium rariorum et minus cognitatum 
 Icones et Descrip. Leipzig, 1786. 1 vol. 4to. Materials 
 for a Natural History of Reptiles (in German). Duisbourg, 
 1790. 2 parts, 4to.
 
 60 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 in 1789, published the descriptions and figures of 
 some new birds ; and subsequently, in 1790, he took 
 up the examination of the much neglected class of 
 reptiles, intending to treat upon them in detail, but, 
 unfortunately, the work only reached to the second 
 number : this was the more to be regretted, since 
 Merram had evidently paid great attention to 
 these animals. Hermann, the professor of Strasburg 
 in 1783, deserves to be particularly mentioned, as 
 much for his systematic descriptions*, published 
 after his death, as for his very curious and valuable 
 work on the affinities of animals, wherein he brings 
 into comparison individuals of different orders, re- 
 sembling each other. These tables are well worth 
 the perusal, and even study, of the philosophic 
 zoologist ; for though Hermann was perpetually 
 confounding the two relations of affinity and ana- 
 logy, yet we can here trace the faint germ of those 
 enlarged views on the natural system, which, after a 
 lapse of many years, were to be so much expanded. 
 His son inherited the taste of his father, and pub- 
 lished a work on apterous animals ; but this we 
 have not seen. 
 
 (26.) Ichthyology, one of the first departments of 
 natural history which engaged the attention of the 
 writers of the sixteenth century, had received but 
 few additions since the time that Linnaeus began his 
 splendid career. Dr. Garden, one of his most valu- 
 able and learned correspondents f , had supplied him 
 
 * J. Hermann. Observations Zoologicas Posthumae. Stras- 
 burg, 1804. 1 vol. 4to. Tabula Affinitatum Animalium. 
 Strasburg, 1783. 1 vol. 4to. 
 
 f See Linn. Corr.
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 61 
 
 with many new species from America ; and the co- 
 loured figures of Catesby had made known several 
 others, peculiar to the coasts and rivers of Carolina. 
 Miiller, likewise, had touched upon the species of 
 Denmark, and a few had been described by Forskal 
 from the Red Sea ; but these additions to ichthyo- 
 logy were very insignificant, when compared to those 
 which other branches of zoology had received ; while 
 the want of good figures, even of the species already 
 known, left the knowledge of these animals in a very 
 backward state. The appearance, therefore, of the 
 famous work of Bloch, who began the publication of 
 his great undertaking in 1785, must have been 
 hailed with pleasure. Bloch was a Jewish physician, 
 settled in Berlin ; and his Ichthyology, in twelve 
 folio parts, containing no less than 452 coloured 
 plates, was such an undertaking as no one would 
 have courage to prosecute in these days, unless with 
 the determination of submitting to a large pecuniary 
 sacrifice. It is, without doubt, the most complete 
 work, in regard to figures, that has ever been pub- 
 lished : for although the subject was treated of sub- 
 sequently by La Cepede in greater detail, and with 
 a considerable addition of species, the figures in the 
 French work are small, uncoloured, and not alto- 
 gether remarkable for accuracy.* Bloch, although, 
 like Fabricius, the author of a system, followed the 
 systematic style of arrangement pursued by Linnaeus ; 
 and both his characters and his descriptions are ex- 
 cellent. One only regrets that a work so essential to 
 
 * M. E. Bloch. Ichthyologie, ou Histoire Naturelle ge- 
 nerale et particuliere des Poissons. 12 parties, folio. Berlin, 
 17851796.
 
 62 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 every ichthyologist, is, of necessity, so expensive. 
 There is, however, a smaller edition in octavo *, in 
 six parts or volumes, with 216 coloured plates, which, 
 so far as it extends, is equally useful with the folio 
 edition. Bloch has the great excellency of describing 
 such species only as he had himself seen ; a rare 
 quality in the writers of this period, when compilations 
 began to be made in the shape of general systems, 
 which almost brought us back to the age of Gesner 
 and Aldrovandus. Schneider f, however, who pub- 
 lished what he termed the system of his friend, after 
 his death, added separately in two volumes the species 
 described by other authors : but this work we have 
 not seen. Bloch was also the author of a volume on 
 the intestinal worms.;}: His continuator, Professor 
 Schneider, was also attached to the study of the 
 Amphibia, upon which he wrote some dissertations of 
 great merit ; particularly on the Tortoises, a tribe 
 which was again illustrated in 1792 by the coloured 
 platesofSchoepf.|l 
 
 (27-) Ornithology, as will subsequently appear 
 had been much attended to by the disciples of Buffo n ; 
 
 * Idem, en six parties, avec 216 planches. Berlin, 179G 
 8vo. 
 
 f J. G. Schneider. Systema Ichthyologia; de Bloch. 2 vols. 
 8vo. avec 110 fig. Berlin, 1801. (Cuvier.) 
 
 J Traite sur la Generation des Vers Intestines. Berlin, 
 1782. 4to. 
 
 Schneider. General Natural History of the Tortoises 
 
 (in German). Leipzig, 1783. 8vo Amphibiorum Phy- 
 
 siologia; Specim. 1 et 2. Zullichau, 1797. 4to. 
 
 || Schoepf. Historia Amphibiorum, Naturalis et Litteraria. 
 Fas. 1. et 2. Jena, 1799 and 1801. 8vo. Historia Tes- 
 tudinum Iconibus illustrata. Erlang. 1792. 4to.
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 63 
 
 but the vast accession of new species, which now 
 required systematic arrangement, pointed out the 
 necessity of a general work on this subject. Linnaeus 
 had now ceased from his labours, for he closed his 
 bright career in 1778; but his system was still para- 
 mount in this and most other countries ; and in 1782, 
 our celebrated countryman, Dr. Latham, adopted it 
 in his General Synopsis of Birds, save only in 
 the primary divisions. This great and laborious 
 undertaking was brought to a close in 1790, and it 
 remained, for many years, the best descriptive cata- 
 logue of birds extant. Several new genera were pro- 
 posed ; but it was not the practice, at this time, to 
 pay much attention to the minutiae of structure. It 
 was thought sufficient, for instance, for the purposes 
 of arrangement, to refer all flat-billed perching birds 
 to the genus Muscicapa, and that of Sylvia contained 
 all those with slender straight bills. As no effort 
 was made to improve the definitions of the Linnaean 
 genera, or to restrict them within due limits, it 
 necessarily followed that the same species was not 
 unfrequently described two or even three times, 
 under as many different names, and in different 
 genera ; while the desire of the author to include 
 all the species of birds then known, induced him to 
 transcribe from other authors the accounts of such 
 as he had not seen himself; and to introduce as 
 distinct species numberless others, whose existence 
 
 * Dr. Latham. (1.) A General Synopsis of Birds. By Dr. J. 
 Latham. 3 vols. and 2 Supplements. 4to. London, 1782, 
 &c. (2.) Index Ornithologicus. London, 1790. 2 vols. 4to. 
 (3.) A General History of Birds. Winchester, 18211824. 
 10 vols. 4to.
 
 64 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 rested only upon the faith of drawings in the hands 
 of his friends. From these circumstances, numberless 
 errors inevitably resulted : and, with all our respect 
 for the venerable author, we are compelled to con- 
 firm the judgment already passed upon this work 
 by Cuvier.* Nevertheless it must be admitted that 
 a large number of really new and most interesting 
 birds were now, for the first time, sufficiently well 
 described ; and that, at the period when they were 
 published, both the General Synopsis and the Index 
 Ornitliologicus were useful and even valuable pub- 
 lications. They accomplished, "in their generation," 
 the object for which they were intended, they 
 advanced science ; while their very imperfections 
 brought about that revolution in our mode of in- 
 vestigation, which has now rendered them of little 
 service. We should have wished, for the reputation 
 of the first writer whose works we studied, that the 
 History of Birds had never appeared; since it is 
 merely an enlargement of the Synopsis, presenting 
 us, in the year 1820, with the systematic views which 
 were prevalent in 1782 ; a system, in short, which, 
 having served its turn, is now only a ' matter of 
 history. We feel pained at being called upon to 
 criticise the works of authors who are now living, for 
 it will surprise -jmost of our readers when they are 
 told that the amiable and venerable author of the 
 Synopsis is now enjoying a vigorous old age, having 
 outlived, if report speaks true, ninety-four winters. 
 Should these remarks ever meet his eye, w pray him 
 to pardon their freedom ; and we entreat nini to re- 
 
 * Regne Animal, vol. iv. p. 135.
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 65 
 
 member that, after all, he has achieved what the 
 wisest of mankind can seldom outdo, that is, to con- 
 tribute, in their generation, to the advancement of 
 knowledge. The works of Dr. Shaw, one of the offi- 
 cers of the British Museum, may here be adverted to, 
 as he was unquestionably the writer * of nearly all 
 the zoological descriptions in White's Voyage to New 
 South Wales, published in 1789. He has been most 
 aptly termed a " laborious compiler and describer;"-]- 
 habitually purloining from the works of others, and 
 copying their figures, in popular periodicals of his 
 own ; sometimes, although rarely, interspersing them 
 with original articles. He had all the precise tech- 
 nicality, without any of the judgment, of Linnaeus. 
 He was, in fact, one of those false disciples of the 
 great Swede, who, looking to the letter, and not 
 to the spirit, of the Systema Naturae^ brought the 
 reputation of his master into unmerited obloquy ; 
 while he imagined he was upholding his fame by 
 a pertinacious rejection of all improvement. His 
 works are scarcely worth enumerating, save as an 
 instance of the mis-direction of good abilities, which 
 occasionally peeped forth, and of the oblivion which 
 will ever attend the writings of those who, for 
 temporary fame, bedeck themselves in the borrowed 
 plumes of others. Such plagiarists, sooner or later, 
 are sure to be detected. We wish that certain 
 compilers of the present day, now in the full tide of 
 
 * M. Cuvier erroneously attributes the whole to John Hun- 
 ter, the celebrated anatomist ; whereas he merely wrote the 
 account of five of the quadrupeds, and these are neither named 
 nor scientifically characterised. 
 
 f Regne Animal, tome iv. p. 156. 
 F
 
 66 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 their short-lived popularity, would remember this, and 
 desist from similar practices. The writings of Dr. 
 Shaw * may further be cited as a proof of the thraldom 
 in which, at this period, the zoologists of Bri^in were 
 held by their bigoted devotion to the letter of the 
 Sy sterna Naturae. Nor was it until some years after, 
 when better principles had been established on the 
 Continent, that this unaccountable spell was broken. 
 (28.) It is worthy of remark, that the very last 
 illustrated publication, of any note, upon Entomology, 
 which appeared in England, and which is arranged 
 in accordance to the Linnaean system, is unquestion- 
 ably one of the most beautiful and the most valuable 
 that this or any country can boast of. We allude to 
 the two noble volumes upon Georgian Insects f, 
 edited by our late amiable and excellent friend Sir 
 James Smith, the liberal possessor of the Linnaean 
 Museum, and the founder of the Society which 
 bears that name. His labours, indeed, are most 
 conspicuous in botany ; but in this work he proves 
 equally conversant both with plants and insects. 
 The plates are the last and best of Harris's perform- 
 ance; and if the reader possesses this work, and 
 
 * G. Shaw. Vivarium Naturae ; or, The Naturalist's Miscel- 
 lany, by G. Shaw. London, 1789-90= This came out in 
 267 numbers, of 3 plates each, nearly all of which are taken 
 
 from other books, and generally coloured from description 
 
 General Zoology ; or, Systematic Natural History. Com- 
 menced in 1 80O, and continued to many volumes. Zoologi- 
 cal Lectures. 2 vols. 8vo. ; &c. 
 
 f J. E. Smith and Abbott. The Natural History of the 
 rarer Lepidopterous Insects of Georgia, collected from the 
 Drawings and Observations of Mr. John Abbott. London, 
 1797. 2 vols. folio.
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 67 
 
 the three volumes of Sepp, his library contains 
 the two best illustrative publications upon Insects 
 that have ever been given to the world. The com- 
 pilation of Berkenhout*, in 1789, was no doubt useful 
 in its day; and the plates of Lewin -j-, father and son, 
 are of permanent value, particularly those of the 
 latter. J The volume of Otho Fabricius must not 
 be omitted ; for, independent of the value of its 
 descriptions, it is the only work we possess on the 
 zoology of Greenland. Olivi || , two years after, wrote 
 in like manner on the marine productions of the Gulf 
 of Venice, with considerable ability, and gave excel- 
 lent figures of several new Crustacea and shells. 
 
 (29.) The number of Entomological works, many 
 of them costly and elaborate, which were published 
 on the Continent during the latter part of the last 
 century, were very numerous. Most of them have 
 been noticed in the preceding pages ; but several 
 have been omitted in their chronological order; 
 since they would have interrupted the course of our 
 
 * J. Berkenhout. Synopsis of the Natural History of 
 Great Britain and Ireland. By John Berkenhout, M.D. 
 London, 1795. 2 vols. 8vo. 
 
 f W. Lewin. The Insects of Great Britain. By William 
 Lewin, F.L.S. London, 1795. 1 vol. 4to. (containing the 
 Papilios only.) 
 
 J W. J. Lewin. (1.) Natural History of Lepidopterous In- 
 sects of New South Wales. London, 1805. 1 vol. 4to 
 
 (2.) The Natural History of the Birds of New South Wales. 
 London, 1822. Thin folio. 
 
 Otho Fabricius. Fauna Greenlandica. Leip. 1790. 
 
 II G. Olivi. Zoologia Adriatica, ossia Catalogo ragionato 
 degli Animali del Golfo e delle Lagune de Venezia. Bassano, 
 1792. 1 vol. 4to. 
 
 F 2
 
 68 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 narrative, while, from being more illustrative than 
 descriptive, they exercised little or no influence in 
 maturing or improving systematic classification. 
 The chief of these we shall, therefore, now enumerate. 
 Some of them exhibit the method of Linnaeus ; 
 others, that of Fabricius ; and a few merely describe 
 the insects that are figured. They may all, how- 
 ever, be considered as belonging to this epoch of 
 the science, when entomologists had no other divi- 
 sions than orders, genera, and species when fami- 
 lies and sub-families had not been detected and 
 when, in short, the augmentation of species was con- 
 sidered the most important object of the Naturalist. 
 The beautiful coloured plates of European Lepi- 
 doptera by Ernst*, though drawn with little taste, 
 are very faithful, and constitute a valuable set of 
 elucidations of this order: the letterpress is by 
 Father Engramelle, an Augustine monk, and is 
 merely confined to the subjects figured. About the 
 same time, another illustrated work, on the very 
 same subject, was commenced, in German, by Esper t, 
 a painter of Nuremberg, which continued to be 
 published, at intervals, until it reached five volumes, 
 when it was discontinued ; and even these arc now 
 
 * Ernst and Engramelle. Papillons d'Europe, peints 
 d'apres Nature. Paris, 17791793. 8 vols. royal 4to. M. 
 Cuvier is incorrect in stating there are only six volumes of 
 this work. Sec Reg. Anim. tqme iv. p. 1 16. The last part of 
 vol. viii. is excessively rare. 
 
 f E. J. C. Esper. Die Schmetterlingen in Abbildungen, 
 &c. ; or, the Lepidopterous Insects <;f Europe, figured and 
 described from Nature. Erlang, 17771794. 5 vols. 4to. 
 (The Reg. Animal erroneously stales that there are only four. )
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 69 
 
 very scarce. Notwithstanding these two voluminous 
 and expensive works on the Lepidoplera of Europe, 
 a third still more costly was undertaken by Hiibner*, 
 another German draftsman, who seems to have pub- 
 lished more on this order of insects than any of his 
 countrymen; A voluminous and costly work was 
 commenced by Herbst and Jablonskyf, in 1752, 
 with the vain attempt of figuring and describing all 
 known insects. It reached to 21 octavo volumes 
 of descriptions, and the plates form the same number 
 of parts ; but it was then discontinued. The first two 
 volumes are occupied by the Coleoptera ; the re- 
 mainder, by the Lepidoptera. The figures of both, 
 however, are chiefly copies ; and in the latter division 
 few exotic species will be found, which are not con- 
 tained in the volumes of Cramer and Stoll. Voet's 
 Icones^., although somewhat coarsely engraved, 
 are very characteristic of the insects they represent, 
 which are exclusively Coleoptera; but the descrip- 
 tions, and the nomenclature, are worthy only of the 
 age of Mouffet and Petever. The best work upon the 
 
 * J. Hiibner. Der Gamlung Europaischer Schmetter- 
 linge, &c. Augsburg, 1796, &c. 3 vols. 4to. Eeitrage zur 
 Geschichte der Schmetterlinge, &c. Augsburg, 1786 1789. 
 2 vols. 8vo. 
 
 f Herbst and Jablonsky. Natur System Aller, &c. ; or, 
 The Natural History of all the known Insects, Indigenous 
 and Exotic. Berlin, 17821806. 12 vols. 8vo. 12 do. 
 plates, 4to. 
 
 J J. E. Voet. Icones Insectorum Coleopterorum Synopsis, 
 Observation ibus Commentarioque perpetuo illustravit D. W 
 
 F. Panzer. Erlangaj, 1794. 4to Catalogus Systematicus 
 
 Coleopterorum, Figuris coloratis. 2 vols. in cases. (Ha- 
 worth's Lib.) 
 
 F 3
 
 70 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 European Hemiptera is unquestionably that of 
 Wolff*, published in fasciculi or parts ; but we know 
 not, with certainty, how many have appeared. Wolff 
 adopts the Fabrician system ; and both in his de- 
 scriptions and figures he is very superior to the 
 generality of Iconographers. In the same year, 
 Schellenbergf , a painter of Zurich, figured many 
 insects of the same order inhabiting Switzerland ; 
 and subsequently published an indifferent work upon 
 the two-winged genera, or Diptera. The Entomo- 
 logical plates of our countryman Donovan, although 
 frequently too highly coloured, and not sufficiently 
 accurate in the more important details, are often 
 elegant, and frequently useful, especially those con- 
 tained in his three quarto volumes, where a great 
 number of species are delineated for the first time. 
 Little, however, can be said in praise of his works 
 on other departments of British Zoology, the colour- 
 ing of which is gaudy, the drawings generally un- 
 natural, and the descriptions unsatisfactory.^ The 
 works of Uddman, Barbut, Bradley, Martyn, Mar- 
 sham, and a few others, published at different periods, 
 are too subordinate to deserve a particular notice. 
 
 * I. F. Wolff. Icones Cimicum, Descriptionibus illustratse. 
 Erlangae, 1800. 4to. 
 
 t J. R. Schellenberg. Cimicum in Helvetia; Aquis et Terris 
 degens Genus. Turici, 1 800. 8vo. Genres des Mouches 
 Dipt^res, Zurich, 1803. 8vo. 
 
 \ Ed. Donovan. ( 1. ) The Natural History of British Insects, 
 explaining them in their several States, illustrated with co- 
 loured Figures. London, 1792 1820. 16 vols. royal 8vo. 
 (2.) General Illustration of Entomology; being Epitomes of the 
 Insects of China, India, an- New Holland. London, 1798 
 1805. 3 vols, 4to.
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 71 
 
 There are some authors, however, not yet mentioned, 
 whose names occupy a superior station in the Entomo- 
 logical history of this period. The first of these is the 
 laborious Panzer*, who began publishing, in 1796, 
 a collection of figures and descriptions of the Insects 
 of Germany. There does not exist, among all those 
 we have enumerated, a more accurate or a more 
 useful work. The figures are drawn and etched 
 by the famous Sturm, the best entomological artist 
 on the Continent ; and are simply, but accurately, 
 coloured; while the descriptions, although frequently 
 too short, are written by the hand of a master. 
 The system of Fabricius is followed ; and the work 
 altogether is highly essential to every one who 
 writes upon the entomology of Europe. A valuable 
 pamphlet, by professor Petagni -j- , on the Insects of 
 Lower Calabria, a fruitful field for the entomologist 
 and which has hitherto been very little explored, 
 appeared in 1787 ; and the Institutions of the same 
 author contributed very much to spread a taste for 
 this science in Italy, whose entomology had already 
 been ably illustrated by Professor Rossi ^ of Pisa. 
 
 * G. W. F. Panzer. Faunas Insectorum Germanic* Initia ; 
 or, Deutscblands Insecten. In 109 fasciculi, each containing 
 24 plates and their descriptions. In 1 2mo. Nuremb. 
 Index Entomologicus, pars prima, Eleutherata. Nuremb. 
 1813. 1 vol. 12mo. 
 
 f* V. Petagni. Specimen Insectorum ulterioris Calabria. 
 Neapoli, 1786. 4to. Institutiones Entomologies. Nea- 
 poli, 1792. 2 vols. 8vo. 
 
 t P. Rossi. Fauna Etrusca ; sistens Insecta quae in Pro- 
 vinciis Florentina et Pisana praesertim co! legit Petrus Rossius. 
 Liburni, 17-90. 2 vols. 4to. Mantissa Insectorum Etruria 
 Pisis, 1792. 1 vol. 4to. 
 
 F 4
 
 72 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 No additions had been made to the natural history 
 of Sweden, since the publication of the delightful 
 Fauna of that country by Linnaeus ; but, in 1798, G- 
 Paykull*, one of the ministers of the king, commenced 
 an elaborate work on the coleopterous insects of his 
 native country, which extended to three volumes. 
 The last name we shall mention of this entomo- 
 logical era, is that of Laspeyres, who has most 
 beautifully and ably illustrated and described the 
 European Sesice, in a work which must long remain 
 a model for future monographers.-f- Finally, we may 
 here mention Mr. Dillwyn's J Conchological work, 
 which, like that of Villers in regard to insects, is an 
 attempt to notice all the species of recent shells to 
 the Linnaean genera. 
 
 (30.) We have now brought the series of Linnsean 
 \vriters to a close, with the exception of one, whose 
 laborious and voluminous work seemed necessary to 
 convince the strict adherents to this school, of the 
 absolute necessity of a reform in systematic arrange- 
 ment; and that it was utterly impossible any longer to 
 delay those improvements which Linnaeus, by his own 
 example, had so forcibly inculcated. These truths 
 were forced upon the conviction of the most preju- 
 
 * G. Paykull. Fauna Suecica, Insecta. Upsalize, 1798. 
 3 vols. 8vo. This date (for there is none on the titlepage) 
 is prefixed to the end of the preface. M. Cuvier erroneously 
 gives 180O as the year of its first publication. 
 
 t J. H. Laspeyres. Sesiae Europaeas. Iconibus et De- 
 scriptionibus illustrate. Berolini, 1801. 4to. 
 
 \ F. W. Dillwyn. A Descriptive Catalogue of recent Shells, 
 arranged according to the Linnaean System. London, 1817. 
 2 vols. 8vo.
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OP ZOOLOGY. 73 
 
 diced by the appearance of the thirteenth edition of 
 the Sy sterna Natures, " enlarged and reformed" by 
 Dr. Gmelin.* It is unnecessary to say that the worthy 
 editor was one of those admirers of the great Swede, 
 who departed not from the letter of his master, and 
 that consequently he admits scarcely any of the im- 
 provements made by his more judicious followers ; 
 nor has Gmelin (probably from not having had the 
 use of a rich national museum, like that of France) 
 endeavoured to unravel the innumerable errors of 
 his predecessors. His sole object was to concentrate 
 their labours ; and in this he has shown, if not judg- 
 ment, at least great and singular research and industry. 
 It unfortunately happens, that the odium of those 
 errors, which he had probably no means of detecting, 
 has been thrown upon him, and his real merits com- 
 pletely overlooked. It may fairly be questioned 
 whether, in regard to the nomenclature of species, 
 there are not to the full as many errors in the Regne 
 Animal, as there is in the compilation before us. 
 The time, in fact, had even then arrived, when it be- 
 came utterly impossible for any one individual, who 
 undertook to illustrate the whole animal kingdom, 
 to examine the characters and the synonyms of 
 species: he must, in numberless instances, repose 
 on the opinions of others ; and consequently must 
 lay himself open to the charge, however severe, of 
 perpetuating error. Gmelin, as a compiler, and he 
 pretends to nothing beyond, is neither inferior to 
 those who preceded or to those who followed him ; 
 
 * J. F. Gmelin. Carol! a Linne, Systems Naturae per Regna 
 Tria Nature. Editio decima tertia, aucta, reformata. Cura 
 J. Fred. Gmelin. Lipsia?, 1788. 3 vols. (in 10 parts) 8vo.
 
 74 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 and he has this merit, which no others possess, that 
 he gave a much fuller compilation upon all that was 
 then known of the animal kingdom, than is to be 
 met with in the records of our science. 
 
 (31.) Having now traced the progress of that 
 school, which, under the guidance of Linnaeus, com- 
 menced about the year 1754, we must carry the at- 
 tention of the reader back to the middle of the last 
 century, when there arose, as we have before stated, a 
 formidable rival to the luminary of the North, in the 
 celebrated Buffon, who, with a pertinacity unworthy 
 of his talents, set out with despising all system, and 
 all technical helps to the communication of know- 
 ledge ; and thus formed a school of his own. It is 
 the character and the progress of this school which 
 we are now to trace. That it had plausible, and 
 even valid, grounds for dissent, is readily admitted ; 
 but had there been a cordiality of spirit between the 
 respective founders and their disciples, their talents 
 might have been united without prejudice to either, 
 and science would have advanced, probably, in a 
 double ratio to that in which it really proceeded, 
 It is easy to despise that which requires trouble to 
 learn ; and to call an animal by a name of our own, 
 regardless of that by which it is known to the world, 
 is obviously neither a proof of sound sense or of 
 good judgment. Yet such was one of the charac- 
 teristics of the school of Buffon, who set out with 
 rejecting the classic names of all his predecessors, 
 substituting for them a barbarous nomenclature, 
 composed of words half savage, half French, with- 
 out meaning or without sense. Natural history, 
 i ider such a principle, would have become unin-
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 75 
 
 telligible ; and what should have been the language 
 of science, would, had the plan succeeded, have been 
 turned into an unintelligible jargon, the words of 
 which, if they could be so called, in many instances 
 would have been almost unutterable. It was the 
 object of Buffon to write an historical biography of 
 every animal while that of Linnaeus was to ex- 
 press its peculiar characters in as few words as pos- 
 sible. It is quite clear that both these objects could 
 be combined, for the one interferes not with the 
 other ; but the pride of Buffon would not permit 
 him to show, by his writings, that he approved of 
 any thing which came from Linnaeus ; and his dis- 
 ciples, of course, followed his example. On the 
 other hand, it must be admitted, that the dry and 
 technical style of the Systema Naturae (the in- 
 evitable consequence of the condensing system 
 Linnaeus went upon) was exceedingly distasteful to 
 all but professed naturalists. There are a thousand 
 circumstances of popular interest in the economy of 
 animals, which yet are not necessary to be touched 
 upon in a bare descriptive catalogue of distinctions. 
 It is the happy art of throwing these circumstances 
 into a connected history, which gains popular ap- 
 plause ; and although such narratives are not always 
 the most valuable, they are unquestionably the most 
 generally interesting. Nor are they devoid of 
 interest even to the philosophic zoologist : on the 
 contrary, the habits and instincts of an animal are 
 as essential to determine its true relations to others, 
 as are its external or internal structure : for as, in 
 the moral world, we judge the character of a man, 
 not from a single act, but by the tenor of his life,
 
 76 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 so, in the natural world, it is necessary to the right 
 understanding of the station which an animal holds 
 in the scale of creation, that all its characteristics 
 are known, either from actual observation, or by 
 analogical arguments drawn from its general struc- 
 ture. With these preliminary remarks, let us now 
 take a rapid survey of the writers who belong more 
 or less to this descriptive school, nearly all of whom 
 are countrymen of their master. 
 
 (32.) The rapidity with which succeeding edi- 
 tions of the works of Buffon were called for, almost 
 equalled the avidity Avhich was manifested to possess 
 the Sy sterna Naturae. ; and both had a most extensive 
 circulation. It is unnecessary for us, however, to 
 enumerate the various reprints of these works, some 
 one of which are in the hands of almost every na- 
 turalist. Buffon's work has been more than once 
 translated into English, but hitherto by no one at 
 all qualified for the undertaking: the translation by 
 Woods is, probably, the best. His History of Birds 
 was illustrated by a separate publication, at the cost 
 of the government, but without letterpress, generally 
 termed the Planches Enluminees. These consist of 
 one thousand and eight coloured plates of birds, 
 printed both in folio and in quarto. The execution 
 of these plates has been much over-rated ; although 
 they were doubtless the work of the best artists then 
 to be met with in France : they are very inferior to 
 those of Edwards ; and the best that can be said of 
 them is, that they are recognisable. That they even 
 still continue to be essential for purposes of refer- 
 ep.^e, is entirely owing to the enormous expense of 
 publishing such a voluminous collection of plates.
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 77 
 
 We have, indeed, commenced the publication of a 
 similar collection*, now so much wanted for our 
 public libraries and institutions ; but if is highly 
 probable that so few copies will be printed, that the 
 entire work will only be in the possession of the 
 original subscribers ; and thus the main object of 
 the undertaking will be but very partially accom- 
 plished. Bonnet f, the celebrated philosopher of 
 Geneva, influenced, probably, by the example of 
 Reaumer, published two volumes upon insects. But 
 both these authors were surpassed by the illustrious 
 Baron de Geer J, who, in the year 1752, gave to 
 the world his first volume of Memoires, which he 
 subsequently extended to six others. Every ento- 
 mologist who has had occasion to mention this in- 
 valuable work, concurs in bestowing upon it their 
 unqualified praise ; not only for the admirable and 
 interesting details it contains on the structure and 
 habits of the insects described, and the beauty of 
 the investigations it narrates, but for the just and 
 comprehensive views it unfolds on natural arrange- 
 ment. It is a subject of much regret that this work 
 is of such exceeding rarity as to be quite unpro- 
 curable. We have never been successful in meeting 
 with a copy for sale ; and although it was soon 
 
 * W. Swainson. Ornithological Drawings, in Geographic 
 Series. Series I. The Birds of Brazil. Parts 1, 2, and 3. 
 London, 1834. Royal 8vo., published quarterly, 12 plates in 
 each. 
 
 f C. Bonnet. Traite d'Insectologie. Paris, 1745. 2 vols. 
 8vo. 
 
 \ De Geer. Memoires pour servir a PHistoire des In- 
 sectes. Stockholm, 17521778. 7 vols. 4to.
 
 78 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 translated into German, it has never been put into 
 an English dress. 
 
 (33.) M. Reaumer, whose family and connections 
 were high, besides being attached to entomology, 
 possessed a very noble collection of birds, and this 
 was no doubt the chief inducement to M. Brisson, 
 the curator of his museum, for commencing his 
 Ornithologie *, wherein he comprehends all the 
 well-authenticated species then known, whether in 
 his patron's museum, or described in books. The 
 chief, and indeed the only, merit of this voluminous 
 work is the extreme exactitude of the descriptions ; 
 for the figures are scarcely superior in drawing to 
 those of the Planches Enluminees, and, being un- 
 coloured, are less recognisable. It is curious to 
 observe a trait of littleness in the mind of this 
 otherwise estimable writer, which clearly shows the 
 feelings of jealousy, if not of hostility, with which 
 the writings of Linnaeus were then viewed in France. 
 M. Brisson departs so far from the school of Buffon, 
 as to arrange birds in a system of his own ; and he 
 even goes so far as to give them names, and specific 
 characters, in Latin : but although he quotes the 
 writings of Linnaeus, he will not even mention his 
 specific names, and scarcely adopts any one of his 
 genera. With all these defects, the volumes of 
 Brisson are nevertheless still valuable, as containing 
 minute descriptions of birds then considered new, 
 
 * M. J. Brisson. (1.) Le Regne Anima], divise en 9 
 Classes. Paris, 1756. 1 vol. 4to. (2.) Ornithologie; ou, 
 Methode contenant la Division des Oiseaux, en Ordres, &c. 
 Paris, 1760. 6 vols. 4to. (3.) Ornithologia, sive Synopsis 
 Methodica sistens Avium, &e. Lugd. Bat. 1762. 2 vols. 8vo.
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. <y 
 
 and as supplying those details which were not con- 
 sistent with the conciseness of the Linnaean plan. 
 
 (34v) The name of Adanson * is recorded both in 
 botany and zoology ; not so much for the value of 
 his works, as from his being among the first of those, 
 who, iike our countryman Lister, endeavoured to 
 arrange shells with some regard to the structure of 
 their animals. His love for natural history carried 
 him to the coast of Senegal, the shells of which he 
 has described, and tolerably well figured, in a sepa- 
 rate volume, still of great value to the conchologist. 
 We may here observe, that Adanson, like his master 
 Buffon, was a declared enemy to the regularity and 
 system which governed the Linnaean nomenclature ; 
 and that our author (proceeding on the plan of this 
 school) calls his shells by Negro-French names. 
 Thus, on the Valuta Cymbum of Linnaeus, he be- 
 stows the name of Yet; the Valuta Cymbiola is to 
 be Phelan; and the Marginella lineata is called a 
 Bobi ! There is, in short, no end of such names as 
 Lupon, Bitou, Salar, Mafau, (we take them at ran- 
 dom,) Minjac, Sakem, Sadot, Pakel, and innume- 
 rable others. This is the jargon which Buifon, 
 influenced by his regard for elegance of diction and 
 of phraseology, strove to substitute for the classic 
 and expressive nomenclature of Linnaeus I One is 
 really surprised, in these days, to contemplate such 
 folly, as proceeding from reasonable beings ; did not 
 prejudices equally great, but often far more hurtful, 
 meet us at every step in our journey through life. 
 
 * M. Adanson. Histoire Naturelle des Coquillages du 
 Senegal. Paris, 1757. 1 vol. 4to.
 
 SO STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 We have already mentioned the entomological works 
 of SchaefFer, which might with equal propriety be 
 classed in the present enumeration ; for though their 
 author admitted genera, he rejected specific names, 
 and described his insects in the obsolete style of the 
 early entomologists. The volume of Duhamel, upon 
 Ichthyology, is now chiefly valuable for its figures : 
 while those of Sonnerat*, wherein a large number of 
 Indian birds are tolerably described, but wretchedly 
 figured, are of little use ; there are no determinate or 
 scientific names ; and the descriptions puzzle, rather 
 than assist, the ornithologist. Sonnini f, one of the 
 engineer officers of the French anny in Egypt, is 
 chiefly known, as a naturalist, by the edition of 
 Buffon which bears his name. It is the most copious 
 we have seen, and the best ; being enriched with 
 many original observations of the author made upon 
 the spot upon the birds of Cayenne. In his Egyp- 
 tian narrative, which was translated into English, 
 will be found descriptions and figures of many of 
 the new fish of the Nile. 
 
 (35.) But the greatest ornithologist of this school 
 is the celebrated Le Vaillant, an enthusiastic tra- 
 
 * Sonnerat. (1.) Voyage a laNouvelle Guinee. Paris, 1776. 
 (2.) Voyage aux Indes Orientales et a la Chine, depuis 1774 
 jusqu'en 1781. Paris, 1782. 2 vols. 4to. 
 
 f C. S. Sonnini. (1.) Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux, par 
 Le Clerc de Buffon. Ouvrage formant une Ornithologie com- 
 plete, par C. S. Sonnini. The editor has been at considerable 
 labour in adding all the synonyms and Latin names. ' Paris, 
 An. XII. (1798, &c.) 28 vols. 8vo. (2.) Voyage dans la 
 Haute et Basse Egypte. Paris, 1799. 3 vols. 8vo., and atlas 
 of plates.
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 81 
 
 veller, and a most accurate observer of nature. He 
 expended his entire fortune in producing the most 
 magnificent series of works, upon his favourite study, 
 we possess ; and he has been the chief guide to MM. 
 Temminck, Cuvier, and nearly all the moderns, in 
 respect to the genera and families of African birds. 
 Le Vaillant*, unfortunately for his own fame, was 
 a rigid disciple of Buffon. He affected to despise 
 system, and would only use French names. The 
 consequence has been that those who came after him 
 have had all the honour of incorporating and clas- 
 sifying his discoveries in the regular systems ; and 
 groups which were first distinguished and pointed 
 out by himself, are now only known by the names 
 given to them in the Regne Animal, and other works. 
 The plates of his three last works are exquisite, having 
 been made from the drawings of Barraband, the 
 best ornithological painter France has ever produced. 
 We may here introduce the name of the Spanish 
 naturalist, Don Felix de Azara, who investigated, 
 with great ability and unwearied zeal, the quadru- 
 peds and birds of Paraguay, of which province he 
 was the governor. Azara, like Le Vaillant, rejected 
 system ; but although his descriptions are not only 
 
 * F. Le Vaillant. (1.) Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux 
 d'Afrique. Paris, 1799. 6 vols. folio or quarto. (2.) His- 
 toire Naturelle des Per roquets. Paris, 1801. 2 vols. folio or 
 quarto. (3.) Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux de Paradis, des 
 Rolliers, des Toucans, et des Barbus. Paris, 1806. 1 vol. 
 imp. folio. (4.) Histoire Naturelle des Promerops et des 
 Grepiers. Paris, 1807. folio. (5.) Histoire Naturelle d'une 
 Partie d'Oiseaux de 1'Amerique et des Indes. Paris, 1801. 
 4to.
 
 82 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 accurate, but masterly, yet, from not being referred 
 to any of the modern genera, or accompanied by 
 plates, they are, in numberless instances, perfectly 
 useless, from the impossibility of determining the 
 systematic characters of the animal described. This 
 is greatly to be lamented, for he is the only writer 
 on the zoology of South America who has recorded 
 the economy and habits of the animals he describes. 
 The entomological memoirs, collected into the vo- 
 lume of Fuessly *, are partly in the style of narrative 
 adopted by Reaumer, and partly systematic ; but 
 both are interesting and instructive, and the figures 
 well executed. 
 
 (36.) The narrative style of treating natural his- 
 tory, adopted by Buffon and his immediate followers, 
 however interesting and- popular, was soon found to 
 be quite inconsistent with the study of nature as a 
 science; and even the most eminent of his own 
 countrymen, when the fever of admiration had 
 somewhat subsided, began to see the impossibility 
 of going on without a more orderly method of ar- 
 ranging their discoveries, and of communicating 
 their- knowledge : some, therefore, adopted the Lin- 
 nsean or the Fabrician system, or invented one of 
 their own ; while others, of a higher order, perceived 
 that not only system was to be implicitly followed, 
 but that a much more complicated one than that of 
 Linnaeus was necessary. Hence arose a new school 
 of zoologists in France ; who not only embraced the 
 spirit of the Linnaean mode of arrangement, but 
 
 * J. G. Fuessly. Archives de 1'Hist. des Insectes. Win- 
 terthhour, 1794. 4to.
 
 IUSE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 83 
 
 proceeded to other and much more numerous com- 
 binations and divisions. This school was founded 
 by three eminent men, all of whom have disappeared 
 from the ranks of science within the last two years. 
 M. Lamarck* undertook the investigation of the 
 invertebrated animals; M. Cuvier-j-, the vertebrated; 
 and M. Latreille J , the class ofAnnulosa or of Insects. 
 The systems respectively invented by these able 
 zoologists will be examined in some detail during 
 the course of this publication, and it will therefore 
 be unnecessary, in this place, to investigate their 
 merits. We have also come to that era of the 
 science, whereof many of the chief actors are now 
 living ; and whose works cannot, with propriety, be 
 spoken of with that freedom (and, we hope, with 
 that impartiality) we have hitherto done, and which 
 is expected from the historian of times that are past. 
 We shall, therefore, merely state the chief charac- 
 teristics of that school which succeeded, in France, 
 to that of Buffon, and briefly enumerate the leading 
 works which it has produced. 
 
 (37.) It may naturally be supposed, that since the 
 time of Linnaeus, our knowledge of nature had been 
 vastly extended ; so that the species had been more 
 than quadrupled. Hence arose the necessity of 
 instituting a proportionate number of new genera, 
 
 * Lamarck. Hist. Nat. des Animaux sans Vertebres, par 
 M. le Chevalier de Lamarck. Paris, 18151823. 7 vols. 
 Svo. 
 
 f Cuvier. Le Regne Animal, distribue d'apres son Organ- 
 isation. Paris, 1817. 4 vols. Svo. 
 
 | P. A. Latrielle. Genera Crustaceorum et Insectorum. 
 Paris, 1806. 3 vols. 8vo. 
 
 G 2
 
 84 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 in all the branches of zoology ; and of introducing 
 several intermediate groups between those which 
 Linnaeus termed orders and genera. But all this 
 could not be done without a more rigorous in- 
 vestigation, into the structure of animals, than was 
 formerly required. The study of internal com- 
 parative anatomy was therefore called in to aid 
 zoological classification ; without which it was found 
 impossible to understand aright the true nature of 
 many of the molluscous animals of Linnaeus, or of 
 those stupendous remains of extinct animals found 
 in a fossil state. Now, had the employment of this 
 new science been limited to such and similar cases 
 which really required its aid, from the insufficiency 
 of external distinctions, all would have been well ; 
 but the leaders of this school, more especially 
 M. Cuvier, delighted with the success that attended 
 their first researches, proceeded at once to proclaim 
 that internal anatomy was the only sure basis of the 
 natural classification ; quite forgetting the fact, that 
 external structure was just as important for this 
 purpose as internal anatomy ; and that the one, in 
 most cases, is but an index to the other. To bring 
 this home to the conviction of every one, and as an 
 illustration of our meaning, let us look to a gallina- 
 ceous bird the common fowl. If, by its general 
 shape and external organisation, we can judge of its 
 habits, its mode of life, the nature of its food, and of 
 its powers of locomotion ; and if the knowledge so 
 gained, is quite sufficient for every purpose of re- 
 cognition and of classification ; where would be the 
 necessity of proceeding further ? why should these 
 definitions be burthened with others, taken from the
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 85 
 
 internal anatomy ? why call in the aid of another 
 science to make that object more perfectly known, 
 which was before sufficiently plain for all the purposes 
 of recognition ? If, as it has been asserted, natural 
 arrangement depends upon internal anatomy, how do 
 we know that it is not equally dependent upon che- 
 mistry ? Has this theory led to the discovery of the 
 natural system? or to any one of those laws by which 
 such a system may be supposed to be regulated? 
 Certainly not. The law, as it has been termed, of 
 the condition of existence*, is no more than that 
 every animal is constructed according to the func- 
 tions it is destined by nature to perform. Now, so 
 far from this, as some have insinuated, being a 
 modern discovery, it was well known to Aristotle ; 
 and is a truth apparent to the most superficial ob- 
 server. It must be admitted, however, that M. Cuvier 
 is the only one of this school who has attached 
 to this theoretic principle of internal organisation 
 so much undue importance : an error he was ob- 
 viously led into from the splendid success which 
 attended its use in his researches on the fossil 
 bones; where, indeed, a complete knowledge of 
 comparative anatomy was absolutely indispensable. 
 It is not maintained that a knowledge of internal 
 anatomy is superfluous to the zoologist ; but that it 
 is quite redundant (and therefore unnecessary), 
 where all that is essential to be known of an animal 
 can be learned from external organisation. With 
 the exception, therefore, of M. Cuvier, the systems 
 of his celebrated cotemporaries may be said to make 
 
 * Regne Animal. 
 G 3
 
 86 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY- 
 
 a much nearer approach to that of nature than any 
 which had preceded them, because their groups are 
 founded upon general considerations. The orders 
 of Linnaeus were subdivided and remodelled, the 
 nature of the molluscous, radiated, and annulose 
 animals defined with great skill, and every part of 
 the animal kingdom was minutely analysed and 
 more correctly defined. The result of all this was 
 collected into the Regne Animal of the celebrated 
 Cuvier, which may be termed the Sy sterna Natures 
 of this era, and which certainly contains a greater 
 mass of zoological information than is to be found 
 in any modern work. It has, with justice, been 
 compared to a mine of information, rich both in the 
 discoveries of the' author and of his cotemporaries. 
 " But the disposition and ability to make use of 
 this one, to give it the proper form and polish, is 
 not, it seems, a necessary concomitant to skill in 
 extracting it, or to the patience required before it 
 could have been collected for use. At least, it is 
 but too visible, and has been too often and too 
 justly remarked, that no person of such transcendent 
 talents and ingenuity ever made so little use of his 
 observations towards a natural arrangement as 
 M. Cuvier." * The amateurs of zoology, in this 
 country, ever prone to judge in extremes, after 
 overlooking the labours of this great man for nearly 
 
 * Horae Entomologicae, p. 326. And yet it has been 
 stated, in a public eloge pronounced in this country, that Cu- 
 vier eminently possessed these powers of " legitimate and 
 inductive generalisation" in arranging the animal series, in 
 which, as Mr. M'Leay truly observes, he was so notoriously 
 deficient.
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 87 
 
 seventeen years, in their bigoted devotion to the 
 letter of the Systema Naturae, have now flown to the 
 opposite extreme. They have invested his memory 
 with a universality of talents almost superhuman ; 
 and are now ready to bow to his authority with that 
 blind and implicit homage they formerly paid at 
 the shrine of Linnaeus. It may, therefore, surprise 
 such persons, to be told that, in the investigation and 
 knowledge of recent quadrupeds, M. Cuvier has been 
 fully equalled by the illustrious Geoffroy St. Hilaire ; 
 that his system of Ornithology is inferior to that of 
 Temminck, and is withal so defective, that it has 
 called forth an exposition from one of the first 
 zoologists of Europe * ; in short, that it has never 
 made one convert That in the anatomy of the Mol- 
 lusca and soft animals, he was not only preceded, 
 but greatly surpassed, both by the celebrated Poli 
 and the incomparable Savigny f ; while, in their 
 arrangement, he is confessedly inferior to Lamarck J; 
 and finally, that the whole of the entomology of the 
 JRegne Animal is avowedly from the pen of Latreille. 
 If the fame of M. Cuvier, therefore, reposed upon 
 his talents as a zoologist, or as a classifier, that fame 
 would not outlive the present day, for his system 
 has been already shaken to its very foundations. 
 No ; it is the transcendent genius he has shown as a 
 geologist and comparative anatomist, in his splendid 
 
 * Sulla Seconda Edizione del Regno Animale del Barone 
 Cuvier. Osservationi de Carlo Luciano Bonaparte, Principe 
 de Musignano. Bologna, 1830. 8vo. 
 
 t J. C. Savigny. Memoires sur les Animaux sans Verte- 
 bres. Paris, 1815, 1816. 2 parts, 8vo. 
 
 f See also, Horse Entom. p. 837. &c. 
 G 4
 
 88 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 theories, and his fossil investigations, that will 
 perpetuate his name so long as those sciences are 
 cultivated : and they will be mentioned with admir- 
 ation, when the Regne Animal, for all purposes of 
 philosophic or natural arrangement, will serve only, 
 like the Systema Naturte, to mark the period of a 
 bygone era. It is with deep regret that the Chris- 
 tian philosopher traces another peculiarity in this 
 school ; which applies, more or less, to the greatest 
 number of the works it has produced. In perusing 
 the discoveries they contain, brilliant and elaborate 
 though they be, we look in vain for that pure spirit 
 of religious belief which breathes in the writings of 
 the gentle Ray, or those bursts of lofty praise and 
 enthusiastic admiration of Nature's God which 
 break forth from the great Linnaeus, and which ir- 
 radiate all that he ever wrote. A cold, ill-concealed 
 spirit of materialism, or an open and daring avowal 
 of wild theories, not more Impious than they are 
 absurd, attest, too unequivocally, the infidelity that 
 attaches to some of the greatest names in modern 
 zoology which France, or indeed any other country, 
 has produced. 
 
 (38.) The era now before us, although of short 
 duration, includes a host of learned, accurate, and ac- 
 complished zoologists; most of whom are happily still 
 living, and still investigating. England may claim 
 the merit of first originating this analectic mode of 
 investigating nature ; for the celebrated work of our 
 pious and venerable countryman, Mr. Kirby *, was 
 
 * W. Kirby. Monographia Apum Angliae. Ipswich, 1802. 
 2 vols. 8vo.
 
 -USE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 89 
 
 undoubtedly the germ of that revolution in ento- 
 mology subsequently effected by Latreille*, whose 
 labours in this department are immense. Geoffroy 
 St. Hilaire, and the two Cuviersf , prosecuted the 
 study of Quadrupeds in France^ while IlligerJ was 
 doing the same in Prussia. The exquisite and 
 elaborate works of Poli on the comparative anatomy 
 of the Mbllusca, is alone sufficient to immortalise a 
 name ; and this unrivalled publication led the way for 
 the valuable memoirs on the same class by Cuvier, 
 which were subsequently collected into a volume. || 
 Lamarck, well characterised as the most accomplished 
 zoologist of this era^f, took up the whole of the in- 
 vertebrated animals : while a series of splendid illus- 
 trations in folio, by Temminck, Desmarest, Vieillot, 
 Audebert**, and many others of a still later date, 
 
 * P. A. Latreille. Genera Crustaceorum et Insectorum. 
 Paris, 1806, 1807. 
 
 f MM. Lacepede, Cuvier, and Geoffroy St. Hilaire. Me- 
 nagerie du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle. Paris, 1804. 2 vols. 
 4to. 
 
 F. Cuvier and Geoff. St. Hilaire. Histoire Naturelle 
 des Mammiferes. Paris, 1819 1822. folio, in numbers. 
 
 | C. llliger. Prodromus Systematis Mammalium et Avium. 
 Berolini, 1811. 
 
 J. X. Poli. Testacea utriusque Siciliae. Parmse, 1795. 
 2 vols. imp. folio. 
 
 || Cuvier. Me"moires pour servir a 1'Histoire et a 1'Ana- 
 tomie des Mollusques. Paris, 1817. 1 vol. 4to. 
 
 f Horae Entom. p. 328. 
 
 ** C. I. Temminck. Histoire Naturello Ge'nerale des Pi- 
 geons. Paris, 1808. folio. 
 
 A. Desmarest. Histoire Naturelle des Tangaras, des Ma- 
 nakins, et des Todiers. Paris, 1 805. folio. 
 
 L. P. Vieillot. Histoire Naturelle des plus beaux Chan-
 
 90 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 attest the progress which had now been made in 
 zoological painting. The birds of Europe were 
 most ably investigated by M. Temminck*, who has 
 also written largely upon the Gallinaceous order. 
 Voluminous dictionaries of natural history, in all its 
 branches, followed each other in rapid succession ; 
 until at length the Regne Animal became as insuf- 
 ficient a vehicle for concentrating this vast accession 
 of knowledge, as was the Systema Natures at the 
 death of Linnaeus. 
 
 (39.) While the details of zoology were thus 
 prosecuted in France with an ardour and a success 
 perfectly unexampled, a feeling arose in the minds 
 of a few eminent men of other countries, that the 
 time had now arrived when an effort might be made 
 to generalise the innumerable facts thus elicited ; 
 and to reconcile, in some measure, the conflicting 
 systems that were following " thick and fast" upon 
 each other. The science of zoology, up to this 
 period, had assumed no appearance of collective 
 symmetry. Every department had its own independ- 
 ent system ; and although great order and regularity 
 had been introduced into each, yet all the divisions 
 
 teurs de la Zone Torride. Paris, 1805. folio. Histoire 
 Naturelle des Oiseaux de 1'Amerique Septentrionale. Paris, 
 1807. 2 vols. folio. 
 
 J. B. Audebert Histoire Naturelle des Singes et des 
 Makis. Paris, 1800. folio. 
 
 J. B. Audebert et Vieillot Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux 
 Dorfe; ou, a Reflets Metalliques. Paris, 1802. 2 vols. folio 
 and 4to. 
 
 * C. I. Temminck. Manuel d'Ornithologie ; ou, Tableau 
 Systematique des Oiseaux qui se trouvent en Europe. Paris, 
 1820. 2 vols. 8vo.
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. 91 
 
 of families, genera, &c. merely reposed upon the 
 arbitrary opinion of their founders. Nay, so destitute 
 was zoology of any fundamental law, applicable alike 
 to all its various departments, that the question was 
 not yet settled, as to the rule of natural progression ; 
 was it linear? was it compound ? or was it so inter- 
 woven, like the meshes of a net, as to defy all un- 
 ravelment ? The idea of a simple scale in nature 
 had long been discussed, and finally abandoned. 
 But while these lofty speculations engaged not the 
 attention of M. Cuvier, his fellow-labourer, M. 
 Lamarck, must have long pondered upon them, for 
 he it was who first intimated the existence of a 
 double series, which, setting out in opposite directions 
 from a given point, met together at another. Nearly 
 at the same time, Professor Fischer, a celebrated 
 zoologist of Russia, unacquainted, apparently, with 
 the opinion of Lamarck, perceived the tendency of 
 these two series to form a circle of their own, and 
 announced the fact in 1808. But these obscure in- 
 timations, unsupported by demonstration, can only be 
 said to have been verified by analysis when the first 
 part of the celebrated Horce Entomologicee was given 
 totheworld, in 1819, aworkwhich,foritsoriginality 
 and profound research, has never yet, in this science 
 at least, been equalled. Whether its accomplished 
 author derived the first idea of that circular progres- 
 sion of affinities which he establishes, from the idea 
 of Lamarck, is unknown, and hardly worth enquiring 
 into ; but it seems certain that he was unacquainted 
 with the opinion of M. Fischer, just alluded to.* 
 
 * Linn. Trans, vol. xvi. p. 10.
 
 92 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 Four years after, a celebrated botanist of Germany, 
 E. Fries, equally ignorant of the previous discovery 
 of M'Leay, announced the same fact as manifested in 
 the vegetable world, and which he demonstrates by a 
 much more extensive analysis than had been given, 
 in regard to insects, in the Horce Entomologicce. It 
 is not the least remarkable circumstance connected 
 with this splendid discovery, that four individuals, 
 in different countries, and unknown to each other, 
 should all have directed their studies to the same 
 object, and that all should have arrived at the same 
 result : thus establishing, what had never yet been 
 done, the existence of at least one universal law 
 in natural arrangement, and thus raising zoology, 
 for the first time, to the rank of a demonstrative 
 science. 
 
 (40.) This era, then, of our science has just com- 
 menced, and here must we close our sketch. It is 
 not expedient that the historian should continue his 
 narrative, when he himself becomes an actor upon the 
 stage. We therefore resign to another pen the task 
 of recording the passing events in the history of our 
 science, and proceed to trace its influence on the 
 moral and practical duties of life. 

 
 93 
 
 PART II. 
 
 ON THE GENERAL NATURE AND ADVANTAGES OF 
 THE STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 sraca 9i 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. WHAT NATURAL HISTORY 
 IS, - IN A GENERAL SENSE, AND AS NOW RESTRICTED. 
 -- DIVISION OF THE SUBJECT. - REFLECTIONS ON 
 NATURE AND ART. - DISTINCTIONS, AND OBJECT OF 
 THE STUDY. 
 
 (41.) COULD we suppose man had never known 
 evil, that he had continued, as at first created, a 
 terrestrial, yet an immaculate being, alike a stranger 
 to the bad passions and the inordinate desires that 
 now agitate him, what pursuits, may we suppose, 
 would occupy his time? or upon what subjects would 
 he exercise those powers of reason by which he is 
 united to the spiritual world ? The answer is obvious. 
 The works of God, as manifested in all visible nature, 
 would be his only study. Surrounded by innumerable 
 objects attractive by their beauty, wonderful by their 
 construction, or interesting by their economy, his 
 days would be spent in surveying the material world ; 
 his heart enlarged, and his reason exercised, in
 
 94) STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 meditating on all that he saw. Every new discovery 
 would increase his veneration for the Divine Author 
 of such wonders ; and although placed upon earth, 
 his contemplations would be those of the inhabitants 
 of heaven. Such is the reply suggested by reason, 
 to our previous question ; and such, does inspiration 
 assure us, was the occupation of the parent of man- 
 kind. " And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to 
 the fowls of the air, and to every beast of the field." 
 It is fit that the study of nature should be coeval 
 with the creation of man. Though his spirit has 
 been changed, though care and trouble, those 
 thorns and thistles of his present state, entangle and 
 distract him, and he is called to the discharge of 
 moral and social duties, yet this remnant of prim- 
 eval happiness is still left to him. The volume of 
 nature, with all its variety and beauty, still lies open 
 for his perusal ; and in those short hours snatched 
 from the stirring excitations of the troubled world, 
 he may still turn aside, and consider the lilies of 
 the field ; and he may read, in the metamorphoses 
 of the butterfly, the change that awaits himself. 
 
 (42.) All knowledge may evidently be referred 
 to one or other of the following divisions : First, 
 such as regards the works of God ; and secondly, 
 such as emanates from the inventions of man. As the 
 former is the most noble and the most intellectual, 
 so is it the most comprehensive; since it regards not 
 only the natural objects which surround us, but the 
 internal composition of those objects, and the laws 
 by which the phenomena of nature are regulated. 
 Natural History, therefore, in this its most extended 
 sense, may be considered as embracing the study of
 
 ITS GENERAL NATURE AND ADVANTAGES. 95 
 
 matter, whether ponderable or imponderable, whether 
 the objects we contemplate are visible to the eye, 
 palpable to the touch, or invisible agents known 
 only by their effects. 
 
 (43.) But the human mind, limited in its powers, 
 is compelled to relinquish the study of universal 
 nature, and to confine its researches to distinct 
 portions. Hence has originated the necessity of in- 
 stituting those numerous divisions in natural phi- 
 losophy, respectively assigned to the astronomer, 
 the chemist, and the physiologist. These pursuits, 
 like others of a subordinate nature, are no longer 
 considered as forming a part of natural history, 
 properly so called; although, in a general sense, 
 they strictly and exclusively emanate from the study 
 of nature. Geology, in like manner, separates itself 
 as a distinct department; not because it merely 
 embraces terrene objects, but because it relates more 
 to the situation, than to the analysis, of the com- 
 ponent parts of our globe. Its chief business is to 
 trace and explain the changes and revolutions which 
 have happened to the earth ; but not, like mineralogy, 
 to determine the primary elements of which it is 
 composed. Natural history, thus restricted, may, in 
 a philosophic sense, be termed the study of ponder- 
 able matter, or, to state this definition in more popular 
 language, it is the province of natural history to 
 embrace all that concerns the three great divisions 
 or kingdoms of nature, the animal, the vegetable, 
 and the mineral. Such is the view which, in common 
 with some of the highest authorities, we propose to 
 take of this science. And although our subsequent 
 remarks will chiefly relate to the animal kingdom,
 
 96 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 they may be considered, in most cases, equally ap- 
 plicable both to the vegetable and the mineral. 
 
 (44.) Let us now consider the objects, whether 
 immediate or remote, which this science compre- 
 hends, and the advantages that may be expected to 
 result from its study. We shall regard it, first, as 
 intellectual ; secondly, as recreative ; and thirdly, as 
 affecting the ordinary business of life. 
 
 (45.) It may be received as an indisputable 
 truth, that no studies are so well suited to the in- 
 tellectual powers of man, as those that relate to the 
 forms and the phenomena of Nature. Between 
 these, and such as are confined to human skill or to 
 human erudition, there is this remarkable difference : 
 that in the f6rmer we contemplate things which, in 
 themselves, are perfect, because they emanate from 
 the Fountain of Perfection ; whereas in the latter 
 our attention is absorbed in things which, at the 
 best, are imperfect, however exquisite may be the 
 art which produced them, or however learned or 
 acute may be the labours of their authors. The 
 painter or the sculptor may delight us by the faith- 
 fulness of their delineations ; the poet may please us 
 by the harmony of his verses ; the historian instruct 
 us by the narrative of circumstances and persons 
 before unknown to us. But all these subjects, how- 
 ever interesting or pleasing, are alloyed with that 
 imperfection and unsatisfactoriness which enter into 
 every human performance : they chiefly, if not ex- 
 clusively, refer our thoughts to their authors ; or if 
 we even discover no imperfection which mars the 
 painting or the statue no word which destroys 
 the harmony of the poet's verse, or no imagery which
 
 REFLECTIONS ON NATURE AND ART 97 
 
 deforms it, if our feelings are neither pained nor in- 
 dignantly roused by the narrative of the historian, 
 still we rise from the subject with the melancholy 
 conviction that these things are perishable ; that the 
 cunning hand of the artificer, and the master-spirit 
 of the narrator, has either passed away or will soon 
 be laid in the dust ; and that these records of their 
 skill or of their genius may be lost or destroyed by 
 one of those thousand accidents which have already 
 swept into oblivion so many similar productions 
 There are few contemplative men, after viewing 
 those celebrated fragments called the Elgin Marbles, 
 who have turned from them without some such 
 feelings as those we have described. Our wonder, 
 indeed, is excited at the exquisite skill which is still 
 so conspicuous in these relics; but the sight of decay 
 and dilapidation is at all times melancholy. We are 
 not only reminded of the instability of every thing 
 human ; but a vague suspicion must cross the mind 
 even of the most successful, that his own labours, upon 
 which he fondly builds his hopes of deathless fame, 
 may share the same fate ; and that a time may come 
 when not only his works, but his very name, may be 
 blotted from the records of future generations. 
 
 (4-6.) If, on the other hand, we turn to those studies 
 which more immediately concern Nature, we find a 
 marked difference both in the facts and in the 
 deductions. Here we have to do with things 
 immutable, and with objects perfect in struc- 
 ture. Our mental perceptions are employed in 
 contemplating phenomena which have remained, 
 for the most part, unchanged from the beginning, 
 and will continue unchangeable so long as the laws 
 H
 
 98 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 which govern the universe remain in force. Here 
 is no extinction of the species, no power of detecting 
 imperfections, no regrets at the insufficiency of the 
 artificer, no lamentations that such things will pass 
 from the earth, and be forgotten. Nature is ever 
 the same ever young ever the handmaid of One 
 who cannot err. Her operations in the physical 
 world were the same a thousand years ago as they 
 are now ; and if the works of her commentators are 
 no more remembered, this oblivion originates not in 
 any change in the things they treated of, but in the 
 errors or insufficiency of the describers. 
 
 (47.) The mutability proverbially belonging to 
 human learning, has been indiscriminately applied 
 both to arts and sciences ; whereas it is by no means 
 equally shared between both, nor is it so universal 
 as some would lead us to imagine. Art more correctly 
 implies physical dexterity : science, on the contrary, 
 is purely intellectual. The first cannot exist in any 
 eminent degree, without the second ; but science re- 
 quires not the auxiliary help of her sister. The one 
 is transient, and, however great, dies with its posses- 
 sor. The painter cannot bequeath to his disciple that 
 skill which it has cost him his life to attain ; the 
 poet cannot infuse his " unutterable thoughts" into 
 another before his death ; nor can the musician, 
 while he transfers his instrument, delegate also the 
 pathos or the dexterity which gave it utterance. The 
 degree of perfection to which each of these artists 
 has attained, dies with its possessor ; and those who 
 succeed him have to begin, themselves, at the foot of 
 the ladder, and not from that height which their pre- 
 decessors had reached. Hence it is, and the infer-
 
 REFLECTIONS ON NATURE AND ART. 99 
 
 ence is remarkable, that, in those pursuits which 
 more immediately regard art, mankind has but 
 little, if at all, advanced, during many centuries. 
 Nay, it may be said rather to have retrograded ; 
 else we should not consider those productions of 
 antiquity which time has spared to us, as fit models for 
 our present imitation. That science, on the other 
 hand, participates in this mutability, no one would 
 think of denying ; but that it is not equally affected 
 with art is very manifest. Before the invention of 
 printing, indeed, there was good reason to appre- 
 hend, that the world might lose the knowledge 
 acquired by its sages: but the discovery of that 
 noble art has given to the true philosopher a channel 
 of permanent communication, with succeeding ages ; 
 he can bequeath to posterity, in a compendious form, 
 those truths which have resulted from a life of study ; 
 and he can enable those, who wish to tread the path 
 which he is quitting, to start from the point at which 
 his enquiries terminated : so far as his discoveries 
 extend, and so far as his deductions therefrom are 
 sound, so far are his works imperishable, because 
 they relate to things which are, in this world at 
 least, unchanging. Had the ancients busied them- 
 selves with the study of comparative anatomy, and 
 bestowed upon the construction of the common 
 animals of their country, one half of the attention 
 and talent that was lavished upon other studies, 
 their writings on natural history would be just as 
 valuable now, as they would have been then ; and 
 the works of Pliny, instead of being a tissue of 
 fables and absurdities, would have held the same 
 rank with us as those of a Savigny or a Cuvier. 
 H 2
 
 100 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 Mutability in science only belongs to error ; for 
 truth, no less than nature, is unchanging ; whereas 
 mutability, on the contrary, is a necessary accom- 
 paniment of art, and is interwoven with its very 
 excellence. 
 
 (48.) There is an inexpressible satisfaction, an in- 
 tellectual delight, in the pursuit of truth, which few 
 but the philosopher can fully understand. This 
 luxury of the soul, as it may well be termed, belongs 
 more especially to the pursuit of natural science ; 
 particularly to those branches which are usually 
 termed demonstrative. The man who studies the 
 forms of nature, has before him, so far as those 
 forms are concerned, models of perfection. He has 
 no need to suspect that others exist, in distant coun- 
 tries, more perfect of their kind, than those before 
 him, and which he should previously see and study. 
 He has not to consult popular taste, ephemeral 
 fashion, or arbitrary opinion, on the value or import- 
 ance of his pursuits. He has before him truth : 
 his sole business is to analyse all the parts and all 
 the bearings of that truth, and make them known to 
 the world. The models and materials of his study 
 are divine ; and how much they exceed those of any 
 human artist, will be manifested by a blade of grass, 
 compared with which the most exquisite carvings in 
 stone or ivory sink, ; nto insignificance. The calcu- 
 lations of the astronomer, and the results of the 
 chemist, are productive of much the same feelings. 
 Truth indeed is but seldom attained, yet with su- 
 perior minds this very difficulty serves but to 
 increase the ardour of its pursuit. 
 
 (49.) Another advantage, almost exclusively be-
 
 REFLECTIONS ON NATURE AND ART. 101 
 
 longing to the natural sciences, is this, that they carry 
 the mind from the thing made, to Him who made it. 
 If we contemplate a beautiful painting or an in- 
 tricate piece of mechanism, we naturally are led to 
 admire the artist who produced them, to regard his 
 superiority with respect, and to enquire who and 
 what he is. We mention his name with honour, 
 and take every fitting opportunity of extolling his 
 talents. If such are the effects of contemplating 
 human excellency, how much stronger will be the 
 same train of thought and of feeling in the breast 
 of every good man, when he looks into the wonders 
 of the natural world, and thinks upon the surprising 
 phenomena which it exhibits ! When he sees that 
 this globe is inhabited by incalculable millions of 
 living beings, all different from himself, his pride 
 will be humbled by this conviction, that the earth 
 was not made for him alone. And when he finds 
 that all these beings, however minute, or, to the 
 vulgar eye, contemptible, have their allotted station 
 and hold their distant course in the great operations 
 of the universe, he is led to enquire into his own 
 nature, and to look towards that Great First Cause, 
 whose bounty created, and whose providence sustains, 
 such hosts of creatures. Those pursuits, in short, 
 which are most calculated to expand and elevate the 
 mind, are unquestionably the most noble ; and none 
 can be ranked above those which lead us to contem- 
 plate the Deity ; to look, in fact, from the effect to 
 the cause ; and to be impressed with enlarged no- 
 tions of that stupendous power and ineffable good- 
 ness, which pervades all matter and all space. 
 (50.) Such are the most striking advantages, in 
 H 3
 
 102 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 reference to the human mind, resulting from the 
 study of the natural sciences, generally so termed ; 
 but there are some which more especially belong to 
 natural history, and which are not unworthy of a 
 more particular notice. 
 
 (51.) Before, however, we proceed farther, it 
 seems desirable to explain the real objects of the 
 science we are now engaged upon. What, there- 
 fore, are the truths it is intended to teach? and 
 what are those deductions it is calculated to unfold ? 
 In giving the following definition of natural history, 
 we think far preferable to pass over, sub silentio, 
 the vague or the erroneous opinions of others; 
 since our object is not to lay before the general 
 reader controversial arguments, or to embarrass the 
 student by contrariety of opinions. 
 
 (52.) The object, then, of natural history is, to 
 make known the different animals, plants, and 
 minerals existing on the earth, in such language, 
 and with such precision, as will enable them to be 
 recognised by those who study. This is the general 
 scope of the science ; but it more properly compre- 
 hends three distinct objects of enquiry, by attending 
 to which the nature of the whole will be better 
 understood. If we consider in what manner any 
 object in nature can be most effectually made known, 
 we shall find that this knowledge embraces the 
 consideration of the following particulars : 
 
 1st, An examination of its individual structure, 
 both internal and external. 
 
 2dly, A history of its economy : and, 
 
 3dly, The determination of its rank or station in 
 the scheme of nature.
 
 ITS DEFINITION. 103 
 
 Whatever belongs to the history of an animal or a 
 plant, is comprehended under one or other of these 
 heads of enquiry. The definition, however, is not 
 so applicable to mineralogy, inasmuch as inanimate 
 objects cannot be said to possess either habits or 
 economy. If, however, we substitute for these pro- 
 perties the growth or production of minerals, gene- 
 rally so called, the above exposition will be applicable 
 to all the three kingdoms of nature. 
 
 (53.) Now, in estimating the measure of labour 
 or of talents necessary to the successful prosecution 
 of these several objects, we perceive that they are 
 suited to different degrees of intellect ; and, conse- 
 quently, that there are departments which can be 
 prosecuted, with advantage to the whole, by men of 
 moderate ability and limited information. So wide, 
 indeed, is the scope which this science embraces, so 
 multifarious are the points of information to be 
 elicited, and so easily may many of these points, 
 under peculiar circumstances, be elucidated, that 
 there is room for the beneficial labours of the 
 youngest student, no less than of the most matured 
 and philosophic mind. The successful prosecution 
 of natural history, like that of all other demon- 
 strative sciences, depends upon facts; and when 
 we consider the number of the data necessary to 
 complete the history of an individual species, and 
 then reflect on the hundreds of thousands of species 
 which exist upon the earth, we shall immediately 
 perceive that every attentive observer has the power 
 of contributing something towards his favourite 
 science ; something which has been yet unob- 
 H 4
 
 104- STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 served, or, if observed, unrecorded. He may thus 
 remove the veil from one stone at least of the temple 
 of nature ; or he may, by the discovery of one single 
 but important fact, clear away an accumulation of 
 doubts and difficulties that have long impeded the 
 path of the greatest adepts. Let us not, therefore, 
 affect to despise, as some among us have done, the 
 describer of species ; but remember that in the temple 
 of nature there are niches for all her votaries. 
 
 (54.) Natural history has generally been termed 
 a science of observation ; and such, in a restricted 
 sense, it undoubtedly is. The error of the definition 
 is this, not that it is untrue, but that it is partial and 
 insufficient. What would be thought of an astro- 
 nomer who denned the study of the heavenly bodies 
 to consist in a correct nomenclature of the stars, an 
 accurate computation of their relative magnitudes, 
 and of the various appearances which, under parti- 
 cular circumstances, they assume? Suppose, also, 
 that the business of the mineralogist was simply to 
 study the external forms of the substances of the 
 earth, to compile a dictionary of their names, and to 
 point out the uses to which they could be applied. In 
 either of these cases it would be manifest that the 
 essential philosophy of these sciences would be lost 
 sight of ; that we should merely be regarding the 
 surface of things, and be busying ourselves about 
 effects, to the utter neglect of those great and sub- 
 lime causes which are unfolded by the 1? ,vs of gra- 
 vitation, the theory of motion, and all those splendid 
 truths which give such dignity to these sciences. 
 As it is with astronomy and chemistry, so is it with 
 natural 'listory : . knowledge of individuals, and of
 
 A DEMONSTRATIVE SCIENCE. 105 
 
 the facts which belong to them, is undoubtedly the 
 basis upon which this and all other sciences repose : 
 but if the zoologist or the botanist contents himself 
 with this information, if he remains satisfied with 
 isolated descriptions drawn up in technical language, 
 and compiles a dictionary, under the name of a 
 system, of hard names, he has no more right to 
 term his pursuits intellectual, or to dignify them 
 with the name of science, than the astronomer would 
 have, under the circumstances just supposed. All 
 branches of natural science, however varied may 
 be their materials, or however diversified their 
 nature, have but one and the same object in view 
 the discovery of the primary laws of nature. In 
 comparison with this, all other objects, however 
 superior they may be in point of utility, yet, in 
 reference to sound philosophy, are of a secondary 
 or subordinate nature. As all sciences are based 
 upon facts, known, or to be known from experience, 
 so are they, in their early state of developement, 
 matters of pure observation. It is only when we 
 have acquired the power of generalising these facts, 
 when such generalisations agree among themselves 
 and with every thing we see or know of nature, 
 that the theory of a science becomes either abso- 
 lutely demonstrative, or approaches so near to cer- 
 tainty, by the force of analogical reasoning, that it 
 is not contradicted by any thing known. The case 
 of natural history, then, is precisely this ; in its early 
 stages it is a science of observation ; in its latter, it is 
 one of demonstration. There are few, indeed, even 
 among philosophers, who have the least suspicion 
 that natural history is deserving of this character.
 
 106 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 But the question resolves itself into this, Are there 
 any fixed and universal laws by which the variations 
 of the forms of nature are regulated ? If this question 
 can be answered in the affirmative ; if all these 
 variations can be traced to certain primary types, 
 following each other in one constant and unchanging 
 series, we have the most conclusive evidence that 
 human research can elicit. It will be our especial 
 object, therefore, in the subsequent volumes of this 
 work, to demonstrate the truth of this proposition, 
 appealing for its stability to those facts with which 
 we first commence the fabric of the science, and 
 which, coming within the range of ordinary observ- 
 ation, it will be in the power of every one to verify 
 or disprove.
 
 ITS CONNECTION WITH RELIGION. 10? 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 NATURAL HISTORY VIEWED IN ITS CONNECTION WITH 
 
 RELIGION. AS A RECREATION. AS AFFECTING COM 
 
 MERCE AND THE ECONOMIC PURPOSES OF LIFE. AS 
 IMPORTANT TO TRAVELLERS. 
 
 (55.) I. THE nature and objects of the science having 
 now been sufficiently explained, we may consider the 
 advantages which more peculiarly attend its prose- 
 cution, independent of those which have already 
 been noticed, in a general way, as belonging to all 
 intellectual pursuits. We shall enumerate these 
 advantages under distinct heads, because some are 
 applicable only to particular persons, objects, or cir- 
 cumstances ; and because, by so doing, we may 
 excite an interest and a love for these enquiries in 
 the minds of many persons, who imagine they have 
 neither the abilities to study, nor the means of adopt- 
 ing such pursuits, and of others who think they are 
 in no way interested in them. We shall therefore 
 look to natural history 1. as connected with reli- 
 gion ; 2. as a recreation ; 3. as affecting the arts and 
 common purposes of life; and, 4. as an essential 
 accomplishment to the traveller. 
 
 (56.) All the advantages that result from science, 
 are comprehended under two distinct classes : 
 1. Either they relate to our worldly prosperity, by 
 opening new sources of wealth, of convenience,
 
 108 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 or of luxury; or, 2. they administer to intellectual 
 gratification and our spiritual welfare. When, 
 therefore, we speak of the advantages attending 
 the prosecution of this science, we must readily 
 admit that they chiefly belong to the latter class, 
 although they may, in a limited degree, be ap- 
 plied to the former. The great characteristic, 
 however, of natural history, is its tendency to im- 
 press the mind with the truths of religion ; and 
 thereby of improving and regulating the moral 
 feelings. Its application to the wants of man is 
 comparatively slight, and generally so remote as 
 not to be immediately perceptible. It has not, like 
 chemistry, been employed to the improvement of 
 manufactures, nor can it contend with botany in 
 adding to the luxuries of the table or the elegances 
 of taste. It very rarely opens a new source of 
 commerce, nor can it assist astronomy in giving 
 power and confidence to the mariner. Neither 
 does it lead, like other kindred pursuits, to pecuniary 
 advantage, public employment, or academic honours. 
 Natural history, therefore, will never assume its 
 real station in a commercial country like this, so 
 long as it is not protected and fostered, encouraged 
 and rewarded, by the government. The office of 
 natural history is to expound the works of Omnipo- 
 tence ; and it becomes, from that very circumstance, 
 one of the most dignified that can employ the human 
 mind. It seems, in fact, to be that peculiar study 
 which is, above all others, most designed to bring 
 man into communion with his Maker. In this re- 
 spect it is even superior to astronomy. The gran- 
 deur of the heavenly bodies may speak more
 
 ITS CONNECTION WITH RELIGION. 109 
 
 impressively to our senses, and their periodical 
 movements excite, at the moment, a greater degree 
 of wonder ; but all enquiry into their precise nature 
 is futile. We know not whether those distant worlds 
 are inhabited by mortals or by spirits ; whether they 
 are the abodes of imperfect beings like ourselves, or 
 of spirits exempt from sin. All this is hidden from 
 human research. But with natural history the case 
 is different : the objects of which it treats are con- 
 tinually before us : we can, in a great measure, 
 distinguish their properties, examine their structure, 
 and explore their economy : the most minute parts 
 of their organisation can be investigated, every 
 nerve traced, and every substance analysed. And 
 if our knowledge of the system upon which they are 
 formed, has hitherto borne no comparison with that 
 which we have acquired in other physical sciences, 
 it is only because the minds of men have dwelt upon 
 minute details, instead of searching for universal 
 principles. 
 
 (57.) It may be thought unnecessary, perhaps, 
 in a work of this nature, to advert to those reflections 
 which arise in a religious mind, on contemplating 
 the works of nature, and which, upon some occasions 
 must force themselves on the notice of the mere 
 worldling. One of the first impressions which arises 
 on studying natural history, but more particularly 
 animals, is, the conviction of design in their creation. 
 And this design not only relates to the formation 
 of an animal to effect a particular purpose, but is 
 equally manifest in the peculiarity of its structure, 
 the season when it is most active, and the means by 
 which it effects its allotted object. The moment we
 
 110 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 arrive at the conviction of design in the material 
 world, we are persuaded that there is a Designer ; or, 
 in other words, the atheistical doctrines of chance, 
 and of self-development, vanish like a mist. This 
 design must have emanated solely from the Creator ; 
 and as perfection is His attribute, design can never 
 be partial, because it would then be imperfect. Every 
 thing in nature being thus formed for some specific 
 purpose, it follows, man was created with the 
 same object. But what this object is, unassisted 
 reason can never discover. It requires no depth 
 of penetration to perceive that one of the chief 
 uses of the vegetable kingdom is, to supply food to 
 the animal; this object being effected, the plant 
 dies. Insects either furnish nourishment to other 
 animals, or they assist the propagation of plants, or 
 they hasten the decomposition of decayed matter ; 
 this done, the purposes of their creation appear to 
 be effected, and they pass away. In like manner we 
 may trace the great outlines of design through every 
 branch of the animal kingdom : each is dependent 
 the one upon the other, and this dependence pro- 
 duces the most inconceivable harmony. 
 
 (58.) But when we come to MAN, who reigns 
 over the whole, when we ask for what visible 
 purpose, or with what design, he was called into 
 being, our natural reason is baffled. No part of 
 the economy of nature is dependent upon his ex- 
 istence: he assists not in one of the innumerable 
 operations which are continually going on, by which 
 the harmony of nature is upheld, and a mutual 
 dependence preserved in all the parts. The fruits of 
 the earth require not his care, nor do the beasts of the
 
 DESIGN IN THE CREATION OF MAN. Ill 
 
 field need his protection. His power is not wanted 
 to prevent the increase of noxious animals ; for his 
 Creator has chosen other and more humble in- 
 struments to effect such an ignoble purpose. The 
 rapacious tribes of quadrupeds, of birds, and of 
 insects, keep their respective classes within due 
 limits, while it has been ordained that these animal 
 destroyers should propagate slowly and sparingly 
 We find, moreover, that, in countries very thinly 
 inhabited, there is no disproportion between those 
 animals which are predacious, and such as live 
 upon vegetables. Man, in short, although the 
 noblest work of nature, is yet so unnecessary to her 
 operations, and so disconnected with all those designs 
 she is carrying on in the material world, that his 
 absence from the earth would not be missed. He 
 rather impedes than advances the free developement 
 of her works. In this point of view he is inferior to 
 the very worm he treads upon ; the extermination 
 of whose race would render the earth unfruitful, and 
 bring famine and death upon its inhabitants. It 
 may be argued, indeed, that the design of the Creator, 
 in calling into existence this last and best of his 
 works, was to give him happiness, to fill him with 
 delight at the wonders which surrounded him, and 
 that he should do good to such of his creatures as 
 he was to govern. But had he been created solely 
 for those purposes, we should have seen them ac- 
 complished ; because imperfection in the means for 
 accomplishing the end belongs not to the Omnipotent 
 Being. What, in short, do we actually see? Human 
 happiness is a shadow. The mass of mankind are 
 totally indifferent to the wonders of creation ; and
 
 112 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 cruelty to the beasts of the field is to them an 
 amusement. Seeing, therefore, that unassisted rea- 
 son is totally incompetent to solve this momentous 
 question, we are naturally led to enquire into the 
 truths of religion, to see whether they will explain 
 this apparent anomaly. Here, then, we find every 
 difficulty solved, and every doubt removed. Man 
 discovers that the chief design of his creation is, that 
 he should enjoy an immortal happiness in a higher 
 region ; and that he is placed upon this earth, not as 
 necessary to its well-being, or to perform a part in 
 its regulation, but as one who is undergoing a state 
 of probation; who is journey ing, indeed, as a stranger 
 and a pilgrim ; but who is provided with those means 
 and aided by that assistance which may finally 
 secure the great, the glorious designs of his Maker. 
 (59.) It may be questioned whether the above 
 train of reasoning, agreeable alike to logical de- 
 duction and to indisputable fact, could thoroughly be 
 entered upon by any one who was not a naturalist, 
 or, at least, who had not an intimate acquaintance 
 with some of the most remarkable phenomena of 
 the animal kingdom. Hence it is manifest how in- 
 timately the study of nature is connected with the 
 truths of religion. Every philosophic argument 
 which can be drawn from the material world, in 
 corroboration of the books of Scripture, will tend to 
 bring those who doubt, to investigate their pages 
 more closely ; while those who already believe their 
 divine inspiration, will have that belief strengthened 
 and confirmed, rejoicing that sound philosophy 
 bears witness to those tcuths which they feel to be 
 immutable.
 
 IKFEKENCES FROM DESIGN. 113 
 
 (60.) Such are the evident conclusions which re- 
 sult from a conviction of design in the creation. 
 And this conviction will be equally attained, whether 
 we take an enlarged view of the subject, or descend 
 to minutiae : whether, with the scholar or the phi- 
 losopher, we discuss the question by the rules of logic ; 
 or whether, with the ordinary observer, we adopt 
 the more simple process of contemplating those in- 
 numerable and beautiful objects of the creation 
 which lie before us. If every thing in nature which 
 we examine and reason upon, evinces this principle 
 of design, it follows that design is universal (57.). 
 And as experience teaches us, that, although we can 
 trace the principle, we know but a limited portion 
 of its extent, it may be fairly inferred that even of 
 that portion which man may discover, we know as 
 yet but an insignificant part and that, too, is seen 
 " as in a glass, darkly." How little, for instance, do 
 we know of the manners and instincts of the common 
 animals around us ! and how little have we yet learned 
 of the purposes for which they were created I Now, 
 as the Author of this principle of design is Himself 
 the type of perfection, that perfection must extend 
 to all His attributes. Hence arises the supposition, 
 that every created thing has a twofold use ; one in 
 relation to the economy of nature, and another to 
 the exemplification of moral and religious truths 
 The first is palpable to the most illiterate observer : 
 every one, for instance, can see, that without insects, 
 there would be no occasion for spiders; and that 
 without swallows, we should suffer from a plague of 
 flies. But the moral use of the book of nature 
 is not so apparent. We can, indeed, perceive 
 i
 
 114; STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 how forcibly, though silently, the duties of industry, 
 perseverance, order, and subordination are ex- 
 emplified in the ant and the bee. Yet, if this was 
 the only moral or religious precept that could be 
 learned from the study of nature, we might be 
 tempted to think the application of this science to 
 moral truths was but slight; and to spiritual, no 
 greater than that of proclaiming the existence and 
 the perfection of their Creator. 
 
 (61.) That there is a general analogy between 
 the different parts of the animal world, by which one 
 object or group represents another, is a truth so 
 universally admitted in modern science, that it need 
 not be here advocated. It is confirmed, not only by 
 the most profound investigations, but is perceived 
 and assented to by the vulgar, who, in many instances, 
 have given to particular animals such names as ex- 
 press an intuitive perception of this principle, with- 
 out the power of demonstrating the analogy implied 
 by such epithets. Hence the origin of such names 
 as night haivk and Tern owl, as given to the goat- 
 suckers ; chauve souris, or flying mice, applied by 
 the French to the bats ; water hens, to the Fulicce ; 
 sea swallow, to the Terns ; and swallow butterflies, 
 to the gehus Podalirius. The provincial or vulgar 
 names of well-known animals, in every language, 
 furnish innumerable instances of the same per- 
 ception of natural analogies. These resemblances, 
 therefore, being undeniable, we must come to one 
 or other of the following conclusions : Are we to 
 consider them as partial and incidental, incapable of 
 being reduced to any definite rules, and governed by 
 no fixed principles ? or, are we to view them as the
 
 DIFFERENT ANALOGIES IN CREATION. 115 
 
 prominent features of some part of the plan of cre- 
 ation; as the strong indications of something beyond 
 the surface of things, and as forming a portion of some 
 great system of harmonious relationship ? Upon this 
 point, again, the scientific world has been set at rest. 
 The theoretical inference which would favour the last 
 of these suppositions, has been demonstrated to be 
 correct both by reason and experience ; and we now 
 know that all these resemblances are to be traced to 
 one universal and consistent plan, as similar in its 
 laws, as it is harmonious in its results. Here, then, is 
 opened an exalted and a boundless field of design ; 
 wherein the Christian philosopher is not only enabled 
 to draw proofs of the Divinity from the individual 
 objects, but from the system by which this endless 
 diversity of forms is regulated. 
 
 (62.) The results attending the investigation of this 
 system of representation, having been uniform in 
 every department of nature yet investigated, we 
 are led to enquire, what further can be learned? 
 whether there be still any ulterior design, for the 
 instruction of man, beyond those which we have 
 discovered ? and whether the knowledge thus gained 
 by analysis, can be applied to the illustration of 
 higher truths connected with our spiritual welfare ? 
 On this point, again, the Christian philosopher will 
 have no doubts. He is told in that inspired volume 
 in which he at least believes, that " we see now, as 
 it were in a mirror, the glory of God reflected 
 enigmatically by the things that he has made."* 
 He is thus assured that the book of nature 
 
 * 1 Cor. xiii. 12. See also North. Zool. Introd. ii. p. Ivi. 
 I 2
 
 116 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 is a book of symbols; and if he require further 
 evidence of this assurance, he finds it in the con- 
 current opinions of some of the greatest and most 
 learned men whom the world has produced. The 
 existence of an analogy between the material and 
 the immaterial world has been a doctrine of firm 
 belief in all Christian ages, and has been illustrated 
 with force and eloquence by many powerful writers 
 who were not men of science. There is one, how- 
 ever, now among us who unites in himself the pious 
 divine and the scientific naturalist, whose words 
 are too remarkable not to be here quoted. " The 
 instruction of man was best secured by placing 
 before him a book of emblems or symbols, in which 
 one thing might represent another. If he was 
 informed by his Creator that the works of creation 
 constituted such a book, by the right interpretation 
 of which he might arrive at spiritual verities, as 
 well as natural knowledge ; curiosity, and the desire 
 of information concerning these high and import- 
 ant subjects, would stimulate him to the study of 
 the mystic volume placed before him; in the. pro- 
 gress of which he would doubtless be assisted by 
 that divine guidance which even now is with those 
 who honestly seek the truth. Both divines and 
 philosophers have embraced this opinion, which is 
 built upon the word of God itself." Introduction 
 to Entomology, vol. iv. p. 4-02. 
 
 (63.) From the doctrines of affinity and analogy, 
 which will subsequently be fully discussed, we learn 
 two great truths. First, that the progression of the 
 affinities of nature is circular ; that is, every natural 
 group has its objects disposed in a revolving series,
 
 VIEWED AS A RECREATION. 117 
 
 so that the last joins to the first, as well as to that 
 by which it was preceded. Secondly, that three 
 of these circles always unite among themselves, and 
 form a larger circle. Now these laws, it must be 
 remembered, repose upon the firmest of all found- 
 ations, namely, that of analysis; and are, consequently, 
 capable of demonstrative proof. When, therefore, 
 we find these laws hold good in every division of 
 the animal world when we discover that the con- 
 tents of one circle are represented by those of 
 another, and that by no other theory can we explain 
 those innumerable phenomena and relations which 
 we see in nature we cannot for a moment believe 
 that this extraordinary harmony is not a part of the 
 system of creation.* 
 
 (64.) II. If we are asked, what are the chief uses 
 and what the advantages of natural history? we 
 should reply, that it not only leads us to look to 
 heaven, but that it opens one of the greatest sources 
 of happiness on earth. In the preceding pages, 
 we have dwelt sufficiently on the first of these 
 topics; we will now enquire into the second. It 
 might be expected, perhaps, that, before we enu- 
 merated these minor advantages of natural history, 
 we should show in what manner it is an intellectual 
 science; and thereby make good its claim to be 
 ranked among those which, for their successful 
 
 * The Christian philosopher will not fail to perceive the 
 interesting field of enquiry which here expands itself; in 
 which he may observe the close analogy that exists between 
 the revealed character of God, and the material creatures of 
 His creation. 
 
 i 3
 
 118 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 prosecution, require the higher energies of the 
 human mind. That it is truly of this description, 
 might be readily inferred ; for the works of nature 
 are much more difficult to understand than those 
 of man. Yet, did we at once expatiate on the deep 
 research necessary to acquire proficiency, did we 
 detail the many and varied acquirements essential to 
 a high cultivation of the science, we might possibly 
 frighten those away, of whom we should otherwise 
 have made disciples. We prefer, therefore, a more 
 agreeable and a more inviting course. As our Series 
 of discourses upon Nature is intended to be element- 
 ary, we shall commence from the lowest step, and 
 gradually ascending, conduct the student from the 
 leading principles of all sound knowledge in this de- 
 partment, to an acquaintance with its details. Let 
 us now, therefore, regard natural history rather as a 
 recreation than as a science, as a pursuit for the 
 man of leisure, and a relaxation for the man of 
 business : we will consider it also as the means of 
 acquiring and preserving health, and as a source of 
 pleasure to the valetudinarian. 
 
 (65.) The study of Nature can never be so well 
 or so delightfully prosecuted as in her own haunts, 
 " remote from cities." Hence it is, that no pursuit 
 can be better adapted for a country life. We are 
 then, as it were, in the boundless temple of Nature, 
 and we explore her truths in all its various recesses. 
 The tediousness of a country life is proverbial ; but 
 did we ever hear this complaint from a naturalist ? 
 Never. Every man who in his walks derives interest 
 from the works of creation who looks to the habits, 
 the instincts, and the forms of animals and who
 
 CONGENIAL TO A COUNTRY LIFE. 119 
 
 reflects upon what he sees, is, in spirit, both a 
 naturalist and a philosopher. To him, every season 
 of the year is doubly interesting ; for, independent 
 of those changes apparent to all, there are others 
 which bring peculiar delight to himself. With each 
 succeeding month, new races of animals and plants 
 rise into existence, and become new objects for his 
 research: these, in their turn, pass away, and are 
 succeeded by others ; until autumn fades into winter, 
 and both the animal and the vegetable world sink 
 into repose. But even this ungenial season, so 
 dreary and comfortless to the mere country resident, 
 is not without interest to the naturalist; for no 
 period of the year is so unsuited to animal life, as 
 to leave our climate destitute of inhabitants. A fine 
 sunny day, in the depth of winter, calls forth many 
 little insects, rarely seen at any other period : while 
 the numerous mosses and lichens, then in fructifi- 
 cation, give to the woodland walk of the botanist a new 
 and lively interest. Nor are the naturalist's pursuits 
 suspended when storms prevent his walks, and con- 
 fine him to the house. The acquisitions to his various 
 collections, made during the past year, are to be 
 examined and arranged ; or his loose notes are to 
 be compared and digested. These are fit and 
 delightful occupations for the long winter evenings ; 
 and over a cheerful fire, he only laments that the 
 hours glide too rapidly away. 
 
 " Thus may our lives, exempt from public toil, 
 
 Find tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, 
 Sermons in stones, and good in every thing." 
 
 (66.) The enthusiasm of naturalists is very apt to 
 i 4
 
 120 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 surprise ordinary people ; but it may be explained on 
 very simple principles. Every one, raised above the 
 condition of a clown, is in a greater or less degree 
 sensible of the beauties of nature, as seen in a fine 
 landscape ; but on none do such scenes make a 
 stronger impression than upon the painter. He, 
 and he alone, is able to analyse, as it were, the pic- 
 ture before him, and to understand how that general 
 effect, which is merely judged of by others as a 
 whole, is produced in detail. By being able to do 
 this, he feels the beauty of picturesque scenery in 
 a much superior degree to others. The same feel- 
 ings influence the naturalist : he walks abroad with 
 others, and admires with them the general beauties 
 of nature, but his perceptions of them are keener, 
 because he understands them better. A thousand 
 little circumstances, unobserved by ordinary eyes, 
 attract his attention, and call forth his delight : the 
 plants, the birds, or the " creeping things," that he 
 meets with, are known to him by name ; he under- 
 stands something of their modes of life ; they come 
 before him as old acquaintances, or, if as new ones, 
 they are doubly welcome. While his companions 
 are wondering, and enquiring of each other the 
 name of a beautiful flower, a curious insect, or an 
 uncommon bird, he is seldom at a loss for a reply. 
 He is, in fact, conversant with those things before him, 
 which are strangers to his companions. And as we 
 always feel pleasure in proportion as we understand 
 that which produces it, so does this feeling fre- 
 quently rise to enthusiasm both with the painter and 
 the naturalist. When these two pursuits, indeed, 
 are united, we can hardly imagine a higher degree
 
 CONGENIAL TO A COUNTRY LIFE. 121 
 
 of intellectual gratification than that which they 
 afford. 
 
 (67.) The amusements of the country are gene- 
 rally expensive. Field sports cannot be followed with- 
 out horses, and dogs, and guns; and these lead us not 
 unfrequently into the society of men with whom we 
 have no other feelings in common. But the quiet 
 student of nature has no need of such paraphernalia . 
 the few implements of his chase are easily and 
 cheaply procured ; nor is he called to celebrate his 
 feats over deep potations, or to make them the sub- 
 ject of boisterous mirth: his pleasures are intel- 
 lectual, and therefore tranquil. Seldom, indeed, 
 does he meet, if far removed from towns, with com- 
 panions like himself, with whom, at the close of day, 
 he can talk over its events ; but, if he be a man of 
 leisure, occasional intercourse with such congenial 
 spirits can generally be accomplished. Short ex- 
 cursions, even for a day, may be compassed, even 
 by the most busy. A new district may be resorted 
 to, and explored. Similarity of pursuits nat only 
 elicits information, but animates zeal ; and we return 
 to our solitary walks with renewed vigour. Nor 
 are the pursuits of the country naturalist altogether 
 inapplicable to practical uses. The various injuries 
 which affect the produce of his garden or his fields, 
 call for his investigation, and may frequently be 
 remedied by his care. How much damage, for 
 instance, is annually done to our fruit-trees by their 
 insect-enemies, few or none of which are thoroughly 
 understood. We scarcely know a publication which 
 would be more useful, or more generally popular, 
 than one which should be devoted to the history of
 
 122 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 such insects as are injurious to fruit and timber 
 trees ; and none but a country naturalist could write 
 such a book. Scientific learning is not essential to 
 the undertaking, seeing that the insects themselves, 
 if thoroughly well described, could always be named 
 or identified. The same enquiries, directed to those 
 insects which infest our grain or other agricultural 
 produce, as hops, turnips, &c., would be still more 
 beneficial, and might be the cause of preventing, in 
 some instances, great loss, if not total ruin, to indi- 
 viduals. Let it not be said, therefore, that the pur- 
 suits of the country gentleman, who may be attached 
 to natural history, are either trivial or unproductive 
 of real benefit. They embrace, in fact, the in- 
 vestigation of those subjects, which render natural 
 history subservient to the economic purposes of life. 
 And if ever the agricultural world is enlightened on 
 these matters, the information must come from those 
 who study nature in the fields and woods not in 
 libraries and museums. 
 
 (68.-) To the man of business, confined during the 
 day to the closeness of an office, or harassed by the 
 anxieties of his profession, relaxation is always wel- 
 come ; but it becomes doubly so, when the mind is 
 at the same time instructed and delighted by pleas- 
 ing images. Those who are engaged in business, 
 cannot always enjoy the recreations of the country 
 naturalist, or gratify their love of nature by contem- 
 plating her works in the fields : but no situation 
 precludes the use of books, or the formation of col- 
 lections. Next to the actual sight of foreign countries, 
 and the study of their living productions, nothing 
 brings them before us so completely as the narra-
 
 A RELAXATION FROM BUSINESS. 123 
 
 tives of travelled naturalists; of those who have 
 personally explored the various regions of the earth 
 for the love of natural history, and who bring before 
 us the manners and peculiarities of animals in a 
 state of liberty. What a love for such pursuits is 
 inspired by the animated and poetic pages of Wilson! 
 and while we read the Northern Zoology* of the late 
 adventurous naturalists to the Arctic regions, we feel 
 almost prepared to encounter the same difficulties, 
 for the sake of participating in the pleasures of the 
 journey. Among the numerous series of pocket 
 volumes published in these days, and adapted to all 
 the different branches of entertaining knowledge, 
 we should like to see the announcement of one 
 which embraced the travels of naturalists. No col- 
 lection, if judiciously made, would be more perma 
 nently and generally interesting to the lover of 
 nature, whether he pursues natural history as a 
 study or as a recreation. 
 
 (69.) We shall subsequently show that some know- 
 ledge of the productions of other countries may fur- 
 nish beneficial hints to the merchant in his foreign 
 speculations ; and that he may, in this instance, turn 
 even his recreation to a profitable advantage. If he 
 is prevented from collecting natural productions 
 himself, they can always be purchased ; and at no 
 time so cheaply as at present. A few pounds, judi- 
 ciously expended on proper objects, will be quite 
 sufficient to procure an elementary collection of 
 
 * The title of this work, published under the authority of 
 the Government, is Fauna Boreali- Americana; but, for the sake 
 of brevity, I generally quote it as Northern Zoology.
 
 124? STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 birds, insects, or shells; in the arrangement and 
 study of which, assisted by a few elementary books, 
 he will find a mental and fascinating recreation, far 
 exceeding that derived from the glare and suffo- 
 cation of a theatre, or even from the levelling 
 monotony of cards. 
 
 (70.) There is a quietness and a placidity in all 
 that relates to nature, which is particularly congenial 
 to the spirit of a good man, and which renders his 
 pleasures independent of the auxiliary aid of the 
 world. They are beyond the influence even of 
 fashion ; they do not, necessarily, bring with them 
 contentions for superiority, the murmurings of envy, 
 or the miseries of disappointment. The true 
 naturalist loves science for her own worth, for her 
 own dignity. He quits the haunts of folly and of 
 idleness, for his study : there, in converse with a 
 friend of kindred spirit, or, if blessed with a family, 
 with those of his own circle, he enjoys the pure de- 
 light of receiving or of imparting knowledge. There 
 is always some new fact to be imparted, some new 
 book to be talked of, or some new acquisition to be 
 shown and admired. The man of business wants 
 relaxation ; but when that is sought for in the excite- 
 ment of mixed society, or of public amusements, 
 diversion may, perhaps, be found, but repose cannot. 
 The man, whose profession keeps him in the bustling 
 scenes of life the greater part of the day, must 
 choose his recreations either abroad or at home. 
 By all but the gay and giddy, who have yet to learn 
 what the world really is, the latter resort will be 
 preferred. But retired or domestic life does not 
 necessarily suppose idleness, and the cultivated mind
 
 CONDUCIVE TO HEALTH. 125 
 
 will not even then be satisfied with mere common- 
 place conversation. Home can only be truly enjoyed, 
 where a taste for some one rational pursuit exists ; 
 and among these, there are few which promise more 
 delight, than the love of natural history. 
 
 (71.) Our science is no less conducive to health, 
 than to rational pleasure. It requires to be prose- 
 cuted by different means all tending, indeed, to 
 the same point, yet carried on by different indivi-* 
 duals, under different circumstances. The practical 
 and the closet naturalist have each their respective 
 departments, equally essential to the advancement 
 of science, although very different in their duties. 
 Facts regarding habits and instincts must be sought 
 for in the fields and the woods ; while their appli- 
 cation and generalisation can best be meditated 
 upon in the closet. Exercise is essential to health ; 
 and a lover of nature wants no other inducement to 
 secure such a blessing, than the active pursuit of her 
 treasures. It is curious to remark the great age 
 which naturalists generally attain. Whether this 
 longevity is to be attributed to those quiet and tem- 
 perate habits inseparable from their studies, or to 
 that exercise necessary to active investigation, 
 certain it is, that both must have considerable in- 
 fluence on the prolongation of life. An entomologist, 
 having no professional occupation, and ardently 
 devoted to his study, may be said to live, during the 
 greatest part of the year, in the open air. No soil 
 or situation is unproductive of his game ; he has 
 not to wait until the First of September, for free 
 licence and permission to capture. No sooner do 
 the first mild beams of a spring sun awaken the
 
 126 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. ' 
 
 insect world into life and motion, than he prepares 
 his tackle, and commences sport. His exercise is 
 attended with a combination of pleasures. He quits 
 the beaten path and the dusty road, and wanders, as 
 fancy leads, " through woods, and lanes, and coppice 
 green." He admires nature as a whole, as well as 
 in detail. He reposes, in the heat of the day, beneath 
 the shade ; and returning to his frugal'*board, re- 
 freshed in mind, and invigorated by health, partakes 
 of what is spread before him with a relish and an 
 enjoyment unknown to the indolent. It is delight- 
 ful to read with what enthusiasm the amiable and 
 excellent author of the epidopteraJ3ritannica speaks 
 of his youthful entomological excursions. " I have 
 diligently examined," says Mr. Haworth, " many 
 parts of England personally, and usually on foot 
 and alone ; but sometimes accompanied by pe- 
 destrian friends of congenial sentiments and taste. 
 Industriously have we sought, and never once in 
 vain, a great variety of woods and lawns, hills and 
 vales, marshes and fens ; one summer only, travelling, 
 in various journeys, not fewer than a thousand miles, 
 in spite of heat and cold, wet and drought, and 
 other concomitant impediments." (Lep. Brit. Pre- 
 face, x.) 
 
 (72.) How frequently do we hear valetudinarians 
 express a repugnance to exercise, particularly in 
 country situations, because they have no object to 
 take them abroad ! They are obliged, forsooth, to 
 walk for the mere sake of walking ; while all those 
 pleasurable feelings, which physicians tell us are so 
 essential to the full benefit of exercise, are destroyed 
 by the consciousness of performing a task. Could
 
 BENEFICIAL TO INVALIDS. 127 
 
 such persons once enjoy the pleasure experienced 
 by the field naturalist, they would no longer com- 
 plain. The hedges which might be seen from their 
 windows would furnish subjects for research ; and 
 they would require no other object than to ascertain 
 by what races of the insect world their own neigh- 
 bourhood was inhabited, what plants grew in their 
 fields, or what birds visited their trees. The 
 smallest inclination towards such tastes would beget 
 the taste itself: regular and daily exercise would 
 powerfully aid the return of health, and pleasurable 
 occupation would produce serenity of mind. 
 
 (73.) With all these concomitants, there are few 
 invalids, except the infirm, the aged, or the diseased, 
 who would long remain so. But even those who 
 are physically incapacitated from sharing in the 
 active prosecution of natural history, may still de- 
 rive, from its passive pursuit (if we may be allowed 
 the term), a never-failing source of rational pleasure, 
 if not of mental study. If they cannot collect, 
 themselves, they can send others to do so ; and if 
 foreign productions are required, the commercial 
 naturalists of London are continually receiving new- 
 objects, from which selections may be made. An 
 amiable and highly accomplished female friend, 
 whose name, on other occasions, we have more than 
 once mentioned, during a long and protracted 
 illness, occupied herself in forming a beautiful 
 Hortus Slccus of our native plants. An intelligent 
 servant was the active collector ; who, without any 
 knowledge of botany, brought to her mistress all 
 such plants of the neighbourhood as were not ab- 
 solutely common weeds. Seated in her arm-chair,
 
 128 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 our enthusiastic friend could manage to select and 
 dry such as she wanted, and occasionally to examine 
 those that were new to her. If I remember right, 
 not days or months, but even years, passed in this 
 way. Botany and conchology relieved the weari- 
 someness of reading, and gave to her long period of 
 sickness a degree of relief perfectly inconceivable 
 to those who possess no such resources. 
 
 (74.) An anecdote of a late noble and muni- 
 ficent patron of natural history Sir Joseph 
 Banks well illustrates what we are now re- 
 commending. When that enterprising naturalist, 
 leaving the comforts and the luxuries of wealth, 
 embarked with Solander to share the dangers and 
 privations of a circumnavigating voyage, arrived at 
 Rio de Janeiro, the jealousy of the Portuguese autho- 
 rities was so great that not one of the party was "per- 
 mitted to land. This prohibition must have been 
 excessively mortifying to all ; but how much more so 
 to Sir Joseph and his companion, who beheld from 
 the deck a noble and richly wooded country, covered 
 with tropical vegetation, and abounding in unknown 
 plants ! But the celebrated botanists did not despair. 
 Having taken in some live stock, and having still 
 one or two sheep and goats, they were permitted to 
 receive fresh fodder every day from the shore. No 
 sooner did it come on board, than Sir Joseph and 
 the Doctor began their herborisings : the bundles of 
 grass and herbs were diligently examined, and many 
 new plants were found, either in flower or in seed ; 
 the former were carefully dried, and many of the 
 latter subsequently vegetated in the hothouses of 
 England. Pecuniary reward induced these bota-
 
 ANECDOTE OF THE AUTHOR. 129 
 
 nical purveyors to bring on board bundles of other 
 plants ; so that, confined to the ship, and incapable 
 of procuring a simple specimen by their own exer- 
 tion, they were yet enabled, by this simple yet 
 ingenious method, to secure a comparatively large 
 collection of Brazilian plants. I may be par- 
 doned, perhaps, for adverting to my own experience 
 on this subject. While exploring that almost inter- 
 minable line of virgin forests which run parallel 
 with the coast of the Capitancies of Bahia and Per- 
 nambuco, I was attacked by a cutaneous disease of 
 the country, and incapacitated from walking. Yet 
 this mortification, great as it was, caused but a par- 
 tial suspension of my zoological researches. Two 
 of the Indians who accompanied me had been trained 
 as entomologists, and another was a crafty hunter. All 
 three were despatched every morning in different 
 directions, and in the evening returned with their 
 zoological spoils. Never shall I forget with what 
 exquisite sensations of anticipating hope I watched 
 the declension of the sun, and looked to the return 
 of my people, for whom a warm supper had been 
 partially prepared by myself. Every day brought 
 something new to my collections, and provided us 
 with food for the next : the morning was spent in 
 preparing the skins of birds, and finally arranging 
 the insects ; while the evening was occupied in ex- 
 amining and rejoicing over new acquisitions. It 
 was only in the intervals which occurred between 
 the accomplishment of the one, and the near ap- 
 proach of the other, that the spirits were sometimes 
 depressed, and the ailments of the body severely felt.
 
 130 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 (75.) Natural history has this peculiar advantage 
 that it can be prosecuted, in one shape or other, by 
 almost every body, and under every ordinary circum- 
 stance. Of all sciences, it is that which requires, in 
 most of i*s departments, the fewest materials. It is 
 as much within reach of the cottager as of the pro- 
 fessor ; or rather, we should say, it embraces ques- 
 tions which can be solved by the former, just as 
 well, and frequently much better, than by the latter. 
 If, as is generally the case, the amateur confines his 
 attention to the productions of his own country, 
 three or four elementary books, and as many im- 
 plements of chase, are all that is requisite. His 
 own exertions will procure him a collection ; and he 
 thus furnishes himself with additional materials for 
 study : but even these are not absolutely essential. 
 The appearances of nature can be investigated and 
 recorded without acquiring the technicality of scien- 
 tific language ; nor, for such purposes, are collections 
 or museums indispensable. A fund of interesting 
 anecdotes of our native animals may be collected 
 by an attentive observer, who is nevertheless igno- 
 rant of their scientific names. White, of Selborne, 
 is a striking example of this truth. His letters show 
 a very confined knowledge even of the imperfect 
 arrangements of the period in which he wrote : yet 
 how delightful are his observations ! The fact is, he 
 looked to nature, and simply recorded what he saw. 
 The writings of such men are invaluable, because, 
 while systems change, nature continues the same. 
 The recently published Journal of a Naturalist may 
 be taken as a model for such remarks : both works
 
 REFLECTIONS. 131 
 
 show that the subject is inexhaustible; and both may 
 teach all who live in the country, what sources of 
 rational pleasure are within their reach, by merely 
 looking to the productions of their own neighbour- 
 hood. 
 
 (76.) In tracing thus far the advantages of na- 
 tural history, the recorded opinions of others have 
 been confirmed by our own experience. But there 
 remains one period of our existence, at which its 
 effects upon our mind can at present be only ima- 
 gined, although we humbly trust we may have the 
 power of confirming our present belief from experi- 
 ence. We allude to the feelings that result from 
 such pursuits when old age comes upon us ; and 
 when we naturally look back to the route we have 
 chosen for the journey of life. That our present 
 ardour will subside, we can well imagine ; but we 
 believe that it will never degenerate into indifference. 
 It has, indeed, been mercifully ordered by "Providence, 
 that our interest in temporal things should progres- 
 sively diminish, in proportion as our time draws 
 near for quitting them. But if our recreations have 
 been innocent, and our pursuits intellectual, they 
 cannot, in the nature of things, leave behind them 
 regret or disappointment much less can they 
 inflict remorse. We can imagine, therefore, that 
 the old age of a true naturalist, one who looks 
 from the created to the Creator, must be peculiarly 
 happy. He may have had his share of the sorrows 
 and disappointments incidental to mortality; but 
 they have neither originated in the sensuality or in- 
 temperance of his amusements, nor in the ambitious 
 K 2
 
 132 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 nature of his pursuits. Neither wealth, nor titles, 
 nor honours, have ever had the power to lure him 
 from his peaceful studies ; and he is, therefore, ex- 
 empt from the committal of those mean artifices and 
 unworthy acts, by which such distinctions are too 
 often gained. We can imagine such a man looking 
 back on the quiet path he has trodden, with some- 
 thing of the same feeling with which we contem- 
 plate, from a mossy seat, the vista of a green 
 embowered lane, nigh to which is the public road, 
 sultry and dusty, thronged with crossing vehicles 
 and jostling crowds. Although no longer fit for 
 active exertion, we can still fancy him contemplating 
 his collections the acquisitions of his youth, and the 
 study of his manhood with that complacency which 
 we feel towards an old companion. Every object 
 in his little museum has its own story ; the scenes 
 and incidents of youth are brought back to his re- 
 collection in all their freshness ; and the memory, 
 dwelling on these green spots in the desert of life, 
 will oftentimes be prevented from recalling others 
 of a less cheering nature. He looks abroad in the 
 spring of the year, and sees the face of nature re- 
 newed, with the same beauty and freshness, as when 
 he contemplated her in the spring of youth. That 
 season of his life has long passed away: but he 
 knows that he, too, will be renewed that his winter 
 will be changed to an eternal spring ; and with firm 
 but humble confidence in the promises of his God, 
 he resigns the contemplation of His sublunary works, 
 in the sure and certain hope of seeing those which 
 are heavenly.
 
 AS REGARDS COMMERCE. 133 
 
 (77.) HI- Natural history is now to be considered in 
 reference to commerce, and the economical purposes 
 of life. It has always been remarked, that this study, 
 when viewed only in reference to its economic uses, 
 possesses few decided advantages ; and that even 
 these, for the most part, are indirect. It will not, how- 
 ever, be either unprofitable or uninteresting to view 
 the subject in this light, and to enquire what benefits 
 can result to the merchant, and the agriculturist, 
 from acquiring some knowledge, at least, of the 
 science now under consideration. 
 
 (78.) All commerce is derived from the produc- 
 tions of nature, whether in the state in which they 
 are naturally produced, or after the raw material, as 
 it is then termed, has been altered or worked upon 
 by art. Every thing which administers to our wants, 
 our comforts, or our luxuries, is derived either from, 
 the animal, the vegetable, or the mineral kingdom. 
 It is from these great storehouses of nature that 
 man selects such objects as he finds, by experience, 
 are most satisfying to his wants or most adapted to 
 his purposes. From these he derives his food and 
 his clothing from these he selects materials for his 
 habitation ; nor, without them, could life be supported. 
 The vegetable and the mineral kingdoms supply us 
 with all those medicines which alleviate pain, conquer 
 disease, or restore health. So that, without a know- 
 ledge of the uses of those materials, life and health 
 could not be preserved. Even knowledge itself 
 would cease; for the pen we now hold, and the 
 paper upon which we write, are but raw materials 
 for communicating information, one being taken 
 K 3
 
 134 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 from the animal kingdom, the other from the vege- 
 table. Now, as one of the chief objects of natural 
 history is to teach us the properties and uses of 
 natural productions, it might be argued, abstractedly, 
 that natural history is the most important and the 
 most essential science that can be conceived ; since, 
 without being acquainted with that information 
 which it is designed to teach, man could not exist 
 upon the earth. 
 
 (79.) But if man, in his primeval state of rude- 
 ness or barbarism, had been compelled to study the 
 nature of tnose things which he needed, before he 
 had ventured to make use of them, he would have 
 wanted both the means and the opportunity ; and he 
 might have starved in the midst of plenty. He was 
 therefore prompted either by reason or by instinct 
 certainly not by science to use those things with 
 which nature had filled the world. He saw that 
 certain animals, which had been destined for his use 
 possessed tameness and docility ; that they frequented 
 his haunts, and even courted his protection. The 
 hannlessness of their nature was apparent ; and he 
 was in this manner, probably, led to attempt their 
 domestication, and to avail himself of their services- 
 Hence we find, that the horse, the sheep, and the 
 dog, were the mute companions of our primitive 
 races. While living, their strength diminished his 
 labour, or gave security to his property ; and when 
 dead, the greater number supplied him with food, or 
 materials for clothing. He saw, again, that these 
 animals fed only upon vegetables which were whole- 
 some, and he might be thus assisted in discriminating
 
 ECONOMIC PRODUCTIONS. 135 
 
 between nutritious and poisonous roots. No inform- 
 ation, indeed, would be more curious than that which 
 should tell us the particular manner in which the 
 virtues of vegetables and minerals were first dis- 
 covered, and in what way it was found out that a 
 plant naturally a deadly poison, could yet, by the ex- 
 pulsion of its juices, be so prepared, as to become a 
 most nutritious food forming the chief sustenance 
 of nearly a fifth part of mankind.* Discoveries of 
 this sort, however, have seldom originated in design ; 
 they have been made accidentally, generally by the 
 uneducated savage. In proportion to the utility of 
 the discovery, so has its knowledge been spread to 
 others. All this, in short, had taken place, before 
 the study of nature assumed either the name, or the 
 intellectual character, of a science. 
 
 (80.) Seeing, therefore, that all which is essential 
 to our wants has been already discovered, the mere 
 superficial reader will again enquire cui bono ? How 
 are we to make this science practically useful? In 
 what manner does it concern, or enter into the 
 pursuits of, the merchant, the planter, or the agri- 
 culturist ? and what good can result to them by a 
 a knowledge of such matters ? We evade not these 
 questions, because, in the view we are now taking 
 of natural history, they are natural and just. 
 
 (81.) Could it be shown that all those produc- 
 tions of nature have been made known, which possess 
 qualities applicable to the common purposes of life, 
 
 * We allude to the mandioca root, from which the cassava 
 fcread of the West Indies, and the farinhia of Brazil, are made. 
 K 4
 
 136 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 then, indeed, economic natural history need not be 
 studied. But how far from this is the real fact I In 
 regard to the qualities of animals, indeed, we cannot 
 hope for any new discovery of importance. Though 
 even on this point we need not despair ; seeing that, 
 but a few years ago, vaccination was unknown to us ; 
 and that it would have been deemed chimerical to 
 assert that the cow had a property which would save 
 millions of lives. We require not any increase to 
 the number of our domesticated animals, for nature 
 has bountifully made known to us all the races that 
 we require ; the horse for labour, the ox for food, 
 and the sheep for clothing. It would be curious, 
 indeed, though not very desirable, to see the camel, 
 the elephant, or the reindeer, acclimated and breed- 
 ing among us ; but what practical good would result 
 from this, may reasonably be questioned ; while the 
 evil of devoting tracts of ground to feed such bulky 
 animals, at a time when the produce of our soil will 
 not supply its human inhabitants, is sufficiently 
 obvious. It may, in truth, be considered a fortunate 
 circumstance for the nation, that the Zoological 
 Society, originally formed for these very purposes, 
 has not succeeded in a single instance, as it is said, 
 after many years, in acclimating one race of foreign 
 animals, either useful or ornamental. 
 
 (82.) The practical uses of natural history are 
 not, however, restricted to such matters. A merchant 
 who trades to a distant country must first inform 
 himself on the nature of its productions whether 
 animal, vegetable, or mineral that he may know 
 what to send, and what he can receive. When, as
 
 USEFUL TO THE MERCHANT 137 
 
 in these times, new countries are continually opening 
 as marts of traffic, and new channels of commerce 
 are making their way even into the heart of Africa, 
 the man who possesses this sort of information, and 
 turns it to advantage, not unfrequently realises a 
 fortune ; while he, who, like the Sheffield cutler, 
 sent a large consignment of patent skates to Buenos 
 Ayres*, thinking they would, in a new country, 
 sell for an enormous sum, may very likely be 
 ruined. Every one knows the importance of our 
 fisheries, particularly those for the whale and the 
 seal. Had laws been made by our legislators for 
 the preservation of the former, on the same principle 
 as they so sedulously preserve their own game, we 
 should not hear of the Greenland fisheries being 
 almost ruined ; no one, indeed, could have drawn 
 up a parliamentary bill for this purpose, without a 
 competent knowledge of the natural history of the 
 animal whose race was to be preserved; while in 
 regard to the seal fisheries, they might be extended, 
 beyond all doubt, in parts of the Southern hemisphere 
 hitherto entirely neglected. The fur trade, again, 
 opens a field for the practical use of natural history : 
 for, independent of the necessity of accurately dis- 
 criminating the different species whose skins form an 
 article of commerce, how much might this trade be 
 extended and benefited by a merchant well acquainted 
 with the geographic range of these animals, the 
 peculiar times when their furs are in the finest con- 
 dition, and what countries are destitute of such 
 
 * A fact which occurred in 1806.
 
 138 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 resources I We need not insist, that such knowledge, 
 properly and judiciously made use of, will not only 
 be useful, but lucrative. The first traders who sup- 
 plied China with the furs of America, realised large 
 fortunes; and the same results will always attend 
 every such enterprise, however irregular it may 
 appear, if it is only founded on knowledge, and 
 conducted with prudence. People go on trading in 
 the beaten track, not because there are no others, but 
 because the traders are in general totally uninformed 
 on those circumstances which lead to their discovery. 
 The produce of the animal kingdom, in our com- 
 mercial lists, is much more limited than that of the 
 vegetable and the mineral. Yet how few of the 
 valuable exotic drugs, dyes, and medicines do we 
 know more of than their ordinary names! Some 
 that, from being produced in small quantities, and 
 in a limited district, bear a high price, may very 
 possibly be abundant in adjacent countries, or might 
 be transplanted and cultivated in other situations less 
 remote and more convenient It is the business of 
 the merchant, if he aims at wealth, to discover new 
 sources of commerce, of which he can reap the first 
 fruits ; but this will never be done, save by accident, 
 without he is well informed respecting the produc- 
 tions, whether natural or artificial of other 
 nations ; in order that he may supply their wants, 
 or import their produce. The truth is, that the pro- 
 fession of commerce embraces many branches of in- 
 formation, and even of science, which at first sight 
 appear totally unconnected with it: and among these, 
 natural history holds no inconsiderable station.
 
 IN REFERENCE TO AGRICULTURE. 139 
 
 (83.) The pursuits of the agriculturist and of the 
 planter bring them more immediately into contact 
 with the productions of nature; and hence they 
 are more especially interested in understanding their 
 qualities. It is not only necessary to be well ac- 
 quainted with the different vegetables grown or 
 reared for economic purposes, but to understand 
 the cause of the injuries they are subject to ; and 
 then to devise efficient remedies for those injuries. 
 Here, also, is a wide field open for improvement 
 and for discovery, and in which no information is 
 so practically useful as that afforded by natural 
 history. We are continually hearing of the failure 
 of crops, and of attendant ruin. Now, in nine 
 instances out of ten, these devastations have origin- 
 ated in the unusual abundance of some particular 
 insect, which, from unknown causes, has appeared 
 in great numbers. We contend not that the know- 
 ledge or the ingenuity of man could foresee such 
 evils, or could totally counteract them ; but expe- 
 rience has shown how much may be done, in many 
 cases, both in the way of prevention and of cure. 
 To do this effectually, however, recourse must be 
 had to natural history. The cause of the injury 
 being ascertained, the habits of the insect must be 
 studied in all its different stages. What will prove 
 more or less efficacious in one of these stages, will 
 be totally useless, or will increase the evil, in another. 
 Hence arises the necessity of ascertaining names 
 and species; without which, no effectual steps can be 
 taken. 
 
 (84.) If there required any striking fact to
 
 140 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 show the intimate connection between agriculture 
 and natural history, it would be found in the 
 circumstances which attended the supposed ap- 
 pearance of the Hessian fly in this country ; thus 
 mentioned by Messrs. Kirby and Spence : "In 
 1788, an alarm was excited in this country, by the 
 probability of importing, in cargoes of wheat from 
 North America, the insect known by the name of 
 the Hessian fly, whose dreadful ravages will be 
 adverted to hereafter. The privy council sat day 
 after day, anxiously debating what measures should 
 be adopted to ward off the danger of a calamity, 
 more to be dreaded, as they well knew, than the 
 plague or pestilence. Expresses were sent off in all 
 directions to the officers of the customs at the 
 different out-ports, respecting the examination of 
 cargoes : despatches were written to the ambassadors 
 in France., Austria, Prussia, and America, to gain 
 that information, of the want of which they were 
 now so sensible : and so important was the business 
 deemed, that the minutes of council, and the docu- 
 ments collected from all quarters, fill upwards of 
 two hundred octavo pages. Fortunately, at that time, 
 England contained one illustrious naturalist, to whom 
 the privy council had the wisdom to apply ; and it 
 was by Sir Joseph Banks's entomological knowledge, 
 and through his suggestions, that they were at length 
 enabled to form some kind of judgment on the 
 subject This judgment was, after all, however, 
 very imperfect. As Sir Joseph had never seen the 
 Hessian fly, nor was it described in any entomo- 
 logical system, he called for facts respecting its
 
 PANIC ABOUT THE HESSIAN FLY. 141 
 
 nature, propagation, and economy, which could be 
 had only from America. These were obtained as 
 speedily as possible, and consisted of numerous 
 letters from individuals, essays from magazines, the 
 reports of the British minister there, &c. One would 
 have supposed, that, from these statements, many 
 of them drawn up by farmers who had lost entire 
 crops by the insect, which they professed to have 
 examined in every stage, the requisite information 
 might have been acquired. So far, however, was 
 this from being the case, that many of the writers 
 seemed ignorant whether the insect were a moth, a 
 fly, or what they term a bug. And though, from the 
 concurrent testimony of several persons, its being a 
 two- winged fly seemed pretty accurately ascertained, 
 no intelligible description was given, from which any 
 naturalist could infer to what genus it belonged, or 
 whether it was a known or an unknown species. 
 With* regard to the history of its propagation 
 and economy, the statements were so various and 
 contradictory, that, though he had such a mass of 
 materials before him, Sir Joseph Banks was unable 
 to reach any satisfactory conclusion." (Introduction 
 to Entomology, vol. i. p. 51.) Nothing, as our authors 
 justly observe, can more incontrovertibly demon- 
 strate the importance of entomology, as a science, 
 than this fact. Those observations, to which thou- 
 sands of unscientific sufferers proved themselves 
 incompetent, would have been readily made by one 
 entomologist well versed in his science. He would 
 at once have determined the order and genus of his 
 insect ; and in a twelvemonth, at furthest, he would
 
 142 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 have ascertained in what manner it made its attacks, 
 and whether it were possible to be transmitted with 
 grain into a foreign country. On data like these, 
 he could have pointed out the best mode of eradi- 
 cating the pest, or of preventing the extension of its 
 ravages. 
 
 (85.) But if some acquaintance with natural 
 history may be thus beneficial in the councils of 
 the nation, still more essential is it to those who 
 possess lands in our colonies, and who are desirous 
 of making them profitable. We hear, for instance, 
 of the worn-out state of the West India plantations ; 
 that the soil will no longer repay the expenses of 
 cultivation ; and that the introduction of sugar, rum, 
 &c. from other countries, has brought ruin upon 
 these. We know not how far these statements may 
 be correct ; but admitting them to be so, it may be 
 fairly enquired, what efforts have been made to 
 remedy them ? why could not the aromatic spices 
 of the East be equally well grown in the West Indies ? 
 and why has not the cultivation of the silkworm 
 been undertaken in the Antilles, instead of leaving 
 this enormous trade in the hands of the Asiatics? 
 Why, again, are not efficient and scientific trials 
 made for rearing the tea plant either in the West 
 Indies or on the neighbouring continent ? What 
 obstacles exist against the cultivation of the vine 
 and the olive, two plants which we know person- 
 ally will flourish in every possible variety of soil, 
 in these ill-fated islands ; and thus establishing in 
 them new and important sources of commerce and 
 of wealth ? In deciding these and similar questions,
 
 USEFUL TO PLANTERS AND EMIGRANTS. 143 
 
 natural history becomes of the first importance. 
 Since the only data upon which operations can be 
 properly conducted, must be furnished by persons 
 well versed in that science ; accustomed to enquire 
 into, and reflect upon, those kinds of facts, which 
 none but a naturalist would ever think of. So 
 strongly, indeed, were some of our West India 
 proprietors impressed with the expediency of in- 
 stituting enquiries of this nature, that a meeting 
 was held, some few years ago, for the express 
 purpose of discussing the subject They even went 
 so far as publicly to announce the name of the 
 naturalist who was to be sent on this mission. For 
 some reason, however, the scheme was abandoned ; 
 and although the reasons for its execution are even 
 stronger now, than they were then, it cannot be ex- 
 pected, in the present agitated and unsettled state 
 of these colonies, that it will be soon revived. 
 
 (86.) Let us now consider the case of another 
 description of agriculturists those who carry their 
 capital and their industry abroad, for the purpose of 
 settling in foreign countries. To them, an elementary 
 knowledge of natural history is of much more con- 
 sequence than to the English farmer, who frequently 
 learns, from the experience of others, what is to be 
 done in cases of emergency ; or who can, at least, 
 apply for such information to scientific advisers. 
 But the agricultural emigrant has not these re- 
 sources : he has, for the most part, to learn every 
 thing himself: he has to study soils, and try 
 experiments as to the crops best adapted to them. 
 These crops will frequently be attacked and de-
 
 144 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 stroyed by a host of new enemies of the insect 
 world, the species of which he has never before seen, 
 and against which, in consequence, he knows not 
 how to proceed. He is, in fact, thrown upon his 
 own resources ; and if he has not a sufficient know- 
 ledge of natural history to enable him to reason 
 upon the facts before him, or to direct him how to 
 proceed, he suffers the full extent of evils which 
 might otherwise have been mitigated or prevented. 
 (87.) How continually are the nurserymen and 
 gardeners of this country complaining of extensive 
 damage done to their crops and their fruit-trees by 
 different species of insects ! Yet these very insects 
 from being called by vulgar provincial names, are 
 almost totally unknown to naturalists, who cannot, 
 therefore, supply that information which is desired 
 It is surely not too much to expect that a gardener 
 should be able to tell the difference between a beetle 
 and a fly ; between an insect with four wings, and 
 one without. Yet so little has this information 
 been thought of among the generality of this pro- 
 fession, that not one in twenty has any knowledge 
 on the subject. Country gentlemen complain of 
 their fruit being devoured by birds, and orders are 
 given for an indiscriminate destruction of birds- 
 nests : the sparrows, more especially, are persecuted 
 without mercy, as being the chief aggressors ; while 
 the Robin redbreast, conceived to be the most inno- 
 cent inhabitant of the garden, is fostered and pro- 
 .tected. Now, a little acquaintance with the natural 
 history of these two birds would set their characters 
 in opposite lights. The sparrows, more especially
 
 DESTRUCTION OF HARMLESS ANIMALS. 145 
 
 in country situations, very rarely frequent the gar- 
 den ; because, grain being their chief food, they 
 search for it round the farmyard, ^the rick, and the 
 stable : they resort to such situations accordingly, 
 The Robins, on the other hand, are the great de- 
 vourers of all the small fruits : they come from the 
 nest just before the currants and gooseberries are 
 ripe ; and they immediately spread themselves over 
 the adjacent gardens, which they do not quit so 
 long as there is any thing to pillage. It may ap- 
 pear strange, as it certainly is, that no writer on 
 our native birds should have been aware of these 
 facts ; but it is only a proof how little those persons, 
 who are, nevertheless, interested in knowing such 
 things, attend to the habits and economy of beings 
 continually before their eyes. In like manner, we 
 protect blackbirds for their song, that they may rob 
 us of our wall and standard fruits with impunity. 
 
 (88.) It behoves every one to show humanity to 
 animals, although we are authorised and justified in 
 destroying such as are found, by experience, to injure 
 our property. Under this latter head, however, we 
 are committing so many mistakes, that, ere long, 
 some of the most elegant and interesting of our 
 native animals will probably be extirpated. Country 
 gentlemen give orders to their gamekeepers to de- 
 stroy all " vermin" on their preserves ; and these 
 menials, equally ignorant with their masters of what 
 "vermin" are really injurious, commence an indiscri- 
 minate attack upon all animals. The jay, the wood- 
 pecker, and the squirrel, three of the most elegant 
 and innocent inhabitants of our woods, are doomed 
 to the same destruction as the stoat, the polecat, and
 
 146 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 the hawk. Nothing, in our native ornithology, can 
 be more beautiful than the plumage of the jay : 
 while its very wildness and discordance is in har- 
 mony with the loneliness of the tangled woods it 
 loves to frequent. The sudden and sharp cry of the 
 green woodpecker is of a similar character ; and the 
 sound of its bill " tapping the hollow beech tree" is 
 interesting and poetical. The squirrel, again, is the 
 gayest and the prettiest enlivener of our woodland 
 scenery ; and, in its amazing leaps, shows us an ex- 
 ample unrivalled among our native quadrupeds 
 of agility and gracefulness. Yet these peaceful 
 denizens of our woods are destroyed and exter- 
 minated, from sheer ignorance of the most unques- 
 tionable facts in their history. The jay, indeed, is 
 said to suck eggs ; but this is never done except in 
 a scarcity of insect food, which rarely, if ever, hap- 
 pens. The woodpecker lives entirely upon those 
 insects which destroy trees, and is, therefore, one of 
 the most efficient preservers of our plantations; 
 while the squirrel feeds exclusively on fruits and 
 nuts. To suppose that either of these are prejudicial 
 to the eggs or the young of partridges and pheasants, 
 would be just as reasonable as to believe that goat- 
 suckers milked cows, or that hedgehogs devoured 
 poultry. It is surely desirable that right notions 
 should be had on such things, and that by an ac- 
 quaintance with the most common facts of natural 
 history, our few remaining native animals should be 
 preserved from wanton and useless destruction. If 
 natural history can teach us nothing more than hu- 
 manity towards such inoffensive creatures, a little 
 attention to it would not be misplaced.
 
 ITS IMPORTANCE TO TRAVELLERS. 147 
 
 ' (89.) We have now touched upon most of those 
 subjects in which the study of nature may be brought 
 to practical and beneficial purposes. Many of them 
 may be thought trivial, and some remote ; but 
 there are others which involve questions concerning 
 the prosperity of large communities, and the success 
 of great commercial undertakings. No science, 
 which can be applied to the solution of such ques- 
 tions, can be deemed inapplicable to the every- day 
 purposes of life ; or unconnected with the wealth 
 of nations or of individuals. There is, in fact, 
 scarcely any branch of human knowledge but what 
 may be applied, immediately or remotely in one 
 shape or another, to the common benefit of man- 
 kind ; and among these, natural history, both in its 
 moral and practical application, must ever hold a 
 distinguished place. 
 
 (90.) To travellers in foreign countries, natural 
 history is now become almost an essential qualifica- 
 tion. I the infancy of the natural sciences, the pro- 
 ductions of remote countries were either assimilated 
 to our own, or magnified and distorted into the most 
 marvellous wonders. The fabulous accounts of the 
 natives were faithfully collected by the credulous tra- 
 veller, and given to the world as facts attested by 
 his own observation. Hence arose the absurdities 
 recorded by Marco Polo, Ferdinand Mendez Pinto, 
 and many of the earlier travellers, no less than the 
 erroneous names assigned, in books of more modern 
 date, to animals whose species never existed where 
 they are asserted to live. But the advance of know- 
 ledge, and a more attentive consideration of animal 
 geography, has shown us that these accounts can no 
 L 2
 
 148 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 longer be depended upon; and an ornithologist 
 would no more expect to find the sparrow of 
 Europe in the farmyards of the Cape Colony, or 
 even in North America, than he would to discover 
 a race of Indians in the mountains of Scotland. 
 Now, as there are few countries out of Europe, 
 where, if a traveller goes, he will not have to speak 
 of its natural productions, it follows that his quali- 
 fication for doing this will be measured by his pro- 
 ficiency in natural history. He may, indeed, omit 
 the subject altogether ; but it will be at the hazard 
 of his book holding a very inferior station in the 
 estimation of the public. We allude not, of course, 
 to those entertaining but ephemeral narratives of 
 travels, published under, the appropriate titles of 
 Notes, Sketches, Short Residences, &c. wherein amuse- 
 ment rather than instruction is aimed at. It is not 
 to such sources that we are to look for solid inform- 
 ation on the laws, the statistics, or the productions 
 of a country ; nor do we place them as standard 
 books of reference on the same shelf of our library as 
 Humboldt's New Spain, Burchell's Africa, or Ward's 
 Mexico. Our observations are addressed to tra- 
 vellers of a higher class : yet even the sketching 
 and noting tourists of the day, while they gallop over 
 a certain number of leagues against time, would do 
 well to know something of the animals which they 
 pass, or the productions which they cannot stop to 
 bring home as tests of their veracity. The world 
 of animals is as replete with anecdotes as that o( 
 man ; and although they may not be so generally 
 amusing, they will often be found more instruc- 
 tive.
 
 ITS IMPORTANCE TO TRAVELLERS. 149" 
 
 (91.) Natural history, indeed, now forms such an 
 important feature in the best voyages and travels, 
 that the subject is usually assigned to a professed 
 naturalist, and is either made a separate division of 
 the volume,, or is published as a distinct work. By 
 such arrangements, science gains the full advantage 
 of the discoveries made, for they are generally given 
 to the world by those most competent to the task. But 
 this, so far from lessening the necessity of natural his- 
 tory forming one of the accomplishments of the tra- 
 veller, rather increases that necessity. The science, 
 as before observed, can only be prosecuted with full 
 advantage by two classes of students ; pursuing, 
 indeed, the same end, but attaining it by different 
 means. The practical naturalist studies in the 
 fields ; he collects specimens, he observes instincts, 
 and he records facts. His scientific brother com- 
 pares these acquisitions with those already existing ; 
 he studies organisation, and he consults books. 
 Both these modes of investigating nature are essen- 
 tial to the true knowledge of her works ; but they 
 can seldom be prosecuted by the same individual. 
 In this, as in almost every branch of science or of 
 art, the advantage of the division of labour is 
 manifest. To the traveller, therefore, belongs the 
 first set of these duties. If he has no intention of 
 publishing, himself, a detailed and digested account 
 of his discoveries, but is desirous that others more 
 experienced should do so, he has yet to understand 
 the practical part of his subject. The art of pre- 
 serving specimens, and some little knowledge of the 
 science, must be first acquired, before he can judge 
 what species to reject and what to preserve. The 
 L 3
 
 150 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 economy of animals, again, can only be learned by 
 observation; and this implies a habit of quick-sighted 
 attention, and a knowledge of such points as should 
 be more especially attended to. Facts, so trivial in 
 themselves that ordinary observers would pronounce 
 them insignificant, are often, in the eye of the na- 
 turalist, of the highest importance ; not, indeed, in 
 their isolated character, but as leading to or corro- 
 borating some of the great truths of the natural 
 system. As an instance of this, the manner in which 
 the chrysalis of a butterfly is suspended, whether 
 with its head upwards or downwards, would appear, 
 to all but an entomologist, too trivial for record. 
 Yet this simple variation of position determines at 
 once to which of the primary types of the diurnal 
 Lepidoptera the insect in question belongs. A 
 thousand similar instances might be adduced, were 
 they necessary, to enforce the most critical precision 
 in recording observed facts. 
 
 (92.) The advantages of natural history, as a 
 philosophic study, need not be dwelt upon, after 
 what has been so ably said in reference to the phy- 
 sical sciences in general *, of which this forms but a 
 part. We have already shown, that there are depart- 
 ments which may be cultivated without a profound 
 acquaintance with those physical laws hereafter to 
 be explained. But were we, in this place, to enu- 
 merate all those qualifications which constitute a 
 philosophic naturalist, the varied acquirements he 
 should possess the materials he should collect 
 the years that he must study the countries he 
 
 * See Sir J. F. Herschel's Preliminary Discourse.
 
 ELABORATE AND DIFFICULT. 151 
 
 should visit, we fear the reader might interrupt 
 us with the exclamation of Rasselas to Imlac*, 
 while the latter was proceeding to aggrandise the 
 profession of a poet. " Enough ! thou hast con- 
 vinced me that no human being can ever be" a 
 naturalist 
 
 * Johnson's Rasseias, chap. xL
 
 152 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 PART III. 
 
 OF THE PRINCIPLES ON WHICH NATURAL HIS- 
 TORY RELIES FOR ITS SUCCESSFUL PROSECUTION, 
 AND THE CONSIDERATIONS BY WHICH THE NA- 
 TURAL SYSTEM MAY BE DEVELOPED. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ON THE DISMISSAL OF PREJUDICE. 
 
 (93.) IT has been truly and forcibly urged*, that 
 the dismissal of prejudice is absolutely essential to 
 the prosecution of science : and we may add, that if 
 there be any branch of physical knowledge which 
 more especially calls for this dismissal; or whose 
 progress, more than that of any other, has been im- 
 peded by prejudice; it is that of natural history. 
 We allude more especially to prejudices of opinion ; 
 since those of sense, however they may arise in 
 other sciences, are subordinate to this. Natural 
 history is a science of facts and of inferences. The 
 former regard structure and economy ; and as these, 
 under favourable circumstances, can be investigated 
 
 * Sir J. F. Herschel's Discourse, p. 80.
 
 CONTRARIETY OF OPINION. 153 
 
 by every one, few prejudices of sense can arise re- 
 specting them. But when we proceed further, and 
 attempt, from these facts, to draw inferences, the 
 case is different. No principles having been yet 
 established, by which the facts we know from ex- 
 perience can be generalised in such a way as to es- 
 tablish their mutual relation and dependence. Every 
 naturalist therefore thinks he is at liberty to draw his 
 own inferences, and to apply them to the systematic 
 arrangement of the objects by which they are fur- 
 nished. One, for instance, arguing from the flight 
 of the bat, looks on it as that animal which constitutes 
 the true passage from quadrupeds to birds. Another, 
 looking to its general aspect, is disposed to place it 
 among the mice, fortified by the general name given 
 by the French to the whole tribe of chauve souris. 
 A third, chiefly influenced by the peculiarity of its 
 teeth, arranges it in the same group as the monkeys : 
 and each, acting upon his respective inferences, 
 fashions his system accordingly. Now, as to the 
 facts connected with the individual structure and 
 the economy of the bat, all these naturalists would 
 agree ; because such facts can be verified by 
 their personal observation, and there would be no 
 room for prejudice. But here unanimity ceases. 
 They proceed to inferences ; and each, laying a 
 peculiar stress upon some one fact more than upon 
 others, makes it a principle of his own arrangement. 
 This is the true cause of the number and the muta- 
 bility of zoological systems. In respect to the bat, 
 it is very clear, that if there is an order or progression 
 in nature, which no one ever thinks of doubting, 
 this quadruped can hold but one station in the scale
 
 154) STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 of being ; and it therefore follows that only one of 
 the opinions just glanced at can be true. Now, if 
 we are unacquainted with any general laws of 
 animal variation, by which the soundness of con- 
 flicting inferences can be tested, how are we to 
 decide in the case before us ? It is clearly impos- 
 sible: each opinion is supported by reasons, and 
 each party appeals to and acknowledges the very 
 same facts. In the infancy of science, such questions 
 were generally decided by the authority and the in- 
 fluence of a name. As knowledge increased, such 
 arbitrary authorities also multiplied; but their in- 
 fluences proportionally declined. Each, however, 
 still continues to have its little circle of disciples, 
 who, from having studied under, and imbibed the 
 system and opinions of, their master, tenaciously 
 adhere to what they have been taught to consider as 
 truth. 
 
 (94-.) Here, then, lies that species of prejudice 
 against which we would more especially caution the 
 student ; and which, if he will not conquer it, will 
 incapacitate him, both from rising to the present 
 level of science, and from extending its boundaries. 
 He should ever bear in remembrance, that facts, 
 authenticated by the experience of others, or falling 
 under his own cognisance, are immutable, because 
 nature is ever the same ; but that the inferences 
 from them may be so numerous, and so contradictory, 
 that, until we are acquainted with some general laws 
 whereby universal agreements can be established, 
 one inference, in point of fact, is just as good as 
 another. To illustrate our meaning more plainly, 
 let us look to four of the greatest authorities on the
 
 DISCORDANCE OF ARTIFICIAL SYSTEMS. 155 
 
 classification of the Mammalia, namely, Linnaeus, 
 Cuvier, Illiger, and Hamilton Smith. Each of these 
 studied from the same models, models which are 
 now the same as when they were first created ; and 
 each and all agree in the results of their respective, 
 examinations ; that is, in the facts belonging to the 
 structure of these animals. So far, therefore, we 
 need not question their authority. But when they 
 began to reason upon these facts, each drew separate 
 inferences, and consequently produced different 
 systems or methods of classification. These systems, 
 however, make no reference to other parts of creation. 
 They treat of the class before them, as if it was the 
 only one in nature, and as if the principles by 
 which it was to be arranged had no connection with 
 those which governed other classes. We find, in 
 short, no allusion to mutual resemblances out of this 
 division of animals ; so that an ordinary reader would 
 suppose that nature had one system for quadrupeds, 
 another for birds, a third for fish, and a fourth for 
 insects. Did he turn to the best classifications of 
 each of these orders now in use, he would be still 
 further confirmed in this opinion, by seeing that 
 they were all treated of in the same isolated and dis- 
 connected manner. The ornithological systems of 
 the greatest naturalists in this department differ 
 from each other fully as much as those relating to 
 quadrupeds, and are calculated to produce the same 
 impressions. Seeing, therefore, that inferences may 
 be innumerably various and discordant; by what 
 rule, as the science now stands, are we to be guided 
 in choosing truth ? It is evident, that if there be 
 but one system in nature, there can be but one
 
 156 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 natural mode of classifying her productions ; that is, 
 in the true series or chain of being. We venture 
 these remarks, not in disparagement of the great 
 names who have gone before us ; and to whom, on 
 so many other points, science is highly indebted ; 
 but that the naturalist may clearly see the shallow 
 basis upon which his prejudices of opinion rest, 
 when they have been formed in favour of isolated 
 systems and arbitrary methods. Upon a subject, 
 however, of so much importance to the successful 
 prosecution of science, we may offer some further 
 considerations. 
 
 (95.) It is a fact which the progress of human 
 knowledge has demonstrated, and which is conti- 
 nually receiving new and corroborative proofs, that 
 the more we understand of the primary laws of 
 nature, the more simple, universal, and harmonious 
 do we find them. To suppose, therefore, that a 
 theory of arrangement can be natural, which pre- 
 tends not to explain and to illustrate any one general 
 law of nature, is, in fact, either virtually to deny that 
 any such exist, or that, however other sciences may 
 be governed by general laws, that of natural history 
 is exempt from them. To adduce arguments against 
 either of these propositions would be a waste of 
 words : their futility being admitted, how strongly 
 will such considerations shake our faith, and destroy 
 our prejudices, in favour of such systems of nature 
 as are not founded on general laws. It may, perhaps, 
 be admitted, that analogical reasoning authorises 
 the supposition, that natural history, in this respect, 
 differs not from other physical sciences ; but it may 
 be contended, these new theories, which have been
 
 PREJUDICES OF SYSTEMATISTS. 157 
 
 recently promulgated, and which their discoverers 
 designate as natural, have, as yet, been but imper- 
 fectly explained ; that, at present, they are crude 
 and ill-defined, and consequently, that they are too 
 imperfectly developed and too partially verified, to 
 merit general confidence. Yet to whom is this 
 latter fault to be attributed, but to those who 
 urge it ? If the advocates of arbitrary classification 
 contend that it will be time enough to dismiss our 
 present systems when these new theories have been 
 extensively proved in every department of zoology, 
 and yet refuse, themselves, to join in the Herculean 
 task, and to try how far these new views can be 
 verified in unarranged groups, they contribute to 
 augment that evil of which they complain : and if 
 they thus determine to evade this labour, we can 
 scarcely hope that any thing effectual will be ac- 
 complished in the present century. How much 
 better would it be for science, if, instead of urging 
 such querulous complaints, these advocates for what 
 is old would overcome prejudice of opinion, and 
 resolve to try every theory that professes to develope 
 general laws by the surest of all tests their 
 universality. At all events, even if we allow the 
 full force of their objection, the only just inference 
 to be drawn is, that our prejudices in favour of 
 arbitrary systems should be shaken, if not overcome. 
 He who considers that natural history is to be 
 studied by rules different from those by which all 
 other physical sciences are prosecuted, is totally 
 unfit to meddle with it. 
 
 (96.) Prejudices of opinion, also, in regard to 
 natural history, are to be combated by another
 
 158 STUDY OF NATURA.t, HISTORY. 
 
 consideration. No one, who believes that the cre- 
 ation is the work of Omnipotence, can for a moment 
 suppose that it was called into being without some 
 great plan, or method. It therefore follows, that, 
 unless our exposition of such parts of this plan as 
 we believe we have discovered, is found equally 
 applicable to all groups in nature, there is induc- 
 tive evidence to believe that our theory is funda- 
 mentally wrong. It is contrary, as we before 
 observed, to the sense of the word method, that 
 quadrupeds should have been created on one 
 system, birds upon another, and insects on a third. 
 The harmonies of the natural world are every where 
 conspicuous; and how can we suppose that the 
 most perfect works of the Creator, save and except 
 man, have been framed without any regard to unity 
 of plan, and harmony of purpose ? The supposition 
 is monstrous, and not to be admitted for a moment. 
 This alone should be sufficient to shake our pre- 
 judices in favour of all such systems or theories as 
 are made applicable to one division of nature, but 
 not to the others. 
 
 (97.) Having now, as we hope, sufficiently 
 warned the student against prejudices of opinion, 
 by pointing out to him those rules by which the 
 value of all systems and theories regarding his 
 favourite science are to be judged, we shall advert 
 to those few prejudices of sense which belong to 
 this science ; and which, however trivial they may 
 appear in themselves, may be productive of essential 
 injury to science when used as arguments. 
 
 (98.) Prejudices of sense, in natural history, are 
 chiefly confined to opinions derived from witnessing
 
 PREJUDICES OF SENSE. 159 
 
 animals under conditions of existence not habitual to 
 the species ; and which, from being casual and inci- 
 dental, may be termed unnatural that is, contrary 
 to their usual natures. First, as regards the habits 
 of animals ; upon which, as will be hereafter seen, 
 their station in the scale of nature so much depends 
 I shall adduce a striking instance, which might have 
 given rise to a prejudice of this sort, in a case 
 witnessed by myself this year. A particular tree 
 on the lawn, immediately opposite my library 
 window, is the usual station of two grey fly- 
 catchers, who have frequented it annually for the 
 last five years. Those who are acquainted with 
 the manners of this bird, know that it habitually 
 lives seated upon trees, where it remains stationary 
 darting occasionally upon passing insects, and re- 
 turning to the same twig, without perching on the 
 ground. This peculiarity of habit is confirmed by 
 its organisation : for, on looking to the feet of the 
 bird, we see they are of such a construction as to 
 incapacitate it from habitually walking, or even 
 hopping, upon the ground. Nevertheless, I ob- 
 served this year, for the first time, one of these 
 birds in such a situation : it was upon the grass 
 but once ; and then, apparently, to secure an insect 
 which it had wounded, but not captured, in its first 
 assault. Now, had this fact been witnessed by an 
 observer, not acquainted with the ordinary habits 
 of the species, and ignorant of the influence which 
 structure exercises upon habits, he would at once 
 affirm, from his own personal experience, that the 
 grey fly-catcher, and, consequently, all the species of 
 the same genus, were in the habit of frequenting
 
 160 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 the ground. Here, then, is a case where we must 
 even distrust the evidence of our senses, if we 
 are tempted to apply that evidence too hastily to 
 the generalisation of facts. The habits of almost 
 every animal, even in a state of nature, if attentively 
 watched, might probably furnish instances, equally 
 strong, of occasional aberrations from that economy 
 which, to them, is natural and habitual. Such 
 incidental facts must be viewed under the same 
 light as we regard monstrosities, or Lusus Natures ; 
 and the only legitimate inference we can draw 
 from them is the futility of all absolute characters. 
 (99.) But if prejudices may be imbibed from 
 viewing animals in a state of nature, still more may 
 they be generated by looking to animals in confine- 
 ment, and drawing inferences from the habits or in- 
 stinct they then exhibit. A curious instance of this 
 has just been published. With a view to ascertain 
 the natural food of the hedgehog, an individual was 
 confined in company with a snake. As might 
 naturally have been expected, the hedgehog, when 
 pressed nearly to starvation, attacked and devoured 
 the latter : the fact was undeniable, and the infer- 
 ence deduced was, that nature intended this qua- 
 druped to prevent our being overrun with serpents. 
 Against this conclusion it has been urged, that the 
 one is only abroad during the day, while the other 
 feeds only by night ; so that by no ordinary chance 
 would they ever meet. (N. H. Mag.) Did the 
 hedgehog, like the mole, habitually burrow in search 
 of its prey, we might then, indeed, conjecture that 
 it dug out serpents from their holes during night : 
 but this supposition, again, is not borne out by
 
 PREJUDICES OF SENSE. 161 
 
 anatomical structure ; and we are at last compelled 
 to believe that the fact before us, although true, is 
 contrary to the usual course of nature. 
 
 (100.) Prejudices of sense show themselves in va- 
 rious ways. A recent author, who writes upon shells, 
 finding a new genus of barnacle, occupying the de- 
 serted holes of some perforating bivalve*, concludes 
 that the excavations have been made by the barnacle, 
 and therefore names it Lithotrya ! There is nothing 
 surprising or reprehensible in this, for it is an error 
 which all who trust alone to their eyesight would 
 most assuredly have fallen into. On looking further 
 into the matter, however, and ascertaining the gene- 
 ral structure of this group of animals, so admirably 
 illustrated by Polit, we see the physical impossi- 
 bility of their possessing this perforating power ; 
 and it is known, moreover, that barnacles, instead of 
 being shell-fish, are articulated Annulosce, and belong 
 to the class of Insects. J The origin of the genus 
 Gionea, has recently been quoted by one of the most 
 eminent mathematicians of the age , as an example 
 of fraudulent hoaxing ; although, I confess, it ap- 
 pears to me more allied to the subject now touched 
 upon. M. Gioeni finds, upon the coasts of Sicily, 
 the hard internal parts of a shell-fish (Bulla 
 lignarea L.) ; and this object, more resembling a 
 bivalve than any thing else, he mistakes for the 
 shell itself, and publishes it as such. The cele- 
 
 * Cuvier, Reg. Animal, 2d ed. vol. iii. p. 177. 
 f Testaceae Utrinque Siciliae, vol. i. pi. 4, 5, 6. 
 \ See also Thompson's Zool. Researches, No. 3. 
 Babbage on the Decline of Science, p. 175. 
 
 if
 
 162 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 brated Bruguire, deceived in like manner by using 
 only his eyesight, adopts the same idea, and places * 
 this supposed new genus close to that of Pkolas, to 
 some species of which it certainly bears no small 
 resemblance. 
 
 (101.) Perhaps, the most inveterate of all these 
 sorts of prejudice is that which induces people to 
 believe that frogs and toads can live for centuries in 
 blocks of marble, impervious to air and of course 
 to food. We are so repeatedly assured of this fact 
 by writers in newspapers and periodicals, wherein 
 all the circumstances, with names and dates, are 
 given, that nothing but an actual series of experi- 
 ments could demonstrate the truth or falsehood of 
 such an alleged departure from the known laws of 
 nature. Such experiments have accordingly been 
 made, and the results have been just what might 
 have been expected by any one accustomed to 
 inductive and analogical reasoning. Yet, had not 
 the trials here alluded to been made, it might have 
 occurred to us as a singular fact, that out of so 
 many recorded instances of toads being found in 
 stones, no specimen of the broken nidus, and of 
 the antediluvian reptile alleged to have been within, 
 has never been submitted to the inspection of the 
 scientific. Nothing would be more easy than to 
 collect the fragments of the one, and preserve the 
 other in a bottle of spirits. We hope, therefore, 
 that the first of our readers, who is within a short 
 distance of such a discovery, will take this hint, 
 and, by sending us the toad and the stone, silence 
 
 * Ency. Meth. pi. 170.
 
 THE GREATEST AUTHORITY IS TRUTH. 163 
 
 for ever our present obstinate incredulity on such 
 wonders. 
 
 (102.) We have dwelt the longer upon the ne- 
 cessity of conquering prejudices in this science, 
 because it occupies at this period a veiy peculiar 
 station in the circle of human knowledge. All 
 those leading naturalists who enjoy the highest rank 
 in public estimation, agree in confessing that there 
 must be general laws of classification ; yet scarcely 
 one has hitherto attempted to define what they are, or 
 how they would act, in other words, what results 
 of harmonious combinations would follow their ap- 
 plication. Every one agrees that there must be a 
 natural system ; yet no one has yet presumed to 
 say what are the primary laws of that system. 
 When, therefore, we venture to do this, when we 
 call to mind the weight of opinion that will be 
 brought against us, the great names that have gone 
 before us, and those which still live high in the 
 estimation of nations and of their rulers, we feel 
 all the difficulties of our task, and that we have 
 more than ordinary prejudices to encounter. Let 
 him, therefore, who, from the force of habit, of 
 early initiation into the reigning systems, or from 
 being the author of one himself, finds himself in- 
 capable of patiently weighing arguments intended 
 to overthrow his favourite theories, let him, we 
 repeat, close our volume : for in it he will find but 
 little to interest him. We address ourselves to those 
 who have been instructed to form more enlarged con- 
 ceptions of the physical sciences ; who view natural 
 history but as a part, and considers that that part 
 must be studied upon the same principles as any 
 M 2
 
 164? STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 other. Great revolutions in science are scarcely ever 
 effected but after their authors, and the generation 
 to which they belonged, have ceased to breathe. 
 Yet there is nothing unnatural or unaccountable 
 in the slowness of this removal of error. After 
 all, the authority of names, in questions of pure 
 science, is not what it used to be. It may, indeed, 
 for a time, operate against the diffusion of truth ; but 
 truth, once discovered, stands in no need of such 
 aid. During the age when the zoological world 
 bowed with unhesitating submission to the opinions 
 of the great naturalist of Sweden, it was affirmed 
 by him, and believed by the world, that corals were 
 plants, and that swallows passed the winter under 
 the ice. * Such prejudices are now only to be 
 laughed at: but we may fairly enquire whether 
 many of the opinions we now hold, will not equally 
 excite a smile from our successors. 
 
 * The celebrated Peter Collinson thus writes to Linnseus, 
 when opposing this latter prejudice: " Your reputation is so 
 high in the opinion of the learned and curious of this age 
 (1762), that what you assert is taken and allowed to be a real 
 fact ; for when I have been reasoning on the improbability of 
 swallows living under water, it has been replied, Dr. Linnaius 
 says so, and will you dispute his authority." Lin. Cor. vol. i. 
 p. 54, 55.
 
 165 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 ON THE PRINCIPLES ON WHICH NATURAL HISTORY, 
 AS A BRANCH OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE, IS TO BE 
 STUDIED. 
 
 (103.) THERE are two modes by which our know- 
 ledge of natural history can be successfully pro- 
 secuted. The first of these is to commence with 
 investigating the forms and properties of species; 
 combining them, according to their degrees of 
 similarity, into groups or assemblages of different 
 magnitudes ; and then attempting to discover what 
 general inferences can be drawn from such com- 
 binations, or, in other words, what are the principles 
 by which their variations are regulated. This is 
 the analytical method, by which we commence, as 
 with an alphabet ; and from letters determine words ; 
 from words proceeding to sentences ; and, combining 
 these, again, to chapters. By the second mode, we 
 proceed quite differently. We begin by taking for 
 granted the correctness of certain given principles, 
 and apply them to the investigation and arrange- 
 ment of some particular group. This is the synthetic 
 mode. By the first, we commence as if all general 
 laws were yet to be discovered ; by the latter, as if 
 they were already known, and only required a more 
 particular or extended application. 
 
 (104.) As all true knowledge of the combin- 
 M 3
 
 166 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 ations of nature must originate in analysis, we shall 
 first intimate how this can be most successfully 
 prosecuted. 
 
 (105.) If we reflect for a moment on the sort of 
 information which it is the, province of natural history 
 to teach, we shall find that all the knowledge of an or- 
 ganised being which it is possible to acquire, is com- 
 prised under one or other of the following heads : . 
 
 1. Its structure and composition. 
 
 2. Its properties. 
 
 3. Its relations to other beings. 
 
 (106.) Hence it naturally follows that a knowledge 
 of species is the true basis upon which the science 
 reposes for its successful prosecution. We cannot 
 cjmbine objects, with due regard to their fitness, 
 until we understand their structure and properties ; 
 any more than we can acquire a language, before 
 we become acquainted with its alphabet. 
 
 (107.) A knowledge of structure, and of pro- 
 perties, is to natural history, what experience is to 
 other branches of physical science. In either case, 
 we look not to causes, for they are beyond our 
 comprehension ; but we look to objects or to facts, 
 which every body, under favourable circumstances, 
 can verify ; and which, in consequence, become 
 immutable truths. Upon this basis, therefore, we 
 must commence the study of nature : and proceeding 
 step by step, measuring back our ground when 
 we begin to doubt, yet gaining confidence from 
 every corroborating evidence, we advance from 
 the foundation to the portico. 
 
 (108.) 1. Let us first enquire what are the consi- 
 derations which enter into the structure and eomposi-
 
 OF FORM AND STRUCTURE. 167 
 
 tion of a species. These considerations, again, may 
 be classed under three divisions, viz. external organ- 
 isation, internal anatomy, and chemical composition. 
 The first of these belongs more especially to the 
 zoologist, the second to the anatomist, and the third 
 to the chemist: all are fit objects of enquiry; but as 
 all are not equally essential to our present purpose, 
 we shall confine our observations chiefly to the first. 
 (109.) For the sake of simplification, the word 
 form or structure may commonly be used as syno- 
 nymous with external organisation. If a person, 
 unacquainted with natural history, was put into an 
 immense store-room, filled with all sorts of plants, 
 animals, and minerals confusedly mixed together, 
 and then desired to sort and separate them, he 
 would, even were he a clown, begin to place the 
 plants in one heap, the animals in another, and the 
 minerals in a third. If, after this was done, he 
 was again directed to make a more particular assort- 
 ment of the animals only, he would assuredly sepa- 
 rate the quadrupeds from the birds; and these, again, 
 from the fishes and the serpents. No one will deny 
 that this would be the natural process : and we may 
 therefore infer, that external form is the chief and 
 primary mode by which nature herself teaches us to 
 know her productions : and that we need only de- 
 scend to an examination of internal structure, when 
 this resource fails, and we are obliged to enter upon 
 minute and delicate investigations. But as many have 
 laid an undue stress upon the importance of internal 
 over external organisation, and thereby, as we con- 
 ceive, embarrassed the path of the student with un- 
 necessary difficulties, it may be as well to explain, 
 M 4
 
 168 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 before proceeding further, in what respect these 
 may be said to differ. 
 
 (110.) By form, or external structure, we com- 
 prehend not only the different external parts of the 
 body, and of the members thereunto attached ; but 
 all such organs as have one of their surfaces, at 
 some time or other, protruded and exposed to the eye, 
 and which may be observed without the necessity 
 of dissection. Hence it follows, that the jaws, the 
 teeth, and the mouth of quadrupeds ; the bill and 
 tongue of birds ; the instrumenta cibaria, or parts 
 of the mouth, in insects ; the external coverings of 
 the bodies of tortoises (Chelonia) and shell-fish 
 ( Testacea) ; the retractile tentaculce, where they exist, 
 of caterpillars and snails ; and the proboscis of inferior 
 animals; all these are parts of their external ana- 
 tomy, or, as we shall hereafter say, of their form. All 
 other, that is to say, such as are enveloped and con- 
 cealed beneath the cuticle, or that substance which 
 acts as the external protection of the animal, relate 
 to its internal construction or anatomy. We contend 
 not for the critical accuracy of these definitions, but 
 for their general truth and convenience. It may be 
 urged, indeed, with some show of reason, that 
 nearly all teeth are internal, and that the organs of 
 the mouth in insects cannot be studied without 
 dissection ; but it must likewise be remembered, that 
 neither one nor the other are enveloped in other 
 substances, and that their outward surface is exposed 
 to the action of atmospheric air. 
 
 (111.) To estimate aright the respective value of 
 these two modes by which animals may be dis- 
 tinguished, becomes the first duty of the student;
 
 EXTERNAL DISTINCTIONS PREFERABLE 169 
 
 and he is, therefore, led to enquire how far they 
 have been used by others ? and which of them is 
 best calculated to aid his studies ? Where two 
 modes of investigation conduct us to the same re- 
 sults, it cannot for a moment be questioned that the 
 preference should be given to that which is most 
 simple; for this preference not only abridges in- 
 dividual labour, but tends to render science inviting 
 to others. To define disagreements, and to point out 
 similitudes, is the chief business of the naturalist ; 
 and if he can accomplish this, the world will be 
 satisfied and convinced, in proportion as the means 
 he has employed, or the arguments he has used, 
 can be verified and understood by others. Suppose, 
 for instance, that the physiologist, who wished to 
 inform us on the different varieties of man, directed 
 our attention not to the external peculiarities of 
 their features, which every one can see and com- 
 prehend but to the different modifications of their 
 internal anatomy, which could only be understood 
 by one reader in a hundred : our question would 
 immediately be, Why have recourse to these complex 
 characters, when others, apparent to the most illite- 
 rate observer, lie before us ? A European can be as 
 accurately distinguished from an Ethiopian by his 
 external form, as by the most refined specification 
 of any anatomical differences that may exist between 
 them ; while, if there are no such internal differ- 
 ences, we become persuaded that the variations of 
 nature can be best understood, and can be more 
 accurately defined, by the more simple and natural 
 process of studying her external distinctions. 
 
 (112.) A system in which it is professed to ai>
 
 170 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 range all animals according to their organisation, 
 certainly carries with it an imposing aspect of 
 authority, originating not so much in the high re- 
 putation of the author as a comparative anatomist, 
 but from the supposition conveyed by the title, that 
 it is based upon the internal organisation of the 
 animal kingdom ; and that all the divisions are 
 formed with a primary regard to such consider- 
 ations. But what is the real fact ? Where one group 
 of animals has been dissected, and their internal 
 structure explained, there are twenty which are 
 defined only from their external appearance ; so that, 
 with the exception of occasional notes introduced as 
 subordinate characters, we find that by far the 
 largest proportion of the details of this system is 
 founded alone upon external form ; and that these 
 external characters are nearly as much insisted upon 
 in the Regne Animal as in the Systema Naturce. 
 Further than this, indeed, the comparison between 
 these admirable works cannot be carried, except that 
 each commenced a new era in that science which 
 they have so signally benefited. 
 
 (113.) To external form, then, we must chiefly 
 resort, if we wish to make the productions of nature 
 intelligible to the generality of mankind. We have 
 seen that, in the case of man, nature has chosen ex- 
 ternal peculiarities to mark the distinction of differ- 
 ent races ; and it is notorious how universally she 
 has employed the same means to distinguish those 
 millions of individuals who people the earth ; so that, 
 by innumerable modifications of the same set of 
 features, we are able to recognise a countenance 
 with which we are familiar in a crowd of others,
 
 AIDS AFFORDED BY ANATOMY. 171 
 
 born of the same race, and of the same country. 
 If we look to the animal world, the same results are 
 apparent, more especially in all the leading systems 
 on the vertebrated classes. In ornithology, par- 
 ticularly, there is not a single division which has 
 been mainly founded upon internal structure : so 
 that, in this class, even the Regne Animal follows 
 precisely the plan of the Systema Naturae. Hence 
 we may conclude that external characters are almost 
 always preferable to those founded solely upon in- 
 ternal structure ; and that this conclusion is tacitly 
 admitted by those who, in theory, maintain a contrary 
 opinion. 
 
 (114.) Nevertheless, it would be absurd to sup- 
 pose that the internal construction of an animal is 
 not deserving of great attention. This study, in 
 fact, constitutes, of itself, a distinct branch of phy- 
 sical science ; useful, indeed, to the zoologist, as the 
 means of assisting and guiding his studies, but by 
 no means so essential as is generally supposed. 
 Wherever external peculiarities are sufficient to 
 supply us with clear definitions, we require no other. 
 It must nevertheless be remembered, that when we 
 descend to the lower groups of animal life, where 
 the forms become proportionally simple, we must 
 thea have frequent recourse to dissection ; not so 
 much, indeed, for the purpose of characterising such 
 forms, as for that of ascertaining to which of the 
 grand divisions of the animal kingdom they truly 
 belong. We allude more particularly to those soft 
 molluscous-like animals, confusedly put into the 
 Linnasan class of Worms. These stand so low in the 
 scale of creation, that many of them have the aspect
 
 172 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY., 
 
 of plants and flowers. It is in the investigation of 
 these beings, that some acquaintance with compara- 
 tive anatomy is essential. Having now sufficiently 
 discussed the relative value apparently belonging 
 to different parts of the structure of an animal, 
 little need be said on its composition. This, in fact, 
 is the province of the chemist, whose business it is 
 to analyse, not the form, but the elements of which 
 that form is composed. Such considerations, no less 
 than those belonging to internal structure, are 
 essential to the full and complete knowledge of an 
 organised being ; but, whenever such a being can 
 be defined with sufficient accuracy by more simple 
 means, a redundancy of knowledge and a compli- 
 cation of characters are clearly to be avoided. 
 
 (115.) 2. Let us now pass to the second head of 
 our subject : viz., the properties of an animal. It 
 is evident, to an attentive observer, that the innu- 
 merable beings composing the animal creation are 
 destined to perform different offices therein ; and 
 that they are not only endowed with forms adapted 
 to such offices, but with instincts for carrying them 
 into effect. Our attention is naturally directed, in 
 the first instance, to their forms, because they may 
 be understood and recognised long before we be- 
 come acquainted with the designs for which such 
 forms were created. The properties, therefore, of 
 an animal consist, first, in its habits or instincts ; 
 and secondly, in the mode in which the. qualities 
 contribute to the general economy of nature. 
 
 (116.) The economy of nature, <that is to say, 
 the harmonious adjustment of all created things, is 
 preserved by the efforts oi' all, instinctively directed,
 
 DEVIATIONS FROM USUAL COURSE OF NATURE. 173 
 
 by an infinity of ways, to one end. If, to effect 
 some purpose unknown to us, this nice adjustment 
 (but in a single instance) is for a time suspended, 
 we see disorder, devastation, and ruin inevitably 
 follow. Such instances are not rare, for they are 
 continually brought before us ; and they may be 
 looked upon as examples of what would follow, if 
 there was no supreme Superintendence over cre- 
 ation. No insect is better known that the cock- 
 chafer, so common during summer. It feeds upon 
 foliage ; yet, in ordinary years, its numbers being 
 regulated and kept within due limits, it is in no 
 way injurious. Instances, however, have occurred, 
 where these restrictions upon its increase appear to 
 have been suspended, and the consequences were 
 fearful. In the year 1688, immense hosts of this 
 beetle suddenly appeared in Ireland : all vegetation 
 was covered and destroyed by them ; so that, but 
 for their timely removal, famine would have fallen 
 upon the land, and a pestilence have arisen from 
 their dead bodies. We cannot doubt but that this 
 and similar instances form part of the economy of 
 nature, and are connected with causes and effects 
 far beyond our penetration ; but we must still 
 consider them as deviations from the ordinary 
 course of things, and from those rules by which 
 we are accustomed to judge of the harmonious 
 regulation of the universe. 
 
 (117.) Our first object, however, after becoming 
 acquainted with the form of an animal, is to as- 
 certain its habits and economy ; without which it 
 will be impossible to speculate upon its mes, or to 
 understand in what way it promotes the "harmony
 
 174- STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 we have just alluded to. Now, this knowledge is 
 to be acquired in two ways; either by actual 
 observation, or by inductive reasoning. The first, 
 of course, is the most simple and the most complete, 
 and lies within the reach, under favourable circum- 
 stances, of every observer. The latter, on the other 
 hand, is more confined, and can only be arrived at 
 by a long course of study. The former is a mere 
 exercise of vision ; but upon the latter we have ge- 
 nerally to reason analogically. We then find that 
 certain modifications of form indicate certain habits ; 
 and that this reciprocity is so universal, that we are 
 enabled to decide whether a bird, whose skin only 
 we have seen, lives in general upon the ground, or 
 among trees; whether it eats insects, or seeds, or 
 both ; or whether a beetle feeds upon green or upon 
 decomposed vegetables. 
 
 (118.) To illustrate the importance of that minutely 
 accurate observation which is necessary in ascertain- 
 ing the habits and economy of animals, and at the 
 same time to exemplify the diversity of ways by 
 which nature effects the same object, let us ima- 
 gine a noble forest tree, in whose luxuriant foliage 
 the birds of the air find shelter, and whose leaves 
 supply food to hosts of insects. In this respect, 
 the tree may be considered a world in itself, filled 
 with different tribes of inhabitants, differing not 
 only in their aspect, but even in the stations or 
 countries they inhabit, and assimilating as little 
 together as the inhabitants of Tartary do with 
 those of England. First, let us look to those insects, 
 which, being destined to live upon vegetable food, 
 are instinctively directed to seek it here : some, as
 
 EXAMPLE OF DIVERSITY OF OPERATIONS. 175 
 
 caterpillars, feed upon the leaves ; others upon the 
 flowers, or on the fruit ; a few will eat nothing but 
 the bark ; while many derive their nourishment only 
 from the internal substance of the trunk. Every 
 part of the tree is thus seen to supply food " in due 
 season" to all these diversified tribes. If we examine 
 further, new modifications of habit are discovered. 
 Those insects, for instance, which feed upon leaves, 
 do not all feed in the same manner, or upon the 
 same parts : a few devour only the bud ; others spin 
 the terminal leaves together, forming them into a 
 sort of hut, under cover of which they regale, at 
 leisure, upon the tenderest parts ; some, apparently 
 even more cautious, construct little compact cases, 
 which cover their body, and make them appear like 
 bits of stick, or the ends of broken twigs ; some eat 
 the outside of the leaf only, while others, like the 
 caterpillars of New Holland, mentioned by Lewin, 
 bore themselves holes in the stem, into which 
 they carry a few leaves sally out during the 
 night for a fresh supply, and feed upon them at 
 their leisure during the day. It seems, in fact, 
 impossible to conceive greater modifications than 
 are actually met with, even among insects which 
 feed only upon leaves; while other variations are 
 equally numerous in such tribes as live upon other 
 portions of the tree. Hence it is apparent, that in 
 accurately determining the habits and economy of 
 insects, no less than of animals generally, the greatest 
 nicety of observation is absolutely essential. 
 
 (119.) If we look to the feathered creation, we 
 shall find an equally remarkable diversity of habits, 
 even among those tribes whose food consists en-
 
 176 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 tirely of insects. To illustrate this, even in a very 
 confined compass, let us still fancy the tree we have 
 just spoken of, bearing in itself a living world of 
 insects, yet flourishing in beauty and luxuriance. 
 We might imagine that the innumerable artifices 
 by which these little creatures are taught to guard 
 themselves, would effectually protect them from 
 their enemies ; and that, so secured, they would go 
 on to " increase and multiply" with that rapidity 
 which naturally results from security. But what 
 would then be the inevitable consequence ? Cer- 
 tainly the death of the tree, by which the whole 
 are fed ! for if these devourers of leaves, of flowers, 
 of fruits, of bark, and of sap, were doubled or 
 trebled, which they very soon would be, both tree 
 and insects would perish together. Now, that this 
 general destruction should not happen, but that the 
 lives of another class of animals should be supported 
 by the superabundance of the insects, birds are 
 called into being, and are appointed to fulfil their 
 repective parts in the wonderful economy of nature. 
 Let us, then, look to those tribes who would frequent 
 this same tree for the purpose of seeking food ; and 
 who would thus, by so doing, prevent the catastrophe 
 we have just supposed. The woodpeckers (PiciancK 
 Sw.) begin by ascending the main trunk ; they tra- 
 verse it in a spiral direction, and diligently examine 
 the bark as they ascend ; wherever they discern the 
 least external indication of that decay produced by 
 the perforating insects (generally the grubs of 
 beetles), they commence a vigorous attack : with 
 repeated strokes of their powerful wedge-shaped 
 bill, they soon break away the shelter of the internal
 
 DIVERSITY OF HABITS AMONG BIRDS. 177 
 
 destroyer, who is either dragged from his hole at 
 once, or speared by the barbed tongue of his 
 powerful enemy. Next come the creepers and 
 the nuthatches : they have nothing to do with 
 these tribes of insects just mentioned, which are 
 the peculiar game of the woodpecker : their food is 
 confined to the more exposed inhabitants of the 
 bark ; the crevices of which they examine with the 
 same assiduity, and traverse in the same tortuous 
 course, as do the woodpeckers : the one taking 
 what the other leaves. It is remarkable, that in 
 temperate regions, like Europe, few insects are 
 found on the horizontal branches of trees ; and this 
 seems the true reason why we have no scansorial 
 birds which frequent such situations : but in tropical 
 countries the case is different; and we there find 
 the whole family of cuckows exploring such branches, 
 and such only. Finally, the extreme ramifications, 
 never visited by any of the foregoing birds, are 
 assigned, in this country at least, to the different 
 species of titmice, whose diminutive size and facility 
 of clinging are so well suited for such situations. In 
 this manner are the insect inhabitants of the trunk, 
 the bark, and the branches, kept within due limits ; 
 while those which frequent the leaves become the 
 prey of other birds. The caterpillar-catchers of 
 Africa, India, and New Holland, as the name 
 implies, feed only upon the larger sized larvae ; while, 
 in this country, the whole family of warblers make 
 continued havoc among all those lesser insects 
 which live among foliage. Wherever, from climate 
 or local situation, insects are most abundant, there 
 also are the agents for subduing them proportionably
 
 178 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 increased. Thus, in America, the warblers are par- 
 ticularly numerous, and not only feed upon creeping 
 insects, but also upon those winged tribes which 
 frequent the foliage for shelter. The more we see 
 of the economy of animals, the more do we find 
 stratagem opposed to stratagem : so that modes of 
 defence or of self-preservation, which even the 
 reason of man woukl suppose perfectly effectual, 
 are still found to be unavailing, in all cases, against 
 the address of those enemies whose attacks are to 
 be dreaded. In the foregoing remarks, we have 
 been insensibly led to illustrate more than one of 
 the positions before touched upon. The student, 
 however, will thus perceive, to the full extent, the 
 indispensable necessity of observing and recording 
 every fact, even the most apparently trivial, con- 
 nected with the habits of animals. 
 
 (120.) But, however attentively we may study 
 the manners of living animals, there must ever re- 
 main a large proportion whose economy has never 
 been recorded, and of which we can consequently 
 know nothing from actual observation. Here, then, 
 we must have recourse to analogical reasoning. It 
 is found that certain habits are always indicated by 
 a correspondence of structure. Among birds, for 
 instance, we observe that all those which live ha- 
 bitually upon the ground, like the partridge, the 
 turkey, and the domestic fowl, have strong, ele- 
 vated legs ; while in birds which rest only upon 
 trees, like the swallow, these members are short and 
 weak. We know, from experience, the universality 
 of these facts ; and we thence conclude that all birds 
 so constructed, have corresponding habits, although
 
 INFLUENCE OP ANALOGY. 179 
 
 we have never seen them alive, nor have any testimony 
 to the absolute fact from others. It is obvious, 
 again, that birds or insects having long and very 
 pointed wings, are endowed with great powers of 
 flight ; for we see this structure is universal among 
 the swallows, the humming birds, and the dragon 
 flies. We can be in no danger, therefore, of mistake, 
 in deciding on the slowness or quickness of flight 
 in a bird, although we may never have seen it alive. 
 The form, therefore, or, as it is sometimes called, 
 the conformation of an animal, will generally reveal, 
 to the experienced naturalist, the leading points of 
 its natural economy. But these deductions can 
 only be arrived at when the student has made con- 
 siderable proficiency in the science; and has, by 
 a diligent comparison of the structure of species 
 with reference to their natural economy, duly 
 qualified himself for forming opinions which have 
 not yet been confirmed by his own observation. 
 Leaving this subject, therefore, as more suited to 
 another part of this discourse, let us enquire into 
 the second division of our subject ; namely, the pro- 
 perties of animals in regard to their influence or 
 uses in the economy of nature. 
 
 (121.) So far as we have hitherto proceeded, the 
 knowledge to be acquired results from simple ex- 
 perience ; that is, it regards isolated facts, upon 
 which there can be no dispute. The structure of 
 an animal, and its habits or manners, are inde- 
 pendent of all theory ; and, when fully ascertained, 
 are so many truths which may recorded in our 
 chronicles, and appealed to by all parties as matters 
 of indisputable authority. But, when we come to
 
 180 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 enquiries touching the purposes for which an animal 
 has been created, and what influence it possesses in 
 the economy of the universe, we pass the boundaries 
 of simple fact, and are compelled, in most cases, to 
 rely upon theory. True it is, as in the instances 
 just given, we can be at no loss to discover the 
 more general uses of animals: for example, we know 
 that some supply food to others, or hasten the de- 
 composition of decayed matter ; that some promote 
 the fecundation of plants, or check the exuberance 
 of vegetation. These may still be admitted in the 
 list of unquestionable truths, because they are mani- 
 fest to ordinary observers. But when we enquire 
 into more minute particulars, and speculate on the 
 reasons why the flamingo, for instance, has such 
 disproportionately long legs ; what particular pur- 
 poses of nature are fulfilled by the ostrich; or 
 what are the particular uses for which such an 
 apparently anomalous animal as the ornithorynchus, 
 half quadruped, half bird, was created; when, 
 in short, we attempt to discover the uses of such 
 animals of i wffch direct evidence cannot be pro- 
 duced ; we enter upon a boundless region of specu- 
 lation and theory, a region which the student 
 should avoid, and where the more experienced 
 naturalist will do well to. -proceed with caution. 
 In the mean time, such aonsiderations should not 
 deter us from accumulating facts connected w r ith 
 animal economy, or from recording such inferences 
 as may be plausibly drawn from them ; leaving the 
 validity of these inferences to be confirmed or dis- 
 proved by longer experience. 
 
 (122.) There is a third consideration regarding
 
 ECONOMIC USES OF ANIMALS. 181 
 
 the properties of animals, which should here claim 
 our attention ; for although it is disconnected with 
 abstract science, and is not essential to the discovery 
 of general principles, it is yet highly interesting to 
 the bulk of mankind, because it concerns their 
 individual interests. We allude to such properties 
 of animals as are hurtful or beneficial to man ; 
 which are to be counteracted from being pernicious, 
 or turned to our advantage from their usefulness. 
 It is by such investigations, in fact, that natural 
 history is rendered practically useful, and is brought 
 to bear upon the ordinary business of life. In ex- 
 patiating upon the advantages attending the study of 
 nature, we have already touched upon this subject, 
 and have shown in what a variety of ways a slight 
 knowledge of natural history might be turned to 
 practical use. When we reflect how little has yet 
 been done in ascertaining the chemical properties 
 of animals and vegetables, there seems no valid 
 reason for supposing that beneficial discoveries may 
 not still be made, provided due attention be given 
 to such enquiries. The properties of nature are in- 
 exhaustible ; and man, as he advances in civilisation 
 and refinement, acquires new desires and new wants. 
 How astonished would the ancient inhabitants of 
 the Scottish islands Ijave been, had they foreseen 
 that the loads of sea-weed called kelp, which they 
 suffered to lie and rot upon their coasts as utterly 
 valueless, would become a source of immense 
 wealth, and that this manufactory would suddenly 
 be destroyed, by the discovery of cheaper and bet- 
 ter substitutes. 
 
 (123.) 3. We come now to the third head of those 
 N 3
 
 182 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 enquiries which concern the natural history of an 
 animal ; namely, its relation to other beings. The 
 very dissimilar forms which nature has given to 
 most of the great divisions of the animal world are 
 so striking in themselves, that the more general re- 
 lationships are obvious to common observers. Thus, 
 a quadruped, a bird, a fish, or an insect, is known, 
 in ordinary cases, at first sight. Even if we de- 
 scend to more particulars, and proceed to assort 
 quadrupeds, for instance, into separate divisions, 
 we see plainly that a lion has no affinity with an ox, 
 or a monkey with a mouse, further than, as being 
 quadrupeds, they have a greater relation to each 
 other than with birds, fishes, or insects. Relations, 
 therefore, are either general or particular ; but both 
 terms are used comparatively. Thus we may say 
 that the elephant is related to the ox, by being in 
 the same natural order : but this relation, compara- 
 tively speaking, is only general ; because, between 
 these two quadrupeds, other forms or species inter- 
 vene, which show a more particular resemblance to 
 one or to the other. Hence we see that, as there are 
 different degrees of relationships, it becomes neces- 
 sary to give a more precise analysis of the term, 
 and to ascertain in what manner these different 
 degrees of relationship can be defined. 
 
 (124*.) Relations or resemblances, in the ordinary 
 acceptation of the words, have long been considered 
 as of two kinds, expressed by the terms analogy and 
 affinity. By the first, we understand an external re- 
 semblance or similitude to another object, which is 
 nevertheless different in its form, structure, habits. 
 or some other important circumstance : here the re-
 
 INSTANCES OF ANALOGY AND AFFINITY. 183> 
 
 semblance is consequently superficial. By affinity, on 
 the other hand, we imply such a resemblance in those 
 characters just mentioned, and such a strong similarity 
 in the detail of the structure of two animals, that 
 they are only kept distinct by a few peculiarities of 
 secondary importance. These two sorts of relations 
 have been apparent since men first began to reason 
 on the things they saw; but although admirably 
 explained by one of our modern zoologists, they have 
 been so confounded and obscured by the writings 
 of most others, that some, bewildered by the loose- 
 ness of the existing definitions, have gone so far as 
 to deny their very existence. The following illus- 
 tration, however, will render the distinctions here 
 given, intelligible to the most unscientific reader. 
 Let us compare, for this purpose, the full-bottomed 
 monkey, or the Colobus polycomas of Geoffrey, with 
 the African lion (Leo Africamts Sw.), and we are 
 struck, at the first glance, with their mutual resem- 
 blance : both have long manes, hanging over their 
 shoulders ; both have a slender tail ending in a 
 tuft of hair; and both have the fur, in all other 
 parts, short and compact. Had we no know- 
 ledge that such a monkey really existed, and 
 merely saw its figure, we might be tempted to think 
 it was a bad representation of the lion. Strong, 
 however, as this resemblance, at first sight, un- 
 doubtedly is, we soon discover it is merely super- 
 ficial. It is essentially, in fact, a monkey in the 
 garb of a lion ; without possessing any thing of the 
 characteristic structure, the habits, or the economy 
 of that quadruped which it represents : the relation 
 ship, in short, is one of analogy only ; for, were 
 N 4*
 
 J84 STUDY OP NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 it of absolute affinity, they should be classed to 
 gether : both would then be ferocious, and would 
 possess that particular structure peculiar to car- 
 nivorous quadrupeds. This, therefore, is an instance 
 of analogy. Let us now look to one of affinity. 
 The lion and the tiger, although by no means so 
 alike in their external aspect as the last, are yet 
 known by every one to be closely allied. They re- 
 semble each other, not only in their manners and 
 external organisation ; but both possess that peculiar 
 conformation of teeth, claws, and of internal struc- 
 ture, suited to their carnivorous nature. Their dif- 
 ference is almost confined to their external aspect ; 
 whereas, in the former case, the external aspect 
 constitutes the only point of resemblance. While 
 speaking of the tiger, we may mention another in- 
 stance of analogy equally striking. Nature seems 
 to delight in showing us gb'mpses of that beautiful 
 and consistent plan upon which she has worked, by 
 giving us a few instances of symbolical or analogical 
 representations, so striking and unaswerable in 
 themselves, that they are perceived and acknow 
 ledged by all. What, for instance, can be more 
 perfect than the analogy between the Bengal tiger 
 and the African zebra ? both of them striped in so 
 peculiar a manner as to be unlike all other quadru- 
 peds, and both so perfectly wild and untameable as 
 to have resisted every effort employed for their do- 
 mestication. No one, however, would proceed, 
 upon such grounds alone, to class them together: 
 for the one has the habits of a horse, and feeds upon 
 herbs ; while the other, like the lion, devours flesh. 
 The preponderance of characters, in short, denotes
 
 ANALOGY OF THE LION WITH THE VULTURE. 185 
 
 their respective affinities ; while their analogical 
 similitudes are drawn from those left in the lighter 
 scale. Nor are such relations confined to one class, 
 or to one division, of animals ; for the further the 
 student proceeds, the more universally can he trace 
 them throughout nature. 
 
 (125.) It is a common and a just comparison, to 
 liken the vulture and the eagle to the lion ; the two 
 first being among birds, what the latter is among 
 quadrupeds, the tyrants of their respective races. 
 
 " The eagle he is lord above, 
 The lion lord below." 
 
 This comparison, moreover, is rendered doubly 
 accurate by a singular analogy of structure, which, 
 as we do not remember to have seen it noticed, may 
 be here advantageously introduced. The lion, 
 apparently to prevent the adhesion and drying of 
 fragments of his bloody meal upon his skin, where 
 it might putrefy and create sores, is provided with 
 a bushy mane, which prevents the blood or gore 
 from coming into immediate contact with his skin, 
 and which he can thus shake off with ease. Now, if 
 we look to the greatest number of the vultures, we 
 find that nature, to effect the same purpose, has 
 given to them a similar provision. They also have 
 a mane upon their neck ; not, indeed, of hairs, but 
 of feathers longer than the others, and generally so 
 stiff" and glossy, that any substance which may come 
 upon them can be shaken off with ease. The vul- 
 ture is, then, the lion among birds ; and affords 
 one of the thousand proofs, that relations of analogy 
 can be found in animals of different classes, no less
 
 186 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 than between others more closely related. From 
 these proofs, which come homo to the conviction of 
 all, the student will readily perceive that there are 
 relations of analogy, as well as relations of affinity ; 
 and he will plainly see the theoretical difference be- 
 tween them, disconnected from any particular system 
 or theory. To deny the existence of such relations, 
 is to deny the existence of our senses. 
 
 (126.) It further appears, from the examples just 
 given, that there are different degrees of analogies ; 
 some being more striking than others : hence they 
 become either immediate or remote. We say that an 
 analogical resemblance is immediate, when it con- 
 cerns animals of the same class, as that of the monkey 
 and the lion ; and we term it remote, when the com- 
 parison is made between individuals of different 
 classes, between quadrupeds and birds, as just 
 exemplified. In the former case, the animals com- 
 pared come nearer to each other in the order of 
 nature than do the latter, and their mutual resem- 
 blance is consequently greater. The degrees of 
 affinity, on the contrary, are much fewer, and more 
 circumscribed in their range. No animal can have 
 an affinity, except to those which stand in the same 
 group, or which immediately precede, or immediately 
 follow it. But its analogies, as will hereafter be 
 seen, may be traced throughout all other groups 
 of the same class, and even, in some cases, through- 
 out the whole animal kingdom. 
 
 (127.) It must, then, be received as an incontest- 
 ible truth, that every animal has a twofold relation 
 to others. By one of these it is united, like the link 
 of a chain, by direct affinity to others of its kind :
 
 NEAR AND REMOTE RELATIONS. 187 
 
 while, by the second relation, it becomes a type or 
 emblem of other animals with which it has no posi- 
 tive connection, or consanguinity. 
 
 (128.) Having now briefly stated, in as compre- 
 hensive terms as the intricacy of the subject will 
 admit, the theoretical difference between analogy 
 and affinity, and given the student a leading clue by 
 which he can separate the diversified relations he 
 will find in nature, we shall, in the succeeding 
 chapter, conduct him a step further ; and, by en- 
 deavouring to point out such considerations as 
 should influence all natural arrangements, or theo- 
 ries of classification, prepare him, in some measure, 
 for entering upon the philosophic investigation 
 of nature.
 
 188 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 ON ARRANGEMENTS GENERALLY J AND ON THOSE CON- 
 SIDERATIONS WHICH SHOULD FORM THE BASIS OF 
 EVERY ATTEMPT TO CLASSIFY OBJECTS ACCORDING 
 TO THE SYSTEM OF NATURE. 
 
 (129.) THE innumerable objects composing the 
 animal world, may be compared to the isolated facts 
 of all physical sciences. For unless they are ar- 
 ranged and digested under proper heads, no general 
 conclusions from them can be drawn. No sooner, 
 therefore, has the naturalist become acquainted 
 with the forms of the objects he studies, than he 
 proceeds to arrange them according to their agree- 
 ments and disagreements. He first places them in 
 primary groups, as an entomologist would separate 
 the beetles from the butterflies ; and these, from the 
 bees and the flies : from each of these, again, he 
 proceeds to make other divisions ; separating the 
 butterflies which fly by day, from those which are 
 nocturnal, and so on. This is arrangement or 
 classification ; from which all systems or methods 
 originate. Now, it is obvious, that if we are not 
 guided in this proceeding by some general rules 
 known to be universally applicable, every one may 
 consider himself qualified to follow his own im- 
 pressions, and to make that arrangement which he 
 thinks best. Hence have originated the innumer-
 
 OF NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL SYSTEMS. 189 
 
 able systems and methods which have been, and are 
 still, in use. One writer attaches a primary im- 
 portance to particular characters, which anothei 
 undervalues ; a third rejects both these, and founds 
 his system upon certain points of structure on which 
 his predecessors have placed no value ; a fourth, 
 disregarding all outward organisation, builds his 
 method upon internal anatomy. The first question, 
 therefore, which a student naturally asks, is this ; 
 Where, amid these opposing systems, am I to 
 choose ? None of them rest on, or appeal to, any 
 general laws of arrangement, applicable to other 
 departments of nature besides that upon which 
 they treat. The classification of each author rests 
 solely upon his own opinion how certain facts are to 
 be arranged. Individual dogma seems to be the 
 only basis. Mr. A. considers insects should be 
 classed according to their wings ; Mr. B. contends 
 that they are best arranged by regarding their feet. 
 What, then, we must first enquire, are those con- 
 siderations which should guide us in a choice of 
 system ? 
 
 (130.) Now, systems may be of two kinds, arti- 
 ficial and natural. By artificial systems is to be 
 understood any mode of arranging objects according 
 to the absence or presence of certain given charac- 
 ters, without regard to such others as they may 
 possess ; or, if we arranged them simply according 
 to their modes of life, without any reference to their 
 particular structure. Thus, if all molluscous animals 
 were arranged into those which had shells, and 
 those which had none ; and these former, again, into 
 univalves, bivalves, and multivalves; this would
 
 190 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 be an artificial arrangement because, by selecting 
 these characters alone, and passing over every 
 other as inferior, we bring animals together of 
 totally different organisations. A natural system, 
 on the other hand, aims at exhibiting that series 
 which appears most to accord with the order of 
 nature. It does not attempt to define groups so 
 rigidly as to render them absolute divisions; but, 
 by passing over solitary exceptions, rather seeks to 
 gain general results, and to develope that uniformity 
 of plan, upon which every object in nature was 
 originally created. There can be, of course, but, 
 one true natural system. But we may safely speak 
 of all such as we have last defined in the plural 
 number, because they all aim at the natural classi- 
 fication ; whereas the object of an artificial system 
 is merely to assist us in finding the names and 
 properties of species. As we shall have occasion, 
 hereafter, to treat of systems more at large, it is suf- 
 ficient, for our present purpose, merely to give the 
 student a general idea of their respective natures. 
 
 (131.) With his materials before him, in the 
 shape of notes and specimens, the young naturalist 
 is now to choose whether he will adopt an artificial, 
 or aim at a natural, classification : that is to say, 
 whether he will learn the names of objects by rote, 
 as he would learn the words of a dictionary ; or 
 whether he will try to combine his objects in such 
 a way as to discover the principles upon which their 
 variations are regulated. By choosing the latter 
 plan, to pursue the simile, he will endeavour to 
 dispose the words of his dictionary in such order, 
 as that they may produce harmonious sentences, or
 
 ADVANTAGES OF ARTIFICIAL SYSTEMS. 191 
 
 intelligible truths. It is plain, that the philosophy 
 of natural history is entirely confined to such systems 
 as are founded on the considerations last stated; 
 for no pursuit deserves the name of science, strictly 
 so termed, which seeks not to obtain general results, 
 or to investigate and develope general laws. There 
 is nothing very intellectual in simply investigating 
 the form of an animal, and in recording its manners; 
 because, in these matters, we merely confine ourselves 
 to objects of sense and sight. To frame a good arti- 
 ficial system, however, is proceeding a step beyond 
 this ; because, to make judicious combinations, easy 
 to be understood, requires a peculiar tact, and no 
 small acquaintance with the different forms of nature. 
 On this account, it may be as well, perhaps, to 
 enumerate, generally, what are the advantages, and 
 what the disadvantages, of artificial systems, before 
 we make the same enquiry into those we term 
 natural. 
 
 (132.) Artificial systems, then, upon the first 
 view, appear more calculated to facilitate our search 
 * after an unknown object, than any other mode of 
 classification. From merely directing the attention 
 of the student to one or more striking points of 
 structure, they convey to his mind an idea of sim- 
 plicity which is at all times captivating, and which, 
 to the young beginner, is particularly inviting, from 
 the impression it gives of a diminution of labour. 
 This impression is generally well founded ; for it is 
 obvious, that the more numerous are the characters 
 employed, the greater is the trouble imposed upon 
 the student, and the more complex will be the 
 system they are in. For instance, if he be an orni-
 
 192 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 thologist, and adopts an artificial arrangement, he 
 finds that all birds are divided into two large groups 
 land and water b^rds the distinctions of which, in 
 ordinary cases, are immediately comprehended : but 
 if he prefers a natural system, he has to peruse the 
 characters of five or more primary groups, before 
 he can refer his subject to one of these primary 
 divisions. Should he, again, wish to understand the 
 name of one of those soft slimy marine animals 
 destitute of a shell, and of which nearly the whole 
 of the Linnaean class of Vermes, or worms, is com- 
 posed, his labour will be still more abridged by 
 using an artificial system. He turns to the Systema 
 JVatura, and he immediately finds that this animal 
 will come under the order of Mollusca, concisely de- 
 fined as " naked simple animals, not included in a 
 shell, but furnished with limbs." Here, then, he 
 looks no fui'ther, but proceeds at once to ascertain 
 the genus, and possibly the species. Should he, 
 however, wish to ascertain the natural group of his 
 subject, his trouble is increased tenfold. He must first 
 ascertain to which of the three great classes of ani- 
 mals, the Radiata, the Annulosa, and the Mollusca, 
 it really belongs : and this, as the science now stands, 
 will oblige him, in many cases, to dissect his subject; 
 because each of these classes contains " naked simple 
 animals, not included in a shell, but furnished with 
 limbs." From these examples, sufficient to illustrate 
 the simplicity of a good artificial system, it will be 
 immediately perceived how much the labour of any 
 one who searches after names only, is abridged by 
 the one method, and increased by the other. The 
 truth is, that the perfection of an artificial system
 
 ADVANTAGES OF ARTIFICIAL SYSTEMS. 193 
 
 consists in making us acquainted with an object by 
 the shortest and most easy way possible ; and that 
 all idea of following the order of nature should be 
 totally abandoned, as inconsistent with this primary 
 object. It is one of the greatest merits of Linnaeus 
 who knew, better than most of those who have 
 come after him, the true difference between the 
 systems in question, that he saw the truth of this 
 position, and acted up to it. His primary object was 
 to make things known by their names in the most 
 easy manner ; and he had the sagacity to foresee 
 that, by this plan, he should win over to the study of 
 nature, numbers of ordinary minds who would other- 
 wise have regarded it as too intricate and difficult ; 
 and he succeeded to admiration. The world was 
 astonished at the simplicity of his system ; and 
 delighted to find they could ascertain, with so little 
 study, the scientific name of an animal or a plant in 
 that book which was looked upon as the mirror of 
 nature, as, to a certain degree, it really was. To 
 blame this great genius, therefore, for his unnatural 
 combinations, is to blame him for what may almost 
 be termed one of his greatest merits. He knew 
 that his system, in many parts, made some approach 
 to what he imagined was the system of nature ; but 
 he also knew, that to attempt following this up into 
 all the details of his work, would be altogether 
 premature, if not impossible. All this, we repeat, 
 he well knew, and he framed his system accordingly. 
 The perfection, in short, of an artificial arrangement 
 is, that it should be thoroughly artificial : the divi- 
 sions, as far as possible, should be made absolute; 
 and no affinities, however natural, or however pal-
 
 191 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 pable, should be suffered to interfere or stand in 
 the way of this primary object. We would almost say, 
 that for amateurs, or for those who merely seek to 
 know scientific names, a thoroughly good artificial 
 system is the best for use. To judge from present 
 appearances, natural history, as a science, is fast 
 approaching to that state when its cultivation will 
 be confined to the man of leisure and of learning ; to 
 those who are installed in the precincts of a public 
 museum ; or who are possessed of a library and 
 collections which would cost a fortune to purchase, 
 or a lifetime to acquire. That the science should 
 be daily becoming more difficult, is not to be won- 
 dered at, or to be regretted, because an accession of 
 new objects calls for greater labour of investigation; 
 and no one can lament the extension of knowledge, 
 however he may be thereby prevented from acquiring 
 it himself. If there is any ground, therefore, upon 
 which we can advocate the expediency of a good 
 artificial system, even in these days, it is that of 
 enticing over to the admiration of nature, those 
 persons who, in the present state of the science, are 
 frightened at its difficulties, or turn away in disgust 
 at the dry uninviting manner in which nature has 
 been enshrouded with scientific technicalities. Such 
 persons, it is true, would not themselves, by adhering 
 to an artificial system, do any thing to develope the 
 philosophy of the science, but they might enrich its 
 records with innumerable facts, which might be 
 stored for future use ; and even they themselves 
 might in time be converts to a more just mode of 
 pursuing the study. Perhaps the best artificial 
 systems of modern times, are those proposed bv
 
 ADVANTAGES OF ARTIFICIAL SYSTEMS. ]95 
 
 such writers as divide every group into two; the one 
 having positive, the other negative characters. These, 
 indeed, are so simple, that the most illiterate can 
 understand them ; for we have only to see what an 
 animal has, and what it has not, to find it out and 
 determine its name. Such methods of arrangement, 
 as might have been expected, violate the series of 
 nature at almost every step; but this, as before 
 observed, is of no sort of consequence in a really 
 artificial system, where the primary object is to 
 arrange animals, as nearly as it is possible, on the 
 same plan as words are placed in a dictionary. 
 
 (133.) The disadvantages, however, of all such 
 methods more than counterbalance the facilities 
 they appear to offer. In the first place, they must 
 necessarily disregard the order of nature, which it 
 is the chief object of this science to discover and to 
 unfold. As their perfection consists in their abso- 
 luteness, they must separate into widely different 
 groups, animals which are not only of the same 
 genus, but actually of the same species. For in- 
 stance, no arrangement of insects appears more 
 simple, and even in some respects more natural, than 
 that which divides them into such as have wings, and 
 such as have none. Yet if this plan is so rigorously 
 acted upon, as to render it a correct guide or index 
 to the nomenclature of insects, we must place the 
 female glowworm in one division, and the male in 
 the other ; the first being without wings, while the 
 latter has four, two of which form cases for the pro- 
 tection of the others. The sexes of several moths, 
 where the same singular differences are found, must, 
 o 2
 
 196 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 on the same principle, be likewise separated. It 
 might be easy, indeed, in an artificial system, to 
 place such apterous insects in a division by them- 
 selves ; but what mistaken ideas would such a plan 
 give rise to! To render such insects intelligible, 
 they must have a name ; and we should either be 
 compelled to introduce the same genus and the 
 same species into two different divisions perhaps 
 volumes, or we must call the male by one name, and 
 the female by another ! Besides this, as artificial 
 systems are framed upon no general principles of 
 classification, no stability whatever is given to the 
 very elements of the science ; or rather, there is an 
 absence of all elements. As there can be neither 
 science nor philosophy in an alphabetical arrange- 
 ment of words, so there can be none in a system of 
 animals framed only with a view of making them 
 easily found out. Simplicity, also, which seems at 
 first so captivating a feature in such methods, is 
 more superficial than reaL Do what we can towards 
 defining groups so strictly that no exceptions shall 
 occur, and no deviations be found at variance with 
 our generic characters, still we shall soon discover 
 how impossible it is to circumscribe nature, even in 
 her lowest groups : we shall constantly be meeting 
 some species which depart from our arbitrary 
 standard of character, and which oblige us to make 
 new divisions for their reception : these divisions 
 will finally be so multiplied, and so intricate, that 
 our artificial method will become more complicated 
 than the most elaborate natural system : its simplicity, 
 in fact, will be destroyed ; and we shall lose as
 
 MIXED SYSTEMS. 197 
 
 much time in becoming acquainted with a super- 
 ficial classification, as would have sufficed for the 
 acquirement of a sound one. 
 
 (134.) The glaring violations of nature which 
 result from a strictly artificial system, have been 
 felt so forcibly by nearly all the best systematic 
 writers, that they have endeavoured to unite facility 
 of research with some attention to the order of 
 nature ; hence the origin of mixed systems, such 
 as that of the Regne Animal of Cuvier, and the 
 Genera Insectorum of Latreille. Arrangements of 
 this description have been, and still are, highly 
 useful; inasmuch as they bring together the scat- 
 tered fragments of the natural series, disjointed and 
 severed by artificial methods of arrangement. Yet 
 they are not so useful to the searcher after species, 
 because a wider latitude is given to the definitions ; 
 nor can they be considered as built upon philosophic 
 principles, for they commence upon no universal 
 and acknowledged truths of natural classification. 
 They frequently bring together natural groups ; but 
 after proceeding awhile in the evident order of 
 nature, they suddenly stop, and enter upon another 
 portion of their subject, as if it had no connection 
 whatever with that which they had just left. With 
 this they go on in some regularity ; but soon another 
 interruption is apparent, another gap is to be leaped, 
 and another series is begun upon, as if it had no- 
 thing to do with the last. These systems, which ex- 
 hibit nature, not as a whole, but as pieces, may be 
 compared to fragments of a chain, each composed 
 of an unequal number of links, which as far as they 
 extend are perfect, but whose two extremities show 
 o 3
 
 198 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 the marks of being violently dissevered from other 
 portions. They are to use a homely expression 
 bits and scraps of that which is, naturally, a uniform 
 and connected whole. To illustrate this, we need only 
 advert to the best classification of quadrupeds now 
 extant. Commencing with the orang otan, the series 
 passes from them to the baboons, the monkeys, the 
 howling apes, the prehensile monkeys, the lories, 
 and the bats. So far there is an evident appearance 
 of a natural series, and we begin to think the author 
 is really arranging animals according to their organ- 
 isation ; but we have arrived at the end of the first 
 fragment of the chain, and, dismissing all idea of 
 continuity, we are to begin on another. Imme- 
 diately after the bats are placed the hedgehogs, and 
 following these come the bears. Every person, 
 possessing the slightest knowledge of these animals, 
 at once perceives how unnaturally they are thus 
 combined ; and when he learns that there is no 
 other reason for this, than because they happen to 
 agree in some one or two points of organisation, 
 arbitrarily fixed upon as the groundwork of the 
 system, he may fairly question whether such a 
 series exhibits the true order of nature. Mixed 
 systems, moreover, lie under the same objection 
 whichJhas already been urged against artificial ones 
 that is, they exhibit none of that harmojiy of plan 
 between the different groups, which must necessarily 
 form a part of the system of nature. Nor do they 
 even show an uniformity in the minor divisions of 
 that particular department upon which they treat. 
 An arrangement of quadrupeds, for instance, is 
 made, as if quadrupeds had no reference to birds,
 
 NATURAL SYSTEMS. 199 
 
 or as if each had been created upon distinct plans. 
 So in regard to fish, or reptiles, or insects ; each is 
 successively arranged independently of the others, 
 as if they were so many isolated systems, and not 
 merely portions of one. We may, perhaps, be cen- 
 sured for dwelling upon the defects of some of the 
 most influential authorities of the day ; but it should 
 be remembered, that error must be removed before 
 truth can be established. Natural history, like all 
 other human knowledge, is progressive ; nor does it at 
 all follow, that, because our predecessors may have 
 been mistaken on some points, we are to set aside their 
 authority, or undervalue their labours, upon others. 
 It has been well said of such men, that even theii 
 errors are the errors of genius ; and that they are 
 calculated, if rightly used, to teach wisdom to such 
 as come after them. Let it be remembered, also, 
 that we are now investigating natural history as we 
 would do any other of the physical sciences ; and that 
 we can only hope to advance its interests by making it 
 subject to the same general principles, and the same 
 rules of investigation, which are applicable to all. 
 There cannot be a doubt, that mixed systems, how- 
 ever objectionable upon the grounds we have stated, 
 have done incalculable good, and have brought the 
 science to such an advanced state, that, in these 
 latter days, a glimpse of the natural system has at 
 length opened upon us. 
 
 (135.) We shall now shortly consider the nature 
 of those classifications which aim at exhibiting uni- 
 form principles and general results, and which we 
 have consequently termed natural systems. The 
 term, we before observed, is in some respects ob- 
 o 4
 
 200 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 jectionable, because, without the explanation already 
 given (129.), it would seem to imply a plurality of 
 natural systems ; whereas, in fact, there can be only 
 one. It is not to be supposed, however, that all the 
 laws of natural arrangement are to be developed at 
 once ; or that, amid the infinite diversity of resem- 
 blances which we see in the animal world^ erroneous 
 combinations may not be formed, which will never- 
 theless wear the appearance of following nature- 
 Hence arises the necessity of discussing more at 
 large the nature of theories, and the considerations 
 by which they are to be verified. For our present 
 purpose, however, it is merely necessary to state, 
 that a natural system of classification aims at two 
 primary objects : first, the arrangement of all objects 
 according to the scale or series which they may be 
 supposed to hold in the order of nature ; and se- 
 condly, to discover, from such an arrangement, the 
 general principles which govern their variation, 
 their structure, and their habits. The first of these 
 objects is likewise aimed at by the mixed methods 
 of classification just noticed ; but the latter that is, 
 the discovery of general laws, or of the fundamental 
 elements of the science is the peculiar character- 
 istic of natural systems; because they, and they 
 alone, endeavour to solve the principles of those 
 harmonies and connections, which, reasoning from 
 analogy, we feel convinced must be regulated by 
 definite laws.
 
 201 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 ON THEORIES IN GENERAL,' AND ON THE MODES AND 
 CONSIDERATIONS BY WHICH THEY ARE TO BE VERI- 
 FIED. 
 
 (136.) IT has been shown, in the preceding chap- 
 ter, that there are three modes by which the objects 
 of nature may be classified ; and that one of these 
 that \s, the natural system is alone conducive to 
 the advancement of natural history as a physical 
 science. To this, therefore, we shall hereafter con- 
 fine our attention ; because the principles of this 
 science must be discovered by a similar series of 
 inductive generalisations to those used in every de- 
 partment of natural philosophy, " through which one 
 spirit reigns, and one method of enquiry applies." 
 
 (137.) X<et us suppose, then, that an entomo- 
 logical student, with a well-filled cabinet of unar- 
 ranged -insects, having his mind well stored with 
 those simple facts regarding their structure and 
 economy which he is to look upon as solid data let 
 us suppose him to commence the arrangement of 
 the objects before him, according to what he thinks 
 their true affinities, and with a view of verifying or 
 discovering their natural arrangement. He com- 
 mences by placing, one after the other, those species 
 which bear the greatest mutual resemblance ; and 
 for a time he proceeds so satisfactorily, he finds the 
 several links of the chain, as it were, fit into each
 
 202 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 other so harmoniously, that he begins to think the 
 task much easier than he at first expected ; and that 
 he will not only be able to prove, by these very ex- 
 amples before him, the absolute connection of one 
 given genus to another, but also to demonstrate 
 that the scale of nature is simple that is, passing 
 in a straight line from the highest to the lowest 
 organised forms. All these ideas, however (ge- 
 nerally resulting from partial reasening or from 
 limited information), are soon found to be fallacious. 
 As the student proceeds, he meets with some insects 
 which disturb the regularity of his series, and with 
 others which he knows not where to place. He still 
 goes on, however, introducing the former, in the best 
 way he can, among those to which they have an evi- 
 dent affinity, and placing the latter by themselves, 
 under the hope of finally discovering their proper place. 
 The further he proceeds, however, these difficulties 
 are rather increased than diminished. He remodels 
 his groups, and alters his series ; still he cannot reduce 
 all into harmonious order. What he gains by one 
 modification of arrangement, he loses by another ; 
 and affinities, which were preserved in his first 
 series, are destroyed, that a place may be found for 
 other insects, which seem to have equally strong 
 relations, although, in some respects, they evidently 
 disturb the order of progression. But his difficul- 
 ties do not terminate here ; for, admitting the possi- 
 bility of his success in bringing every species into 
 an appropriate group, the union of these groups 
 among themselves opens a new source of embarrass- 
 ment. It is plain that, in the order of nature, they 
 must follow one another in some sort ; for if there
 
 DIFFICULTIES OF A FIRST ARRANGEMENT. ^03 
 
 were no progression of developement, all animals 
 would be equally perfect that is to say, have the 
 same complexity of structure. Here, then, lies his 
 difficulty. He perceives, perhaps, an evident affinity 
 between two groups, by species which seem to blend 
 them together, and to conduct him, by an almost 
 insensible gradation, from one to the other. He 
 therefore concludes this to be the natural series, and 
 he approximates them accordingly: presently, how- 
 ever, upon looking more attentively to his other 
 unsorted groups, he finds not only one, but several, 
 each of which, in some way or other, shows an ap- 
 proximation just as close to his first group, as that 
 does which he has previously made to follow it ; and 
 he is as much at a loss how to dispose his groups 
 in natural succession, as he was IIOAV to place the 
 species which they contain. The same results also 
 attend his attempts at improving his arrangement of 
 groups: what is gained by shifting one so as to 
 follow another, is lost by dissevering it from that 
 with which it was previously united : until, with all his 
 assiduity and trials, he finds there is still a remnant 
 of " unknown things," which stand disconnected, as 
 it were, from the series he has formed ; and which 
 cannot be made to fall into place by any contrivance 
 he can devise. 
 
 (138.) Now, the first question which arises in 
 such a state of things a state which every naturalist 
 has repeatedly experienced, is this ; What is 
 the series of nature ? Is it simple, or complex ? 
 and in what manner, or by what rules, am I to dis- 
 tinguish the different natures of all these compli- 
 cated relationships or resemblances, so as to deter-
 
 204? STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 mine which is the natural series of the groups now 
 before me ? Here, then, commences the philosophy 
 of the science. For we have either to determine 
 these questions by a long process of inductive gene- 
 ralisations, which will probably occupy years of 
 incessant study ; or we must have recourse to the 
 experience of others, and proceed to verify, by the 
 subjects before us, those general conclusions which 
 others have arrived at upon the points in question. 
 This, therefore, will be the place for giving to each 
 of these general conclusions some consideration. , 
 
 (139.) It was long the opinion of philosophers, 
 that the chain of being, or, in other words, the 
 order of nature, was simple. So that, between man, 
 and the minutest animalcule invisible to the naked 
 eye, there was an innumerable multitude of or- 
 ganised beings descending imperceptibly in the 
 scale, and forming a simple continuous series, like 
 the links of a chain ; the first of which was very 
 large, and the latter very small, the intervening 
 ones gradually lessening as they approached the 
 lowest extremity. Now, this theory has long since 
 been abandoned ; because, although we can select 
 from the animal world a series which will answer to 
 such a theory, we should still be obliged to omit 
 nearly one third of the animals already known, 
 which will not, by any possible contrivance, fall into 
 a linear series, and which consequently demonstrates 
 its fallacy. The very instance we have just given, 
 makes this apparent to the most inexperienced stu- 
 dent If the chain of being had been simple and 
 linear, he would have had no difficulty in placing 
 his insects in such a series; and one would have
 
 THE CHAIN OF BEING. 205 
 
 followed the other, with only such intervals as 
 future acquisitions or discoveries might be supposed 
 to fill up. At all events, he would not have been 
 perplexed by an apparent multiplicity of relations, 
 branching off in different directions, and totally dis- 
 composing his linear series. Every object which is 
 arranged, like the links of a chain, in a simple line 
 of progression, can have but two immediate affinities : 
 one, by which it is connected to that which precedes 
 it ; the other, to that which follows it. The student, 
 therefore, at the very commencement of his study, 
 has a demonstrative illustration that the chain of 
 being is continuous, yet at the same time not 
 simple. This truth being verified, he has next to 
 enquire in what mode this continuity is preserved, 
 and what is the actual course it takes in its pro- 
 gress from the most perfect to the most imperfect 
 organised beings. 
 
 (140.) Now, to solve this latter question, there 
 are, as it has been justly observed of natural phe- 
 nomena in general*, three modes by which we may 
 proceed. First, by inductive reasoning : that is, by 
 commencing with the lowest or nearest approxima- 
 tions, as that of species to species ; forming groups 
 of them, and then endeavouring to discover the 
 degrees of affinity or of proximation which these 
 groups bear to one another. Secondly, by forming 
 at once a bold hypothesis, particularising the law, 
 and trying the truth of it by following out its con- 
 sequences, and comparing them with facts: or, 
 thirdly, by a process partaking of both these, and 
 
 * Herschel, Dis. (CAB. CYC. vol. xiv.) p. 198.
 
 206 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 combining the advantages of both without their 
 defects ; viz. by assuming, indeed, the laws we 
 would discover, but altering and modifying them in 
 the process of their application, so much as to make 
 them agree with incontrovertible facts. 
 
 (141.) Of these three modes of investigation, the 
 first and the last are more adapted to ordinary ca- 
 pacities than the second; because to conceive a 
 bold and comprehensive theory, which should carry 
 with it a semblance of reconciling, and reducing to 
 general laws, a multitude of facts apparently ano- 
 malous, requires a proficiency in science which few 
 have the talent or the means to attain. This ob- 
 jection is applicable also, although in a less degree, 
 to the third mode of investigation ; for here also, as 
 we are to assume certain laws, the assumption, in 
 order to wear any appearance of truth, or to raise 
 in our minds any solid hope of success in working 
 it out, must be the result of much experience and 
 of extensive research. He, therefore, who would 
 proceed with that caution so necessary in the intri- 
 cate path he has now entered upon, should either 
 begin his ascent at the very lowest steps, and never 
 venture forward until he has obtained a sure footing 
 upon that ; o he must trust himself to the guidance, 
 in the first stages of his journey, of those who are 
 familiar with the road, and have already affixed 
 certain landmarks sufficient to point out the direction 
 he is to pursue. But to drop metaphor ; the student 
 must proceed on one of the following plans : He 
 must either commence, as pointed out in the first of 
 these methods, by supposing no general 1 laws have 
 yet been discovered, and that he may possibly find
 
 PAUCITY OP ITS KNOWN LAWS. 207 
 
 a clue to their developement ; or he must begin by 
 assuming as true, those laws which have been de- 
 monstrated by others, and proceed at once to verify 
 them in the groups he is about to investigate. 
 
 (142.) So little had the philosophy of zoology 
 been attended to by those who, nevertheless, in 
 other respects, have been the greatest benefactors 
 to the science, that it is only within the last fifteen 
 years we can date the commencement of such en- 
 quiries. It was then that the first efforts were made 
 to reduce it to an inductive science, to be pro- 
 secuted by the same method of enquiry which had 
 long been employed in other departments of natural 
 philosophy. Hence it is, that this science is based 
 upon fewer known and acknowledged truths than 
 any other. So strong has been the force of prejudice 
 in favour of artificial methods, and so little disposed 
 are the naturalists of the old school to quit the 
 beaten path they hitherto traversed, that if it were 
 asked, what were the number of general laws or in- 
 ductive generalisations of the highest order, at 
 present admitted in this science, we should be ob- 
 liged to confess that only one, as yet, has been ex- 
 tensively verified. This one, however, is of the 
 most comprehensive nature ; since it regards the 
 chain of being, or the order of succession, in the 
 forms of nature which we are at present discussing. 
 The law in question is this ; That the progression 
 of every natural series is in a circle ; so that, strictly 
 speaking, it possesses neither a definite beginning 
 nor a definite end ; the two extremes blending 
 into each other so harmoniously, that, when united, 
 no marked interval of separation is discovered.
 
 208 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 (14-3.) Of this law we have a familiar and a very 
 beautiful illustration, in the annual revolution of the 
 seasons ; the months of which may be compared to a 
 series of beings following each other in close affinity. 
 If we begin with January, we trace the gradual deve- 
 lopement, first of spring, and then of summer ; from 
 thence we pass into autumn ; this season, again, melts 
 into the winter of December ; and we thus arrive 
 again at the point from which we first set out. So, 
 likewise, is a natural series of animals. If we begin 
 at any given species or group, and trace its connec- 
 tion to others, we find, that, after being conducted 
 through various modifications of the original type, 
 we are insensibly brought to that type again ; just 
 as if, by passing the point of a pin over the figure of 
 a circle, we should assuredly end where we began. 
 Now, as this hypothesis has been amply verified by 
 facts drawn from the animal and the vegetable 
 kingdoms, it has assumed the character and the 
 authority of a general law, and gives us no further 
 occasion to seek upon what principle the series of 
 nature is constructed. We shall have occasion, 
 hereafter, to dwell more particularly on the com- 
 prehensiveness of this law, and the beauty of its 
 application throughout nature : at present, we merely 
 point it out to the student as that basis upon which 
 all his combinations must be built, and as a fixed 
 and determinate point from whence he may safely 
 begin his journey onward. 
 
 (144-.) The lowest combinations of objects, wherein 
 this law can be traced, are those groups of species 
 which were formerly denominated genera, but which 
 are called by the moderns sub-genera, a term in-
 
 SUB-GENERA. 209 
 
 dicative of their subordinate rank. The first process 
 of generalising, or, in other words, the first stage of 
 induction, is to bring an indefinite number of species 
 into a group, which shall be so rigidly restricted, that 
 little other variation is seen, among -the individual 
 species so associated, but such as arises from size, co- 
 lour, or the greater or less developement of the same 
 parts and the same organs. It is quite immaterial to 
 our present purpose, whether we call these groups ge- 
 nera or sub-genera ; but it is of the first consequence, 
 that naturalists should agree in the meaning of certain, 
 terms or words. That such groups as we have just 
 described are natural, can admit of no doubt. The 
 olives, the cones, and the cowries among the Testacea, 
 are good examples ; while, in entomology, we have 
 the white garden butterflies (Pieris, Lat.), the blues 
 ( Polyommatus), the coppers (Lyctena), the hair- 
 streaks (Thecla, Lat.), and the rove beetles (Cicin- 
 dela Lin.). In the British species of all these re- 
 spective groups, we have a perfect illustration of the 
 above definition of a sub-genus, and of that degree 
 of variation which is found among species so grouped. 
 Hence it follows, generally speaking, that the deter- 
 mination of a sub-genus (or of a group so de- 
 nominated) is one of the most easy things imagin- 
 able ; for, whenever we meet with a species which 
 shows a marked affinity to any one of the above 
 assemblages, yet possesses a peculiarity of structure 
 which those have not, or wants another which they 
 possess, we may in ninety-nine cases in a hundred 
 conclude it to be the type of a sub-genus, which future 
 discovery will most probably augment by other ex- 
 amples, and which higher degrees of induction will
 
 210 STUDY OP NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 show us is absolutely essential to the harmony of the 
 whole. 
 
 (145.) The student must not, however, suppose 
 that all sub-genera are so comprehensive, or so 
 readily detected, as those which, for the sake of 
 strong examples, we have just instanced : very many, 
 so far as we yet know, are composed but of one 
 species ; and, generally speaking, the number of 
 species is small. He must not, therefore, be ap- 
 prehensive he is carrying the above theory too far, 
 when, in the arrangement of his collection, he places 
 at short intervals of separation, many insects, as 
 probable types of sub-genera, of which he has 
 but one example. His fears, that he is making 
 needless divisions, may be quieted by two con- 
 siderations : first, that natural groups do not depend 
 on their numerical amount of species ; and, secondly, 
 from the amazing number of nature's productions 
 already known, and of which he has not, probably, 
 seen one tenth part of such as actually exist in 
 collections, setting aside those which have not yet 
 been discovered. Even admitting that his collection 
 is very extensive, and that there is consequently a 
 greater chance of his finding more than a solitary 
 example of a supposed s\ib-genus, still he will fre- 
 quently be deceived in his estimation of its extent, 
 which can often only be learned from books, or from 
 an extensive acquaintance with the contents of other 
 cabinets. A singular and striking instance of this is 
 afforded by the sub-genus Eudamus, first defined by 
 us (Zool. HI. 2. pi. 41.), and composed entirely of 
 the swallow-tailed skipper butterflies of the family 
 Hesperida. Only one species was known to Linnaeus ;
 
 GENERA. 211 
 
 and so few were since added, that not one of the 
 modern entomologists ventured to arrange them as 
 a distinct group. It happened, however, that we 
 took a predilection for these butterflies when in 
 Brazil, and collected them with great assiduity : 
 the result is, that no less than eighteen species were 
 found in that limited portion of the country which we 
 explored. We are acquainted with several others, and 
 new ones are still coming to light ; so that it is very 
 probable, in a few years, that this single sub-genus, 
 not more than one or two species of which are 
 usually seen in collections, will comprise fifty. We 
 mention this instance, not as encouraging the stu- 
 dent to increase the present overwhelming list of 
 sub-genera as too many are now doing but as an 
 example how impossible it is, in general, to judge 
 of the real numerical contents of a natural group, 
 from the examples usually seen in cabinets, or even 
 from the species that have already been described. 
 
 (146.) The second stage of generalisation is to 
 ascend from sub-genera to genera, or, in other words, 
 to combine an indefinite number of those first, or 
 lowest assemblages of species, just described, into a 
 group of the next rank or denomination. Now, this 
 group we name a genus. The question therefore is, 
 whether there is any rule as to the specific number 
 of sub-genera which naturally constitute a genus, or 
 is this number indefinite, depending entirely on the 
 greater or less variety of forms, which show a 
 common tendency to unite into a circular group 
 superior to themselves ? 
 
 (147.) Here, again, the progress of the enquirer 
 p 2
 
 212 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 is arrested. He has set out with assuming as 
 correct, one great law of nature, the circular 
 progression of affinities : but now he is to en- 
 quire, before he can proceed further, on what prin- 
 ciples he is to connect his sub-genera, so as to 
 preserve their affinities, and yet form them into 
 assemblages of a higher order or superior value. 
 The answer, theoretically, is obvious to every one 
 accustomed to logical reasoning. If, in all natural 
 groups, the progression of affinity is circular, then 
 the contents of a genus, which is a natural group, 
 must be circular also. Such is the application of 
 the law in question ; for it cannot be supposed that 
 the higher divisions of nature, as classes and orders, 
 should demonstrate this circularity, and that the other 
 subordinate groups should not : this, were it true, 
 would disprove a unity and consistency of plan, and 
 the law, not being general, would be no law. A 
 genus, then, to be natural, must only contain, of 
 necessity, such sub-genera or minor assemblages of 
 species as will, collectively, show a circular progres- 
 sion of affinity. Such is one of the requisites of a 
 natural genus. Still the question of numbers is to 
 be investigated. What are the natural divisions of 
 a group ? in other words, how many of those, here 
 called sub-genera, constitute a genus ? 
 
 (148.) Now, as we are proceeding analytically, 
 under no assumed law but that which regards the 
 circular theory of affinity, we must have recourse to 
 observation. If we find that three, or four, or 
 any other definite number of sub-genera, by being 
 placed together, appear to form a circular group,
 
 GROUPS NOT ALWAYS PERFECT. 213 
 
 We may, in this stage of our enquiry, have some 
 reason to suppose that it is a natural one, because it 
 exemplifies the law in question. 
 
 (149.) It has been found, however, that this is 
 not a sufficient verification of a natural series ; and 
 for this reason: in the infinite variety of animal forms, 
 there are so many mutual resemblances, that if our 
 only object is to arrange them in circles, we may 
 combine them in different ways, all of which will 
 wear a primd facie appearance of being more or 
 less circular ; or if any unusual hiatus or gaps appear, 
 we are immediately ready to smooth over the diffi- 
 culty, by concluding that they do not really exist in 
 nature, but only in the paucity of our materials. 
 And we are the more inclined to yield to this per- 
 suasion, since naturalists universally admit that such 
 intervals really do exist in nature, either from the 
 extermination of some animals by man, or from the 
 changes which our earth has undergone. Against 
 this disposition, therefore, to smooth over discrepan- 
 cies in our supposed circle, by attributing them to 
 causes which may or may not be the true ones, 
 the naturalist must frequently contend. He may 
 rest assured that a natural group can only have 
 one series of variation ; and if, by taking away 
 some of its parts, and substituting others, he 
 can still preserve its circular appearance, he has 
 strong reason to doubt which disposition is the 
 natural one. 
 
 (150.) Now, under these circumstances, the ef- 
 fective mode of proceeding is to form two or more 
 of those combinations called genera, and then to com- 
 pare their contents respectively with each and all. 
 p 3
 
 214 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 Here we have first to bring into practical use the 
 theoretical distinctions of analogy and affinity, 
 already touched upon. If the contents of one 
 genus appear to represent, in some few remarkable 
 peculiarities, the contents of another ; and if this can 
 also be traced through a third or a fourth ; we are 
 immediately impressed with a conviction that this co- 
 incidence is the effect of design. It is clear that these 
 resemblances, however strong, cannot be relations 
 of affinity ; because they occur in different circles, 
 which would be broken up and destroyed, if these 
 objects of resemblance were taken out and grouped 
 by themselves. An example of this will best show 
 its effect, and the violence it would commit on the 
 law we have set out with. The most inexperienced 
 ornithologist perceives a resemblance, more or 
 less strong, between the cock, the wattle bird, 
 the carunculated starling, the cassowary, and the 
 wattled bee-eater. All these, in fact, at first sight, 
 are immediately recognised by a head and face more 
 or less naked, and ornamented with fleshy crests or 
 wattles. Yet, if we concluded that this resemblance 
 or relationship was one of affinity, and therefore 
 proceeded to take all these birds out of the present 
 groups they stand in, and place them in one by 
 themselves, what a heterogeneous mixture should 
 we have ! Nor would this be all : the respective 
 circles in which each of these types now stand, would 
 of course be broken up, and another group would be 
 formed of the wattled birds alone, which would be 
 any thing but circular. Resemblances like these, 
 as we known from experience, will be found in every 
 natural group. When these groups are remote, we
 
 ORDER OF SUCCESSION. 215 
 
 perceive, without investigation, that they are of 
 analogy ; but in proportion as groups approximate, 
 other dissimilarities of course become less, so that 
 when we descend to genera which follow or come 
 very close to each other, it is impossible to decide, 
 at first sight, whether the relationship be one of 
 analogy or of affinity. But of this hereafter. 
 
 (151.) As every group, therefore, is found to 
 contain some such striking modifications of form, it 
 becomes necessary to ascertain how far they follow 
 each other, in the same succession, in each group : 
 for it is not to be supposed that they occur at 
 random, or that they merely constitute a part of 
 their own group, without having any uniform and 
 definite station therein. The series of variation in 
 one, must be the same in all. When, therefore, we 
 wish to verify an assumed circle of affinity, our first 
 business is to study the order of succession in which 
 the subordinate forms in it occur, and then to com- 
 pare it with other assumed circles. The proof that 
 our arrangement of one is correct, is involved in the 
 general verification of the whole. If the succession 
 of forms in one and all of these circular groups 
 agree, we can then have little or no doubt, that 
 the order of nature has been discovered; for we 
 shall then arrive at one general principle of variation, 
 and shall be able to assign to each form the station 
 it holds in its own group. If, on the other hand, 
 we find no such analogy between the contents of 
 our groups if they contain no corresponding re- 
 presentations and if they rest for their stability 
 upon the mere appearance oT being circular, it is 
 plain that there must be something wrong in our 
 p 4
 
 216 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 arrangement. It then becomes necessary to remodel 
 the whole; and if, after this, no general results can be 
 obtained if there is no regularity in the occurrence 
 of the same analogous forms in the different groups 
 our circles want verification, and must of course 
 be considered hypothetical. 
 
 (152.) The presence of such remarkable forms 
 as have been just instanced in a natural group, 
 would seem to point out at once the most obvious 
 means of deciding on the number of divisions which 
 a genus contains ; and as every distinct modification 
 is the type of a sub-genus, we derive, in that first or 
 lowest stage of induction which we are now sup- 
 posing, great help in determining the number of 
 divisions in a genus. It may so happen, that in one 
 we reckon four, in another five, in a third seven, or 
 even more. It then becomes an important question, 
 whether these assumed divisions or types can be 
 augmented or reduced so as to bring them to a 
 definite number in each group. If this can be accom- 
 plished, it is clear that another principle of harmony 
 will be discovered ; and we shall have good reason to 
 conclude that the number of divisions into which the 
 majority of our groups can be divided, will be that 
 most prevalent, if not universal, in all others. The 
 verification, however, of such a theory cannot be satis- 
 factorily attained until we quit genera, and ascend to 
 higher generalisations ; and for the following reasons. 
 
 (153.) Suppose, for instance, we looked to the 
 genus Trichius among coleopterous insects, and 
 agreed with an eminent entomologist in dividing it 
 into seven principal sections or sub-genera; and we 
 assume these to be natural. But on turning to the
 
 VERIFICATION OF GROUPS. 217 
 
 genus Phanceus, belonging to the same order, 
 we find another celebrated writer declaring that, 
 in this, all the species can be referred to five 
 types : now the question is, how can these different 
 opinions be verified, or made to agree ? The rule, 
 were the groups of a higher order, would be obvious. 
 Do each of these divisions form circles of their own? 
 if not, they are unnatural : but this test cannot be 
 often applied to a genera ; because it rarely happens 
 that their sub-genera are so abundant in species as 
 to form complete circles. Yet there are two modes 
 which can still be resorted to, independent of any 
 assumed theory, for ascertaining what is the de- 
 terminate number in the groups before us. First, 
 we should endeavour to see how far the seven 
 divisions in one can be reduced to five, so that two 
 of them are absorbed, as it were, into the others. 
 If we find this to be impracticable, without destroy- 
 ing the equality of the divisions, we should reverse 
 the experiment, and ascertain how far the five 
 groups of Phanceus can be made into seven. If we 
 succeed in this, or in the other, we establish an 
 agreement ; and, so far as we have then gone, there 
 is presumptive evidence to favour the supposition 
 that one or other of these numbers may be prevalent 
 in other genera. The truth of such a theory, whether 
 it be in favour of five, or seven, or any other 
 definite number, depends on the extent to which it 
 can be verified by observed or known facts. So 
 that, although we may be able, as in the above 
 instance, to make the divisions of two genera agree 
 in their determinate number, and may therefore 
 feel a disposition to build a theory upon such a coin-
 
 218 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 cidence, we must yet bear in mind that we have 
 advanced but one step in the scale of induction ; 
 that it is not very difficult, even with a strict atten- 
 tion to the foregoing rules, to divide two genera, 
 each into the same number of sections. To assume, 
 on such slender premises, the existence of a general 
 law, that all genera will be found similarly constituted, 
 would be a total departure from that mode of enquiry 
 which is absolutely essential to the prosecution of 
 all physical science. 
 
 (154.) When, therefore, we have verified the 
 prevalence of a definite number in the divisions of 
 a genus, by comparing the contents of several, we 
 may then advance a step further, and are at liberty, 
 from the facts already elicited, to form a theory. 
 It is essential, however, that, in so doing, we over- 
 step not those inductions which lie before us, and 
 which can be appealed to as instances of particular 
 verification, and as presumptive evidences of the 
 universality of the law assumed. By the process of 
 investigation we are now pursuing, all deviations 
 from the law we assume, must be accounted for on 
 sound principles, or by the probable operations of 
 known effects. Thus, for instance, many groups 
 which, from having been already analysed and de- 
 monstrated, we know to be genera, contain but two 
 or three divisions, others four, and many but one. 
 Now, as this occasional paucity of forms in a genus 
 may be accounted for by various natural causes 
 (14-8.), we are not hastily to conclude that there is no 
 definite number in nature, or that a genus may 
 contain from one to twenty sub-genera, for aught 
 we know to the contrary. Such imperfect groups,
 
 EXTENSIVE GENERA FAVOURABLE FOR STUDY. 219 
 
 for so the wide intervals between the objects they 
 contain proclaim them to be, may be set aside for 
 future analysis, when we have attained to higher 
 degrees of inductive generalisation. It is those 
 genera which, from containing numerous species 
 and modifications of form, are usually termed per- 
 fect, which we are more especially to select as fit 
 objects for the preceding line of enquiry. We all 
 know, that the more numerous and varied are the 
 materials given to us for accomplishing a given 
 work, the greater will be the degree of accuracy 
 attending the result, provided we use these materials 
 for the purposes for which they were designed, and 
 make each fit into the other with symmetry and 
 order, so as to produce a perfect whole. Applying 
 this to the question before us, we may safely assume 
 that extensive genera are the most calculated to 
 elicit the first principles of classification. They 
 seem as if intended for natural storehouses, wherein 
 we should find all sorts of implements with which 
 we may try our hand at combining, changing, and 
 remodelling, until we make all the parts, like those 
 of a complicated puzzle, fit into each other; and 
 produce, from what appeared a heterogeneous as- 
 semblage of isolated objects, a perfect tablet of 
 order and beauty. It must be confessed, indeed, 
 that such genera are the plague and torment of 
 those who seek only to arrange them artificially; 
 because the interchange of characters is so gradual, 
 and the intervals between the more prominent types 
 so filled up and crowded by connecting species, that 
 it seems utterly impossible where to make one 
 division begin, or where end. It is clear, however,
 
 220 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 that these are the very groups, above all others, 
 wherein the principles of enquiry we are now re- 
 commending can be most successfully and most 
 easily pursued ; and for this purpose, as such, they 
 should consequently be selected. When, therefore, 
 we can draw any general deductions from the 
 contents of several such groups, whether as re- 
 gards the mode of variation in their subordinate 
 forms, the characters of the forms themselves, or 
 their definite number, we may rest assured of 
 having committed no great error in their natural 
 arrangement ; and may safely assume the inductions 
 thus obtained, as instruments to facilitate our further 
 progress. Having now stated those primary con- 
 siderations which appear necessary to determine, on 
 sound principles of inductive science, the two lowest 
 groups of nature, namely, sub-genera and genera, 
 we may proceed a step further, and enquire into 
 higher combinations. 
 
 (155.) The groups next in rank to genera, modern 
 naturalists agree in calling sub-families. The name, 
 however, has nothing to do with our present object, 
 further than that it is necessary to give some 
 designation to groups which are next in rank, 
 or in comprehensiveness, to those last discussed. 
 The determination, therefore, of a group of this 
 sort, no matter by what name we choose to call 
 it, must be regulated by the law we set out with 
 assuming ; that is, by the union of a certain number 
 of genera, which, thus combined, produce a circular 
 series. Here, again, the question of numbers 
 arises. Now, bearing in mind, that the greater the 
 degree of harmony and unity we can produce in our
 
 ON SUB-FAMILIES. 221 
 
 arrangement, the greater is the probability of our 
 discovering the order of nature, it becomes essential 
 to ascertain how far the laws regarding the com- 
 bination of sub-genera into genera will assist us to 
 combine genera into sub-families. We have sup- 
 posed in the latter case, that the naturalist has found, 
 in all his perfect genera, the prevalence of a deter- 
 minate number of minor divisions; he is now, 
 therefore, to try the strength of the law thence as- 
 sumed, upon a more extensive scale. First, we must 
 combine our genera in such a way that four, five, 
 seven (or whatever the assumed number may be), 
 make a circle of their own, more or less complete. 
 We shall then have a certain number of circular 
 groups, forming one of larger dimensions ; and, pro- 
 ceeding in this way to form other assemblages of 
 the same kind or rank, compare their respective 
 contents. The first test of every such circle will be 
 that its primary divisions or genera are also circular : 
 the second, that these divisions or lesser circles, in 
 regard to their number, are definite. If we find 
 that their average number is greater or less in the 
 sub-families, than in the genera, we must conclude 
 one of two things ; either that the number of types 
 vary in different groups according to the rank or 
 value of such groups, or that we have not yet dis- 
 covered what is the true number most prevalent in 
 nature. Every principle of sound reasoning is 
 against the first of these suppositions ; for if we 
 suppose that natural groups are perfectly independ- 
 ent of any definite number of divisions, then (setting 
 aside all experience to the contrary) we virtually 
 deny uniformity of design in the details of nature,
 
 222 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 while we see and admit it in her grander features : 
 besides, it is not to be supposed that such forms as 
 we have elsewhere cited (150.), are scattered indis- 
 criminately in their respective groups, without being 
 accompanied by others, equally representing each 
 other, and therefore implying, in the strongest 
 possible manner, the existence of strict uniformity. 
 We may, then, safely conclude, that if the number 
 of our genera in a sub- family disagrees with the 
 number of divisions in our genera, the fault lies 
 with ourselves. We must again retrace our steps, 
 perhaps abandon altogether the number first assumed 
 as definite, and adopt some other more in unison 
 with the facts before us. If, on the contrary, we 
 can, in these new and higher groups, demonstrate 
 the same prevalence of a determinate number, the 
 strength of our theory is doubled. It has been well 
 observed*, that, " whatever error we commit in a 
 single determination, it is highly improbable we 
 should always err in the same way ; so that, when we 
 come to take an average of a great number of de- 
 terminations (unless there be some constant cause 
 which gives a bias one way or the other), we cannot 
 fail, at length, to attain a very near approximation 
 to truth ; and, even allowing a bias, to come much 
 nearer to it than can fairly be expected from any 
 single observation, liable to be influenced by the 
 same bias." This useful and valuable property of 
 the average of a great many observations that it 
 brings us nearer to the truth, that is, to the deter- 
 mination of a prevalent number, than any single 
 
 * Hersch. Discourse p. 215.
 
 IMPORTANCE OF UNIFORM RESULTS. 223 
 
 observation can be relied on as doing, renders it the 
 most certain resource in all physical enquiries, 
 where the discovery of a general law is desired. If, 
 for instance, we found, in ornithology, that twenty 
 out of twenty-three sub-families, particularly abun- 
 dant in species, could each be divided into seven 
 groups or genera, and that each of these subordi- 
 nate divisions was in itself circular, we should be 
 justified in believing the determinate number to be 
 seven ; because the preponderance of evidence sanc- 
 tions the conclusion, and leads us to believe that a 
 more extended analysis of other groups will produce 
 the same result. But if, 'in the remaining three, 
 equally abundant in materials, we can by no pos- 
 sibility make out more than five circular divisions, 
 we must either seek to equalise the results, or, if 
 that fails, abandon our first theory, and commence 
 anew. It will not be sufficient to argue that the 
 two missing types of these groups may be supplied 
 by future discoveries ; because such a singular co- 
 incidence, of two missing types in each of three 
 genera, carries on the face of it a high degree of 
 improbability. It will be remembered, also, we are 
 now supposing all the groups before us to be perfect; 
 and, if perfect, then without any violent or pal- 
 pable interruption in the line of continuity ; in other 
 words, presenting no interval, wherein, if these 
 missing groups happened to be discovered, they 
 could be naturally inserted. Nothing, indeed, can 
 be easier than to start a theory on the universal 
 prevalence of a determinate number, assumed upon 
 the partial arrangement of one or two insignificant 
 groups, and without complying with the con-
 
 224> STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 ditions which authorise such groups to be called 
 natural. 
 
 (156.) It must, nevertheless, be admitted, that 
 groups so highly perfect as those we have just con- 
 templated, are by no means of common occurrence ; 
 or, at least, our limited knowledge of nature has not 
 yet enabled us to discover them. The most perfect 
 group, in this sense of the term, in the whole circle 
 of ornithology, is perhaps that of the sub-family 
 PiciancB, or true woodpeckers, wherein we have 
 ascertained, by the inductive process here explained, 
 the circular succession of affinity in each genus, and 
 consequently the characters of each sub-genus ; all 
 of which have actually been discovered, and are 
 now in the European museums. Another natural 
 group, even still more varied into different modifi- 
 cations, is that of the humming-birds ( Trochilid(e) ; 
 a group, moreover, which every one perceives is as 
 natural as that of the parrots, the owls, or the birds 
 of prey. The Trochilidce, however, have not yet 
 been analysed and grouped with that high degree of 
 precision necessary to constitute a demonstration. 
 The parrots, likewise, when we look to the di- 
 versity of their forms, may be included among the 
 more perfect groups ; and the ornithologist, really 
 anxious to investigate truth, cannot have more 
 favourable materials to work upon than these. 
 There are so many considerations to be taken into 
 the account, so many diversities of the same general 
 structure not only to be reconciled but explained, 
 so many degrees of relationship to be unravelled, 
 and so many apparent anomalies to be illustrated 
 by analogous examples in other groups, that a
 
 USELESSNESS OF MERE ASSERTION. 225 
 
 theory which explains these, must be considered 
 as demonstrably true. Let the advocates for any 
 determinate number, instead of declaiming in ge- 
 neral terms in favour of their own opinion, and in. 
 abuse of others, throw aside such puerilities, as un- 
 worthy the name either of argument or of science ; 
 let them in good earnest put their shoulders to the 
 wheel, and resolutely sit down to study and de- 
 velope the natural arrangement of any one of the 
 groups just named : we shall then have a standard 
 to which all parties can appeal ; we shall then see, 
 beyond dispute, whether, in one of the most perfect 
 groups in creation, nature has, or has not, regulated 
 the variation of her forms by some definite number, 
 or by some definite rule. It is a matter of perfect 
 indifference to the man of true science whether that 
 number be three, five, seven, or twenty. We want 
 truth, and truth only ; and all that is true in physical 
 science must repose on the experience or observation 
 of facts within the reach of those who seek for them. 
 One such analysis as we are now recommending, 
 would tend more to the establishment of sound 
 principles in natural history, than all the speculative 
 declamation that was, or will be, ever written. It is 
 surely not too much to expect such labour, for 
 labour it will assuredly prove, from those who 
 declaim against general views and particular theories, 
 before they have informed themselves on the very 
 first rules of judging which physical science imposes 
 upon her votaries. Let us return, however, to the 
 more immediate subject before us, viz. the verifi- 
 cation of natural groups. 
 
 (157.) We have, in the last paragraph, spoken 
 Q
 
 226 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 more particularly of perfect groups ; that is, of such 
 as exhibit, in their circular progression, no wide or 
 disproportionate gaps in their continuity. The na- 
 turalist, however, must not calculate on frequently 
 falling upon a cluster of these, so near to each other, 
 that every genus, for example, in a sub-family, shall 
 be perfect. How, then, is he to proceed, since he 
 cannot, in all instances, verify the law he has set 
 out with assuming, i. e. that every natural group is 
 circular ? He must, in this dilemma, in the first in- 
 stance, chiefly be guided by observation. Should he 
 find that, by bringing together a certain number of 
 groups, they will form a circle more or less com- 
 plete, and of a higher denomination, he may, in the 
 first instance, assume that the law in question has 
 been complied with, if not in the letter, at least in 
 the spirit. Some of the groups, thus united into one, 
 may be perfect; whereas others may contain very few 
 objects, and these objects, having distinct intervals 
 between them, form imperfect groups ; that is, they 
 present such distinct and unequal spaces in the line 
 of continuity, as to impress us with a conviction that 
 intermediate forms are wanting, to render the circle 
 perfect. Nay, it will sometimes happen that these 
 last-mentioned groups contain but two or three in- 
 dividuals, while the others comprise forty or fifty. 
 In cases like these, we must endeavour to discover 
 how far these two or three individual forms, 
 placed together as the fragments, so to speak, of a 
 circle, are represented in the more perfect of the 
 adjoining groups ; and by the degree of continuity 
 which these latter exhibit, estimate the extent of the 
 hiati. If these isolated forms are represented in
 
 TESTS OF AN IMPERFECT CIKCLE. 227 
 
 the adjoining groups (a fact which experience and 
 critical examination alone will teach), then we have 
 presumptive evidence for considering them as so 
 many fragments or indications of a circle, the de- 
 ficiencies of which we may form some idea of, by 
 looking to the adjoining circles. To illustrate such 
 a nice and somewhat abstruse subject more clearly, 
 let us suppose there are two groups apparently fol- 
 lowing each other; one of which is perfect, and con- 
 tains five principal variations of form ; the other is 
 imperfect, and contains but three, between which 
 the intervals are of course much wider than between 
 the other five. Now, if we are able to trace an 
 analogous resemblance between three of one, and 
 three of the other, we may fairly presume that the 
 other two, which are deficient in the imperfect 
 group, will, when discovered, exhibit a correspond- 
 ing analogy. And we are thus not only justified in 
 forming a theoretic notion on the nature of the 
 forms of these missing types, but also in concluding 
 those which we already have, to be parts of a dis- 
 tinct circle of their own, although its circularity is 
 incomplete. 
 
 (158.) There is, indeed, one certain rule of de- 
 ciding, in such cases, with almost mathematical 
 precision, this is, by the law of representation ; but 
 to enter upon this subject at present would violate 
 the main object we have endeavoured to keep in 
 view. We are proceeding on that gradual mode of 
 induction, which all who wish to understand or to 
 benefit science must inevitably follow. We throw 
 aside all theories, and assume nothing as granted 
 but the circular progress of affinities. What has 
 Q 2
 
 228 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 been already said, is applicable alike to all systems 
 and all theories intended to develope the harmonies 
 and relations of nature. We have, in short, stu- 
 diously endeavoured to keep the mind of the natu- 
 ralist unbiassed in favour of any system, and have 
 restricted our observations to such considerations 
 only as must be the foundation of all natural ar- 
 rangement. But, as the admission of chasms in the 
 order of nature appears to militate, at first sight, 
 against the continuity, or rather the gradation, of 
 forms in the creation, we may here make a slight 
 digression on so important a subject. The most 
 philosophic naturalist of modern times has placed 
 this difficult subject in a light so clear and forcible, 
 hat we cannot do better than condense, in one pa- 
 ragraph, his observations upon it, which are blended 
 in the original * with other matters not adapted to 
 this work. 
 
 (159.) The law of continuity, as it relates to 
 forms of matter, may truly be proved possible in 
 itself, and, in the next place, to exist in nature. Conti- 
 nuity in gradation of structure has, however, nothing 
 to do with space or time. Matter, with respect to 
 space, is capable of incontinuity ; but with respect 
 to gradation of form, it is as clearly capable of con- 
 tinuity. For this purpose, let us state a familiar 
 case. Suppose a beautiful Grecian temple to be 
 built in the neighbourhood of a sublime specimen 
 of Gothic architecture. Let us further suppose, that 
 between these two different buildings there is a trans- 
 ition made from one form to the other by an infinite 
 
 * M'Leay's Letter on Dichotomous Systems.
 
 CONTINUITY OF STRUCTURE ILLUSTRATED. 229 
 
 number of intermediate buildings, passing from the 
 pure Grecian to the pure Gothic architecture. The 
 continuity, whatsoever as to space the buildings 
 intermediate in structure may occupy, will be per- 
 fect as far as relates to the gradation of form. 
 And yet there must ever be some difference between 
 the two structures nearest each other, in form : for 
 if no interval exists, then these two must have the 
 same structure, and one of them will thus produce 
 no effect in continuing the chain of structure. In 
 this kind of continuity, therefore, intervals between 
 different forms are absolutely necessary ; and if they 
 do not exist, there is only one form. But in space 
 or time an interval is impossible, and their con- 
 tinuity depends on this impossibility." On the other 
 hand, continuity in gradation of structure depends 
 on the existence of intervals ; but requires, in order 
 that the gradation be more distinct, that these 
 intervals be extremely small and numerous. If 
 only one mean be interposed between two extremes, 
 there will be two chasms, but no saltus, and the 
 three objects will be in continuity. Augment the 
 number of various intermediate objects, and you 
 only get the chasms more numerous, and the con- 
 tinuity more perfect. To argue, therefore, about 
 the innate impossibility of the law, is absurd : the 
 only question for us now to examine, being, whether 
 such a continuity as I have described can be shown 
 to exist in nature. I think I have proved this in my 
 Analysis and Synthesis of Petalocerous Coleoptera ; 
 and what the Linnaaans call natural genera, such as 
 Rosa and Erica, are likewise all proofs of it: so 
 that, if continuity manifestly holds good in these 
 Q 3
 
 230 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 particular parts of the creation, which have been 
 carefully examined, it may hold good in all. True 
 it is, that nature does not always proceed pari passu. 
 In the Linnaean genus Psittacus, a group of very 
 limited structure, the chain is composed of a great 
 number of links ; whereas in Pachydermata, a group 
 presenting a very wide range of structure, the 
 number of links is comparatively small. Still there 
 is continuity manifest in both; the difference de- 
 pending merely on the relative distance between 
 some two contiguous forms in each. Chasms in the 
 chain may be numerous and small, as in Psittacus ; 
 or few and wide, as in Pachydermata. Continuity 
 in gradation of structure cannot exist, as we have 
 seen, without intervals; and the size of these intervals 
 does not lessen the truth of the chain, because some 
 of the links may not yet be discovered. How, then, 
 it may be asked, are we to prove that the chain is 
 continuous ? The reply is, simply by ascertaining 
 which animals of one group come the nearest to 
 those of the other. If there be no approximation 
 if all the animals remain equally distant then there 
 is no continuity; but if one animal of the one group 
 approaches to the structure of the other, then there 
 is a chain of continuity possessing, indeed, but 
 only one link, but not the less presenting a mode of 
 transition from one form to the other. Thus, if the 
 only animal existing between quadrupeds and fishes 
 were one penguin, it would still be in the path of 
 passage. But if a tortoise existed in addition, the 
 chain would be more complete ; and if one frog 
 existed also, the chain would scarcely escape notice. 
 In it, there is a regular and obvious gradation of
 
 GRADATION OF FORM. 231 
 
 structure: the chasms, indeed, remain vast; but 
 there is no saltus, or leap, by nature, over one form 
 to the other. 
 
 (160.) Continuity, then, as applied to the ap- 
 proximation or affinity of a series of animals, is not 
 so expressive as the word gradation. And it is 
 manifestly objectionable to employ, in science, the 
 same term to express two very different meanings. 
 After the preceding clear and able illustration by 
 Mr. M'Leay, we need only touch upon the nature 
 of those intervals or chasms therein alluded to, and 
 which, to a certain degree, are absolutely essential 
 to that diversity of structure we meet with in nature. 
 When these spaces between two objects are very 
 small, as among the parrots, they create no idea in 
 the mind of an hiatus, or a manifest inequality 
 or interruption of gradation, sufficiently wide for 
 the insertion of other forms. But, when they 
 are great, as between the different types of the 
 Pachydermata, then they assume the character of 
 chasms, which might be filled up by numerous 
 other forms, calculated to make the gradation from 
 one to the other more easy. It might at first 
 be supposed, indeed, that this inequality of gra- 
 dation either implies the loss of many links in 
 the series of pachydermatous quadrupeds, or a 
 want of due harmony and equality in the con- 
 struction of nature's groups. A little reflection, 
 however, on this apparent inconsistency will lead 
 us to more correct conclusions. For this purpose 
 we will still consider the Psittacidce and the Pachy- 
 dermata as striking examples of that inequality of 
 gradation so frequent in different departments of 
 Q 4
 
 232 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 the animal kingdom, and examine the question 
 more closely. 
 
 (161.) The thick-skinned or pachydermatous tribe 
 of quadrupeds comprise the genera of the elephant, 
 rhinoceros, megatherium, and hippopotamus : these 
 are well known as the most gigantic of all animals. 
 We have ascertained, by analysis, that they form a 
 circular group, and that the rank of this group is 
 equivalent to that of a tribe. Yet, in regard to the 
 number of objects it comprises, this is the most 
 scanty tribe in the animal kingdom. It does not 
 contain, in fact, as many individuals as are found 
 in a single genus of parrots. Whence, therefore, 
 arises this disparity ? How are we to account for 
 the wide intervals between the different Pachyder- 
 mata,- and the very small ones between the genera 
 of parrots ? To this we should answer, first, that 
 many of these forms, which once existed, are lost ; 
 and, secondly, that their paucity, so far from dis- 
 turbing the harmony and regularity of nature's 
 System, tends to show it in a light directly the re- 
 verse. First, then, the extinction of numerous forms 
 of Pachydermata rests on Avell known and incon- 
 trovertible facts. Not only are. the fossil remains 
 of hippopotami, of elephants, and of rhinoceroses, 
 belonging to extinct species (and very probably to 
 intermediate gradations of form), found in nume- 
 rous and various parts of the world, and in consi- 
 derable quantities, but modern geology has brought 
 to light a whole family of these quadrupeds, repre- 
 sented by the megatherium, which are now so com- 
 pletely exterminated from the earth, that not a single 
 living example exists to testify the creation of such
 
 RESULTS OF NUMERICAL EQUALITY IN TRIBES. 233 
 
 a race. If, then, all the fossil Pachydermata were 
 alive, and were incorporated, according to their 
 affinities, with those now living, the contents of the 
 whole group would probably be augmented to four 
 or five times its present number ; and those chasms, 
 which now appear so wide, would be proportionably 
 lessened ; nay, it is highly probable they would not 
 be greater, in proportion, than those between the 
 different genera of the parrots. But, secondly, let 
 us suppose that it was essential to the symmetry 
 and harmony of nature, that all her groups of the 
 same rank and value should contain pretty nearly 
 the same number of species, and that their numerical 
 contents should be proportionate to their value. 
 What, in the present instance, would be the result? 
 The tribe of Scansores, or climbing birds, includes 
 the parrots ; and, upon a rough estimate, certainly 
 contains between four and five hundred species. 
 We know, by induction, that this tribe is equivalent 
 to that of the pachydermatous quadrupeds. Now, 
 if these tribes were as equal in their contents, as they 
 are in their rank, more than half the earth would be 
 overrun with monsters. Elephants would be as 
 common as flies ; we should have to reckon not two, 
 but perhaps two hundred species. All the large 
 rivers would be almost choked with hippopotami. 
 Rhinoceroses would swarm in the woods, in herds 
 of thousands, as the parrots do now in the forests of 
 America. And huge megatheri, perhaps of a hun- 
 dred species, would attack a forest, and strip it of 
 its verdure in a few days. The world, in fact, 
 would be filled, as it once was, with monstrous 
 animals ; and man would find no resting place in it.
 
 234 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 Nor is this all : the whole of these gigantic creatures 
 feed upon herbage, grass, or the leaves of trees. 
 Let us imagine, then, for a moment, what would be 
 the state of those countries, as the vegetable world 
 is now constructed, which should be inhabited by 
 thousands of such monsters, as the tropical regions 
 now are by the parrots. The consumption of food 
 necessary to support such creatures would be 
 enormous. No plains would be sufficiently fruitful 
 to graze thousands of elephants and rhinoceroses 
 of hundreds of species. The trees would be bared 
 of their leaves, and verdure would disappear. The 
 earth, in fact, would be as much devastated as if 
 perpetual swarms of locusts had stripped it of its 
 clothing ; and thousands of these devouring mon- 
 sters would annually perish for want of food, poison 
 the air, and create pestilence and famine. Such 
 results, however frightful, are too obvious to be de- 
 nied. The paucity, therefore, of pachydermatous 
 quadrupeds, instead of proving a want of uniformity 
 and consistency in the groups of nature, is the very 
 peculiarity which manifests the harmony and de- 
 sign with which they were balanced and adjusted, 
 by Infinite Wisdom, from the beginning. The 
 pachydermatous quadrupeds, considering their im- 
 mense size, are proportioned to the rest of the 
 animal creation, throughout which we find that great 
 bulk is restricted to few individual forms, while 
 excessive minuteness is extended to countless mil- 
 lions. What, therefore, would at first seem to con- 
 stitute the Pachydermata an imperfect group, is, in 
 reality, its highest perfection. If its chasms were 
 fewer, or narrower, it would possess more forms,
 
 INEQUALITY IS ESSENTIAL. 235 
 
 for which the world, in its present state, could 
 scarcely find room. Be this, however, as it may, 
 we need not, after this, require further demonstra- 
 tive evidence to prove the inequality of numbers 
 in natural groups of the same value ; or that ap- 
 parent gaps may not often be accounted for on the 
 soundest and most philosophic principles.
 
 236 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 ON THE CHARACTERS OF NATURAL GROUPS. 
 
 (162.) THE characters by which natural groups, 
 like those we have hitherto contemplated, are 
 to be known and designated, has been a fruitful 
 subject of disquisition among writers. It has 
 been customary, until within the last few years, for 
 naturalists to decide, a priori, upon those charac- 
 ters which a group of species, or a single one, 
 should possess, in order to constitute a genus. This 
 mode of proceeding, as may naturally be supposed, 
 led every one to follow his own opinion ; so that 
 almost every part of an animal, in turn, had been 
 singled out as the most important for this purpose. 
 Thus, Linnaeus founded his genera of birds entirely 
 on the form of the bill and the construction of the 
 feet ; totally disregarding the formation of their 
 wings, which is one of the chief characteristics 
 of birds, and entirely overlooking their manners, 
 habits, and food. In entomology, however, he con- 
 structed his genera on a totally different principle. 
 Here he considers the wings of insects as affording 
 the most important characters ; and he has accord- 
 ingly founded all his great divisions, and most of his 
 lesser ones, in the different modifications which these 
 members present; while the mouth and the feet, 
 which were so highly regarded in his arrangement 
 of birds, are scarcely noticed in his classification of
 
 INCONSISTENCY OF ARTIFICIAL SYSTEMS. 237 
 
 insects. Fabricius, on the other hand, as if de- 
 termined to fly to the other extreme, takes all his 
 leading characters from those parts of insects which 
 feis great master regarded as insignificant. While 
 some of the French naturalists, looking chiefly to 
 the feet, built their systems on the number and 
 form of the joints they contain. Whether an insect 
 or a bird fed upon animal or vegetable food ; whether 
 it lived upon the ground, or habitually avoided it ; or 
 whether it flew with celerity or with difficulty ; were 
 matters which then had little or no influence in the 
 determination of groups : indeed, they were almost 
 thought too trivial to notice. True it is, that in 
 very many instances, natural groups were still pre- 
 served ; but, generally speaking, as there were no 
 determinate principles for classification, so there 
 could be no uniformity of arrangement, or consis- 
 tency of separation. The most heterogeneous com- 
 binations, of course, resulted ; of which the group 
 of Scarabceus, as left by Linnaeus, and as still ex- 
 hibited in more modern works, affords a striking 
 instance. Compare these crude and almost unin- 
 telligible arrangements of insects with the lucid, 
 harmonious, and philosophical exposition of them 
 given in the Horce EntomologiccB, and the unpre- 
 judiced entomologist will at once see the difference 
 between arrangements which lead to nothing, and 
 arrangements which are in harmony with the 
 primary laws of nature. 
 
 (163.) Now, the objections against different writers 
 employing different characters for the same divisions, 
 is not in the simple fact itself, but because they aim 
 at no other object than to abridge the labour of re-
 
 238 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 search, by dividing and subdividing ; and because, 
 when that is done, we are left without any ulterior 
 result or generalisation. Let us look to a case in 
 point. A modern German entomologist, taking the 
 old genus of Curculio, or snout-beetles, divides it 
 into what he calls genera, amounting to about two 
 hundred. Now these divisions, in a family so vast, 
 may very probably facilitate our search after a par- 
 ticular insect ; and so far may be very useful to the 
 mere nomenclator. But the first questions which 
 the philosophic entomologist will ask, are these; 
 Upon what general principles are these groups 
 founded ? and how far are the same principles ap- 
 plicable to other families? What are the results 
 obtained by this new mode of arrangement ? and 
 how do they bear upon other approximating assem- 
 blages ? If no general principles have been aimed 
 at, or can be deduced, and the only result obtained 
 is that we may more readily find the name of an 
 insect, it is clear that the very first principles of true 
 science have been lost sight of; and that if groups 
 are to be so formed, natural history is but a study 
 of words and names. Another writer, coming after, 
 and choosing to draw his characters from a different 
 set of organs, may divide this family into four 
 hundred such genera ; and, if we annex no definite 
 meaning to the term, who can object to this ? If a 
 timely check is not given to this mania for making 
 divisions, and calling them genera, we may very 
 probably see the above supposition actually verified. 
 (164.) It is seen, by reference to all the best 
 classifications, that scarcely two writers, even in the 
 same department of zoology, agree in drawing their
 
 UNIVERSAL CHARACTERS OBJECTIONABLE. 239 
 
 characters from the same organs, or from the same 
 premises. And, indeed, if we consider the subject 
 for a moment, it is impossible they should ; because 
 such divisions rest only upon individual opinion, 
 without reference to any common standard by 
 which such opinions can be judged. It is clear, 
 also, that the same organs will have different degrees 
 of consequence in different classes. By taking the 
 form, number, and disposition of the teeth into 
 consideration, we bring the quadrupeds into large 
 but very natural divisions ; but to carry on the same 
 set of characters to fish, and make their dentation 
 the chief guide in their arrangement, would be 
 manifestly absurd, if not impossible. Hence it 
 follows, that not only in a natural, but also in an 
 artificial system, there are no organs in animals 
 which can be universally employed to furnish 
 generic characters, and to which we must exclu- 
 sively direct our attention. The question, then, 
 arises, by what rules are we to be guided in defining 
 such divisions, and in giving them a stability which 
 artificial groups have not ? 
 
 (165.) When, therefore, the naturalist, following 
 the principles already detailed, has before him a 
 generic group, whose affinities, more or less, appear 
 to be circular, he is next to seek for those charac- 
 ters which are most prevalent in all the forms or 
 species which compose it. It is a matter of perfect 
 indifference, what organ, or what set of organs, fur- 
 nish these characters, provided they are more com- 
 prehensive than others, and are of such a nature as 
 to be readily detected. His great object, in fact, 
 is to point out, with clearness and precision, how
 
 240 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 the group before him is distinguished from all others ; 
 and if he can do this effectually, it matters not by 
 what means the object is accomplished. He is not, 
 however, to expect that he can so far isolate a 
 natural group, as that there shall be no exceptions 
 to the characters he assigns it ; or that each of the 
 individuals composing it shall possess those charac- 
 ters in the same degree. This would imply not only 
 the existence of absolute divisions in nature, 
 which all experience is opposed to, but would be 
 directly at variance with what has been just said on 
 the chain of continuity or gradation ; for where 
 there is gradation in structure, there must be gra- 
 dation in character. It will be sufficient, if the 
 greater portion accord with his definition, and if the 
 others present a gradual diminution of the same set 
 of characters, fading and blending into others be- 
 longing to adjoining groups. In searching, there- 
 fore, for such characters, we must take into the 
 account every circumstance that is known regarding 
 the economy and the structure of the objects them- 
 selves ; and from all these make a selection of such 
 as are most constant, universal, and obvious. It 
 will almost always be found, that a peculiarity of 
 internal organisation is accompanied by a corre- 
 sponding difference in external structure, and that 
 both these are adapted for that particular mode of 
 life which the animal pursues. As there is a con- 
 stant harmony between the conformation of an 
 animal and its peculiar economy, we should study 
 the former with a constant reference to the latter, 
 but yet draw our characters from the first rather 
 than from the second ; because form can be always
 
 VARIATION OF CHARACTERS. 241 
 
 determined, whereas habits are only to be traced 
 from the living subject. Every one, for instance, 
 can see whether a bird has its claws acute and very 
 much curved, or whether they are comparatively 
 straight and obtuse : now we know, from observ- 
 ation, that these modifications indicate two very 
 different habits ; the first belonging to birds which 
 always perch upon boughs, and the latter distinguish- 
 ing such as live chiefly upon the ground. These 
 habits, however, can never be known to the student 
 as matters of fact, who merely sees such birds in a 
 museum : we are therefore to direct his attention, 
 in the first place, to circumstances or characters 
 which it is in his power to see and verify ; and 
 afterwards to show the particular influence of such 
 characters on habits and economy. 
 
 (166.) The essential or most prevalent characters 
 of our group, as a whole, having been ascertained, 
 we are then to examine it more in detail, tracing 
 the mode in which these characters vary, and as- 
 certaining how far, and in what way, this variation 
 is accompanied by a difference of habit and economy. 
 There is, for instance, a whole family of beetles 
 (the Petalocera Saprophaga of M'Leay) which 
 feed on living vegetables, in contradistinction to 
 another, which devour them only in a decayed or 
 putrescent state : but among those which agree in 
 feeding upon living plants, we find some restrict 
 their diet to the petals of flowers, others select only 
 the green leaves, and many live upon the juices of 
 the stem. Here, then, we have modifications of the 
 same habit ; and it is our business to trace such 
 variations, whether in form or in economy, through 
 R
 
 24-2 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 every natural group. Now, as there must, in the 
 natural system, be a harmony of design, that har- 
 mony, if it is not universal, and extending to the 
 most minute particulars, cannot be worthy of those 
 attributes belonging to the God of Nature. We 
 must not, therefore, content ourselves with noting 
 the variations we are speaking of, and viewing them 
 as simply confined to the group in which they occur; 
 for this would be taking a narrow and confined view 
 of things. Our business is to trace them in all 
 other groups not only such as are adjoining, but in 
 those belonging to the same great division of animals : 
 we must, as it were, ascertain how far they are ampli- 
 fied and expanded ; and trace their prevalence in as 
 wide a circle, and through as great a number of other 
 assemblages, as possible. We should ever bear in 
 mind, that nature every where presents those two 
 kinds of relations already explained, namely, affinity 
 and analogy ; and that both these universally be- 
 long to all groups. Hence we may conclude that 
 there must be a certain order in which analogies 
 occur, and that the series in one group will occur 
 in precisely the same order in another. Were it 
 otherwise, there would be a want of harmony, utterly 
 inconsistent with that ideal perfection which we 
 attach to the system of nature. Accordingly it 
 has been found, that in a number of ornithological 
 groups, these analogies do actually occur in precisely 
 the same order, and with the same regularity, as the 
 seasons of one year follow and correspond to the 
 seasons of another. It is, then, to these modifi- 
 cations of form which every circular genus presents, 
 that we give the name of sub-genera (144?.). Now,
 
 ON GENERIC CHARACTERS. 243 
 
 the characters by which such divisions are to be 
 defined, are most judicious when they are drawn 
 from two structures : first, from that structure of 
 the animal itself, which it possesses in common with 
 all others of the genus; and secondly, from that 
 peculiarity which renders it analogous to many 
 others out of its own genus. 
 
 (167.) An instance, taken from an ornithological 
 group, will illustrate the foregoing remarks. The 
 genus Sylvicola (North. Zool. ii. 205.), or titmice 
 warblers, comprehends so large an assemblage of 
 species, that we are able to trace, and demonstrate, its 
 circular succession. All these birds agree, more or 
 less, in the form of their wings; the first quill of 
 which is nearly as long the second. This being the 
 most prevalent character, we select it as the chief 
 mark of discrimination, without stopping to enquire 
 whether other groups are to be also characterised 
 by these organs ; for this, we see, most assuredly is. 
 We find, however, that among all the birds thus 
 brought together, we have different modifications of 
 the other organs: some have the bill more conic 
 and entire, others have it depressed and notched ; 
 in two or three, it is very sharp pointed, and even 
 curved ; while a few depart from all the rest, in 
 having feet adapted for climbing. Now, it is ma- 
 nifest, that if we had set out with presupposing that 
 all birds were to be classed by the bill and the 
 feet, and that all other characters were of little or 
 no moment, this most natural group would never 
 have been detected. It is also clear, that, being 
 discovered, we cannot draw our essential and primary 
 characters from any of those organs which, as above
 
 24-4 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 stated, are seen to put on so many different forms. 
 Yet, although we are unable to employ these variable 
 peculiarities in a primary sense, they afford ad- 
 mirable distinctions of a secondary nature ; and 
 these, when coupled with the peculiar formation of 
 the wing common to the whole group, give us a com- 
 pound of characters by which all titmice warblers 
 may be distinguished, almost at a single glance, 
 from the hundreds of species composing the family 
 Sylviad<z. 
 
 (168.) Now if, in proceeding to the investigation 
 of another genus, we find that also characterised, as a 
 whole, by some one peculiarity of structure ; and that 
 it also comprehends subordinate forms, more or 
 less agreeing with those in the last ; we have every 
 solid reason to suppose these subordinate forms, in 
 both groups, to be analogous ; or, in other words, 
 to represent each other. To give them, therefore, 
 discriminating characters, we unite that of the 
 entire genus to that of the sub-genus, as before 
 intimated ; and these, collectively, give us a distin- 
 guishing formula, by adhering to which we cannot 
 possibly err. 
 
 (169.) Of natural groups, Linnaeus certainly had 
 a very sound theoretical idea, when he said, that 
 every genus would furnish its own characters, and 
 not that the characters should form the genus; 
 thereby implying, that we were first to place objects 
 together which appeared closely related, and then 
 to discern what were the peculiar and tangible 
 characters which made them so. The truth is, 
 that, generally speaking, an unscientific person, but 
 with a discriminating eye, is much more likely to
 
 UNIFORMITY IN NATURAL GROUPS. 245 
 
 assort objects into natural assemblages, than one 
 whose ideas are shackled by the dogmas of nomen- 
 clators, and the prejudices of systematists. Nature, 
 in the midst of her astonishing, endless diversity of 
 forms, still seems to delight in preserving a marked 
 degree of uniformity and consistency in her own 
 groups ; not only in regard to their habits and general 
 structure, but in such things as are most likely to 
 strike common observers such as size, colour, and 
 geographic distribution. She rarely, if ever, places 
 in the same genus, animals of any striking dispro- 
 portion in their dimensions. We have, for instance, 
 no eagles of the size of thrushes ; nor any finches, 
 out of some hundreds, that are larger than sparrows. 
 The typical gallinaceous birds, as the peacock, 
 pheasant, Turkey fowl, &c., are all large ; and have 
 so many points of general resemblance, that the 
 ordinary observer, caring nothing for systems, sees 
 at once that they all belong to a natural group. It 
 matters not, in the first instance, whether we call 
 such a group a genus or a family, because the rank 
 it holds in the scale of creation is a subject for 
 ulterior research : when, in reality, this rank is to 
 be determined and demonstrated by an extensive 
 analysis of all the other groups, large and small, 
 in ornithology. Looking to the gallinaceous birds 
 above named, we immediately perceive that, al- 
 though they belong to the same family, they are 
 of different genera : a peacock is as much unlike a 
 pheasant, as a turkey differs from a fowl. We 
 therefore proceed to define all these differences, 
 making their distinctions from such characters as 
 are most striking and most intelligible. The pea- 
 R 3
 
 246 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 cock is known by its immense fan-shaped tail ; the 
 pheasant, by having the same member long and 
 pointed ; and the turkey, again, is pre-eminent for 
 its naked face, fleshy horn, and wattles. Here we 
 perceive the force of the Linnaean axiom. We 
 take a confessedly natural group like the present, 
 and discover what are its general characters, and 
 then descend to its variations. Had we done the 
 reverse, and set out upon a theory that a fan-shaped 
 tail, or a pointed one, or a naked face, were not to 
 be admitted as generic characters in any group, we 
 should be proceeding upon an arbitrary opinion, 
 the absurdity of which would be manifested in the 
 case before us ; because, by acting upon it here, we 
 should be obliged to distinguish a peacock from a 
 turkey by some obscure and inconspicuous charac- 
 ters, which none but the comparative anatomist or 
 the professed ornithologist would understand. Such 
 a system might, indeed, be intelligible to them, but it 
 would be almost useless to the great bulk of mankind. 
 (170.) The best characters for groups are those 
 drawn from their external aspect; and it matters 
 not in what this peculiarity of aspect consists, be- 
 cause it is almost universally accompanied by minute 
 points of difference, which, upon strict examination, 
 are sure to be detected. The latter, however, should 
 not be brought in the foreground, and placed before 
 the former, merely because it has been the custom 
 for systematists to attach a fancied importance to 
 minute characters, and to neglect those which will 
 answer the same purpose of distinction, and yet be 
 obvious to every one. If, for instance, the sapro- 
 phagous and thalerophagous beetles can be equally
 
 EXTERNAL CHARACTERS PREFERABLE. 247 
 
 well distinguished from each other by external 
 characters, which require no dissection of their 
 mouths ; such a mode of discriminating them is to 
 be preferred before all others, for the best of 
 reasons as being the most simple and obvious. 
 Nor should we be tempted to employ anatomical 
 characters, or such as are taken from the different 
 modifications in the masticating organs, until we 
 are absolutely compelled to do so by the failure of 
 other resources. This, indeed, is in direct contra- 
 diction to the usual mode of proceeding pursued 
 by modern naturalists; but, in the present state 
 of natural history, and, indeed, of all science, it 
 appears to us that one of the chief objects of its 
 professors should be as much as possible to simplify. 
 The science they would teach, and which they of 
 course desire that others should learn, can only be 
 rendered inviting to mankind in .general, by being 
 divested of all verbose technicality and minute 
 investigation, not absolutely essential. If the same 
 object can be arrived at by two roads one smooth 
 and comparatively easy, the other intricate, winding, 
 and difficult no one, in his rational senses, would 
 choose the last in preference to the first. The same 
 analogy should be pursued in science. Simplicity, 
 perspicuity, and brevity should be the characteristics 
 of all systematic distinctions, whether of groups or 
 of species ; and the more we study nature, the more 
 shall we find that in this, as in all other branches 
 of physical science, the laws which are most simple 
 are at the same time the most universal. 
 
 (171.) Essential characters, or such as pre-emi- 
 nently distinguish a group from all others, are 
 R 4
 
 248 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 generally few, and are usually confined to two or, 
 at the most, three particulars; sometimes, indeed, 
 where the group is much diversified, to only one. 
 Thus the Sylvicolce, already alluded to (167.)> maybe 
 distinguished among the warblers solely by the form 
 of their wings : but, if we wish to define them more 
 decidedly, and to detach them from all other birds, 
 we must, in addition to their own peculiar charac- 
 ter, add that of the family to which they belong, 
 namely, the warblers : we thus get the union already 
 sDoken of. By one we separate the Sylvicolce from 
 all other birds excepting the warblers ; and by the 
 other we point out those peculiarities which make 
 them a particular division of warblers. This mode 
 of definition is equally applicable to every group in 
 nature, from the highest to the lowest. Where we 
 can meet with three strongly marked characters, 
 they may safely be employed ; but one or, perhaps, 
 two of them will always be found less universal than 
 the other. When we come to the confines of a group 
 so distinguished, the characters laid down for it 
 gradually disappear, until at length only one out of 
 three will be detected ; that, therefore, which is most 
 universal, is the most essential. 
 
 (172.) By simplicity of definition is meant, not a 
 mere form of words, however desirable that may be, 
 but the employment of such characters only as are 
 necessary to the determination of the group, or 
 object, in question. Thus, the family of hornbills 
 or of toucans, the one known by protuberances on 
 the bills, the other by the excessive size and smooth- 
 ness of theirs, are sufficiently detached from all 
 other birds, simply by these circumstances. We
 
 SIMPLICITY OF DEFINITION. 249 
 
 need not, therefore, in giving essential characters, 
 go on to describe other points of structure ; because 
 they are not only unnecessary, but they distract the 
 attention from those circumstances upon which it 
 should be entirely fixed. So, in like manner, the 
 genus Sylvicola needs only to be characterised by 
 the bill and the wings ; all its other characters being 
 common to the next group in rank, of which it forms 
 a part. In the lepidopterous order of insects, the 
 form of the wings will in almost all cases determine 
 the sub-genus ; although in a monograph, or complete 
 account of the insect, every one of its characters 
 should of course be described. 
 
 (173.) To attain this simplicity, however, is much 
 more difficult than would be at first imagined. For, 
 as we find that no one peculiar set of organs can be 
 universally employed for such distinctions ; so it 
 becomes necessary to discover, in the multiplicity 
 of characters which every group presents, what is 
 that one which is its peculiar and exclusive distinc- 
 tion. Now this, as we before remarked, can only 
 result from extensive analysis, or by generalising the 
 mode in which natural groups are seen to vary. It 
 is remarkable, in every natural group of the diurnal 
 Lepidoptera, whether the group be large or small, 
 that there is one modification in which the lower 
 wings are always more or less tailed. Numerous 
 and very striking instances of this have been given 
 in the Zoological Illustrations, selected from families 
 and genera so different in themselves, as completely 
 to do away with the idea that these swallow-tailed 
 butterflies have any real affinity to each other, 
 however strongly they are related by analogy. Now,
 
 250 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 having ascertained such a fact as this, through an 
 indefinite number of groups, our next business is to 
 see how far it can be traced in groups of larger di- 
 mensions; and finally, whether it is prevalent in 
 quadrupeds, birds, and other vertebrated animals. 
 Should we succeed in this, we obviously demon- 
 strate that, through all her variations, nature has 
 preserved, at least in one instance, a definite plan of 
 variation, consisting in this, that in every natural 
 group she gives to one of its types a preponderance 
 of tail, or caudal appendages representing a tail. 
 We maintain not, here, that such is actually the fact ; 
 we are merely stating a case, to illustrate the mode 
 of generalising the variation of characters just re- 
 commended, and thereby simplifying the diagnosis 
 by which the different forms in nature are to be 
 distinguished. That this species of generalisation is 
 not impracticable, at least in ornithology, has been 
 clearly domonstrated in numerous groups defined on 
 these principles in the Northern Zoology, And it 
 follows, as a matter of induction, that if the vari- 
 ations of one extensive class of animals are regulated 
 by certain general laws, manifest in all the groups 
 of that class, the same will be discovered in other 
 portions of nature, so soon as they have been investi- 
 gated with sufficient attention to such circumstances. 
 (174.) Yet, although no general rules will here 
 be laid down for the discovery or selection of 
 essential characters, experience has shown that they 
 may be derived with more chance of success from 
 some circumstances than from others. It becomes 
 desirable, therefore, to state what these circum- 
 stances are, and to trace the influence they possess
 
 GENERAL FORM. 251 
 
 in guiding us to sound and logical deductions. 
 They relate more especially to the form or general 
 contour, to the organs by which food is taken, and 
 to those of locomotion. We will now give to each 
 of these a separate consideration. 
 
 (175.) The general form or contour of an animal 
 is that circumstance which first strikes the beholder, 
 and impresses him with its peculiar character as a 
 distinct being. Upon this, therefore, we have 
 already laid great stress ; and the more we become 
 acquainted with natural groups, the more shall we 
 be impressed with the importance of making this 
 one of their primary distinctions. Thus, we see 
 that thick and heavy animals are never naturally 
 associated with such as are slim and agile. The 
 typical ruminating quadrupeds, for instance, are 
 large and heavy ; and to expect that any of the 
 species of oxen should have the light and elegant 
 form of the horse, would be as inconsistent with the 
 order of nature, as to see a mouse slowly and heavily 
 pacing about our kitchen. Again, vultures, among 
 birds, are nearly all characterised by heaviness of 
 body and slowness of motion ; whereas the whole 
 family of hawks are proverbially quick and daring. 
 Among insects, likewise, we see similar habits 
 accompanying similar forms. What beetles are 
 more slow than the Meloe, the genuine Chrysomelce, 
 and the Geotrupidce, the last, better known to our 
 readers as the " shard-borne beetle with his drowsy 
 hum," immortalised by Shakspeare. In opposition to 
 these, we have the greatest developement of agility 
 and grace shown in the shining Cicindelida ; and in 
 those glossy little Carabidce which cross our path
 
 252 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 in a summer's day. Bulk, therefore, is generally 
 connected with peculiarity of motion ; and both are 
 highly characteristic of natural groups or types. 
 
 (176.) The unusual developement of any par- 
 ticular part of the body, unconnected with those we 
 shall hereafter touch upon, comes under the general 
 head of form or contour, and will be found of much 
 importance in definitions. We never find, for in- 
 stance, that animals, whose muzzle or face is greatly 
 prolonged, are naturally grouped with such as have 
 these parts short and very obtuse. Among quadru- 
 peds, there are many striking instances of this law 
 of nature. The muzzle of all the ant-eaters is so ex- 
 cessively lengthened, that it seems pulled out, as it 
 were, into the shape of a rostrum or beak, such as 
 we see among the curlews : we trace this pecu- 
 liarity, again, through the whole family of shrew 
 mice, and in the moles, and hedgehogs ; and, as 
 if nature resolved that this type should not be lost 
 even in the ungulated order, she preserves it 
 clearly in the common pig. Among birds, we trace 
 the same analogy of structure under a different 
 modification. The muzzle of birds is, in fact, their 
 bill ; and the excessive length of this part is one of 
 the chief characters of the whole order of Gralla- 
 tores, or waders. Look to all the types of this order, 
 scattered in the rest of the feathered creation, and 
 we find there are always some which have a more 
 curved and lengthened bill than any of their com- 
 panions : but the analogy does not rest here : great 
 elongation of muzzle is always accompanied (for 
 what reason has not yet been explained) with small 
 eyes ; and these are placed very far back on the
 
 APPENDAGES TO THE HEAD. 253 
 
 head. The most striking instance of this is seen in 
 the elephant ; but it is no less remarkable in the ant- 
 eaters, the shrews, and the mice ; while the common 
 term of " pig-eyed," proverbially applied to small- 
 eyed people*, expresses the singular fact we are now 
 illustrating. The whole family of humming birds 
 have the longest bills, and the smallest eyes, in pro- 
 portion to their size, of any birds yet discovered ; 
 and these latter organs are placed so far from the 
 naked part of the bill, that they seem central be- 
 tween the nostrils and the nape. When, therefore, 
 any such particular structure can be traced through 
 animals of different genera, and even in totally dif- 
 ferent classes, we feel assured that it must exercise 
 an important influence in the system of nature, and 
 that especial regard must be paid to such circum- 
 stances, in characterising natural groups. Similar 
 results would attend an investigation of all such 
 animals as have, in opposition to the last, very short 
 and thick muzzles. Appendages to the head, 
 whether in the shape of horns, crests, protuberances, 
 or wattles, may be considered as furnishing strong 
 and highly valuable characters of primary import. 
 Horns are one of the chief characteristics of the 
 ruminating order of quadrupeds Ruminantia in 
 which is comprised not only the family of oxen, but 
 the deer and antelope races. In these, the horned 
 structure is at its maximum of developement, and 
 consequently assumes the rank of an essential 
 character. In the Pachydermatce, or thick-skinned 
 quadrupeds, belonging to the same order, we have a 
 
 * It is very singular that "pig-eyed" people have very 
 generally a long, but never an aquiline nose.
 
 254; STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 modification of the same structure exemplified in 
 all the species of rhinoceros ; while the tusks of the 
 elephant are no more than teeth, performing the 
 same office, and applied to the same uses, as the 
 horns of the ox. Now it is very remarkable, that 
 naturalists agree in placing all these quadrupeds 
 close to each other ; or rather, in one of the primary 
 divisions of the class : so that, with the exception 
 of the morse and the monodon, or narwhal, the 
 whole of the horned quadrupeds are found belonging 
 to one natural order. This circumstance, of itself, 
 is a strong corroboration of the opinion here ex- 
 pressed, and should lead us to infer that horns and 
 such like appendages indicate one of the essential 
 characters of such groups or forms as possess them. 
 But where, the student may exclaim, are we to look 
 for horns among birds? for, if such appendages 
 really constitute essential characters, they must 
 either be found in other vertebrated animals, or a 
 structure, limited to one class, can never be ranked 
 as one of the primary types of nature. Now, the 
 only family of birds which may be said to possess 
 horns analogous to what we see among quadrupeds, 
 are the hornbills, Bucerida, nearly all of which have 
 excrescences, as they appear, rising from the front 
 of the bill ; and one of the species is so remarkable 
 in this respect, that it is called the rhinoceros horn- 
 bill. Other birds, as the Tragopan pheasant of 
 India, the horned screamer of America, and the 
 unicorn chatterer of Brazil, have hornlike pro- 
 tuberances, but they are soft and fleshy. The truth, 
 however, appears to be, that horns are represented 
 in the feathered tribes by crests, which are not
 
 CHARACTERS FROM CAUDAL APPENDAGES. 255 
 
 merely ornaments to these elegant creatures, but 
 are actually used by them to scare and frighten 
 away their enemies. On this curious fact, hitherto 
 unrecorded, we shall subsequently enlarge ; yet this 
 analogy, being established, shows that the crested 
 and horned structures are synonymous ; and that, 
 under one modification or the other, it is as prevalent 
 among particular groups of birds, as of quadrupeds. 
 On turning to insects, it is no less conspicuous : here 
 the horns assume a very decided character; and 
 although given to numerous insects, scattered in all 
 the families, are more especially developed in the 
 gigantic beetles forming the modern group of Dy- 
 nastidce. In the soft-winged flying orders, especially 
 in the Lepidoptera (more analogous to birds than 
 is any other), crests take the place of horns, of which 
 the whole tribe of the Noctuidce is a striking example. 
 When, therefore, in a group of animals, we see that 
 horns or crests distinguish the major part, we draw 
 their essential character from that circumstance : 
 but when, in another group, these appendages are 
 only confined so a small portion, we take the 
 essential character from the general peculiarity of 
 the whole, and discriminate these few which are 
 horned as a subordinate assemblage. 
 
 (177.) Another of the most prevalent forms in 
 the animal world is that in which the tail, or the 
 caudal appendage representing it, is excessively 
 developed. In looking, however, to this member, 
 we must carefully note the peculiar sort of develope- 
 ment it presents ; because, although it may be very 
 large in any given number of examples, its form- 
 ation, and consequently its offices, will be totally
 
 256 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 different in different individuals. Thus, in the horse, 
 where the tail is more developed than in any other 
 quadruped, it may be looked on as more ornamental 
 than essential : at least, we know it is not con- 
 nected so intimately with the habits of the animal, 
 that its loss leads to the impossibility of supporting 
 life. But among the long-tailed monkeys of 
 America, this result would inevitably follow ; their 
 tail is prehensile, and, by being employed as a fifth 
 hand, in climbing trees, is absolutely essential to 
 them in procuring the fruits upon which they live. 
 We have examples precisely analogous to these, in 
 the class of birds. The glory of the peacock is its 
 tail ; it is, indeed, a splendid ornament, but it is 
 an ornament alone. And we know, from the habits 
 of these birds, not only in a state of captivity, but 
 in their native regions, that they can search upon 
 the ground for their usual food just as well without 
 their tail as with it : but with the parrots, and more 
 especially the woodpeckers, the case is different; 
 here, also, the tail is highly developed, but in a very 
 different way. In the parrots, it performs the double 
 office of aiding flight, and the power of climbing. 
 Those who have witnessed the lofty and arrowy 
 course of the splendid mackaws of the New World, 
 know that this celerity of motion would be utterly 
 lost if the tail were of any other structure ; while 
 every one who has watched a parakeet, even in the 
 confinement of a cage, may have remarked how 
 much this member contributes to facilitate the habit 
 of climbing possessed by these elegant creatures. 
 Still, however, the utility is only seen at its maximum 
 in the most typical climbers, or the family of wood-
 
 CAUDAL APPENDAGES. 257 
 
 peckers. Here nature throws aside ornament, and 
 makes the tail of these birds not only useful, but 
 absolutely essential to their means of supporting 
 existence ; the loss of it, to a woodpecker, would, 
 in fact, lead to the loss of life. The bird could no 
 longer climb trees in search of food, because it 
 would want that support in a perpendicular position, 
 which the tail supplied ; so that, like an American 
 monkey so circumstanced, it would die within sight 
 of ample nourishment. There is still another form 
 under which a great developement of tail is observed, 
 and the use of which is exclusively confined to the 
 flight. No instances of this form are found among 
 quadrupeds, but there is scarcely any family of 
 birds that is without it. In the modifications just 
 described, the shape of the tail is always round or 
 wedge-shaped, but in that we are now speaking of, 
 it is invariably forked. A familiar example of this 
 is seen in the swallow family, where it is most pre- 
 valent, but nowhere is it carried to such an extent 
 as in some of the goatsuckers of tropical America, 
 and the fork-tailed kite of the United States. It 
 does not appear, however, that this structure is so 
 prevalent in all the individuals of a natural genus as 
 those already noticed ; for many of the swallows 
 and most of the goatsuckers have even tails : hence 
 this character, among birds, can rarely be employed 
 otherwise than to designate sections, or perhaps 
 sub-genera : in such cases, however, it becomes 
 essential, or the chief mark by which such forms 
 are to be pointed out. 
 
 (178.) Among the winged insect? (Ptilota Arist.), 
 great length of the posterior wings, or caudal ap-
 
 258 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 pendages to the body, always indicate a sub-genus, 
 and will sometimes point out groups of a higher 
 denomination. It is remarkable that the lower wings 
 of the Lepidoptera, when thus unusually lengthened, 
 perform the same office in flight as the tail does 
 among birds, for we find that all the swiftest flying 
 butterflies have what are aptly and justly called 
 swallow-tailed wings ; that is to say, their extremities 
 are lengthened out into tail-like processes. The 
 sub-genera Podalirius, Protesilaus, Leilus, and 
 Eudamus (all of which are figured and charac- 
 terised in the Zool. Illustr. 2d series), are striking 
 examples of this form, and the Eudamus borealis 
 (Hesp. proteus Lin.) is such a common species 
 that almost every cabinet contains an example. 
 Essential characters, therefore, may safely be drawn 
 from this structure, for its universality among the 
 classes of insects and of birds leads us to infer it 
 is one of those primary types of variation which 
 nature has herself chosen. On looking to the other 
 orders of winged insects, we find but few examples 
 of elongated lower wings, and these are chiefly con- 
 fined to the Neuroptera Lin. : but here we find 
 that caudal appendages are almost universal, so that 
 they nearly become one of the essential and natural 
 characters of the whole order. The entomologist 
 will observe that we are now speaking of the Neur- 
 optera, as defined by Linnaeus; and not of that 
 section of it only to which modern systematists, on 
 views the most artificial, have restricted the name. 
 It will be hereafter shown that this order, as con- 
 templated by Linnaeus, is one of the most natural in 
 the whole circle of the Annulos&s and that it never
 
 STRUCTURE OF THE MOUTH. 259 
 
 would have been dismembered, had the analogies of 
 the group been sufficiently studied. The caudal 
 appendages, then, of the Neuroptera assume dif- 
 ferent forms, suited to their different offices : in the 
 Forficula, or common earwig, they are used as means 
 of defence; in the locusts, they are employed to 
 perforate the ground for the deposition of the eggs ; 
 and in the dragon-flies (Libellulidci), they are con- 
 nected with the process of impregnation. In the 
 ephemera, they assume the appearance of three long, 
 hair-like bristles, and really become tails, analogous, 
 in appearance, to those of the ichneumon flies ; but 
 their particular use seems not clearly understood. 
 Sufficient, however, has now been stated, to show 
 the importance of using such characters in a generic 
 sense ; and wherever they occur in other groups, 
 there will be no danger in employing them as the 
 essential indication of sub-genera. 
 
 (179.) Let us now consider the value of charac- 
 ters founded upon the structure of the mouth. These, 
 it is obvious, are, when rightly used, and constantly 
 viewed in reference to the nature of the food, of the 
 highest importance. Their value, however, entirely 
 depends upon these considerations : if, for instance, 
 we were to set out with placing all birds that live 
 solely upon fruits in one division, all those which 
 fed upon insects in another, the seed-eaters in a third, 
 and so on, we should have an arrangement perfectly 
 unintelligible. Again, if all flesh-eating birds were 
 to be separated from such as eat fruits, we must ex- 
 clude several of the American buzzards, which, as it 
 is asserted, feed as much upon one as upon the 
 other. Such deviations from the general character 
 s 2
 
 260 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 of rapacious birds may be used as a subordinate 
 mark of discrimination, if accompanied by deviations 
 in structure, yet not otherwise. The nature of the 
 ordinary food of an animal is almost always indicated 
 by its external organisation. We know by experience 
 that certain habits of life are indicated by certain 
 peculiarities of form, so that by studying the con- 
 formation of an animal which we have never seen 
 alive, we can arrive, with a degree of certainty 
 almost incredible, at a general knowledge of its 
 habits and economy. This is more particularly the 
 case among birds ; because, perhaps, they have 
 been more especially studied with reference to these 
 circumstances than any other class of animals. In 
 these the form of the bill is of as much importance 
 in determining the food, as are the teeth of quadrupeds 
 or the jaws of insects. Purely insectivorous birds 
 must always be considered as of a different type to 
 such as partake more or less of vegetable food, even 
 should such deviations be found in the same sub- 
 family or even genus. A singular instance of this 
 occurs in the sub-family of the Titmice (Pariante). 
 All these birds live entirely upon insects excepting 
 one genus, that of Accentor, to which belongs our 
 common hedge-sparrow: this bird, as every one 
 knows, feeds as much upon small seeds as upon 
 minute insects ; yet it is so intimately and un- 
 questionably related to the group it has been placed 
 in, that the perfection and unity of the whole divi- 
 sion would be destroyed, if, because it was not 
 purely insectivorous, we took it out of the circle, and 
 endeavoured to find a place for it elsewhere : never- 
 theless, we still make use of this peculiarity of habit
 
 STRUCTURE OF THE MOUTH. 261 
 
 as an essential character of Accentor, because it is 
 manifested by an external conformation, which in- 
 dicates such habits. This instance, out of number- 
 less others, is a convincing proof that not even a 
 difference in the nature of their food will invariably 
 or completely detach insectivorous from granivorous 
 birds. On looking, however, to the great divisions 
 in every class of zoology, we see that no characters 
 can be more natural than such as separate destroy- 
 ing from harmless animals among quadrupeds. The 
 most ferocious genera are brought together in 
 the order Feres, composed entirely of the beasts of 
 prey : here we have the lion, the tiger, and all the 
 races of leopards, panthers, and cats ; together with 
 the weasels, polecats, and those minor blood-sucking 
 quadrupeds, as destructive and sanguinary towards 
 the smaller animals, as the former are to the larger. 
 These find their representatives in the rapacious 
 order of birds ; and in both, the nature of their food 
 is at once explained by the construction of their 
 mouth : the teeth of one, and the notched bill of the 
 other, being especially adapted for tearing flesh. 
 Extending this analogy to the insect world (which, 
 by the way, has never yet been done correctly), we 
 find the great majority of Aptera, or the wingless 
 orders, as the spiders, scorpions, crabs, &c. 
 feeding in like manner upon other insects, and living 
 only upon the blood and flesh of their victims. So 
 strongly, indeed, has nature preserved this distinction 
 between her types of evil and of good, or, to drop 
 metaphor, between noxious and innoxious animals, 
 that not only are these the essential distinctions of 
 her primary groups in every class, but they can be 
 s 3
 
 262 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 traced downwards, into all the different orders 
 which compose a class. In proof of this we cite 
 the Hemiptera as the rapacious order of the Ptilota, 
 the LibellulincB as the analogous group in the 
 Neuroptera, and the Pr&datores ( Chilopodomorpha 
 M'Leay) as the corresponding representation of 
 the Ferae in the order of Coleoptera. We merely 
 intimate these novelties in natural arrangement 
 (which will be separately treated of hereafter), to 
 show the importance of essential characters founded 
 upon the food of animals, or rather on the structure 
 by which its nature is indicated. 
 
 (180.) Animals which are omnivorous, or de- 
 vourers both of animal and vegetable matter, pre- 
 sent a singular union of those characters which 
 respectively belong to the groups just mentioned. 
 Unless, therefore, we have a previous knowledge of 
 the circumstance, it becomes extremely difficult to 
 determine, from the simple examination of a dried 
 specimen, what was its natural food. The crow 
 family (Corvidce), which are the most perfectly 
 organised of all birds, are of this description. 
 They feed upon almost any thing which has life, 
 either animal or vegetable, and even upon carrion. 
 The toucans and the trogons belong to two different 
 tribes ; but as they are the points of union connecting 
 the Scansores and the Fissirostres, we find that both 
 partake of the same vegetable and animal diet. The 
 family of rats are likewise omnivorous, and by this 
 peculiarity they make the transition easy from the 
 carnivorous to the herbivorous quadrupeds. Such of 
 the tyrant fly-catchers of America as show a decided 
 affinity to the true shrikes, feed, like them, not only
 
 SUCTORIAL ANIMALS. 263 
 
 upon insects, but lizards and other reptiles; and Azara 
 asserts that the Saurophagus sulphuratus or Bentevi 
 fly-catcher of Brazil, actually picks the meat from 
 the bones of such carcasses as have been left by the 
 larger animals of prey. Such facts are highly 
 interesting, and will frequently, as in the bird last 
 mentioned, decide a doubtful point in natural ar- 
 rangement: it follows, therefore, that omnivorous 
 habits furnish characters of great value. 
 
 (181.) There is another mode of taking food, 
 very general among the invertebrated animals, but 
 not so distinctly marked in the higher classes. We 
 allude to suction, by which fluids alone constitute 
 the sustenance of the animal. There is a modi- 
 fication of this structure of mouth in the ant-eaters, 
 and in the honey-sucking birds (Tenuirostres), 
 where the tongue alone is employed to collect food ; 
 but the most perfect examples of the suctorial 
 structure of mouth are found among the four- 
 winged insects, where we find two entire orders, 
 the Lepidoptera and the Hemiptera, entirely 
 destitute of jaws, and deriving their sole nourish- 
 ment from juices, sucked^ up either by a slender 
 jointed trunk, or a long and spirally rolled pro- 
 boscis. Nature has evidently made this structure 
 a leading distinction of particular groups through- 
 out the animal circle, for we find that in every 
 class some are suctorial, while others are not; and 
 that this habit is always accompanied by a uni- 
 formity in the general shape of the rostrum or 
 mouth, which, as suited to such functions, is always 
 very long and slender. This we see in the ant-eaters,
 
 264 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 the humming-birds, the sun-birds, the whole of the 
 typical waders (Grallatores), the Lepidoptera and 
 Hemiptera, the zoophagous Testacea, the suctorial 
 Radiata, the worms and the leeches. These ex- 
 amples, it will be perceived, are taken almost at 
 random from different classes of the animal king- 
 dom; and clearly show that essential characters, 
 founded on this particular structure, are of primary 
 consequence. 
 
 (182.) We are now to consider the value of 
 distinctions derived from the organs of locomotion, 
 that is, from the feet and wings : these two members 
 being represented in fish and other aquatic animals 
 by fins. Each of these is entitled to a separate 
 consideration. The most perfect developement of 
 foot is found in quadrupeds, and the different modi- 
 fications of structure which it presents are truly 
 surprising : the feet of some are barely sufficient to 
 enable the animal to crawl slowly and irregularly 
 upon the ground; and even this, in the sloths, is 
 obviously accompanied with pain. Some of the 
 Lemurs, also, are equally incapacitated from the 
 ordinary motion of quadrupeds. Yet, place these 
 animals on trees, and they appear to be in their 
 proper element active, expert, and indefatigable; 
 " they live, and move, and have their being," not 
 by walking but by climbing. But the most accom- 
 plished sealers of trees are the monkeys, whose 
 limbs, in fact, are more perfectly formed for this 
 purpose than those of any quadruped in creation : the 
 agility which these animals display in their native 
 forests is really astonishing, and far exceeds that 
 which they still retain in confinement. What a con-
 
 ORGANS OF LOCOMOTION. 265 
 
 trast to these antics is the " measured step and slow " 
 of the hoofed quadrupeds to whom the faculty of 
 climbing is totally denied ! Yet here again we have 
 numerous modifications of pace, from the slow and 
 stately walk of the elephant and the ox, to the fiery 
 impetuosity of the horse, and the bounding spring 
 of the elegant antelope. Yet these are not the most 
 extraordinary of nature's contrasts. The continent 
 of Australia presents us with two other modes of 
 progression, totally different from those just men- 
 tioned, and almost confined to the quadrupeds of 
 the southern hemisphere. These belong to the 
 phalangers and the kangaroos : the first have their 
 representatives in the New World, in the squirrels. 
 The phalangers, in fact, are flying quadrupeds ; not, 
 indeed, from possessing wings, but from having 
 their feet so united by a thin expansive skin, that 
 they can take prodigious leaps from tree to tree, so 
 as to give them the appearance, to an ordinary 
 observer, of flying. This winglike membrane, in 
 short, acts and folds up like a parachute or umbrella, 
 and supports the animal in the air when it otherwise 
 would fall upon the ground. In the kangaroos, on 
 the other hand, the power of leaping is developed in 
 a most remarkable manner : their fore-feet are so 
 short as to be perfectly useless in running, but 
 their hinder are enormous ; and with these, assisted 
 by their thick and powerful tail, they proceed by a 
 succession of amazing bounds or rather leaps, re- 
 peated so fast, and so wide, that these animals, with 
 two feet only, will generally escape from any other, 
 even a horse, that has four. Two other modifications 
 of foot remain to be mentioned : the first belongs
 
 ZOO STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 to purely aquatic animals, like the otter, the seal, 
 and the ornithorhynchus ; to these the power of 
 walking is almost denied, their feet being remark- 
 ably short, the toes connected, and the whole 
 structure adapted almost exclusively for swimming : 
 the second and last structure is restricted to the beasts 
 of prey forming the order Feres ; the only material 
 difference between these and the ordinary feet of 
 five-toed quadrupeds, consists in the power they 
 possess of retracting and protruding their claws at 
 pleasure. The importance of this property to the 
 animal is sufficiently obvious, when we consider the 
 especial use which is made of them. Strong, and 
 peculiarly sharp, they are employed as formidable 
 weapons of offence and of defence ; with these they 
 seize their prey, tear it into pieces, and defend 
 themselves from their enemies. We cannot have a 
 better or a more familiar example of these habits, 
 than in the domestic cat. 
 
 (183.) The feet of birds are no less varied, and 
 afford us the means of discriminating the primary 
 divisions of the feathered creation, without having 
 recourse to any other help. Nor do their differences 
 terminate here : under each of the five great modi- 
 cations, or types of formation, which may be seen 
 in birds, are contained others, still preserving the 
 essential character common to all, but deviating 
 into minor types, which again point out little as- 
 semblages of groups, or of species, more especially 
 united among themselves. The most perfect birds 
 in creation are of course such as have the greatest 
 complexity of structure, and the greatest variety of 
 powers. These are unquestionably the perchers ;
 
 FEET OF BIRDS. 267 
 
 or such as have their feet adapted not only for 
 perching on trees, but for walking upon the ground. 
 Some unite both these powers in the greatest per- 
 fection. The crow, the thrush, the robin, sparrow, 
 and numerous other familiar birds, are as often 
 seen in one situation as the other, and in both are 
 equally at home. But the swallow is rarely seen on 
 the ground, save when employed, by the side of a 
 wet puddle, in picking up particles of mud for its 
 nest. The flycatcher also (taking our common 
 grey species as a genuine example of the family) 
 very rarely sets its feet upon the earth, and then 
 but for a moment. The larks, on the other hand, as 
 rarely perch upon trees ; the groixnd is more pecu- 
 liarly their element, and the wagtails do the same. 
 Nevertheless, all these families come into the general 
 order of perching birds (Insessores), because they 
 have those external characters which so distinguish 
 them, yet modified in different degrees and pro- 
 portions. Nature, ever watchful over her creatures, 
 always makes up to them in one way what she 
 takes from them in another. Of what use or ad- 
 vantage would it be to the wagtail, that it should 
 run up trees like a woodpecker, or fly with the 
 swiftness of a swallow, when its natural food is placed 
 close to the ground? If all birds were equally 
 endowed, if all could walk, climb, run, fly, or swim 
 with the same ease and with the same perfection, 
 they must all have a similarity of structure adapted 
 for such powers ; and that variety, which is one of 
 the greatest wonders of the creation,would never have 
 existed. We therefore see gradations of the same 
 quality those, for instance, of perching or of walk-
 
 268 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 ing, throughout nature ; and these gradations are so 
 numerous and so combined with other qualities, that 
 the variety thus produced becomes infinite. Thus 
 it is among perching birds : all have the hind toe 
 (which corresponds to the thumb of the quadru- 
 manous Mammalia or monkeys) placed on the same 
 plane as the sole of the foot, by which means they 
 are enabled to grasp an object from behind, with as 
 firm a hold as they do before with the anterior toes : 
 by this means the grasp is rendered firm ; whereas, 
 if only the fore-toes were employed, there would be 
 wanted a support, or more properly a counteracting 
 force, on the other side, to preserve the body steady. 
 How important this structure is to the perching 
 order, may be judged of by any one who should 
 endeavour to grasp a broom or other round stick in his 
 hand, by his four fingers only : he will think, perhaps, 
 that it can be done very effectually; but a boy, 
 with half his strength, will find no difficulty in 
 wresting the stick from him. But if he again takes 
 it, and applies his thumb in addition to his fingers, 
 he will immediately perceive with what additional 
 strength he now grasps the stick ; and that no one, 
 not physically stronger than himself, can take it 
 from him. Applying this to the birds in question, 
 we see that the toe of perching birds, like the 
 thumb of the human hand, is on the same plane 
 with the claws ; and that both are more especially 
 adapted for grasping round objects. This is why 
 all weapons, or handles of utensils, are, for their 
 more ready and convenient use, made round; and as 
 the perching birds chiefly frequent and roost among 
 branches, which are also round, their toes are es-
 
 FEET OF CLIMBING BIRDS. 269 
 
 pecially adapted for grasping such objects. The 
 feet of some, indeed, show an utter incapacity for 
 walking, and probably even for standing upon the 
 ground; such a structure is seen in the kingfishers, the 
 bee-eaters, the trogons,and even the puff-birds, whose 
 feet have a very peculiar structure : the anterior, or 
 fore toes, are united together for nearly half their 
 length, so as to form a greater bre?4th of surface on 
 their soles, by which means, although they are 
 deprived of all power to walk, they are better able 
 to support themselves, as they do for hours, sitting 
 almost motionless on a dry twig, watching for 
 insects. 
 
 (184.) The most striking modification, however, 
 of the perching structure of foot, is seen in the 
 climbing birds ; whose habits require that they 
 should be possessed of a much firmer grasp than 
 usual. Now this has been effected by the toes 
 being placed in pairs, two forward and two backward, 
 so that the counteraction of force becomes per- 
 fectly equal. The parrots, the woodpeckers, the 
 toucans, and the cuckoos, are all distinguished by 
 this sort of foot ; which, while it enables them to 
 climb with greater facility than any other birds, 
 proportionally disqualifies them, as a necessary 
 consequence, from walking with readiness upon the 
 ground. How nimbly and how gracefully will a 
 tame parrot, for instance, ascend and descend the 
 wires and perches of his cage ; yet open the door, 
 and place him upon the ground, or a flat surface, 
 and he becomes one of the most awkward and 
 clumsy of all birds : he waddles, rather than walks, 
 and appears as much out of his natural element as
 
 270 STUDY OP NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 is a swan upon dry land. True it is that all parrots 
 are not so formed ; or rather there are some which, 
 still possessing the same character of feet as those 
 just mentioned, have them so modified and altered, 
 that they can not only walk with perfect ease, but 
 habitually frequent the ground in preference to 
 other situations. It is curious and instructive to 
 see how nature has effected the difficult object of 
 giving to a scansorial foot the facilities of a walking 
 one, without impairing the essential character of 
 the family to which these ground parrakeets belong. 
 On looking to the feet of the generality of parrots, 
 it will be observed that the claws are particularly 
 strong, broad, and well curved ; so that when the 
 foot is placed upon the ground, the tips of the 
 claws touch, or come in contact with, its surface. 
 Now much walking would soon wear away their 
 points, as we see it does in those of gallinaceous 
 birds ; and this, to birds which climb, and use their 
 claws for that purpose, would be a serious injury. 
 But on examining the foot of a ground parrakeet 
 (Pezoporus formosus 111.), we see, indeed, the same 
 general disposition of the toes ; that is, two before, 
 and two behind; but the legs are higher, more 
 slender, and therefore better adapted for walking : 
 the claws, moreover, are formed upon quite a dif- 
 ferent principle ; instead of being thick and hooked, 
 like talons, they are long, slender, and very slightly 
 curved, so that when the bird walks, or (as we 
 suspect) runs, on the ground, the points do not 
 come into contact with the surface, which they un- 
 questionably would do were their curve greater 
 than it really is. From this peculiar conformation
 
 CLAWS OF BIRDS. 271 
 
 results two essential advantages to the bird : first, 
 by having longer and more slender feet, it walks 
 upon the earth with greater facility than any of its 
 family ; and, secondly, it does this without any pain, 
 impediment from, or risk of injury to, the ends of 
 its claws. This explanation, which has never been, 
 we believe, before attempted, is one out of a 
 thousand proofs of those gradations in the animal 
 world which demonstrate' natural series, but which 
 some writers have had the hardihood to deny, as if 
 the most acknowledged truths and the most obvious 
 facts were to be made matters of doubt and of dif- 
 ficulty. We have before us, at this moment, a 
 beautiful series of species, showing every possible 
 link of gradation, from the ground parrakeets of 
 Australia to those of tropical America, which we 
 know, from personal experience, live wholly among 
 trees. This, also, will serve as an example of that 
 minuteness of investigation which the student is to 
 pursue, if he wishes to draw just inferences from the 
 structure in animals of whose habits and economy, 
 when alive, he is entirely ignorant. 
 
 (185.) There are several other modifications of foot 
 among the perching birds, which can here receive 
 only a slight notice, sufficient to show the value of 
 essential characters drawn from these organs. The 
 structure of the claws, as just explained in the 
 instance of the ground parrots, is almost sufficient 
 in itself, for the discrimination of natural groups, 
 or analogical types. Great curvature of these 
 members indicates one of two habits, which are 
 readily determined by other considerations. Either 
 such birds are rapacious, in which case the claws
 
 272 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 are retractable, and are employed to seize their prey ; 
 or they are arboreal, that is, living for the most 
 part among trees. Where the curvature, on the 
 contrary, is but slight, it is a sure and certain in- 
 dication that such birds chiefly live upon the ground. 
 This may be considered a general law of nature ; 
 and perhaps a more familiar example cannot be 
 cited than that of the rook, which seeks its food on 
 the ground, when opposed to the jay, whose arboreal 
 habits lead it to live and feed among trees. It 
 will be perceived that the hind claw of the crow, 
 when the foot is placed upon a level surface, is so 
 much raised, that the tip or end is perfectly free ; so 
 that the bird can not only walk without uninten- 
 tionally scratching up in his progress any loose 
 stones or earth, but the ends of his claws, not coming 
 into perpetual contact with other substances, are 
 preserved sharp and uninjured. Let us now look to 
 the foot of the jay : the hind claw is at once seen to 
 be much more curved, and its point, when the toe is 
 on a level, touches that level, and would obviously 
 be injured by such constant friction, besides im- 
 peding the free walk of the bird whenever it moved 
 upon the ground. By this simple character, there- 
 fore, we arrive at a knowledge of the different 
 habits of these two birds ; and by verifying this in- 
 duction through all the other groups of ornithology, 
 we get a general law of structure, which may be 
 employed also as an essential character for any rank 
 of groups. On the different modifications observed 
 among the feet of the rasorial, wading, and swimming 
 orders, we cannot here dilate : it will be sufficient 
 to sate, that, like those just noticed in the perching
 
 WINGS OF INSECTS. 273 
 
 order, they can all supply us with important charac- 
 ters for discriminating natural groups. 
 
 (186.) Among insects (Annulosa), the organs 
 of locomotion are varied in a surprising manner, 
 according to the economy of each : our present 
 remarks, however, will be confined to the feet. 
 Celerity of motion, both in the air, and upon the 
 ground, is rarely united ; but, in the generality of 
 the winged orders, is meted out in different and 
 unequal proportions. The lepidopterous insects, 
 which are, in truth, the typical perfection of the 
 Annulosa, are the most perfect in their flight, 
 although they scarcely ever walk. The Coleoptera, 
 on the other hand, are the most active walkers, yet 
 the most imperfect flyers. The Cicindelidce and 
 some of the Carabidce show us a greater union of 
 both these modes of progression than is to be found 
 in almost any other insects. Their predacious 
 habits, which oblige them to be constantly hunting 
 and running down other insects upon which they 
 feed, require this activity ; and this is more perfectly 
 accomplished, in the Cicindelida especially, by un- 
 usual powers of flight. Looking to these groups, 
 and to the whole of the raptoreal tribe of beetles, 
 we consequently see a perfection of structure in the 
 foot suited to such a life : and this, with their car- 
 nivorous habits, is their strongest and best dis- 
 tinction. The five perfect joints in the legs of 
 these beetles correspond to the five perfect toes of 
 the insessoreal birds, and are an additional proof that 
 a great developement of the foot is a sure indication 
 of typical pre-eminence. Among the apterous class, 
 we see this again in the numerous feet of the scorpion,
 
 274 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 centipede, &c. Progression, however, among insects 
 is not confined to flying, running, or swimming ; 
 for although we lose sight of the leaping structure 
 after quitting quadrupeds, we see this form again 
 developed in the highest perfection both among the 
 apterous (Aptera L.) and winged classes (Ptilota) ; 
 of which the fleas in one, and the grasshoppers in 
 the other, are examples occurring to every one. We 
 cannot doubt, indeed, but that the saltatorial struc- 
 ture is one of the primary types or models of nature, 
 for she has produced it, under an infinite variety of 
 forms and modifications, in almost every group of 
 animals. Of this description is the hopping of some 
 birds, in opposition to those which walk ; the hop 
 being, in fact, but a short leap. Even among the 
 Lepidoptera, where we should not expect to find any 
 such analogous form, there are the Hesperidce, 
 which, from the sudden and peculiar quickness on 
 the wing, have acquired the common but expressive 
 name of Skippers. Not to mention the monilicorn 
 tribe of beetles (under which we place the Chryso- 
 melidce of Linnasus), where we have hundreds of 
 little species, familiarly known to our farmers as 
 fleas ; meaning thereby, a little black beetle of the 
 same size, colour, and leaping in a similar manner 
 to real fleas. A knowledge of all these habits, and 
 of many others not alluded to, may be gained by 
 induction, with almost as mueh certainty as if they 
 were learned by experience. These inductions pro- 
 duce higher conclusions ; and if these are confirmed 
 by every thing we yet know, we arrive at a law of 
 nature. That the saltatorial structure is one of those 
 primary forms upon which all the variations of the
 
 PROGRESSION OF MOLLUSCOUS ANIMALS. 275 
 
 animal world are modelled, will be hereafter shown 
 more at large. Yet, as, on the plan we are now 
 pursuing, the naturalist is to keep his mind free 
 from the influence of every theory, we only wish to 
 enforce upon him, from the above examples, the 
 necessity of making all such deviations from the 
 ordinary structure of the feet, a ground for separation 
 and distinction, even if no other exists, between two 
 forms in other respects perfectly similar. 
 
 (187.) Hitherto we have contemplated those 
 animals only, which, with the exception of fish and 
 of seypents, are provided with articulated feet; but as 
 we descend to the more imperfectly or less organised 
 groups, as the Testacea, the Radiata, and all those 
 " slimy things" which inhabit the depths of ocean, 
 no such organs exist, and locomotion is effected by 
 other means, and in various ways. Some of these 
 animals crawl like serpents upon their bellies, others 
 have little fleshy tubercles which in some measure 
 perform the office of feet : in the cuttle-fish, the long 
 processes which surround the head perform the 
 office of arms, feet, and fins : while the whole of the 
 Polypes, or corals, with many other groups, are de- 
 prived of all power of moving from the spot in 
 which they were born. These several peculiarities 
 enable us to frame essential characters for accurate 
 discrimination, of the most valuable description, 
 because they are not only obvious, but keep to- 
 gether the individuals of small but natural assem- 
 blages. External are always better than internal 
 distinctions ; for it is surely more desirable that we 
 should define an animal by something which every 
 T 2
 
 276 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 body can see, than to search for distinctions in its 
 complex anatomical structure. 
 
 (188.) Before concluding this chapter, we shall 
 offer a few remarks upon metamorphosis, in relation 
 to the value of characters derived exclusively from 
 its different variations. The early writers on natural 
 history, previous to the time of Linnaeus, attached 
 so much consequence to the transformations which 
 the insect world underwent, that their classifications 
 were mainly founded thereon. Linneeus, for what 
 precise reason does not exactly appear, -decided on 
 drawing the characters of his groups from the. 
 perfect insect alone ; probably considering, and we 
 think justly, that distinctions founded upon animals 
 in their perfect state of existence, are more per- 
 manent and valuable than such as are taken from 
 their immatured structure. Be this, however, as it 
 may, metamorphosis, of late years, has been again 
 brought into notice, by one of the first entomo- 
 logists of the age, whose theory on the natural 
 arrangement of the insect kingdom (Annulosd) is 
 mainly founded on the mode of its variation. There 
 can be no doubt of the truth of the two propositions 
 laid down by Mr. M'Leay: first, that metamor- 
 phosis is the grand distinction of the Annulosa; and, 
 secondly, that the mode of its variation will indi- 
 cate the natural arrangement of the whole of the ani- 
 mals composing that class. Yet, while we admit the 
 truth of this theory, we dissent from the application 
 that is made of it. Metamorphosis, like all other 
 characters, must not be made to violate nature 
 by the separation of naturally connected groups. 
 For, the moment we do this, we should suspect we
 
 REMARKS UPON METAMORPHOSIS. 277 
 
 are straining the lock, or have got the wrong key. 
 If the first proposition just mentioned be correct, 
 the logical inference will be, that those insects which 
 exhibit the most distinct and striking transform- 
 ations are consequently the most typical of all the 
 annulose animals ; and that, in proportion as the 
 metamorphosis of the rest is more or less perfect, so 
 are the orders containing them removed from the typi- 
 cal pre-eminence. So far, however, from attempt- 
 ing, at the very onset, to demonstrate the truth of this 
 proposition, by pointing out the most typical order 
 of the Annulosa, Mr. M'Leay candidly confesses 
 his inability so to do ; thus failing to establish his 
 theory, in that particular instance where its demon- 
 stration is most essential. This oversight, we trust 
 to make it subsequently appear, has entirely arisen 
 from his not following up the theoretical deduction 
 he had come to on the value of metamorphosis : for, 
 instead of founding his primary divisions upon it, 
 he unfortunately adopted those of Clairville, taken 
 from the mode of imbibing their food, and hence 
 named Mandibulata and Haustellata ; thus, in fact, 
 virtually denying the truth of" the proposition 
 assumed, and making the mode of taking food, 
 not metamorphosis, the grand character upon 
 which the primary divisions of the Ptilota repose. 
 So acute an observer could not, however, fail to 
 perceive the numberless difficulties which this error 
 produced in his details ; and prompted by his love of 
 truth and nature, he makes no scruple to confess 
 them on many occasions : nay, he candidly admits 
 that he has not yet discovered the natural arrange- 
 ment of the annulose circle, although every one 
 T 3
 
 278 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 must admit that his views on its relative affinities are 
 any thing but artificial. Metamorphosis, in fact, is 
 really one of the primary distinctions of the typical 
 Anmtlosa, but it is not the only one ; so, also, 
 is the structure of the mouth. Yet neither of these, 
 by themselves, will completely designate the typical 
 groups. We know, by experience, that every 
 peculiarity or variation in metamorphosis is almost 
 always accompanied by external differences in 
 structure, permanent in themselves, and always 
 within reach of observation. Why, therefore, should 
 we designate our groups by characters which are 
 evanescent, when the same object can be attained 
 by using others that are permanent? How is a 
 student, for example, to discover the natural tribe 
 to which any particular beetle belongs, and of 
 whose metamorphosis he is entirely ignorant, if the 
 tribes are to be characterised alone by their meta- 
 morphosis that is, by the form of their caterpillar 
 and chrysalis ? The thing is manifestly impossible. 
 But the evils of assuming this theory as infallible 
 do not stop here. One of its most able and in- 
 telligent advocates has made metamorphosis the 
 basis of his arrangement of the Lepidoptera ; so 
 that, if this plan be generally adopted, we shall never 
 feel certain on the natural affinities of an insect, 
 until we have studied its larva and pupa. For our 
 own part, we must confess that we have the greatest 
 objection to such characters; and we think that 
 it is the duty of every naturalist to simplify the ac- 
 quisition of science, by choosing such characters for 
 his groups, as can be easily understood, and at all 
 times verified. Now this cannot, of course, be said
 
 REMARKS UPON METAMORPHOSIS. 279 
 
 of such as are exclusively founded upon metamor- 
 phosis ; and we therefore consider that metamor- 
 phosis, however valuable in helping to distinguish 
 large assemblies, is pushed much further than 
 nature warrants, when it is used as the chief corner 
 stone for the construction of genera and sub-genera ; 
 which groups, if they are really natural, will always 
 be distinguished by other and more intelligible 
 characters. 
 
 (189.) From what has been just said, it must 
 not, however, be inferred, that the metamorphosis 
 of insects is to be disregarded ; or that characters 
 derived therefrom are not to be employed. The 
 value of this and every other character depends 
 upon the judicious skill with which it is used. In 
 a group of unarranged animals, we can never know, 
 a priori, what are truly its essential characters. It 
 therefore becomes necessary to study all, that we 
 may discover their relative prevalence, and there- 
 upon make our selection. Another important ad- 
 vantage will also result from such investigations : 
 some characters will be brought to light, which, 
 although not employed as essential distinctions of 
 the group, will nevertheless throw considerable light 
 on its analogical relations. A more beautiful 
 instance of this cannot possibly be found, than in 
 the subordinate types of the genera Amphrisius 
 and Papilio, detailed at some length in our Zool. II. 
 second series. Each of these genera forms a circular 
 group ; and the contents of one intimately corre- 
 spond with the contents of the other, not only in the 
 form of the perfect insect, but even in the larva of 
 all such as are yet known. It has been well said, 
 T 4
 
 280 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 and no axiom requires to be more impressed upon 
 the mind of the true follower of science, that a 
 natural arrangement will stand any test. The two 
 groups in question may be characterised by their 
 external forms ; and yet we see that the arrangement 
 thus produced and founded on the perfect insect, 
 developes the same theory of the variation of meta- 
 morphosis which pervades the whole of the order. 
 
 (190.) We have now attempted to point out the 
 chief considerations which should influence the 
 naturalist in his choice of characters ; whereby he 
 may define, with brevity and perspicuity, the nu- 
 merous groups into which nature has divided the 
 animal kingdom ; or which it is necessary for 
 us to keep in distinct allotments, until their true 
 station in the scale of being is better understood. 
 Characters, founded upon the circumstances here 
 noted, are independent of all theory ; inasmuch as 
 they will repose upon facts of structure or of eco- 
 nomy, which, in any system, must be kept distinct. 
 In what sense they are to be used, or rather, to what 
 description of groups they are applicable, is another 
 question, which can only be solved by great ex- 
 perience, and by understanding the principles of 
 variation in the different classes of the animal 
 kingdom. Our present business is merely to point 
 them out as solid materials for effecting scientific 
 arrangement, leaving their application to the judg- 
 ment and prudence of those who are competent 
 to use them. Our own views, resulting from an at- 
 tentive consideration of all these phenomena, will 
 form the subject of a succeeding volume. We are 
 not now either explaining or advocating any parti-
 
 REMARKS UPON METAMORPHOSIS. 281 
 
 ticular theory ; but rather endeavouring to fix the 
 attention upon circumstances which must enter into 
 all theories. In every attempt to discover the 
 natural system, be that system what it may, these 
 matters cannot and must not be overlooked, if our 
 desire is to discover and explain those general laws 
 of nature by which all these diversities and re- 
 semblances can be reconciled and accounted for.
 
 282 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 ON THE IMPORTANCE OF ANALOGY WHEN APPLIED TO 
 THE CONFIRMATION OF THEORY. 
 
 (191.) WE have already explained, and familiarly 
 illustrated, the two sorts of relations which natural 
 objects bear to each other, and which are distin- 
 guished by the terms Analogy and Affinity. The 
 prevalence of these relations is so universal through- 
 out nature, that there is no group of beings, however 
 small, which does not present them. Nay, we question 
 not that every individual species has its analogies, 
 as it certainly must have its affinities. In a future 
 volume we propose to enquire more particularly into 
 these relations, and to bring" forward such instances 
 of their prevalence, as to sanction the hypothesis 
 that they are uniform, constant, and universal in 
 every part of the animal creation. In regard to 
 affinities, indeed, this truth is self-evident ; because, 
 whatever forms part of a series, must of necessity 
 have affinities, and these must be of different de- 
 grees. But, in regard to analogy, the case is differ- 
 ent, and calls for a much more extended enquiry. 
 On the present occasion, however, we shall merely 
 consider those arguments which may be used, a 
 priori, in favour of the supposition that analogies 
 are, in the most comprehensive sense of the word, 
 universal; and that they consequently assume an 
 importance of the highest order when applied to 
 illustrate, and to confirm, any theory on the vari- 
 ation of animal structure.
 
 IMPORTANCE OF ANALOGY. 283 
 
 (192.) In the first place, it is unnecessary to en- 
 force the axiom long established by sound philo- 
 sophy, that natural and moral truths are but parts 
 of the great system of nature. Nor need we go 
 over those arguments that have been already so ably 
 and so powerfully urged by others, to show that 
 every thing in this world is evidently intended to 
 be the means of moral and intellectual improvement, 
 to a creature made capable of perceiving in it this 
 use.* This perfect analogy between the moral and 
 the natural world, no Christian in these days will even 
 think of questioning, much less of disputing. It 
 therefore follows, that as the material system of the 
 universe possesses, as a whole, analogical properties, 
 we are authorised in concluding that its several 
 parts partake of the same nature as the whole, or, in 
 other words, that the system upon which organised 
 beings have been formed, and which, by na- 
 turalists, is more especially termed the natural sys- 
 tem, possesses within itself that perfect exempli- 
 fication of analogical relations, which we admit to 
 exist between the natural and the moral worlds. 
 1 (193.) The greater the universality of any known 
 law of nature is found to be, the more important 
 does it become to the investigations of physical 
 science. Between material and immaterial things, 
 there is no other relation than that which is afforded 
 by analogy : without this, they would be widely and 
 totally distinct ; with this, they are united ; and one 
 reciprocally illustrates the other. Analogy, or 
 
 * Hampden's Essay on the Philosophical Evidence of 
 Christianity, xvii. See also the admirable volumes of Harness, 
 " On the Connection of Christianity with Human Happiness."
 
 284- STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 symbolical representation, is, therefore, the most 
 universal law of nature, because it embraces and 
 extends its influence over the natural, the moral, 
 and the spiritual world ; a property which no other 
 law, yet discovered, is known to possess. Hence 
 we may infer that, in its more restricted application 
 to natural history, it is equally paramount ; and that, 
 to this science, it is what the law of gravitation is 
 known to be to astronomy. 
 
 (194.) It was, no doubt, from a perception of the 
 vast importance of analogy, that the immortal Bacon 
 so strongly recommends it in the investigation of 
 nature ; when, among other things which demand 
 our attention, he enumerates, " parallelas, sive si- 
 militudines physicas" and, as an admirable reasoner 
 on the same subject has happily stated*, having 
 adverted to the practice of former philosophers in 
 noting and explaining the actual differences among 
 natural productions, as of little real use in con- 
 stituting the sciences, he requires that pains should 
 be bestowed rather in enquiring into, and noting, 
 the similitudes and analogies of things ; adding, at 
 the same time, the just caution, that the similitudes 
 should not be fortuitous and fanciful, but be real 
 and substantial, and merged into nature. 
 
 (195.) The importance of analogical reasoning 
 as a medium of proof, has been no less inculcated 
 by one of the most profound philosophers of modern 
 days. Dugald Stewart, in adverting to the opinions 
 of Reid and Campbell on this subject, expresses his 
 doubts whether both of these ingenious writers have 
 not somewhat underrated the importance of analogy 
 
 * Hampden, p. 107.
 
 IMPORTANCE OF ANALOGY. 285 
 
 as a medium of proof, and as a source of new in- 
 formation. " I acknowledge, at the same time," he 
 continues, " that between the positive and the nega- 
 tive applications of this species of evidence, there is 
 an essential difference. When employed to refute an 
 objection, it may often furnish an argument irresist- 
 ably and unanswerably convincing ; when employed 
 as a medium of proof, it can never authorise more 
 than a probable conjecture, inviting and encourag- 
 ing further examination." But, as if sensible that, 
 this latter assertion took from analogy its due weight, 
 he proceeds to qualify it by adding, that " in some 
 instances, however, the probability resulting from a 
 concurrence of different analogies may rise so high 
 as to produce an effect on the belief scarcely dis- 
 tinguishable from moral certainty." 
 
 (196.) Analogy, as it has been justly remarked, 
 as a ground of illustration, is not essentially distinct 
 from analogy as a ground of reasoning. For some 
 may be disposed fully to concede the illustrative use 
 of an appeal to the analogy of the moral and the 
 natural world, as a means of conciliating a favour- 
 able hearing to the philosophy of zoology, but dispute 
 the argumentative validity (and conclusiveness) of 
 such an appeal. It should be observed, then, that 
 unless that which purports to be an illustration of any 
 thing, has a real foundation in nature for the com- 
 parison instituted, it cannot throw any true light on 
 the subject to which it is applied. If the point of 
 comparison be assumed, the application of the pro- 
 posed illustration is only hypothetical ; and the 
 subject, in its proper nature, is rather obscured than 
 enlightened by the false representation of it. Such, 
 indeed, is the actual effect produced by fanciful
 
 286 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 analogies; they darken the subject itself to which 
 they are applied, whilst they diffuse over it their own 
 specious colouring : hence such analogies, although 
 fictitious, may be properly used by the poet or the 
 orator, to ennoble and beautify subjects which re- 
 quire dignity and ornament ; but they cannot for a 
 moment be admitted into the precincts of physical 
 science. An instance, indeed, in ordinary cases, on 
 which a just analogy is founded, may in itself be 
 fictitious, as in the employment of parables and fables, 
 or in putting a supposed case ; yet such instances, 
 where science is out of the question, may be just 
 analogies, because they are instances of some real 
 principle obtained by previous induction, or actual 
 observations embodied or some arbitrary form. They 
 are, in fact, latent inductions, or philosophical truths 
 divested of their proper evidence. The real difference, 
 then, between an argumentative and an illustrative 
 analogy, each being considered simply as such, 
 consists in the form in which they are discerned. If 
 each of several particulars analogically compared is 
 otherwise known, and they are only brought together 
 by analogy, then they are illustrations only of each 
 other. But if certain particulars only are known, 
 and these are employed for the investigation of 
 another particular, then are the known particulars, 
 arguments to the unknown one. The process, how- 
 ever, of detecting the justness of the analogy is the 
 same in both cases. 
 
 (197.) Analogy is in all subjects the life and soul 
 of illustration. It represents to us the same general 
 truth under different forms, and under different 
 points of view ; and this property is in itself a fruit- 
 ful source of instruction. For though the facts
 
 IMPORTANCE OP ANALOGY. 287 
 
 themselves which it connects, may be equally know- 
 able in themselves, it does not follow that they are 
 equally so to different minds. A simple truth, which 
 to a particular mind seems isolated in itself, may be 
 powerfully reflected upon by another truth, which 
 peculiar habits of thought in that mind have rendered 
 more familiar. Thus, if a divine was told that the 
 progression of natural affinities, in any given group 
 of animals, was in a circle, he might at first consider 
 it, not being himself a naturalist, as a simple fact 
 belonging only to zoological science ; but if he re- 
 flected a moment on the subject, other truths with 
 which he was more familiar would arise in his mind : 
 it would occur to him, that the life of man, the course 
 of the seasons, and the motion of the heavenly bodies, 
 had their progression on the same principle ; and that 
 these were but types and shadows of that immense 
 circle of eternity, which has had no beginning, and 
 will have no end. With these truths he is familiar ; 
 with the former he was not : but applying the one to 
 the other, he sees their mutual relations of analogy ; 
 and that which at first appeared to him an isolated 
 fact, or an admitted truth, disconnected with those 
 he was accustomed to contemplate, becomes irradi- 
 ated with a flood of light, which is again reflected 
 upon those truths which have been instrumental in 
 enabling him to discern the vast extent of a simple 
 law of nature. 
 
 (198.) From the tacit conviction of the uni- 
 formity of truth which every reflecting mind has 
 acquired, we cannot be satisfied to see a truth 
 unfolded to our apprehension in a single instance 
 only, but we desire to perceive the instruction con- 
 veyed by any particular fact, depicted also in another
 
 288 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 instance, differing in some essential respects from 
 that already before us; so that, from the various 
 lights of different facts, concentrated in the point in 
 question, we may form a correct judgment, whether 
 the conclusion obtained from the first instance be a 
 real principle of nature. If, for instance, any truth of 
 anatomical science, collected from observation of our 
 own species, were discerned also in the structure of 
 most of the vertebrated animals, we should be almost 
 sure that it was a general principle in that division of 
 nature ; but if, pursuing our examination into the 
 invertebrated animals, we discovered the same prin- 
 ciple under a different modification, and were en- 
 abled to trace all the intermediate steps of gradation 
 between the two extremes, we should then be sure 
 that the principle was a general law of nature ; since 
 we found that it held also where the peculiar cir- 
 cumstances, in which it was first observed, were 
 wanting. 
 
 (199.) The variety which is introduced into any 
 subjects by analogical argument, is in itself greatly 
 serviceable to the business of instruction ; it throws 
 over the subject an inviting garb of attractiveness, 
 thus alluring the attention of the general reader, and 
 keeping alive the interest of the student. For ex- 
 ample, in the analogy just quoted, what a pleasing 
 and delightful illustration is given by the circular 
 progression of the seasons of the circular pro- 
 gression of beings in nature ! both exhibited in 
 friendly contrast with some of the greatest truths of 
 the material and the spiritual world. How different 
 are the analogical instances ! and yet how harmoni- 
 ous ! The mind, thus led to the acknowledgment of
 
 INTEREST ARISING FROM ANALOGY. 289 
 
 the uniformity of truth, the universality, the grandeur, 
 and the simplicity of nature's laws, obtains, in the act 
 of learning, a delightful relaxation from the continued 
 pressure of abstract scientific or doctrinal instruction : 
 it recreates itself in the contemplation of the revo- 
 lution of the seasons, or the diurnal course of the 
 earth, and yields itself up a willing convert to the 
 truth, over which such loveliness and harmony is 
 diffused. Further, while analogy appeals so forcibly 
 to the pleasure of association, making us acquainted 
 with new things by the reflection cast upon them 
 from other things with which we have long been 
 familiar, it also unites in its effect, as a means of 
 instruction, a pleasure akin to that produced by imi- 
 tation in the fine arts. These accomplish their 
 purpose, by exciting that admiration which arises 
 from perceiving some effect observed in nature 
 attained under an artificial mode of execution.* An 
 analogous fact may, in like manner, be considered 
 as an imitation, under a different form, of another 
 fact to which it is analogous. It is a resemblance, 
 as close as the nature of the subjects, to which they 
 respectively belong, will admit. We are pleased 
 accordingly with the detection of such a resem- 
 blance, formed, as it were, in spite of the real dis- 
 crepance of the subjects. The unexpected conform- 
 ity of the different instances excites our admiration, 
 and disposes us to a ready acquiescence in the 
 belief that such analogies are not fanciful, but 
 founded on a general law of nature. 
 
 (200.) The force of conviction which analogy, 
 
 * Adam Smith's Works, vol. v. p. 243. 
 U
 
 290 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 when skilfully and consistently employed, brings 
 with it, is probably less owing to any other advan- 
 tage resulting from its use, than to this in particular, 
 that it invests the learner with the character of self- 
 instructor. It holds up to him some acknowledged 
 fact, \n which, as in a mirror, he may behold the 
 truth in question ; and leaves him to deduce it, 
 almost by observation rather than by reasoning, 
 from that which is brought before him. The mind 
 which is thus illumined, instead of being alienated 
 by the dogmatism of its teacher, or repelled by an 
 assumption of superiority on his part, recognises in 
 its own former conviction the truth which is intro- 
 duced under a new garb, and accepts it as a just 
 extension of a conclusion in which it has already 
 acquiesced. It seems, indeed, to be exerting an act 
 of recollection, instead of making fresh acquisitions 
 of knowledge. That false pride, which recoils from 
 the humiliating confession of error, and renders the 
 intellect obdurate against the better reason, is thus 
 beguiled into compliance with the arguments of an 
 opponent ; and the mind, thus relieved of the bur- 
 then of resistance to the truth, seems to say in secret 
 to itself (as Aristotle observes of the effect of meta- 
 phor in some instances), &>$ aA;0f, lyu 8' rf//f>Toy, 
 recanting its error, while it confesses the truth.* 
 
 (201.) Such are the general effects and advan- 
 tages produced by analogy in the elucidation of 
 truth. Things which in their essential nature are 
 totally opposite, are found, on closer investigation, to 
 possess mutual relations, and to be governed by the 
 
 * Hampden, Essay on the Phil. Evid. of Christ., p. 211
 
 THREE SORTS OF ANALOGIES. 291 
 
 same law. Hence we discover three sorts of analo- 
 gies pervading the system of nature, in the widest 
 and most exalted application of the term : the first 
 regards the spiritual truths of revelation ; the second, 
 those which belong only to the moral system ; while 
 the third are drawn from the phenomena of the ma- 
 terial world. It would be foreign to our present 
 purpose, did we here recapitulate the chief argu- 
 ments by which the first and the second of these 
 analogies have been so frequently and effectually 
 illustrated ; but in reference to what has been 
 already said on the connection of the truths of 
 natural history with those of religion, we cannot 
 withhold from the reader the sound and philosophic 
 reasonings of an author whom we have already so 
 largely quoted, and whose arguments are peculiarly 
 valuable to our present purpose, as being those not 
 of a naturalist, but of a deep and original thinker, 
 who, in making them, seems unconscious how appli- 
 cable they are to legitimate science. 
 
 (202.) In maintaining the first proposition just 
 stated, viz. that analogy establishes a connection 
 between the truths of Scripture and the facts of 
 nature, our author justly remarks that in so doing 
 we must " refer each to that state of things with 
 which it is immediately connected. We must ex- 
 amine whether, when all those circumstances which 
 may naturally be supposed to produce the observed 
 difference in the actual developement of theological 
 truth, according as it belongs to the system of 
 nature or that of grace, are taken into our consider- 
 ation, the same abstract truth emerges as the point 
 of ultimate coincidence. For if nothing appears to 
 u 2
 
 292 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 prevent such an ultimate coincidence of a fact of 
 nature and a scriptural truth, but the peculiar cir- 
 cumstances of the two systems to which they re- 
 spectively belong, it is evident that the two may 
 justly be conceived as ultimately coinciding in prin- 
 ciple, since they then appear as therefore only not 
 coincident actually, because their circumstances are 
 not. Hence it is, that the credibility derived to the 
 Scriptures from the coincidence of their doctrines 
 and circumstances with the facts of nature, is that 
 which belongs to the evidence of analogy. For by 
 analogical reasoning we are enabled to make the 
 requisite references to the circumstances by which 
 a general truth may be variously modified, and to 
 express the result of such references in our con- 
 clusion. When we argue by induction, the con- 
 clusion embraces all the circumstances belonging to 
 the facts upon which our observations have been 
 made. We reject and exclude all that are merely 
 accidental, but we rigidly preserve in the general 
 proposition every particular which appears really 
 to belong to the effect produced. Whenever, there- 
 fore, any circumstance really important is varied, 
 our former induction fails, and we must then either 
 repeat the experiment, or, if actual experiment be 
 impracticable, we must have recourse to analogical 
 reasoning; that is, to a mode of reasoning which 
 affirms the conclusion with such reserves, such alter- 
 ations, or exceptions, as may arise from any differ- 
 ence in the circumstances to which it is extended. 
 Without, indeed, such a relative adaptation to the 
 general truth as obtained by induction to the altered 
 circumstances of the case, the inference would be
 
 ANALOGIES MATERIAL AND SPIRITUAL. 293 
 
 evidently unsound, as appears from this consideration 
 alone, that, as every induction is relative to the 
 circumstances under which it is made, and as analogy 
 is only a substitute for induction, so also must 
 analogy express, or at least imply, that relation to 
 the altered circumstances which would have been 
 expressed, had the conclusion been directly obtained 
 by induction. And whether we are able to state 
 exactly the effect which these new circumstances 
 may produce, or can only allow for it by an implied 
 reference to them, the conclusion is equally logical, 
 since in either case we do not proceed beyond the 
 limits of the premises. It remains, however, to 
 ascertain whether the allowances which we make 
 for the peculiarities of each mode of divine instruc- 
 tion, in tracing out by analysis the common prin- 
 ciples into which they are ultimately resolvable, may 
 be identified with those variations in the facts of 
 each system, which might be anticipated in reason- 
 ing by analogy concerning the truths of Scripture, 
 from the data furnished by experience. For this is 
 necessary, in order to show that the facts of nature, 
 and the doctrines of Scripture, are really analogous 
 to each other. If the difference between a scriptural 
 truth, and its counterpart in the system of nature, 
 were greater or less than such as might be attributed 
 to the difference of circumstances, the scriptural 
 truth could not, in such a case, be regarded as a 
 conclusion from experience, nor could the Christian 
 religion be established as philosophically true.* 
 (203.) " While analogy is the happy instrument of 
 
 * Hampden, p, 56. 
 
 u 3
 
 294 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 conveying light into subjects in general, it is pecu- 
 liarly so when employed in elucidating the truths of 
 religion. Here the force of contrast with which it 
 acts is at the maximum. We bring together the 
 things of heaven and the things of earth ; and be- 
 stow on the most remote and inaccessible objects, 
 some portion of that circumstantial particularity 
 which belongs to those present and visible. To 
 behold truths, in themselves so high above our 
 comprehension, in connection with those which are 
 familiarly inculcated on us by experience., must 
 call forth our strongest admiration, and powerfully 
 interests us on both sides, but particularly on that of 
 our religion. Divine Wisdom then descends from 
 its etherial seat, as the accessor of the throne of the 
 Eternal, and communes with us face to face, and 
 hand to hand. We find that the subjects of which 
 Scripture treats are not chimeras, not creations of 
 the fancy, which have no substantial existence ; but 
 things which are: things in which we live, and 
 move, and have our being. It no longer appears to 
 us in the light of a scheme, contrived in the bowers 
 of philosophic seclusion, and addressing itself only to 
 the contemplative and impassioned devotee, like the 
 day dreams of the Koran, emerging from the gloom 
 and solitude of the cave of Kara; but it shines 
 forth conspicuously, as an energising principle, as a 
 knowledge which is power, as a work of the Lord, 
 carried on in the passing scene, with which we 
 cannot help sympathising without doing violence to 
 all the principles of our nature."* 
 
 * Hampden.
 
 APPLICABLE TO PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 295 
 
 (204.) The power of analogy, thus so ably illus- 
 trated in the case of religion, is precisely as strong 
 when applied to the elucidation and confirmation 
 of a theory in physical science. When once what 
 is supposed to be a general law of nature is dis- 
 covered, its truth and certainty becomes more and 
 more confirmed, in proportion to the variety and 
 severity of the tests applied to it. And if, after 
 tracing it, as widely as possible, through the almost 
 numberless groups of the animal world, it becomes 
 also apparent both in the vegetable and in the 
 mineral kingdoms, we have all the evidence that 
 human research or human wisdom can conceive, 
 that our theory is sound ; or, in other words, that 
 we have achieved the discovery of one of those 
 immutable truths which the wit of man can never 
 devise, or the power of time destroy.
 
 296 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 ON THE PRESENT STATE OF ZOOLOGICAL SCIENCE 
 IN BRITAIN, AND ON THE MEANS BEST CALCU- 
 LATED FOR ITS ENCOURAGEMENT AND EX- 
 TENSION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. SOME ACCOUNT OF THE 
 NATURE AND PRESENT STATE OF OUR SCIENTIFIC 
 SOCIETIES AND INSTITUTIONS, AND OF THE MEANS 
 THEY POSSESS OF ENCOURAGING SCIENCE. NATIONAL 
 ENCOURAGEMENT. 
 
 (205.) THE enquiry we are now to enter upon, 
 although to some it may appear irrelevant, is yet 
 intimately and vitally connected with the object of 
 this volume. We have, in the preceding pages, 
 laid before the reader those advantages chiefly 
 intellectual which might allure him to the study 
 of nature. He may, indeed, gather recreation and 
 delight in limiting his contemplations to- the simple 
 objects which a rural walk affords to him. He 
 may be content to admire a few detached ornaments 
 of the temple, without desiring to understand the 
 extent and harmonious construction of the building 
 itself. But, if he desire to quit this humble path 
 of enquiry for another more elevated, if he wish 
 to generalise his ideas, and compare his observations 
 with those of others, he is no longer, as in the former
 
 INFLUENCE OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 297 
 
 case, dependent upon his own resources ; he must 
 associate with those of similar pursuits and studies 
 with himself. He must learn to distinguish that 
 which is known from that which is unknown, and 
 tliis can only be done by a reciprocal communication 
 of knowledge. Hence, the origin of all societies. 
 The value of such associations is greater, perhaps, 
 than at first sight it appears to be; for, besides 
 those advantages just mentioned, there is another, 
 without which some of the most gifted minds would 
 probably remain inert and inactive. Intercourse with 
 congenial spirits excites that noble and generous 
 emulation which has been the impelling principle of 
 some of the greatest of men ; and it will ever prompt 
 them to the exertion of energies never before called 
 into action. Many, therefore, of the best interests 
 of science are involved in the construction of these 
 societies ; they exercise, in various ways, an important 
 influence upon the advancement of human know- 
 ledge, and they consequently demand the serious 
 consideration of those who feel interested in its 
 extension. The present division of our treatise 
 will, therefore, be devoted to this discussion. We 
 shall, in the first place, take a hasty glance at the 
 present state of the physical sciences generally, and 
 of zoology in particular, with the view of ascertaining 
 whether or not there exist adequate means of in- 
 struction or encouragement for its successful pro- 
 secution. 
 
 (206.) It cannot fail to be remarked, by those 
 who watch the operations of the human mind, that 
 the peculiarities of a nation may be traced in its 
 public institutions. Nor, indeed, if we reflect but
 
 298 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 for a moment, can it be otherwise. Societies and 
 associations, whatsoever may be their object, are the 
 embodying into a tangible form, the private senti- 
 ments and feelings of individuals. Those who have 
 lived sufficiently long among other nations to be dis- 
 enchanted of their national prejudices, or who are 
 disposed to believe the concurring testimony of the 
 most enlightened foreigners, need hardly be told 
 that, intermixed with many qualities of a nobler 
 description, the English, essentially, are a proud, 
 ostentatious, although a generous people. The two 
 first of these characteristics are more prominent, per- 
 haps, than the third. By which we mean to say, that 
 there are more instances of ostentatious munificence, 
 than of secret and disinterested generosity. If any 
 one imagines this censure undeserved, we would 
 only refer him to any list of charitable donations, 
 where, for one contribution prefaced by the initials 
 of a secret donor, he will find twenty blazoned forth 
 with ostentatious parade. Now, the effects of these 
 national characteristics are shown in our public 
 institutions. From the union of generosity and 
 ostentation, sentiments fostered by our enormous 
 wealth, has sprung a greater number of charitable 
 and benevolent associations than are to be met with 
 in any three European nations. These noble insti- 
 tutions excite the admiration of every one who thinks 
 upon the mass of human misery they tend to alleviate, 
 and the incalculable good they disseminate to thou- 
 sands, while they call forth the astonishment and 
 praise of the surrounding nations. Here, our be- 
 setting sin of pride does not enter ; the meanest as 
 well as the highest are invited to join in the good
 
 STATE OF OUR LEARNED SOCIETIES. 299 
 
 work; and no man, because he has contributed 
 largely to a charitable institution, or is one of those 
 who presides as director or trustee over its affairs, 
 ever dreams of signifying that honour to the world, 
 by affixing some of the letters of the alphabet after 
 his name. 
 
 (207.) But in our literary and scientific insti- 
 tutions the case is different. These, with few ex- 
 ceptions, have too much of an aristocratic character. 
 We speak now of the leading societies of the metro- 
 polis ; those from which, as chartered associations, 
 we may gather the prevalent feeling. That love 
 and respect for wealth, in the abstract, which forms 
 so striking and so humiliating a blot on the national 
 character, is no where more conspicuous than in 
 one or two circumstances connected with these in- 
 stitutions. This is the more remarkable, because 
 the blame attaches to those who, from a superior 
 taste for intellectual pursuits, might be supposed 
 exempt from the national idolatry of the vulgar. 
 It is customary, indeed, to call the world of science 
 a republic, meaning thereby, as we presume, that all 
 adventitious superiority resulting alone from wealth 
 or rank, gives place to mental acquirements. But 
 is such really the case ? or, at least, is the principle 
 itself really acted upon ? No one can maintain that 
 it is, when the fact is considered, that, with one 
 solitary exception, all who wish to join these societies 
 must contribute an annual payment. We can dis- 
 pense with science in a candidate, but we must have 
 his money. This is the plain, but the undeniable, fact. 
 The exception above alluded to reflects the highest 
 honour upon the oldest and the best of our societies,
 
 300 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. I 
 
 namely, the Linnaean Society of London. By the 
 admission of associates, who are allowed to parti- 
 cipate in all those discussions and proceedings of 
 the members, which are purely of a scientific 
 character, we give advantages to a highly deserving 
 class of students, whose love for science may be 
 equal to our own, but whose limited means preclude 
 them from contributing pecuniary aid to the ad- 
 vancement of their favourite pursuits. The mutual 
 advantages resulting from such a coalition need 
 hardly be adverted to. On the one part, inform- 
 ation on particular facts may be communicated, of 
 the highest importance to the generalisations of the 
 philosophic members ; while, on the other hand, the 
 mind of the practical investigator of nature will be 
 improved and expanded by intercourse with those 
 whom he will look up to as his masters, and whose 
 society could never have been enjoyed, but for the 
 removal of those barriers with which, in England, 
 an undue regard to wealth has securely fenced the 
 different grades of society. 
 
 (208.) The other peculiarity of our scientific in- 
 stitutions is, perhaps, more remarkable than the last, 
 and equally serves to illustrate what has been ex- 
 pressed at the commencement of this chapter. Not- 
 withstanding the number of our societies and as- 
 sociations, respectively formed for the advancement 
 either of physical science in general, or any one of 
 its numerous branches, there is not one of such a 
 nature as to confer a.purely honourable distinction on 
 those whose pre-eminent abilities have placed them 
 at the head of that particular science they cultivate., 
 Taking, for instance, the Royal Society as the
 
 STATE OF OUR LEARNED SOCIETIES. 301 
 
 parent from which nearly all others have sprung, 
 and which the public in general considers the most 
 honourable, we find no classification whatever of the 
 heterogeneous materials of which it is composed. 
 Not the slightest distinction is made between the 
 man of wealth, who pays his money to gratify his va- 
 nity ; the mere dilettante, who feels a pleasure in the 
 labours of others ; or the accomplished philosopher, 
 whose name may be celebrated throughout the world. 
 All these, and many others, are admitted upon the 
 same terms ; all must pay an equal subscription, and 
 all rank alike. Such, we believe, is universally the 
 case with all the metropolitan societies. And in 
 proportion as these have multiplied, so have the in- 
 conveniences arisen, not to say the insuperable ob- 
 stacles, of concentrating the elite of science. If 
 there existed a society to which no one could 
 belong who did not possess scientific acquirements 
 of known and acknowledged merit, it would matter 
 but little if it entailed upon its members an annual 
 contribution ; because, although payment would be 
 one of the requisites, it would not be the first, or 
 the only one : the admission in itself would be an 
 honour; because it would be placed beyond the reach 
 of the most wealthy pretender, and would at once 
 attach importance to a name. But, in the present 
 state of our societies, all the qualifications expressed 
 in the certificate of a candidate are, that " he is de- 
 sirous of becoming a member, and likely to be a 
 useful and valuable one :" the two latter requisites 
 being generally interpreted, that he will promote 
 the objects of the society, by paying his contri- 
 butions regularly. So far as our own experience
 
 302 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 goes, the " mode of becoming a fellow" of the Royal 
 Society, stated by Professor Babbage, is applicable 
 to nearly all. " A. B. gets any three Fellows to sign 
 a certificate, stating that he (A. B.) is desirous of 
 becoming a member, and likely to be a useful and 
 valuable one. This is handed in to the secretary, 
 and suspended in the meeting-room. At the end of 
 ten (or more) weeks, if A. B. has the good fortune 
 to be perfectly unknown by any literary or scientific 
 achievement, however small, he is quite sure of 
 being elected, as a matter of course. If, on the 
 other hand, he has unfortunately written on any 
 subject connected with science, or is supposed to be 
 acquainted with any branch of it, the members 
 begin to enquire what he has done to deserve the 
 honour ? and, unless he has powerful friends, he has 
 a fair chance of being black-balled. In fourteen 
 years' experience," continues the same writer, " the 
 few whom I have seen rejected, have all been known 
 persons."* (Babbage, Reflections, p. 51.) 
 
 (209.) This facility of acquiring diplomas is un- 
 questionably one of the characteristics of our scien- 
 tific institutions ; and the evils which are the natural 
 result, are already becoming apparent. An honorary 
 distinction, when the qualifications upon which it 
 was originally founded are lost sight of, so that it 
 
 * A singular verification of this occurred at one of the 
 very few meetings at which, of late years, I have attended. 
 It was the case of Captain P , well known for his nau- 
 tical discoveries and inventions. The same show of opposition 
 was manifested at the election of a well known ornithological 
 painter. But in both instances, by timely exertion, this strange 
 opposition was defeated.
 
 STATE OF OUR LEARNED SOCIETIES. 303 
 
 can be bought for money, becomes, of course, an 
 intimation only of wealth, while its unlimited ex- 
 tension will soon render it insignificant. In pro- 
 portion to the largeness of the subscription, will be 
 the exclusion of those men whose names would add 
 dignity to the list ; for it has been truly observed, 
 that " very few, indeed, of the cultivators of science 
 rank amongst the wealthy classes;" while, in an 
 inverse ratio, will be the admission of the titled and 
 the untitled aristocracy. We cannot be persuaded 
 that these predictions are exaggerated; because 
 they are, from our personal knowledge, already in 
 operation. Were it necessary to prove this, we could 
 mention three or four names, whose fame has spread 
 over the civilised world; but who, for the very 
 reasons above mentioned, decline to become mem- 
 bers of these aristocratic societies. Professor Bab- 
 bage, in alluding to this subject, has given us a 
 table of the admission fees payable to thirteen of the 
 principal societies in Great Britain, with the ap- 
 pended letters, or " tail-pieces," attached to the names 
 of the purchasers. " Thus," he continues, " those 
 who are ambitious of scientific distinction, may, 
 according to their fancy, render their name a kind 
 of comet, carrying with it a tail of upwards of forty 
 letters, at the average cost of 10/. 9*. 9%d. per letter." 
 (210.) Let us not, however, be misunderstood 
 on this matter. It is far from our purpose, while 
 we venture to point out the defects of these asso- 
 ciations, to withhold the admission of their great 
 usefulness. If perfection cannot be attained by an 
 individual, how much less can it be expected in a 
 corporate body ? The only truths we wish to im-
 
 304 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 press upon the reader, and of which he must be 
 now convinced, are^hese: 1. That the majority 
 of our societies for the promotion of science are 
 mainly, if not exclusively, formed for the wealthy ; 
 that they are, essentially, aristocratic : 2. That, 
 at this time, there is no mode of distinguishing, 
 from their lists, such as are nominal from such as 
 are really working members : and, 3. That the ho- 
 nour which once accompanied the admission into 
 such societies has much deteriorated. Such are the 
 nature and" constitution of our London scientific 
 bodies. We shall subsequently enquire how these 
 defects can be remedied. 
 
 (211.) The most important object of these asso- 
 ciations is the publication of essays or papers con- 
 tributed by the members, and read at their meetings. 
 These, in general, are collected into an annual vo- 
 lume, which is generally distributed to the members, 
 and sold to the public. By this plan, the most 
 effectual means are employed for disseminating 
 knowledge at no extraordinary expense to the au- 
 thor. For it unfortunately is too true, that were he 
 disposed to give his investigations to the world " at 
 his own cost and charges," so little do 'the public 
 estimate any work of pure science, that certain pe- 
 cuniary loss to himself would be the result. It 
 would be inconvenient and improper, on many ac- 
 counts, for a society to publish every paper so 
 communicated. It is, therefore, the business of the 
 council to select the best of such as have been read ; 
 and if this is done faithfully and impartially, no 
 better plan can possibly be pursued. But the im- 
 perfections of human nature will break out. It not
 
 PUBLISHING COMMITTEES. 305 
 
 unfrequently happens that partiality or prejudice 
 enters largely into these decisions ; for the publishing 
 committee being irresponsible, their decision is 
 final, and papers of the highest interest have been 
 known to share the fate of " Rejected Addresses," 
 when the views or theories they were intended to 
 promulgate were in opposition to those entertained 
 by the presiding judges.* By feelings of an opposite 
 tendency, performances of little interest and less 
 ability contrive to " pass muster," solely from the 
 interest of friends "at the board." Hence it is 
 generally found, that those members, who have the 
 means of bringing their investigations before the 
 scientific world through any other channel, are but 
 scanty contributors to the transactions of societies ; 
 or, if they occasionally venture to send in a paper, 
 take care that it should be confined to a matter-of- 
 fact subject, the plumage of a new bird, or the cha- 
 racter of a new shell, upon which there cannot, in 
 ordinary cases, be a difference of opinion. Interest, 
 in fact, is frequently as necessary for one descrip- 
 tion of these papers as for the other ; for, otherwise, 
 it is impossible to account for the insertion of one 
 hundred and nine contributions in the Philosophi- 
 cal Transactions by a late eminent surgeon, many 
 of which are not only erroneous in theory, but in- 
 correct as to facts. 
 
 (212.) Oral discussion is limited to very few of 
 our societies, although it is perhaps the most agree- 
 
 * A curious instance of this, furnished by the Zoological 
 Society (the least scientific in its objects of all those in Lon- 
 don), is mentioned in the Entomological Magazine, vol. ii. for 
 January, 1834. 
 
 X
 
 306 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 able and instructive mode of enlivening the pro- 
 verbial heaviness of their meetings. It has been 
 well said of such discussions, that besides the agree- 
 able variation they create in the proceedings of the 
 evening, they frequently bring together isolated facts 
 in the science, which, however insignificant in 
 themselves, mutually illustrate each other, and ulti- 
 mately lead to important conclusions. The Geological 
 Society, young, indeed, yet with all the vigour of 
 manhood, is particularly celebrated in this respect ; 
 and others, we believe, of still more modern date, 
 are following the example. It would be desirable 
 if those of maturer years would conform to an 
 innovation so well calculated to soften the dull 
 austerity of their meetings. 
 
 (213.) The bestowal of medals, as a reward for 
 high scientific investigations or discoveries, is at 
 present confined, we believe, to two of these bodies, 
 namely, the Society of Arts, and the Royal Society of 
 Great Britain. The first of these comes not within 
 our province ; but, in discussing the subject before 
 us, it becomes essential that we enter into some details 
 regarding the latter. For these we must stand in- 
 debted to the information furnished by the Reflections 
 of Professor Babbage ; for, by a singularly injudicious 
 remissness of very long standing, on the part of this 
 society, no sort of information on these topics are 
 given to the members, even upon their first admission; 
 at least, in our own case, we were totally unac- 
 quainted with all these means of rewarding merit, 
 and ''for exciting competition among men of science *," 
 
 .* Vide Mr. Secretary Peel's Letter to the President of the 
 Royal Society. Reflections, p. 115.
 
 REWARDS AND MEDALS. 307 
 
 possessed by the Royal Society, and which it might 
 naturally have been supposed would be put into the 
 hands of every member, to excite that " compe- 
 tition" which was the express condition upon which 
 some of these medals were founded. 
 
 (214.) It appears, then, that the following means 
 of rewarding merit are possessed by the president and 
 council of the Royal Society. The first are the royal 
 medals, two in number, of the value of fifty. guineas 
 each, founded by our late king, to be awarded an- 
 nually as " honorary premiums, under the direction 
 of the president and council, in such a manner as 
 shall, by the excitement of competition among men 
 of science, seem best calculated to promote the 
 object for which the Royal Society was instituted."* 
 The following rules, for the award of these medals, 
 were subsequently decided upon, by the council, on 
 the 26th of January, 1826: 
 
 RESOLVED, That it is the opinion of the council that the 
 medals be awarded for the most important discoveries or 
 serieiof investigations, completed and made known to the 
 Royal Society in the year preceding the day of their award. 
 2. That it is the opinion of the council that the presentation 
 of the medals should not be limited to British subjects ; 
 and they propose, if it should be his Majesty's pleasure, 
 that his effigy should form the obverse of the medal. 3. That 
 two medals from the same die should be struck upon each 
 foundation, one in gold, one in silver. 
 
 (215.) We neither possess the wish nor the means 
 of enquiring how far these honorary rewards have 
 been distributed with justice and impartiality. If what 
 
 * Mr. Secretary Peel's Letter. 
 X 2
 
 308 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 has been asserted on this head by Professor Babbage 
 is capable of satisfactory explanation, it was certainly 
 incumbent on the parties concerned to have pre- 
 vented the injurious influence of such statements, by 
 giving such explanation. If, on the other hand, 
 they cannot be contradicted, the society, as a body, 
 must expect to suffer in public estimation. One 
 thing, however, may be here observed, that we are 
 unacquainted with any of our naturalists of the last 
 century, on whom these distinctions have been con- 
 ferred ; although there are instances in former times 
 of several having been so honoured.* 
 
 (216.) The remaining gifts for the promotion of 
 science are also alone possessedyby the Royal Society; 
 they consist of pecuniary bequests in the shape of lec- 
 tures ; of which we believe there are but two, the Fair- 
 child and the Croonian. The observations of Pro- 
 fessor Babbage on the first of these are characterised 
 by so much good sense and sound judgment, that 
 we shall not weaken them by using different language, 
 with the hope that the subject may claim that at- 
 tention from the present council it so imperatively 
 .demands. It appears that a Mr. Fairchild, during 
 the last century, " left by will twenty-five pounds 
 to the Royal Society. This was increased by several 
 subscriptions, and 100/. in the 3 per cent. South 
 Sea annuities was purchased, the interest of which 
 was to be devoted annually to pay for a sermon 
 to be preached at St. Leonard's, Shoreditch. Few 
 members of the society," observes- our authority, 
 " are aware, perhaps, either of the bequest or of its 
 
 * Ellis, Edwards, &c.
 
 THE FAIRCHILD LECTURE. 309 
 
 annual payment. I shall merely observe, that for 
 five years, from 1800 to 1804, it was regularly given 
 to Mr. Ascough, and that for twenty-six years it 
 
 has been as regularly given to the Rev. Mr. E . 
 
 The annual amount is too trifling to stimulate to 
 any extraordinary exertions ; yet, small as it is, it 
 might, if properly applied, be productive of much 
 advantage to religion, and of great honour to the 
 society. For this purpose it would be desirable 
 that it should be delivered at some church or chapel 
 more likely to be attended by members of the Royal 
 Society. Notice of it should be given at the place 
 of worship appointed, at least a week previous to its 
 delivery, and at the two preceding weekly meetings 
 of the Royal Society. The name of the gentleman 
 nominated for that year, and the church at which 
 the sermon should be preached, should be stated. 
 With this publicity attending it, and by a judicious 
 selection of the first two or three gentlemen appointed 
 to deliver it, it would soon be esteemed an honour 
 to be invited to compose such a lecture ; and the 
 society might always find, in its numerous list of 
 members or aspirants, persons well qualified to fulfil 
 a task as beneficial for the promotion of true religion 
 as it ever must be for the interest of science. I am 
 tempted to believe that such a course would call 
 forth exertions of the most valuable character, as 
 well as will give additional circulation to what is 
 already done on that subject." Did these opinions 
 stand in need of confirmation, we might appeal to the 
 lectures delivered on this very foundation in 1784, 
 and the three following years, by one of the soundest 
 philosophers and most devout Christians that the 
 x 3
 
 310 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 history of our church can boast of ; for the name of 
 Jones of Nayland will ever shine as one of the bright- 
 est ornaments of the Christian profession. These dis- 
 courses, to be found only among his works, illustrate, 
 in the most simple and beautiful manner, many points 
 of that harmonious analogy between the material and 
 the spiritual world, between natural and revealed re- 
 ligion, which pervades creation. As a naturalist, 
 this excellent man was not profound ; for he lived 
 when the philosophy of this science was in its infancy. 
 How much more, then, could be achieved in these 
 days by one who, like the present Woodwardian 
 professor at Cambridge, could bring to the subject 
 the richest stores of modern discovery, with the 
 sound and orthodox principles of the established 
 church.* On the Croonian lecture little need be 
 said ; it was instituted, according to Mr. Babbage, 
 by Dr. Croone, for an annual essay on muscular 
 motion. The payment, indeed, is but small, 
 three pounds, yet still it might, like the last, be 
 made a subject of honourable competition among 
 medical students. At present, it seems to have 
 been given, " as a sort of pension," year after year 
 to one individual. 
 
 (217-) Such is the general nature of the char- 
 tered societies of this country formed for the promo- 
 tion of science, and such are the means they possess 
 
 * Those who feel interested on this subject will peruse, with 
 admiration and delight, the Discourse on the Studies, of the 
 University of Cambridge, by Professor Sedgwick ; while the 
 Critique of Dr. lire's Geology in the British Review for July, 
 1829, by the same author, has been justly termed " an essay, 
 equally worthy of a philosopher and a Christian."
 
 THE ROYAL SOCIETY. 311 
 
 of rewarding merit. There are some, however, of 
 more recent origin, not yet formed into legal cor- 
 porate bodies, and others of a mixed nature, which 
 require separate consideration. It will be conse- 
 quently necessary, in furtherance of our present 
 object, to give the reader some particulars of the 
 following, so far as they concern natural history, 
 viz. the Royal, Linnaean, Geological, Zoological, 
 Entomological. 
 
 (218.) The Royal Society, if we are to judge 
 from the contents of the printed Transactions of this 
 body, the best criterion, perhaps, we can go by, the 
 Royal Society would seem to have almost banished 
 every department of natural history (excepting that 
 of comparative anatomy) from among the sciences 
 which deserve their attention. At least, the pa- 
 pers occasionally to be found in these volumes, 
 with few exceptions, are of a meagre and trivial 
 nature. We know not whether this circumstance 
 originates in the indifference of the council to such 
 communications, or from the disinclination of those 
 distinguished members, who cultivate this science, 
 to hazard the rejection of their papers, or to see 
 them lost, as it were, in a mass of others quite un- 
 congenial. In former times prior, indeed, to the 
 institution of the Linnaean Society natural history 
 occupied a prominent place in these volumes ; but 
 such men as Ellis, Banks, and Solander have long 
 passed away, and their successors in the same rank 
 of science must be sought for in the continental 
 academies. If this exclusion of zoological papers 
 from the Royal Society's Transactions be really 
 unintentional, it would be as well if some one of the 
 x 4
 
 312 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 present council by presenting such a paper would 
 undeceive the members, more especially as such a 
 circumstance might possibly induce others to follow 
 the example. 
 
 (219.) The Linnaean Society of London, founded 
 bv the late amiable and excellent Sir James Smith, 
 is not only the oldest, but the most honourable and 
 efficient, of those devoted to natural history. From 
 the date of its foundation, up to the present time, 
 it has annually given to the world a volume of 
 papers, unequal, indeed, in their respective merits, 
 as such collections must inevitably be ; but forming, 
 as a whole, the most valuable collection of essays in 
 this science in our language : it possesses an admir- 
 able library, partly formed by donations, and partly 
 by purchase. Their museum, also, although chiefly 
 rich in the birds of Australia (of which they possess 
 the most valuable collection in this country), is by 
 no means deficient in the productions of other 
 regions, and has been more particularly enriched by 
 the shells and insects of Sir Joseph Banks, the 
 Indian birds of General Hardwicke, and the nume- 
 rous presents of their late excellent and respected 
 secretary, Alexander Macleay, Esq. now (to the 
 great disadvantage of the society and of science at 
 large) filling an arduous and honourable situation in 
 the government of New Holland. All these scientific 
 treasures are thrown open to the investigation not 
 only of the members, but also of the associates : 
 for it is to the honour of this society that such an 
 accommodation is offered to those meritorious but 
 unwealthy men to whom the payment of 351. would 
 be inconvenient ; or who find it impossible to extend
 
 LINN-SIAN SOCIETY. GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 313 
 
 their pecuniary aid to all the societies in which they 
 feel an interest. Here, also, the naturalist will be 
 gratified by contemplating the entire library, mu- 
 seum, and herbarium of the celebrated man from 
 whom the society takes its name. These collections, 
 as it is well known, were purchased from the widow 
 of Linne by Sir James Smith, during whose long and 
 honourable career they were prodigiously augmented. 
 The professional engagements of Sir James were not 
 sufficiently lucrative to allow of his making a bequest 
 of these treasures to that society he founded, and by 
 which he was so much honoured and beloved. But 
 the associated patriotism and disinterested liberality 
 of the members accomplished that which it was not in 
 the power of a single individual to do. Negotiations 
 were opened with the trustees, and the purchase of 
 the whole was at length effected. If there is any 
 thing to be regretted in the construction of the 
 Linnaean Society, it is the exclusion of oral discus- 
 sioAs, the introduction of which, at no distant period, 
 we hope will be effected. 
 
 (220.) The Geological Society is unquestion- 
 ably the most active, and the most popular, even 
 among scientific men, of all those which come under 
 our notice. There is a vigour, an efficiency, and 
 a liberality in all its proceedings which has called 
 forth universal admiration ; while the rapidity with 
 which it has risen to its present eminence is the 
 most convincing proof of the talents possessed by 
 its leading members, and of the impartial manner in 
 which its affairs are conducted. Of the objects 
 pursued by this society, the only one which gives it 
 a place in this list relates to the elucidation of fossil
 
 314 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 zoology, by investigating the nature of those animals 
 whose remains lie buried in the accumulated strata 
 of the globe, and which, in most cases, present us 
 with forms of strange and unlooked-for structure. 
 The oral discussions of the geologists are proverbial 
 in the scientific world for the high intellectual gra- 
 tification they usually give to visiters. 
 
 (221.) The constitution of the Zoological Society 
 is of a very mixed nature, admirably adapted, indeed, 
 to the reigning taste, and to uphold a very agreeable 
 and popular establishment, suited to the rational 
 amusement of the public. It is more calculated, 
 however, to diffuse than to increase the actual stock 
 of scientific knowledge. It possesses enormous funds ; 
 but it must not be forgotten, that for these funds it 
 is largely indebted to its popular arrangements. It 
 might perhaps combine, in a greater degree than it 
 does, the diffusion of a taste for natural history 
 with the permanent object of stimulating original 
 investigation. The objects of this society are best 
 expressed in the words of its prospectus ; wherein 
 " it is proposed to establish a society bearing the same 
 relations to zoology and animal life that the Horti- 
 cultural Society bears to botany and the vegetable 
 kingdom. The object is to attempt the introduc- 
 tion of new races of quadrupeds, birds, fishes, 
 &c. applicable to purposes of utility, either in our 
 farm-yards, gardens, woods, waters, lakes, or rivers, 
 and to connect with this object a general zoological 
 collection of prepared specimens." In a subsequent 
 notice it was intimated that a library would be at- 
 tached to the museum. It is clear, however, from 
 their present state, that the museum and the library
 
 ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 315 
 
 are very secondary objects, although from the exhi- 
 bition of the former, at one shilling each person, 
 the public are tempted to believe it is much more 
 extensive than others, which can be seen for no- 
 thing : it nevertheless derives much interest to the 
 naturalist as containing the Sumatrian animals col- 
 lected by Sir Stamford Raffles, and the North Ame- 
 rican birds described by Richardson and Swainson. 
 Why these latter, collected at the public expense, 
 and therefore public property, should not have been 
 deposited in the National Museum, rather than have 
 been given to a society of private individuals, is an 
 enigma we cannot solve. That this donation was 
 made without any regard to the interests of science 
 is obvious from this simple fact, that, in their pre- 
 sent situation, the specimens can only be seen by 
 payment, nor can any scientific use be made of them 
 but by permission of the council, and " at the dis- 
 cretion of the secretary : " whereas, had they gone 
 to the British Museum, they might have been seen 
 gratis, and used freely, without any such formal, 
 tedious, and restricted regulations. The urbanity 
 and liberal feeling of the secretary, indeed, is well 
 calculated to diminish the inconvenience of debar- 
 ring men of science from the free use of the materials 
 it possesses. It is well known that admission to the 
 privileges of a Fellow of the Zoological Society is a 
 matter of no great difficulty. The forms of recom- 
 mendation and election are observed, as in other 
 societies ; but they are little more than forms. Upon 
 the whole, however, the scientific character of the 
 society, within the last two years, has much improved, 
 and will doubtless continue so to do, as liberal feel-
 
 316 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 ings gain an ascendency in its councils. All who live 
 near the Regent's Park, or who have the opportunity 
 of enjoying the rational amusement to be found in 
 the society's gardens, cannot do better than sub- 
 scribe to its support. The collection of living 
 animals is always interesting; and no expense, as 
 we have been informed, is spared to provide a con- 
 stant succession of novelties to attract the public. 
 " The largeness of its income," observes Professor 
 Babbage, " is a fearful consideration," but we have 
 no desire to canvass its expenditure. We can only 
 hope that a larger portion of these funds, in process 
 of time, will be devoted to the prosecution and en- 
 couragement of legitimate science than has yet been 
 done : the volume of Transactions, just published, 
 may be considered a pledge that such will be the 
 case. With such enormous funds, and with a judi- 
 cious combination of science and of amusement, 
 this society might eventually rank among the first 
 in this or any other country. 
 
 (222.) The Surrey Zoological Gardens, although 
 private property, are in no degree inferior to those 
 in the Regent's Park, at least in regard to the num- 
 ber or variety of living animals. In this respect 
 there is a sort of laudable rivalry between the two, 
 very favourable to the gratification of the public. 
 The Surrey possesses one advantage over its more 
 aristocratic brother, highly important to the prac- 
 tical naturalist, who may go here to study, draw, 
 or describe any animal in the collection, without 
 encountering the advanced guard of illiberality in 
 the shape of petitions, councils, secretaries, rules, and 
 regulations. He has only to mention his wishes to
 
 SURREY ZOOLOGICAL. ENTOMOLOGICAL. 317 
 
 Mr. Cross, the highly respectable superintendent 
 and chief proprietor, and he will not only receive 
 immediate permission, but will have every inform- 
 ation communicated to him which it is in the power 
 of the attendants to furnish. Both gardens may be 
 visited by the public on the payment of one shilling 
 each person. 
 
 (223.) The Entomological Society is the youngest 
 we have ; for it was only founded in the autumn of 
 the year 1833. The improved classifications of Dr. 
 Leach, and the philosophic writings of the younger 
 Macleay, first gave an impetus to this charming 
 science, about fifteen years ago, which ever since 
 has been slowly but progressively increasing. Nor 
 must the fascinating volumes of Kirby and Spence 
 be omitted, as contributing, even in a superior 
 degree, to a more general diffusion of a love for 
 entomology among a large portion of the intellectual 
 classes. The fruits of this impetus are now beginning 
 to ripen. A society of entomologists, young, ardent, 
 and intelligent, has been formed, under the encou- 
 ragement and support of their elder brethren ; one of 
 whom, alike distinguished for his love of science, his 
 liberality of feeling, and his urbanity of manner, has 
 been unanimously elected their efficient president. 
 The constitution of the society is radically healthy: it 
 has no titled officers elected only for their name. It 
 is considered that science may be as well prosecuted 
 without a charter of incorporation as with one : the 
 contribution is small, and the members are effective. 
 There is, in effect, no quackery in its composition. 
 A society, so constituted, cannot fail to prosper, 
 unless its council is so unwise as to plunge us into
 
 318 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 tne expense of publishing Transactions at our " own 
 charges," and thereby either involve the society in 
 debt, or render it necessary to increase the sub- 
 scription. As we have ventured to express our 
 opinion upon this and other matters relative to the 
 society elsewhere, it will be only necessary here to 
 observe, that nearly all the entomologists of this 
 country are among the members. Donations of 
 books and specimens are sent from all quarters, so 
 that a very good foundation already exists both for 
 a library and museum. These are opened for in- 
 spection and use, unshackled by the official forms 
 and delays so much complained of elsewhere. Oral 
 discussions succeed the reading of more scientific 
 information. Specimens of new or interesting sub- 
 jects are exhibited and commented upon; and no 
 mismanagement, as yet, has occasioned feuds or dis- 
 sensions. Long may this state of things continue ! 
 
 (224.) The chief of those societies established 
 beyond the metropolis is the Philosophical Society of 
 Cambridge, founded at that seat of learning about 
 1820, and incorporated by royal charter in the year 
 1832. It is not merely composed, as at first might be 
 imagined, of the learned members of that university, 
 but ranks among its fellows many of the most distin- 
 guished philosophers of Europe. The volumes of its 
 Transactions, which have hitherto been given to the 
 world, are second to none, published in this country, 
 in the importance or the interest of their contents. 
 Natural history essays, which at first were but thinly 
 scattered, have increased in number in every suc- 
 ceeding volume ; while the establishment of a museum 
 and library, continually augmenting both by pur-
 
 CAMBRIDGE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 319 
 
 chases and donations, have had a powerful effect in 
 awakening the attention of the younger members to 
 this most fascinating science : these sources of in- 
 formation, without which the student can make no 
 effectual progress, are open to the inspection and 
 use of every one. If we may entertain the hope 
 that, at no very distant period, there will arise a 
 school of British zoology, there are strong reasons 
 for supposing its chief seat will be in our univer- 
 sities ; and as that of Cambridge has long taken the 
 lead in the cultivation of physical science, it seems 
 highly probable that, with its present institutions, it 
 will continue to maintain this distinction. So long 
 as natural history was limited to a study of names, 
 a comparison of specimens, and a discrimination of 
 species, proficiency was always within the reach of 
 the laborious compiler, the accumulating collector, 
 and the minute discriminator. But so soon as 
 labours of this sort ceased to assume more than a 
 secondary importance, and they were discovered to 
 be but instruments for attaining a higher degree of 
 knowledge, from that moment the necessity will be 
 felt of calling to our aid the exercise of superior 
 mental faculties, faculties which are rarely de- 
 veloped but by the expanding influence of an 
 academic education. Hence it follows, that if we 
 may expect to meet with such qualifications in any 
 one particular class of the community, more than in 
 another, they will be found among the students of 
 our universities, early initiated in those sound philo- 
 sophic principles which form the basis of human 
 learning, and without which all sciences would be- 
 come but a vast accumulation of isolated facts and
 
 320 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 disconnected conclusions: the grain of wheat and 
 its useless chaff would be hoarded together, and 
 the attention frittered and distracted by infinity of 
 detail. 
 
 (225.) The sister university of Oxford has not 
 yetj we believe, followed the noble example of 
 Cambridge, by the institution of any particular 
 society for cultivating zoology ; yet it is not without 
 a nucleus, around which it may be hoped, ere long, 
 will be gathered a few ardent and enquiring spirits, 
 which may eventually conquer the prejudices that 
 still remain against the admission of natural history 
 as a branch of academic education. Oxford will 
 ever be associated in the mind of the naturalist 
 with the names of those early promoters of our 
 science, Tradescant and Ashmole, who, in an age of 
 comparative ignorance, devoted their time and their 
 fortune to the cultivation of natural history, and 
 the formation of the earliest museum mentioned in 
 our records. The remnant of this collection is now 
 in existence, under the name of the Aslimolean 
 Museum. As the reader will, doubtless, be gratified 
 by the interesting account given of this museum by 
 its present zealous curator, we shall here subjoin it 
 for his perusal. " The museum presented to the 
 university, and deposited in Oxford, in the year 
 1682, by Dr. Elias Ashmole, contained the first 
 collection of objects illustrative of natural history 
 which was ever formed in Britain; perhaps the 
 first that was ever opened to public inspection in 
 any nation of the whole world. This collection 
 was made by the sagacity and industry of two 
 ardent lovers of all that is beautiful and wonderful
 
 OXFORD. ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM. 321 
 
 in nature, both named John Tradescant, a father 
 and son. The father was, in 1629, gardener to 
 King Charles I. The son travelled in North 
 America, and imported new plants to the garden, 
 and rarities to the museum, which was called the 
 Ark, and duly visited by the dignified and the en- 
 lightened. The younger Tradescant bequeathed the 
 museum, in 1662, to Ashmole, who was his friend, 
 and the inmate of his house. The collection was 
 certainly begun when natural science was in its in- 
 fancy. Conrad Gesner, the illustrious and profoundly 
 learned father of modern zoology, died in 1565. 
 Aldrovandus had died poor and blind in the hospital 
 of his native city, on which his learning conferred 
 glory, in the year 1605. His works, however, 
 together with those of Gesner, doubtless, gave stimu- 
 lus and guidance to the labours of the Tradescants. 
 Ray and Willughby were nearly contemporary with 
 the son. If we suppose the elder Tradescant to 
 have begun his collection in the year 1600, it will 
 not be a subject of wonder that most of the skins of 
 the animals should be in a state quite unserviceable 
 to the purposes of science in the year 1824, when a 
 renovation of this department of the museum was 
 attempted. Several skins of fishes and reptiles, 
 horns of African beasts, and bones of the elephant, 
 the hippopotamus, and the grampus, still attest the 
 well-directed ardour of the Tradescants. The legs 
 and beaks of a few birds also are preserved, among 
 which two deserve especial notice : one is the beak 
 of the helmet hornbill, from the East Indies, which 
 has been but lately imported in the entire state, 
 having been long suspected to have been a foolish
 
 322 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 imposition contrived to deceive Tradescant; the 
 other, the head of the dodo, or dodar, is the sole 
 specimen existing of a bird larger than a swan, 
 presented, probably by Mr. Thomas Herbert, to 
 Tradescant, and brought by him from the island of 
 Mauritius, where only it is reported to have been 
 ever seen, and where it certainly does not now exist- 
 That the stuffed skin was in the Tradescantian 
 collection is proved by the catalogue, and by the 
 incidental mention of it in Hyde's Religio Veterum 
 Persarum, and by the statement of Ray." 
 
 (226.) The additions made to this private museum 
 of the Tradescants by Ashmole were chiefly books. 
 Borlace and Plot, names connected with some of 
 our most valuable county histories, subsequently 
 contributed to augment the foundation laid by 
 Ashmole: and although a large portion of the 
 animal preparations have long since crumbled into 
 dust, the relics that remain are both interesting 
 and valuable. The funds, however, left to maintain 
 and enlarge this repository, are poor and inadequate. 
 Ashmole left absolutely nothing to support the 
 museum, while the profit of exhibition, ordained by 
 his bequest, has rarely exceeded SOL per annum. 
 Dr. Rawlinson bequeathed 751. to the keeper; but 
 under the singular conditions that he should be an 
 Englishman, not in orders, not a member of the 
 Royal or Antiquarian Societies, &c. It is not im- 
 probable that the worthy Doctor, when he laid down 
 these rules, shrewdly suspected that, without them, 
 the place would become a sinecure given to some 
 titled member of the university, who might have 
 employed an illiterate deputy to perform that which
 
 ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM. 323 
 
 required scientific attainments. Of late years, under 
 the zealous and unremitting care of Mr. Duncan, 
 the Ashmolean Museum, as we understand, has 
 been re-arranged, and has received many valuable 
 additions. We have been likewise assured, that a 
 more general feeling in favour of the physical 
 sciences pervades at Oxford than heretofore, and 
 that there is a strong desire, among several in- 
 fluential members, to follow up the examples already 
 exhibited at Cambridge. It must not be concealed, 
 however, that this exclusion of zoology, as a " part 
 and parcel" of our academic studies, is a national 
 stigma : that it has repeatedly been adverted to, in 
 terms of regret and of censure, by our own writers ; 
 and that it calls forth the astonishment and reproach 
 of every enlightened foreigner. A stranger, ig- 
 norant of our national peculiarities, would almost 
 imagine, from the rigour with which their study is 
 enforced, that the writings of the heathen poets were 
 peculiarly adapted to purify the heart, and curb the 
 licentiousness of the youthful imagination ; or that 
 they formed, in some inexplicable way, a string of 
 commentaries upon our religious creed.* And he 
 might be further led to suppose that those wonders 
 of the visible creation, which, when considered, will 
 bring home conviction to the philosophic sceptic, 
 were unworthy of study or regard, as if they were 
 things of mere chance, produced by a congregation 
 of fortuitous atoms, alike incapable of demonstrating 
 
 * See the admirable remarks bearing on this subject in 
 Forster's Essays, 8th ed. p. 348374. 
 
 y 2
 
 324) STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 tne being of a God, or the care He bestows upon 
 his creatures. 
 
 (227.) Of our metropolitan institutions for public 
 instruction we may be expected to say a few words. 
 Two of these contain zoological chairs, but so poorly 
 supported, that they excite little or no competition 
 among those best able to give dignity and usefulness 
 to their duties. Both these sources of instruction 
 and enquiry are open to the naturalists of London, 
 and may in time become highly important to the 
 advancement of zoology. 
 
 (228.) The universities both of Edinburgh and 
 of Glasgow have their Regius Professors of natural 
 history, by whom lectures are given, and where mu- 
 seums of considerable extent are established. We 
 possess, indeed, but little information on the actual 
 state of zoological science in Scotland, further than 
 what may be gathered from the " Transactions of 
 the Wernerian Society ; " and the occasional pa- 
 pers inserted in that highly valuable publication, 
 " The Edinburgh Philosophical Journal," of Pro- 
 fessor Jameson. The museum of Glasgow has been 
 described as already rich, and continually aug- 
 menting ; while that of the Edinburgh College, so 
 justly celebrated for the perfection of the specimens, 
 seems to be second only to the national collection 
 in the British Museum. The talents and capability 
 of Professor Jameson, who fills the zoological chair 
 in our northern capital, are well known, and have, 
 doubtless, given an impetus to the science, which 
 is even now beginning to show itself in cheap and 
 popular compilations ; precursors, let us hope, of 
 something better. We regret the inability of giving,
 
 MANCHESTER NAT. HIST. SOCIETY. 325 
 
 from personal knowledge, a more detailed account 
 of these two establishments, which reflect so much 
 honour upon our northern universities, and should 
 long ago have been extended to those of England. 
 
 (229.) There are several provincial philosophical 
 institutions and societies, either comprehending 
 natural history as one of the sciences to be cultivated, 
 or expressly devoted to it. The most important of 
 these is the Natural History Society of Manchester, 
 a town long and justly famed, not only for its com- 
 mercial importance, but for its attachment to the 
 physical sciences ; an union so rare, that we know 
 not where to find its parallel. The society in 
 question has its periodical meetings, and is sup- 
 ported by the annual contributions of a very con- 
 siderable number of members residing in that part 
 of Lancashire. We have had the gratification of 
 seeing what has been the result of this liberality ; 
 and we hesitate not to say that the zoological col- 
 lection of this society, with a solitary exception, is 
 second to none in the metropolis of Great Britain. 
 Besides a very fine collection of native birds, it is 
 rich in the ornithology of Tropical America and of 
 the United States. The collection of insects is also 
 extensive; but that of the Testacea yields only 
 to the British Museum in the number, the rarity, 
 and the interest of the specimens. The shells, in 
 fact, amount to between 5000 and 6000 species; 
 very many of which are undescribed, while others 
 formed the chief ornaments of the Bligh, the Angus, 
 and the Swainsonian collections. This fact proves 
 that commercial and manufacturing occupations are 
 y 3
 
 326 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 by no means unfavourable to the prosecution of in- 
 tellectual studies. This is apparent, not only in the 
 higher and more educated classes of Manchester, 
 but is very general through the operative class of 
 the community. We were particularly struck one 
 day during our visit, at seeing two or three indi- 
 viduals of the latter description attentively looking 
 at some of the specimens in the museum, and com- 
 paring them with others brought for the purpose. 
 The superior tone and manners of these humble 
 admirers of nature are very striking, and at once 
 show the effect of such tastes upon the inward 
 man. 
 
 (230.) The opulent town of Liverpool, supposed by 
 some to be superior in a commercial view, can bear 
 no comparison with its neighbour in those intellec- 
 tual pursuits of which we are speaking. There is, 
 indeed, a Royal Institution, the schools of which, we 
 have heard, are well conducted. We were encou- 
 raged, some years ago, to devote much time and trou- 
 ble in the formation of a museum attached to this 
 building ; but, with the death of that illustrious 
 historian to whose exertions and influence this town 
 is chiefly indebted for its public institutions, ex- 
 pired that zeal for following up what had been so 
 well begun. The museum has remained nearly in 
 the same state, and, although admired, has not been 
 adequately supported ; while the taste for natural 
 history, once very prevalent, has almost expired with 
 the death of some, and the departure of others, 
 whose intellectual superiority shed a lustre on 
 the town of Liverpool. We admit, indeed, that in 
 such a place, where almost every one is either en-
 
 THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 327 
 
 gaged in commercial or professional pursuits, it 
 cannot be expected that gentlemen will be found, 
 who can afford to dedicate their time to the details 
 of abstract science. The institutions of Bristol, 
 and, as we believe, of Manchester, have seen this, 
 and have accordingly appointed curators to their 
 museums and libraries ; the duties of which, quite 
 distinct from those of the secretary, can only be 
 advantageously performed by a person well versed 
 in taxidermy, or the preservation of animals ; and 
 who has a competent knowledge of practical natural 
 history in general. Such individuals are always to 
 be found, but their remuneration must be propor- 
 tionably adequate, and sufficient to render the 
 situation respectable. A zoological garden has re- 
 cently been established at Liverpool ; which, as an 
 ornament to the town, and a recreation to its inha- 
 bitants, will, doubtless, be much encouraged ; and 
 may in time lead to some useful and scientific 
 purpose. 
 
 (231.) There is yet another institution, or ra- 
 ther society, of a higher and more comprehensive 
 description than those just noticed, and which dif- 
 fers most materially from all the local associations 
 we have yet noticed. We allude to the British 
 Association for the Advancement of Science, in- 
 stituted very recently, in imitation of that scientific 
 congress of learned men upon the Continent, whose 
 proceedings have become so celebrated. Some 
 misapprehensions respecting the objects embraced 
 by our British Association arose in the first instance, 
 which deterred several of our working savans from 
 immediately joining it : doubts also were entertained 
 Y 4
 
 328 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 as to the expediency of contributing papers, and 
 thereby impoverishing the Transactions of older 
 societies, at a time when the higher walks of science 
 were becoming nearly deserted. Happily, however, 
 these doubts and fears have been dissipated, and the 
 Association has rapidly grown into a large, influ- 
 ential, and energetic body. It is composed not only 
 of men whose names are already known, but a very 
 large number of juniors, particularly from the uni- 
 versities; and these have been joined by many 
 influential individuals, attached to intellectual pur- 
 suits, who, by their countenance and support, up- 
 hold the cause of science in the eyes of the public. 
 The terms of admission, therefore, are easy ; and 
 the pecuniary contribution very small. The pro- 
 ceedings of the Association differ materially from 
 all those we have yet noticed. The meetings are 
 annual, but, instead of being held at one place, the 
 members assemble every year at some one of the great 
 towns or cities of the empire. York, Oxford, Cam- 
 bridge, and Edinburgh have already witnessed this 
 intellectual j ubilee ; for such it may be truly called, 
 since it brings together men of known reputation and 
 of congenial pursuits, separated by distance from per- 
 sonal intercourse. It may readily be supposed that 
 such meetings unite all the advantages of those held 
 by the stationary societies, with many others they 
 cannot possess ; and that a spirit of excitement and 
 of tempered conviviality enlivens the whole ; giving 
 to this assembling together of the votaries of science 
 the charm and the relaxation of a holiday week. 
 Yet there is still work to be done : the members 
 are arranged into parties or sections, according to
 
 THE HON. EAST INDIA COMPANY. 329 
 
 their respective pursuits ; and Reports are drawn 
 up by each, of the progress made in any particular 
 branch of knowledge during the past year. The 
 greatest hospitality is generally shown by such 
 members as are resident, to those who come from 
 a distance ; speeches are made, toasts are drunk ; 
 and we can only regret the fate of those, who, from 
 professional or other pursuits, have not the power 
 of making so long an absence from home, and of 
 sharing the intellectual and social pleasures of such 
 instructive and pleasurable meetings.* 
 
 (232.) Having now dwelt at some length upon 
 those aids and encouragements to science which 
 emanate from public societies and institutes formed 
 for that express purpose, we must be allowed to 
 advert to another association, whose objects, indeed, 
 are commercial, but whose patronage of science in 
 all that relates to the civil and natural history of 
 Asia is without parallel, and entitles THE HONOUR- 
 ABLE COMPANY OF MERCHANTS TRADING TO 
 THE EAST INDIES not only to a place among the 
 scientific institutions of this empire, but to rank 
 with the first and foremost of those in Europe. We 
 here_ look to this Company only in its connection 
 
 * This association originated in a suggestion of Sir David 
 Brewster, who also took an active part in its subsequent or- 
 ganisation. Science is also indebted largely for its success to the 
 unwearied zeal and incessant exertions of the Hon. and Rev. 
 Vernon Harcourt, its general secretary, without whose aid it could 
 scarcely have emerged from its infancy. It would be invidious 
 to select for especial notice the names of other members, where 
 so many are conspicuous ; nevertheless we cannot omit that of 
 Mr. Phillips, of York, the assistant secretary. ED.
 
 330 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 with the literature and science of the East. The 
 liberality which the different courts of directors have 
 shown, for a long series of years, in bringing to light 
 the ancient records of that vast empire over which 
 their authority extends, is attested by the public- 
 ations these materials have given rise to, and the 
 efficient patronage that has uniformly been ex- 
 tended to their authors. Every thing, in short, 
 which could illustrate the ancient state of those 
 singular nations now under the dominion of Britain, 
 has been studiously sought for by the servants of 
 the Company, and deposited in their archives. The 
 Asiatic Society, celebrated for its learned Trans- 
 actions since the days of Sir William Jones, owed 
 its origin to their fostering care ; while the splendid 
 library and collection of Oriental MSS. at the India 
 House attest the feelings which have so long pre- 
 vaded their councils. If we turn, on the other 
 hand, to what has been done for elucidating the na- 
 tural history of their possessions, the result is still 
 more conspicuous. A botanical garden, worthy of 
 an Eastern monarch, superintended by distinguish- 
 ed botanists, having at their command all neces- 
 sary assistants, has disseminated the splendours of 
 the Indian flora over all similar establishments in 
 Europe. Yet this liberality is not confined to public 
 gardens, or to favoured botanists. Any individual 
 of respectability, upon his return to Europe, may 
 receive a collection of seeds and roots from these 
 gardens, free of expense. Nor are these all the 
 benefits resulting to the botanical world from the 
 munificence of the Company. The different pro- 
 vinces of India have been explored by competent
 
 THE HON. EAST INDIA COMPANY. 331 
 
 botanists ; and thousands and tens of thousands of 
 dried specimens, prepared under their superin- 
 tendence, have been transmitted to England, ar- 
 ranged into separate collections, and then dis- 
 tributed among the scientific botanists of Europe. 
 The same patronage has been extended to every 
 thing regarding zoology. No sooner had the 
 British arms taken possession of Java, than ar- 
 rangements were made for securing the services of 
 Dr. Horsfield, an eminent naturalist then resid- 
 ing in the island, and his valuable collections were 
 made over to the Company. On the arrival of 
 Dr. Horsfield in this country, these scientific trea- 
 sures were deposited in the India House ; and when 
 suitable arrangements had been made in the museum 
 for their reception, they were opened to the public 
 and to men of science : and the " Zoological Re- 
 searches in Java" were soon after published, under 
 the Company's patronage. The chief results of 
 Dr. Horsfield's discoveries being thus given to the 
 world, the rich collection of duplicate specimens 
 was ordered to be distributed, like those of the 
 plants, among the different public museums, and the 
 eminent zoologists, both in Britain and on the Con- 
 tinent. The splendid collection of insects, equally 
 rich in duplicates, will, no doubt, be employed in a 
 manner equally calculated to benefit science, so 
 soon as the honour attached to their discovery and 
 investigation has been secured. In short, in what- 
 ever light we view the scientific patronage exercised 
 by the India Company, it is scarcely possible to do 
 justice to that munificent spirit which is apparent in 
 all the details.
 
 332 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 (233.) From such an example of scientific pa- 
 tronage, emanating from a company of merchants, 
 we turn with sorrow and regret to the next subject 
 of discussion, namely, the support which zoology 
 receives from the government of this country, the 
 most powerful and wealthy nation in Europe, whose 
 pecuniary resources surpass all others, and whose 
 profuse liberality, on almost all other subjects but 
 those connected with science and art, nearly amounts 
 to prodigality. We might, indeed, spare ourselves 
 and our readers the humiliating detail which our 
 present object imperatively demands, by summing 
 up the whole with the confession that, excepting the 
 British Museum, there is no national institution of 
 any sort or kind for the teaching of natural history, 
 for its prosecution or encouragement, or for the 
 reward of its professors. Whether this indifference, 
 or rather apathy, to a science so intimately con- 
 nected as this is with religion, is expedient or 
 politic, may be worth enquiry; but that it is un- 
 exampled among civilised nations, is a fact too 
 notorious to be questioned. Before, however, we 
 look further into this evil, let us take a general 
 survey of the institution which forms the solitary 
 exception above alluded to. 
 
 (234.) The British Museum is the repository 
 for the national collections of books, manuscripts, 
 sculptures, and natural productions. It owes its 
 foundation to the purchase, made by parliament, of 
 the entire collections of Sir Hans Sloane, President 
 of the Royal Society for many years, and one of 
 the most eminent physicians and patrons of learning 
 of the age in which he lived. There is a curious
 
 THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 333 
 
 document, published in a work * where no one 
 would seek for it, regarding this famous collection, 
 which we shall here insert. 
 
 An Account of the Names and Numbers of the several 
 Species of Things contained in the Museum of Sir 
 Hans Sloane, Bart., and which, since his Death, 
 are placed for the Use of the Public in the British 
 Museum. 
 
 The Library, including books of drawings, 
 manuscripts, and prints, amounting to 
 
 about volumes 50,000 
 
 Medals and coins, ancient and modern - - 23,000 
 
 Cameos and intaglios, about ... 700 
 
 Seals, &c. - 268 
 
 Vessels, &c. of agate, jasper, &c. - - 542 
 
 Antiquities - - 1,125 
 
 Precious stones, agates, jaspers, &c. - - 2,256 
 
 Metals, minerals, ores, &c. ... 2,725 
 
 Crystals, spars, &c. - 1,864 
 
 Fossils, flints, stones, &c. - - 1,275 
 
 Earths, sands, salts, &c. - - 1,035 
 
 Bitumens, sulphurs, ambers, &c. - - 399 
 
 Talcs, mica, &c. - 388 
 
 * Corals, sponges, &c. - - 1,421 
 
 * Testacea or shells - - '',' 5,843 
 
 * Echini, Echinites, &c. ... 659 
 
 * Asterise, Trochi, Entrochi, &c. - - 241 
 
 * Crustaceae, crabs, lobsters, &c. - - 363 
 
 * Edwards's Gleanings of Natural History, vol. i. p. 7. 
 Pref.
 
 334 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 * Stella* marinae, star-fishes, &c. - - 173 
 
 * Fishes and their parts - - 1,555 
 
 * Birds and their parts, eggs and nests of 
 
 different species - - - - 1,172 
 
 * Quadrupeds - - - 1,886 
 
 * Vipers, serpents, &c. * - - 521 
 
 * Insects, &c. - - - . - ,, - 5,4-39 
 Vegetables - 12,506 
 Hortus Siccus, or volumes of dried plants - 334 
 Humana, as calculi, anatomical preparations, 
 
 &c. - .... 756 
 
 Miscellaneous things, natural, &c. - - 2,098 
 
 Mathematical instruments - - - 55 
 
 Pictures and drawings, framed - - 471 
 
 (235.) Edwards further adds, " Every single par- 
 ticular of all the above articles are numbered and 
 entered by name, with short accounts of them, in 
 thirty-eight volumes in folio, and eight in quarto." 
 It would be an interesting enquiry to ascertain how 
 many of the zoological subjects, originally in this 
 vast Museum, are now in existence.^ The total 
 
 f A few years ago, when the zoological collections of the 
 Museum formed the subject of a debate in the House of Com- 
 mons, and some censures were cast upon the little care then 
 bestowed upon them, it was positively asserted by a ministe- 
 rial member, since elevated to the peerage, that Sir H. Sloane's 
 insects were all in good preservation. And this assertion was 
 suffered to remain uncontradicted, from sheer ignorance in 
 the opposition members, who appeared to know as little about 
 the matter under discussion, as if it related to the Museum of 
 China. The fact being, that no insects, as then preserved, 
 could by any possibility, have existed so long.
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM. 335 
 
 number comprised under the separate items marked 
 there being no less than 19,272. Nineteen thousand 
 of these, in all probability, have perished, either from 
 the imperfect manner in which they were prepared, 
 or from the neglect which accompanied a long period 
 of indifference, in the former conservators, to their 
 proper custody. It is very probable that the leg of 
 that extinct bird, the dodo, already adverted to, and 
 now forming the greatest curiosity in the ornitholo- 
 gical department, is one of the Sloanean relics. This 
 noble basis having been laid, successive donations 
 . and purchases were added, and successive losses 
 were suffered, as zeal or supineness on the part of 
 succeeding curators predominated. This state of 
 things continued until the appointment of Dr. Leach, 
 a naturalist whose ability was only equalled by his 
 zeal, and whose health eventually fell a sacrifice to 
 incessant labour. Well do we remember the time 
 when he set to work manfully in cleaning out what 
 was then an Augean stable a chaos of " confusion 
 worse confounded." But the effects of long years 
 of misrule and of disorder were not to be overcome 
 by a single individual, who, while he was stopping 
 the plague in one quarter, was necessitated to permit 
 its full rage in another. Duties which, to be per- 
 formed, would have required the activity of five or 
 six naturalists, were imposed upon one; the task 
 was Herculean, and, as his friends foresaw, he sunk 
 under their burthen. 
 
 (236.) Whether this lamentable circumstance 
 forced conviction upon the trustees, that the zoolo- 
 gical department required augmentation, or whether 
 the opening of the Continent, by showing us the
 
 336 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 state of other national museums, made the poverty 
 of our own but too apparent, yet it was about this 
 time that two assistants were appointed to aid the 
 gentleman who next succeeded to the situation, 
 and whose zeal in his official duties, and whose 
 courteous demeanour to all who frequent the Mu- 
 seum, either for information or pleasure, have been 
 so frequently praised : nor would it be just towards 
 those who share these duties, to omit a public at- 
 testation of their promptitude in giving every facility 
 in their power to all who require it, without that 
 punctilious regard to those strict regulations which 
 are certainly necessary, but which are sometimes 
 highly inconvenient to students. Of the sums of 
 money, worthily voted by the nation to this establish- 
 ment, a large portion has been expended in erecting 
 more suitable apartments for the natural history col- 
 lections, the whole of which have been removed from 
 the dark and dismal rooms they once occupied, and 
 are now arranged, or arranging, in the new buildings. 
 Were we to judge, indeed, merely from outward 
 appearances, and compare the present state of the 
 zoological collections of this Museum, with what 
 they were ten years ago, we should be tempted to 
 think that natural Jiistory was really patronised by 
 the executive government ; nor would it be supposed 
 that so imposing an appearance could exist, with a 
 deficiency of all those measures calculated to give 
 proper efficacy to such an establishment. The only 
 disadvantages of the zoological collections arise from 
 the age and imperfect preservation of the ornitho- 
 logical specimens, and the poverty of the Mammalia: 
 the shells are particularly fine, and the entomological
 
 RECENT NATIONAL ENCOURAGEMENT. 337 
 
 cabinets, although poor in some of the orders, are 
 very rich in others. The funds set apart for the 
 purchase of additions, are, as it is understood, very 
 scanty ; but the public have began to be liberal in 
 donations, for they see they are taken care of, and 
 they naturally prefer sending them to the British 
 Museum, where their gifts can be viewed gra- 
 tuitously, than giving them to other collections, the 
 managers of which oblige them to pay for seeing 
 their own presents. 
 
 (237.) We must not omit, in this place, to notice 
 two facts of recent occurrence, not so much from 
 any great influence they have in themselves in re- 
 trieving the national character from the stigma of 
 indifference to science, but that every indication, 
 however slight, of an awakened sense to the import- 
 ance of the subject, must be hailed with pleasure. 
 We allude to some of the highest dignitaries of 
 science having had bestowed upon them " the lowest 
 title that is given to the lowest benefactor of the 
 nation, or to the humblest servant of the crown *," 
 and to the circumstance of one thousand pounds 
 having been allotted by government to the execution 
 of the zoological plates accompanying the volumes 
 of the Fauna Americani Boreali ; without this grant, 
 indeed, the result of the zoological discoveries made 
 by the Arctic expeditions of Franklin and Richard- 
 son would never have been given to the world. It 
 will ever be an honour attached to the name of 
 Lord Goderich, that he was the first minister of the 
 
 * Quarterly Review, No. 86. 
 Z
 
 338 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 crown who induced the British government to aid 
 in the expense of publishing the fruits of zoological 
 researches, carried on at the cost of the nation, the 
 work in question being the first and nearly only in- 
 stance of such liberality.
 
 339 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 ON THE NATIONAL PATRONAGE OF SCIENCE IN OTHER 
 COUNTRIES, AS COMPARED TO ITS NEGLECT BY THE 
 BRITISH GOVERNMENT. THE CAUSES WHICH PRODUCE 
 THIS NEGLECT, AND THE EXPEDIENCY OF REMOVING 
 THEM. 
 
 (238.) THE facts detailed in the last chapter being 
 admitted, because they are notoriously undeniable, 
 we come then to the following questions: 1. Is 
 such a state of things peculiar to England, or com- 
 mon to other nations? 2. Does abstract science, 
 more particularly zoology, stand in need of any 
 peculiar or national encouragement? and, 3. What 
 are the causes which operate to its neglect ? By dis- 
 cussing these questions impartially and dispassion- 
 ately, we shall then be prepared to form a sound 
 opinion, whether science, among us, is in a healthy 
 state ; and whether, in truth, it is advancing, qui- 
 escent, or retrograding. On a subject in every way 
 so important and interesting, we have much fear, 
 after the able manner in which it has already been 
 treated, of not doing justice to the cause we advo- 
 cate. But the general sense of any body of men can 
 only be gathered from the expression of individual 
 opinions ; and although some of these will be more 
 eloquent, and the reasons assigned more convincing, 
 than others ; yet, if they advocate the same general 
 principles, and concur in the same sentiments, the 
 z 2
 
 34-0 " STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 reiterations of the weaker will give confirmation to 
 the arguments of the more powerful advocate ; and 
 if several of these, taking up different departments 
 of science, each in their own walk, arrive by 
 different inferences at the same conclusions, we 
 may safely believe that there is much of truth in 
 the result. It may be said, indeed, by those who 
 yet concur in the sentiments here expressed, that 
 there is little need of any further discussion on the 
 state of science in Britain, seeing it has already 
 been animadverted upon, " more in sorrow than in 
 anger," by such men as Sir H. Davy, Sir J. Her- 
 schel, Professor Babbage*, and Sir James South f; 
 and further, by a writer no less accomplished than 
 eloquent, in a Journal J devoted to the political 
 interests of the court or conservative party, and 
 which would not have been the organ for casting 
 imputations upon the government, except under 
 strong and peculiar circumstances. With such a 
 mass of evidence before those who have the power 
 of remedying the evils complained of, it may be 
 said, that to reiterate these complaints is alike 
 tedious and unprofitable, seeing that they are al- 
 ready well known. But the question more pro- 
 perly is this: Have they been redressed? have 
 they made such an impression as they ought to 
 make? have any effectual measures been taken 
 
 * Reflections on the Decline of Science in England. London, 
 1830. 
 
 f Charges against the President and Councils of the Royal 
 Society. London, 1830. 
 
 f On the Decline of Science in England. Quarterly Review, 
 Oct. 1830.
 
 THE CLAIMS OF SCIENCE. 34-1 
 
 in consequence? or has any efficient reform- 
 ation actually commenced ? Until these questions 
 can be answered more satisfactorily than at present, 
 the more frequently such demands are urged, the 
 more likely are they finally to receive attention, 
 even from the very weariness of the complain- 
 ants. It is not to be supposed that the aristocracy 
 of science, proud even in their degradation, can 
 derive either individual pleasure, or popular re- 
 spect, in proclaiming to the world the little es- 
 timation in which they are held by the rulers of 
 their country, those, in fact, whose honourable 
 duty it is to foster their exertions and reward their 
 merit. They only seek to hold among the different 
 grades of the national assemblies their proper rank 
 and station, and equally to participate with others 
 in those rewards and honours which should be the 
 outward signs to the world at large of their intel- 
 lectual merit. It is only, then, as a last resource, 
 that they bring themselves to the humiliating alter- 
 native of public complaint, consoled by the reflection 
 that, however those complaints for a time may be 
 disregarded, yet that, if they are repeatedly made, 
 a season will come when honest conviction will 
 see their justice, and grant their demands. Further- 
 more, such statements should be more especially 
 made in publications having a great circulation, 
 as more likely to fix the attentfon of the public, and 
 to come within the circle of those very few, in an 
 exalted sphere of life, who have so much in their 
 power to remedy what is amiss. 
 
 (239.) To arrive at a just conclusion on the 
 questions before us, there is only one assertion 
 z 3
 
 342 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 which must be asssumedas true, namely, that the 
 greatness of a nation depends, not upon its phy- 
 sical, but on its intellectual power. From this axiom 
 it necessarily follows that science produces manu- 
 factories, manufactories commerce, and commerce 
 wealth. Hence it is at once perceived how insepar- 
 ably science is interwoven in all that gives power 
 and dignity to a nation, or rather that it is the corner- 
 stone upon which all other forms of greatness 
 are built. The expediency, therefore, not to say 
 the necessity that physical knowledge should be 
 nurtured and protected by every government, re- 
 quires no discussion. It may, indeed, be urged by 
 those who are fully aware of the connections just 
 alluded to, that in a commercial country like this, 
 all sciences which can be brought to bear upon the 
 necessities, the conveniences, or the luxuries of life, 
 require no other aid or reward than that which 
 they are sure to meet with on their successful appli- 
 cation. The moment that an invention is found 
 really available for practical purposes, from that 
 moment its author may fairly calculate upon receiv- 
 ing his reward by the general adoption of his dis- 
 covery ; while, on the other hand, if there be no real 
 utility in the thing itself, the most powerful patron- 
 age will fail to establish it in public estimation. 
 There is, undoubtedly, much of truth in these 
 remarks, but a moment's reflection will convince us 
 that they are partial and superficial. We merely 
 notice them in this place, to apprise the reader that 
 they have not been overlooked, and that they will 
 form a point of separate discussion hereafter. 
 
 (24-0.) The first question, Is science less
 
 DIFFUSION AND ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 343 
 
 cultivated and held in less estimation in England 
 than on the Continent? is perhaps too general. A 
 distinction must then be drawn between abstract 
 and practical science ; or, in other words, between 
 such branches as can be brought to bear upon the 
 physical wants and necessities of society, and such 
 as are purely intellectual. There is still a further 
 distinction, and it is a very important one, be- 
 tween that degree of knowledge which can render a 
 science pleasing and popular, and that which, from 
 aiming at the highest objects, the discovery of new 
 laws, and the investigation of difficult questions, 
 renders it, in the eyes of the many, abstruse and 
 uninteresting. To each of these minor questions 
 very different answers would be given, and they 
 should therefore be considered separately. If we 
 speak of science generally, it may fairly be ques- 
 tioned, whether, at any former period of our history 
 it was ever held in so much estimation, or was so 
 generally diffused among the mass of our country- 
 men, as it is at present. Yet, while we may truly 
 exult in this awakening of the national intellect, we 
 must remember that diffusion and advancement are 
 two very different processes : and each may exist in- 
 dependent of the other. It is very essential, there- 
 fore, to our present purpose, when we speak of the 
 diffusion or extension of science, that we do not 
 confound these stages of developement with dis- 
 covery or advancement; since the latter may be as 
 different from the former as depth is from shallow- 
 ness. Reverting, then, to the simple question, whe- 
 ther the higher walks of science, properly so called, 
 are more neglected in England than on the Con-
 
 344 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 tinent, there are few of our readers, we imagine, 
 who will deny that any authorities can be greater 
 than those just named, each of whom, speaking 
 with reference to those sciences which they parti- 
 cularly study, concur in opinion that England has 
 rapidly fallen behind the neighbouring nations. In 
 reference to zoology, we have already given reasons 
 in another place * for forming the same conclusion, 
 nor need we stop there. We have long consigned 
 comparative anatomy as regards the Vertebrata, as 
 if by indolent consent, to the French ; while that 
 of the Annulosa has only just begun to excite some 
 attention among us, in consequence of the splendid 
 essays of Chablier, Leon Dufour, and others. Who, 
 let us ask, has done any thing to elucidate the struc- 
 ture of the naked Mollusca, by following up the 
 splendid discoveries of Savigny, the delicate and 
 inimitable dissections of Poli, and a host of others, 
 emanating from the zoological schools of France, 
 Germany, and Italy ? But this is not all : so little 
 are the higher objects the true philosophy of 
 our science, esteemed or cultivated, that discoveries 
 of the first order, which open a new and unexpected 
 field for the most important generalisations, and 
 which will eventually overturn all the existing dog- 
 mas of systematists, these discoveries we have suf- 
 fered to die almost in their birth, although they 
 have actually been made by our own countrymen! 
 Who, let us ask, has attempted to verify and follow 
 up M'Leay's theory on the arrangement of the 
 
 * Northern Zoology, vol. ii. pref. p. xl.
 
 NE iLECT OF COMPREHENSIVE ENQUIRIES. 345 
 
 Petalocera Lamillicornes, insects which every 
 one is ambitious of collecting, but which no one 
 among us thinks of investigating ? We have, again, 
 the splendid discovery of Thompson on the meta- 
 morphosis of the Crustacea and of the Cirripeda.* 
 These discoveries, of which the last is worthy of 
 Trembley or of Savigny, far from having been 
 rewarded, as they deserved, by a Copleyan medal, 
 have neither been investigated or verified ; they were 
 scarcely noticed in our journals, and although made 
 within the last few years, they seem to be alto- 
 gether forgotten I It is alike irksome and unneces- 
 sary to make further appeal to facts such as these, 
 which verify too truly and too forcibly, the utter 
 neglect of the philosophy of natural history in 
 Britain, and this at the very time when frivolities of 
 nomenclature and minutiae of species occupy the 
 attention of its followers, and when its common- 
 place facts and amusing details are dressed in po- 
 pular language, published in every possible form, 
 and perused with avidity. True it is that these 
 cheap compilations and amusing collections of anec- 
 dotes have awakened a very general taste for natu- 
 ral history ; and so far they are useful ; but we are 
 looking at present, not to the extension, whatever 
 may be the ultimate result, but to the advancement 
 of this science. And we unhesitatingly repeat, that 
 its progress is more retrograde than otherwise.* If 
 there is no taste for cultivating the higher investi- 
 gations of zoology among those who are considered 
 
 * See North. Zool. TO!, ii. pref. p. xliii.
 
 346 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 its teachers, how can it be expected that what is not 
 found in individuals should be found in learned 
 societies ? or how can it be imagined, under these 
 circumstances, that the rising school of students 
 should appreciate the value of those researches 
 which alone give dignity to the study of nature ? 
 
 (241.) From individuals and societies let us 
 turn to national encouragement ; that we may form 
 some idea whether the governments of other nations 
 regard science and its professors in the same light 
 as they are viewed by that of Britain, and trouble 
 themselves as little in the state of one as in the 
 patronage of the other. And here we will not 
 enter into those interesting details, brought forward 
 with so much energy and feeling by the anonymous 
 writer in the Quarterly Review, relative to the pa- 
 tronage of science in the seventeenth century, not 
 merely by the continental sovereigns of that age, 
 but by the court and ministry of Britain ; for we 
 should, by condensing, diminish the force and con- 
 clusiveness of the argument. A perusal of that 
 statement will show, that among the distinguished 
 philosophers who adorned that age, there is scarcely 
 an individual who did not receive the most sub- 
 stantial rewards for his scientific labours. Newton 
 was appointed successively Warden and Master of 
 the Mint by Charles Montague, afterwards Earl of 
 Halifax, and in the subsequent reign of Queen 
 Anne, " the then undegraded honour of knighthood" 
 was conferred upon him. Rremer in Denmark, He- 
 felius and Huygens in France, Jacquin and Leibnitz 
 in Germany, the family of the Bernouillis, the 
 celebrated Pallas, and the illustrious Euler in
 
 CONTINENTAL PATRONAGE. 347 
 
 Russia, and last, though not least, the famous 
 Linnaeus in Sweden, are some of the most striking 
 and familiar instances where scientific attainments 
 were rewarded either with high appointments, 
 honorary rank, or liberal pensions ; but, what was 
 still more gratifying to the feelings of such men, 
 they enjoyed the confidence of their sovereigns, the 
 converse of their ministers, and the influence they 
 merited. Such an age was not unworthy of that 
 which immediately preceded it, when the sun of 
 patronage arose with such lustre in Italy, and shed 
 a halo of glory over the reign of the Medici, 
 the Emperor Rodolph II., and those sovereigns and 
 princes who courted the acquaintance of Tycho 
 Brahe, and contended for the honour of retaining 
 Descartes at their respective courts. These, and 
 other equally striking proofs of the respect and 
 admiration paid to such men need not be dwelt 
 upon ; for it may be urged in explanation, that high 
 scientific attainments were then rare, and were con- 
 sequently more calculated to excite wonder and 
 respect than they are at present. 
 
 (242.) Let us now bring the parallel nearer to 
 our own times ; and let us see if, in an age wherein 
 science is more diffused, and has by this diffusion 
 lost part of its wonderment in the eyes of the mul- 
 titude, whether other nations treat it with that 
 indifference and neglect which we complain of. Is 
 France, in the nineteenth century, indifferent to her 
 scientific sons ? and does she suffer her philosophers 
 to live unhonoured and unrewarded. Let the names 
 of La Place, Chaptal, Carnot, and Cuvier, created 
 by the government peers p* 1 Prance, and esteemed by
 
 348 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 the intellectual world as princes of science, exonerate 
 our neighbours from such ingratitude. Wealth, the 
 mammon of this country, is here considered a neces- 
 sary requisite for attaining the honoursof the peerage : 
 but it is different in all other countries. We know 
 not the average extent of " worldly goods" possessed 
 by the illustrious men just named ; but they have 
 never had the reputation of enjoying more than 
 what, among us, would be termed moderate inde- 
 pendence. Such, at least, was the case with the 
 Baron Cuvier, the simplicity of whose table and 
 establishment would have been thought mean by 
 a purse-proud shopkeeper of London. Yet, if these 
 and numerous others, scarcely inferior in the re- 
 public of science, were not wealthy, they were suf- 
 ficiently rewarded by appropriate offices in the state, 
 or by pensions, to be placed above the necessity of 
 labouring in matters foreign to science. They were 
 rendered independent, and thus enabled to direct, 
 undisturbed, all the energies of their talents to the 
 respective sciences they have so much adorned. 
 Can we find any parallel instances to these in 
 Britain? can we point to such names as Dalton, 
 Ivory, Herschel, Murdock, Henry Bell, Robert 
 Brown, and many others ; and say that any one has 
 received honours worthy of such names, or have 
 had the means given to them to secure a respect- 
 able independence ? Nor is this studied patronage 
 of philosophy confined to France. Turn where we 
 will, either to the leading powers or to the subor- 
 dinate states of Europe, the same fostering pro- 
 tection shows itself. Prussia has risen to a proud 
 pre-eminence in this respect. The attachment of
 
 CONTINENTAL PATRONAGE. 349 
 
 the reigning family to science and literature is well 
 known ; and has spread its vivifying influence to the 
 institutions and the philosophers of that kingdom. 
 Not to mention the celebrated Humboldt, who has 
 been loaded with honorary and pecuniary rewards, 
 and Lichtenstein, the learned and accomplished tra- 
 veller and naturalist, a long list might be given of 
 other names, celebrated in different departments of 
 science, who repose in the sunshine of royal favour, 
 and are enabled to devote themselves, " in learned 
 leisure," to the investigation of abstract truth. It 
 is a fact well known, that, at " the congress of 
 German naturalists and philosophers, which took 
 place at Berlin in 1828, the attachment of the King 
 and of the royal family of Prussia to the sciences 
 was most strikingly displayed. On the evening of 
 the first day of the meeting, Baron Humboldt, the 
 celebrated traveller, and chamberlain to the King, 
 gave a large soiree in the concert-room attached to 
 the theatre. Nearly twelve hundred persons of rank 
 and talent were assembled on this occasion ; and the 
 King of Prussia himself honoured this illustrious 
 assembly with his presence. Several princes of 
 foreign states, the Prussian nobility, and the foreign 
 ambassadors, were also present. The princes of the 
 blood mingled with the cultivators of science, and 
 the heir-apparent to the Prussian throne was seen 
 in earnest conversation with the philosophers of his 
 own or other kingdoms that were most celebrated for 
 their talents and their genius." * Science in all its 
 
 * When Hogarth, indignant at the apathy of our court 
 towards artists and the arts, dedicated his celebrated print of
 
 350 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 branches, but more especially natural history, has 
 nowhere received more uniform patronage than in 
 Germany. The splendid works of Jacquin, the cele- 
 brated botanist, who travelled for years at the public 
 expense, were given to the world at the cost of the 
 Emperor, and their author rewarded with an office 
 under his patron. No sooner were the enchanting 
 regions of Brazil opened to the researches of Euro- 
 pean naturalists, than a corps of savans were formed 
 at Vienna, completely supplied with every assistance, 
 and conveyed to Rio de Janeiro in ships of war, as 
 a fit retinue to attend the Archduchess of Austria, 
 then united to the King of Portugal. Another fact, 
 by which the comparison we are now making will be 
 better elucidated, regards the celebrated F. Bauer, 
 who, through the strong representations of Sir Joseph 
 Banks, was engaged as botanical painter to the ex- 
 pedition under Captain Flinders. Truly and faith- 
 fully did he perform his duties, and returned to 
 England with portfolios filled with inimitable draw- 
 ings ; but our government thought themselves too 
 poor to follow up what they had so well begun : no 
 measures were taken to publish, or turn to any use, 
 what had thus been acquired ; Bauer was neglected, 
 and thrown upon his own resources. But this in- 
 justice to so distinguished a man was not viewed 
 with indifference by other nations : he was invited 
 
 the March to Finchley to the then king of Prussia, in the same 
 spirit as an English writer would now do, if he selected as his 
 patron the emperor of China, little did he think that, in 
 18S4, the then king would be the most munificent patron of 
 art and science in Europe.
 
 CONTINENTAL PATRONAGE. 351 
 
 to Vienna, with the assurance of protection ; and, 
 disgusted with British liberality, he left this country, 
 and ended his days in the enjoyment of a pension from 
 the Austrian government. We are accustomed to 
 look upon Russia as a half-civilised nation, where 
 the arts and sciences are still in their infancy. If 
 this be true (which every year renders more ques- 
 tionable), what is the reason that " so many dis- 
 tinguished individuals of the Academy of Sciences 
 of St. Petersburgh are maintained at the public ex- 
 pense? and that the government has,- on all occa- 
 sions, exhibited the most generous indulgence to her 
 philosophers and artists ? " Nor can we hope that 
 a comparison with the minor kingdoms and states of 
 Europe will tell in our favour, or give an indirect 
 sanction to the apathy and ingratitude of England. 
 The court of Bavaria is now, as it was during the 
 reign of the late king, the rendezvous of all men 
 of science and of literature ; for there they feel 
 assured of being received with the honour due to 
 their high attainments. And here, again, we need 
 only refer to simple facts for a full justification of 
 our sentiments. The possession of the .^Egean 
 marbles, now in the Royal Museum at Munich, will 
 for ever record the supineness of Great Britain, in 
 having suffered herself to be outbid for these classi- 
 cal treasures by the little kingdom of Bavaria. The 
 offer was made to both : we declined it, and the 
 Bavarian monarch accepted it. At the time when 
 the scientific expedition to Brazil, above alluded to, 
 was fitted out by the Austrian government, that of 
 Bavaria immediately resolved on following the ex- 
 ample, and the king appointed MM. Spix and
 
 352 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 Martius, two of the most celebrated naturalists in 
 Europe : they explored Brazil for four years, re- 
 turned with immense acquisitions, and received from 
 the government not only adequate pensions, but 
 every needful support for publishing their disco- 
 veries.* We turn now to Sweden, " which has 
 never been behind the other kingdoms of the North 
 in her zealous patronage of science." We need not 
 refer to Linnaeus, honoured, enriched, and ennobled 
 by his sovereign : for that celebrated name belongs 
 to the last century. She yet boasts, however, of 
 her illustrious chemist Berzelius, who has been ho- 
 noured by a seat in the house of peers, and has 
 been decorated with the cross of the order of Vasa, 
 and the grand cross of the Polar Star ; while, in 
 addition to these marks of royal esteem, he enjoys 
 the almost exclusive patronage of the chemical and 
 medical chairs of Sweden. Though circumscribed 
 in its finances, the parliament of Norway has ad- 
 vanced to Professor Hanstein no less than 30001. 
 
 * In the year 1817, two naturalists, one a Bavarian, the 
 other an Englishman, left Europe, separately, to explore Brazil. 
 They -took different routes, and returned to their respective 
 countries three or four years after. The Bavarian published 
 his ornithological discoveries by subscription ; and his list, 
 prefixed to the work, contains the names of two emperors, 
 one empress, six kings, one queen, nine princes, four arch- 
 dukes, seven dukes, and four counts. Total, thirty-four of 
 the highest titles in the world. (English none.) The English- 
 man, some years after, determined to do the same, and his titled 
 subscribers consisted of one prince (Musignano), and one baron 
 (the Lord Stanley). Total two, English one.
 
 CONTINENTAL PATRONAGE. 353 
 
 to perform his magnetic tour in Siberia. This 
 generous confidence in their countryman has been 
 well repaid by a series of the most valuable ob- 
 servations ; and we are sure that every philosopher 
 in Europe is deeply grateful to the patriotic Nor- 
 wegians for an act of devotion to science, which 
 would do honour to the most powerful nation.* 
 
 (24-3.) Enough, we think, has now been stated, 
 to supply an answer to the question with which 
 we set out; namely, Is science more neglected 
 by the government of this country than on the 
 Continent? for we have seen that, with the ex- 
 ception of Britain, Turkey, and perhaps of Spain, 
 " scientific acquirements conduct their possessors 
 to wealth, to honours, to official dignity, and to 
 the favour and friendship of the sovereign." 
 
 (244.) We now come to the second question 
 proposed; Does abstract science, and more par- 
 ticularly natural history, stand in need of any 
 peculiar or national encouragement? We might 
 dismiss this with a very simple reply in the affirm- 
 ative, by merely asking, whether the pursuit of 
 philosophy will give to its followers the means of 
 living, and will enable them to provide that suitable 
 income for themselves and families, which moderate 
 abilities in other professions will almost always 
 insure ? If science will accomplish this, it requires 
 no protection or support ; but if, as is notorious, it is 
 the most precarious and the most thankless of all 
 pursuits, encouragement and protection of some 
 sort is absolutely necessary for all those who possess 
 
 * Quarterly Rev. p. 319. 
 A A
 
 354< STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 not pecuniary resources of their own. We speak 
 not here of dilettanti, who amuse themselves and 
 rationally so with learning what has long been 
 known, and who, after the ordinary business of the 
 day is finished, make the elegancies of science their 
 recreation. These neither seek or require any other 
 inducement or reward than the self-approbation, 
 and the intellectual pleasure, derived from such a 
 rational source of relaxation ; they skim the surface, 
 sip its sweets, but never dive to the depths below. 
 Far otherwise, however, is the case with him who 
 devotes his undivided attention to science in her 
 highest and noblest garb, who consumes days and 
 nights, months and years, in learning all that the 
 accumulated labours of mankind have made known 
 upon his favourite theme, only that he may discover 
 something that they have not ; that he may unfold 
 new applications of those general laws already 
 known, trace more clearly the results of their com- 
 bination, or discover others which open fresh sources 
 of harmony and wonder. The most ordinary mind 
 must immediately perceive, that studies such as these 
 are quite inconsistent with the ordinary business 
 and concerns of life ; that they cannot be pursued 
 together ; and that, if the depths of science are to 
 be fathomed, and new discoveries brought to light, 
 the task can only be achieved by those whose time 
 is at their own command, whose attention is not 
 divided or distracted by avocations purely worldly, 
 and whose circumstances are such as to make them 
 free from pecuniary cares. Talents, fitting their 
 possessors, for such speculations, must be of a high 
 order, and they are consequently rare; yet still
 
 BY WHOM SCIENCE SHOULD BE PROTECTED. 355 
 
 more rare is it to find, superadded to them, the 
 gifts of fortune. From whom, then, if abstract 
 science is to be fostered and rewarded, is this en- 
 couragement to come? Certainly not from the 
 public ; for what the multitude cannot appreciate, 
 they cannot be expected to reward. If, indeed, the 
 speculations of the philosopher can be turned into 
 immediate advantage by the manufacturer or the 
 merchant, the inventor is in a fair way of dividing 
 profits with the applier; but we are not at present 
 considering such cases. Again, then, let us enquire 
 who are to be the patrons of our philosophy ? We 
 live not, unfortunately, in days when any thing of 
 this sort can be looked for from our nobles. " We 
 may in vain search the aristocracy no\fr for philo- 
 sophers," was the bitter truth extorted from Sir 
 Humphry Davy. If intellectual excellence is so 
 little cultivated among the higher orders, how is it 
 to be expected that they will foster and uphold in 
 others, those qualifications they neither possess nor 
 value ? Were it otherwise, we should not see nearly 
 all offices in the state, whose duties implied some 
 acquaintance with science, bestowed upon those 
 who were destitute of such qualifications. Philo- 
 sophy can, then, only look to national endowments 
 and institutions, or to the favour of the sovereign 
 and his minister^, for that support which she stands 
 in such need of; without which her realms cannot be 
 extended, her discoveries rendered beneficial, or her 
 votaries supported. That this has been the general 
 conviction in all ages, is attested by the uniform 
 agreement of the most enlightened governments to 
 take their philosophers under their own especial 
 A A 2
 
 356 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 protection, and thus to reflect back upon such men 
 a portion of the honour which their discoveries and 
 inventions have cast upon the nation at large. We 
 have now dispassionately enquired into the state of 
 scientific patronage as it is manifested by other 
 nations and by our own ; and we have shown that 
 the advancement of all sciences, in reality, stands in 
 need of more efficient encouragement than that 
 which may be expected from the public in general. 
 There are a few considerations, however, which ren- 
 der natural history particularly dependent, for its 
 successful prosecution, upon the assistance and 
 support of national institutions ; and these we shall 
 now briefly enumerate. 
 
 (245.) Natural history, in the) sense here taken, 
 is restricted to zoology, botany, and mineralogy. 
 And as these branches bear a very unequal influence 
 in their relations to the practical purposes of life, 
 so we must be understood, in the following observ- 
 ations, to allude more to the former than the two 
 latter. Mineralogy, indeed, which forms but a part 
 of chemistry, may almost be considered the only 
 division of natural history which, in an especial and 
 obvious manner, is intimately connected with the 
 wants and elegancies of life. The discovery and 
 extraction of our mineral wealth the separation and 
 combination of fluids, and the uses to which they 
 are then applied in medicine and in manufactures 
 at once places mineralogy and chemistry in the 
 rank of the most useful of all the branches of 
 natural history. That discoveries, which eventually 
 have proved extensively applicable to commerce, 
 were never so suspected when their first rudiments
 
 SPECIAL CLAIMS OF NATURAL . HISTORY. 35? 
 
 were developed, is too notorious to be disputed : 
 for the discovery and the application of a new 
 principle requires very different powers of mind. 
 He who achieved the first, may die in poverty and 
 obscurity ; while the other may gain enormous 
 wealth and popular applause. Nevertheless, it is 
 quite obvious that, comparatively to many others, 
 mineralogy is more independent of national patron- 
 age for its successful prosecution than either botany 
 or zoology. Not, indeed, that it requires less ab- 
 straction of thought, or a less devoted prosecution, 
 but sjmply on the ground that its knowledge may 
 be turned to practical and pecuniary account. But 
 with botany and zoology the case is for different. 
 Omitting the occasional discovery of a vegetable 
 (like the Peruvian bark), or an animal (like the 
 cochineal), whose qualities prove of universal benefit, 
 a knowledge of these departments can be but rarely 
 and indirectly applied to the ordinary wants of the 
 community; and it is a maxim of the vulgar to 
 esteem every acquirement of this sort, in propor- 
 tion to the direct benefit it confers on their own 
 interests. Yet because horticulture, which has no 
 other object than animal sense, is thought to be a 
 part of botanical science, the study of plants is 
 more honoured than that of animals, and professor- 
 ships are instituted for its advancement. Were 
 these more numerous, or were they not strictly con- 
 fined to members of those universities where they 
 exist, they would, indeed, offer to our veteran 
 botanists the same chance of reward which en- 
 courages an adventurer in the lottery, where there 
 is one " capital prize " to about a thousand blanks. 
 A A 3
 
 358 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 But the zoologist has not even this forlorn hope to 
 look to. Let him spend his youth in travel, his 
 manhood in study, and his fortune in a library and 
 museum, let his labour have been almost as long 
 as his life, he can neither apply the knowledge thus 
 gained to the marketable wants of mankind, or to pro- 
 curing a respectable competence. Neither can he 
 look, as a last resource, to the hope of some small 
 place of profit, or some slender pension, as a slight 
 acknowledgment from the government or from 
 his sovereign, for that noble disinterestedness which 
 led him to the pursuit of abstract truth, rather than 
 to seek personal aggrandisement in the strife and 
 intrigues of public life. 
 
 (246.) Zoology, indeed, may be said to compre- 
 hend comparative anatomy, in the same way as 
 mineralogy does chemistry ; for both, in fact, re- 
 gard the analysis of their respective sciences. 
 And it may be urged, perhaps, that anatomy is not 
 altogether in the same deplorable state as zoology 
 We contend not that it is ; but we maintain that the 
 two sciences are so vast, that there never yet ex- 
 isted an individual (and we except not one whom 
 the world has just lost) who has reached a pre- 
 eminent station in both. Besides, anatomy, with 
 us, only leads to pecuniary or honorary advantage, 
 when it is confined to the human subject. Anato- 
 mical zoology is altogether unproductive of worldly 
 goods ; and therefore, with the exception of being 
 followed up, as an amusement, by the wealthy 
 members of the medical profession, it has been 
 long ago resigned into the hands of the pensioned 
 members of the French Institute, to those, in
 
 EXPENSE OF NATURALISTS' MATERIALS. 359 
 
 short, who have no occasion to look around, and see 
 in what manner science will enable them to live. 
 
 (247.) While the possession of great zoological 
 attainments leads neither to honorary nor pecuniary 
 advantages, their acquirement is attended with an 
 enormous expense. Books and specimens are the 
 indispensable materials for study. And a large 
 collection of both becomes absolutely essential to 
 every one who aspires to something beyond the 
 minutiae of his science, the details of names, or the 
 characterising species. Those who are within a 
 convenient distance of the National Museum, are, in 
 a great measure, exempted from such expensive 
 purchases. Yet, when it is remembered that there 
 are no public means of instruction attached either 
 to that establishment, nor to the two leading uni- 
 versities, and that critical examinations, in most in- 
 stances, can only be made and followed up in the 
 quietude of the study or the library, few will venture 
 to risk their fame on the strength of hasty and par- 
 tial examinations snatched at a public museum. 
 Natural objects, to be well understood, must be 
 examined and re-examined when the mind is at 
 leisure ; when it can discard one conjecture, and, 
 by a fresh inspection, seek to form another : .and, if 
 the matter in question has reference to any general 
 law, every animal whose conformation may be 
 thought to bear upon that law, either by affinity or 
 analogy, must, as far as possible, undergo a repeated 
 inspection. The same critical accuracy is necessary 
 in the use of books ; wherein a single word will 
 not unfrequently decide a contested point : nor are 
 those works illustrated by figures, and which,
 
 360 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 from their high cost, can be possessed but by few 
 naturalists, less indispensable to our researches. If 
 we aim at great proficiency and superior accuracy, 
 these splendid publications must be had, cost what 
 they will ; for few of them, comparatively, can be 
 seen at the public libraries ; and the same unavoid- 
 able objection exists to their partial and hurried 
 use, in such situations,. as that already mentioned 
 regarding specimens. For these reasons, the pos- 
 session of a library and museum, available at all 
 hours and at all seasons, is indispensable to the 
 philosophic zoologist, who has thus to expend a 
 fortune to become a master in his science. 
 
 (218.) But if, after making such sacrifices, both 
 of time and of money, he becomes qualified to write 
 upon the higher departments of his science, to 
 search after general laws, or to unfold a new leaf of 
 the philosophy of nature, and by giving the result 
 to the world, gain at least the praise (unsubstantial 
 though it be) due to his discoveries, his hopes will 
 be miserably disappointed. If he attempt to ex- 
 hibit his science as a chain of demonstrable truths, 
 and to address his readers as if they already pos- 
 sessed some proficiency in the matter, his work will 
 fall still-born from the press, no bookseller will 
 incur the risk of publication ; well knowing that the 
 little demand for such publications will subject him 
 to a certain loss, even though the work is brought 
 out at the lowest price.* If, on the other hand, he 
 
 * A striking instance of this has been shown in the Zoolo- 
 gical Researches of Mr. Thompson, a collection of memoirs in 
 8vo. published in 3. 6d, numbers about every three months.
 
 CASES IN POINT. 361 
 
 venture to anticipate support from the aristocracy, 
 or the wealthy of the land, by publishing a splendid 
 volume of zoological plates, which, for the beauty of 
 its execution should vie with those published at the 
 national expense of France, his case, even if he 
 succeed in getting royal patronage, is nearly the 
 same. Some few of the court, and still fewer of 
 the nobility, will give him encouragement ; but he 
 will be left not a gainer, but a severe sufferer, 
 for his misplaced confidence in the public taste.* 
 Such are the chief disadvantages attendant on 
 the cultivation of zoology in Britain, and which, 
 independent of the reasons before assigned, give to 
 this science, in particular, especial claims to national 
 encouragement. 
 
 (249.) The consequences resulting from this state 
 of things are such as might naturally be expected ; 
 and they have been so feelingly described by the able 
 writer in the " Quarterly Review," that we prefer 
 quoting his own words. " Since our scientific men, 
 
 This work terminated with the fourth number ; solely, as 
 then stated, from the want of support to defray its actual ex- 
 penses ! yet of these memoirs it may truly be said, that they 
 surpass in interest every thing that has appeared in this coun- 
 try since the publication of the Horce Entomologicce. The author 
 makes a direct appeal to the Zoological Society for support, a 
 society of some 800 or 1000 members; yet, because 150 sub- 
 scribers could not be found in the whole kingdom, these most valu- 
 able essays, full of original information, have been discontinued ! 
 had the author compiled some trumpery little volume, fit only for 
 the penny press, the sale might probably have reached 5000 ! 
 
 * We here more especially allude to the beautiful folio col- 
 lection of figures of the Psittaridce, or parrots, by Mr. Lear, a 
 young and most promising zoological draftsman.
 
 362 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 then, can find no asylum in our universities, and are 
 utterly abandoned by our government, it may well 
 be asked, What are their occupations ? and how are 
 they saved from that poverty and wretchedness 
 which have so often embittered the peace, and broken 
 the spirit, of neglected genius? Some of them 
 squeeze out a miserable sustenance as teachers of 
 elementary mathematics in our military academies, 
 where they submit to mortifications not easily borne 
 by an enlightened mind ; more waste their hours 
 in the drudgery of private lecturing; while not a 
 few are torn from the fascination of original research, 
 and compelled to waste their strength in the com- 
 position of treatises for periodical works and popular 
 compilations. Nay, so thoroughly is the spirit of 
 science subdued, and so paltry are the honours of 
 successful enquiry, that even well remunerated pro- 
 fessors, and others who enjoy a competent indepen- 
 dence and sufficient leisure, and are highly fitted by 
 their talents to advance the interests of science, are 
 found devoting themselves to professional author- 
 ship, and thus robbing their, country of those services 
 of which it stands so much in need." Every one, 
 at all acquainted with the actual state of the phy- 
 sical sciences in Britain, must be well aware that 
 this picture, however humiliating, is not at all ex- 
 aggerated. 
 
 (250.) If we look more especially to zoology, the 
 effect of these discouragements are peculiarly de- 
 plorable. So completely have all those higher objects, 
 which entitle the study of nature to the name, and 
 confer on it the dignity, of a science, been lost sight 
 of, that there is not one man either in or out of the
 
 OCCUPATION OF SCIENTIFIC MEN. 363 
 
 eight universities of Great Britain, who is at present 
 known to be engaged in any train of philosophic re- 
 search. The two or, perhaps, three naturalists*, who, 
 during the last fifteen years, have ventured on such 
 classic but now deserted ground, have unfortunately 
 drawn back and relinquished their labours, disgusted 
 and disheartened at the indifference or neglect with 
 which their works have been received. There are 
 few who will bear up against wounded feelings 
 and pecuniary losses, even under the conviction 
 that they are writing for posterity rather than for 
 popularity. Zoology, like all other sciences, is com- 
 posed of isolated facts and general inferences. If 
 the latter are neglected, there remains only the 
 former : and these, being infinitely various, highly 
 curious, and perfectly comprehensible, are thrown 
 into amusing compilations, arranged under some 
 obsolete system, and are then given to the public as 
 specimens of " the science" of natural history. Such 
 is the low tone which this " science" now assumes, 
 merely because no one can be found to act up to 
 the recommendation long since given by the secre- 
 tary of the Linnasan Society, who points to the 
 absolute necessity that has arisen for generalising 
 the innumerable particulars of which the science of 
 zoology now consists. There requires, indeed, a 
 concurrence of so many circumstances to favour en- 
 quiries of such a nature, talents, time, experience, 
 and independence, that it is in vain to expect they 
 will be prosecuted, if no sort of encouragement is 
 given to them either by the public or the nation. 
 
 * M'Leay. Thompson. Horsfield. Annulosa Jav.
 
 364) STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 That such a reproach should belong more especially 
 to the students of zoology in this country, is but the 
 necessary result of the evils they have to encounter; 
 and we accordingly find the accomplished author, 
 just alluded to, writing as follows : " English na- 
 turalists appear to me, from various causes, to have 
 pursued the nomenclature and examination of species 
 in such a way as very much to exclude from their 
 attention the higher ends of science." In the mean 
 time, cheap compilations are found so profitable, that 
 naturalists, who once shone as original authorities, 
 and are associated with legitimate science, have 
 abandoned such a thankless office; and, drawn away 
 by the lucre of profit, lend their names to speculating 
 booksellers, and assume a station corresponding to 
 the depressed state of British science. Such results, 
 although they may be deplored, are not to be won- 
 dered at ; " We have had," continues Mr. Bicheno, 
 " our Rays, and Listers, and Hunters ; but the suc- 
 cessful application of our industry has made us a 
 nation of calculators and economists, and, it is to be 
 feared, has almost extinguished that chivalrous spirit 
 inherent to man, that reaps its reward from the 
 honour of the cause in which it is engaged. " The 
 criterion of value of every thing in England," con- 
 tinues this able writer, " is" its marketable price ; 
 until the highest stations in the state, and the most 
 honourable conditions of inferior society are mea- 
 sured by their stipend."* It is therefore too much, 
 perhaps, for us to expect, that, in the present state 
 
 ' * Address delivered at the Zoological Club of the Linn. 
 Society. 1826. By J. E. Bicheno, Esq. Sec. L. S.
 
 CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS. 365 
 
 of things, British naturalists should toil and labour 
 in the higher branches of their science, only to re- 
 ceive mortification, when, with so little trouble, they 
 can enrich themselves, and insure popular applause, 
 by working up the materials of others. 
 
 (251.) Before we proceed further, a recapitula- 
 tions of the facts already stated, in reference to^the 
 present state of nearly all the physical sciences, 
 and particularly to that of zoology, will not be 
 misplaced. If, as we have shown, admittance can be 
 gained by purchase into all our learned societies ; if 
 there are no national institutions, whose officers are 
 selected from among the ranks of science ; if there 
 are no honorary distinctions, as in other countries, 
 peculiarly appropriated to our philosophers and 
 men of letters ; if no pecuniary rewards, or retired 
 pensions, are bestowed upon those who, above all 
 other ranks, have mainly contributed to the true 
 glory of the empire ; if the physical sciences form 
 no part of the system of education taught at our 
 universities ; if there are no professorships, or no 
 means of instruction for aiding and encouraging the 
 study of the material creation ; if works on abstract 
 science entail loss upon their authors ; if, in short, 
 these are things " which be," can it excite surprise 
 for a moment, that the taste and the possession of 
 true legitimate science has declined in Britain, 
 while it has advanced on the Continent ? Can it be 
 wondered at, that those, whose love for abstract 
 truth are leading them still to pursue it, despite of 
 neglect, mortification, and discouragement, should 
 remonstrate plainly and perhaps indignantly against 
 such a state of things ? Can it be said that eminence
 
 366 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 in science should alone be excluded from those 
 honours of the state which are liberally bestowed 
 upon "'the mere possessors of animal courage," or 
 the enjoyers of mere wealth ? Surely there must 
 be something in all this, quite inconsistent with the 
 national character for liberality and right feeling. 
 Men of the highest talent, pursuing different studies, 
 and therefore viewing the same question from dif- 
 ferent bearings, belonging to no political party, 
 upbraiding no particular ministry, and having no 
 selfish interests to warp their judgments, such 
 men, we may safely conclude, would not simultane- 
 ously raise their voices, and proclaim their own dis- 
 honoured state, without urgent cause. Let us at 
 least be candid, and fairly admit there must be 
 something which calls for amendment ; and under 
 this spirit, those who possess the power will be better 
 qualified to consider, in coolness of judgment, what 
 measures are best calculated to restore the science 
 of Britain to a healthy state.
 
 367 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 ON THE MEANS POSSESSED BY THE GOVERNMENT AND 
 UNIVERSITIES FOR PROTECTING AND ENCOURAGING 
 SCIENCE. ON TITULAR HONOURS. 
 
 (252.) IN extending the foregoing reflections to the 
 suggestion of means for obviating the evils therein 
 complained of, and for giving to the science of the 
 country that efficient support which it so much 
 requires, we feel that we are entering upon a sub- 
 ject of difficulty and delicacy. Those who are 
 averse to the innovation of established customs, 
 institutions, or modes of thinking, are always more 
 numerous than those who imagine they can be 
 improved. This feeling is natural to the mass of 
 mankind. Few have either the energy, or the in- 
 clination, to look deeply into things which they 
 have been accustomed to see go on, year after year, 
 in the same course ; and which, they therefore con- 
 clude, require neither alteration nor amendment. 
 Say what we will, the mind leans with a degree of 
 fondness, if not of veneration, to every thing which 
 has the authority of antiquity, or of long-continued 
 usage; and these feelings are increased, if those 
 whom we most esteem, and who may have to ad- 
 minister our ancient laws, conscientiously defend 
 their continuance. On the other hand it is to be
 
 368 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 remembered, that all institutions, to be extensively 
 beneficial, must be altered and modified to suit 
 that progressive improvement which is the conse- 
 quence of good government. So plain a truth as 
 this, none can be found to deny in the abstract; 
 but the moment we come to apply it in its particu- 
 lars, to single out any one case which, for assigned 
 reasons, would appear to warrant timely but effectual 
 amendment, our prejudice against innovation re- 
 turns with its former force; we either forget the 
 general assent to the axiom, that all human insti- 
 tutions should be adapted to the national state of 
 civilisation, or we are prone to contend, that although 
 moderate reformation is in the main beneficial, yet, 
 in the particular case pointed out, it is uncalled for, 
 and therefore unnecessary. But the ingenuous 
 mind, anxious to discover truth, will not suffer 
 predilections to turn it aside : it will calmly and 
 patiently investigate arguments opposed to its own 
 impressions ; it will concede such points as appear 
 supported by sufficient evidence, and if, on ma- 
 ture reflection, it rejects others, it will give to 
 its opponent the credit at least of being actuated 
 by a pure and honest spirit of dissent against the 
 thing complained of. Where these feelings are 
 mutual, controversy, in all matters, will be denuded 
 of those baser passions with which human infirmity 
 has clothed it. Truth, unchanging truth, would 
 be the only object sought, and an honest and a 
 good mind will receive almost equal satisfaction, 
 if the treasure is found by another, rather than by 
 himself. It is to such minds, and such only, that 
 we now appeal. For, however warmly we may feel,
 
 PLAN OF THE ARGUMENT. 369 
 
 and perhaps write, upon a subject so dear to us as 
 zoological science, we wish to express our sentiments 
 with all the moderation that can be consistent with 
 a strenuous defence of opinions. We are sensible 
 that all these may not be correct, but it is hard to 
 believe that some are not fully borne out by the 
 evidence produced. For those who may con- 
 scientiously differ from us, we hope to preserve the 
 same good-will as heretofore, and we only ask the 
 same from them. One thing may be safely said, 
 that, in discussing the state of science, and becoming 
 a humble suitor in its behalf to those exalted few 
 who have the power of honouring its professors, 
 no feeling of a personal nature is to be answered. 
 We can plead the cause of others, and rejoice in 
 their honours, although physical incapacity and 
 confirmed habits of seclusion will ever prevent 
 individual participation. If but one firm and efficient 
 step is taken, by those in power, towards reinstating 
 the science of Britain in that pre-eminence she once 
 held, we shall be amply repaid for the irksomeness 
 of conveying censure, and of criticising public in- 
 stitutions. 
 
 (253.) In discussing the question now before us, 
 we shall endeavour to point out the most effectual 
 means by which zoological science may be promoted 
 and upheld ; first, by the universities, and secondly, 
 by the government. 
 
 (254.) If tastes are to be formed, and feelings 
 implanted in the human mind, they will never so 
 firmly take root as in the spring of life. Hence, if 
 we may indulge a hope, that science may eventually 
 hold that station among us which it elsewhere
 
 370 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 enjoys, we must look, mentally, not to the present, 
 but to a succeeding generation. To expect that 
 such changes, as great as they are necessary, should 
 take place in the minds of those who have long 
 been satisfied with the present state of our learned 
 and scientific institutions, would be chimerical. Some 
 little advance, indeed, may be hoped for, because a 
 few steps have already been taken ; but Time, who 
 works slowly, but surely, is the best reformer. The 
 conviction of truth is rarely, if ever, sudden, while 
 violent changes, besides being in opposition to the 
 whole analogy of nature, have the acknowledged 
 evil of generally destroying that which only required 
 renovation. Where popular clamour, also, is vehe- 
 mently raised against any particular establishment, 
 there is danger that its true friends, by suggesting 
 amendments, may be confounded, or at least be 
 thought indirectly to co-operate, with its enemies. 
 We seek to amplify and adorn with new pinnacles, 
 neither to hide, much less to level with the ground, 
 the olden towers and spires, the columns and the 
 domes of our collegiate and time-honoured structures. 
 Nevertheless, we feel, upon so important a subject 
 as the present, the impossibility of avoiding all 
 allusion to our universities. These institutions have 
 long been considered and in most respects justly 
 the seats of British learning. They are alike 
 venerable for their antiquity, the noble feelings 
 which led to their foundation, and the bright and 
 hallowed names with which they are associated. 
 They were founded for the education of those 
 higher ranks of the empire whose feelings and 
 conduct were to give a tone and an example to
 
 NEGLECTED AT OUR UNIVERSITIES. 371 
 
 the great mass of the people; and that this was 
 the spirit in which they were first instituted cannot 
 for a moment be doubted, a fact which should be 
 ever borne in mind by their governors, and which 
 authorises such deviations from the strict letter 
 of their laws as the altered circumstances of the 
 times may require. Let us not, however, upon so 
 important a question be misunderstood. All the 
 branches of university education arrange themselves 
 under two distinct heads. The infusion of the 
 national religious creed, and the study of ancient 
 literature, the expounding of the book of God, 
 and the study of the works of man. On the first 
 and greatest of these objects time can have no 
 effect. The Holy Scriptures are the same to-day 
 as they were eighteen centuries ago; nothing has 
 been added to them, nothing has been taken away. 
 These holy bulwarks of our faith are unchanging 
 and unchanged ; and they require studying with 
 the same earnestness and the same devotedness 
 now, as when these venerable sanctuaries of the 
 church were first founded. But, in regard to 
 human wisdom, the case is different; the last 
 century has witnessed surprising changes not only 
 in the progress, but in the kind of knowledge 
 necessary or desirable to be taught. Sciences, 
 which were scarcely known by name to the found- 
 ers of our colleges, have assumed form, extension, 
 and demonstration ; while others, utterly unknown 
 to our ancestors, have started into life, and, like 
 the overflowings of the Nile, have spread over 
 the land, fertilised its provinces, and are now- 
 producing, in an infinity of ways, a fruitful harvest
 
 372 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 of palpable good to its inhabitants. It is to these 
 sciences, and to these only, that our present ob- 
 servations relate. Who, then, that reflects upon 
 the original intentions by which the founders of our 
 universities were actuated, who will maintain 
 that the education of the higher classes is to be 
 confined to the same studies in the nineteenth 
 century, as were taught in the seventeenth ? that 
 many of the most intellectual, as well as the most 
 elegant branches of physical science should be 
 excluded from the regular course of university 
 education, or, if they are permitted to be taught, 
 that the option of learning them should be left to 
 the pleasure of the students themselves, without 
 any enforcement arising from the rules of their 
 college, any inducement held out to stimulate their 
 exertion, or any to reward their acquirement ? The 
 usual reply to these interrogations is, that an ac- 
 quaintance with the physical sciences formed no 
 part of the original institution of our universities, 
 and, therefore, to introduce them as secondary 
 objects of study would be in direct defiance of 
 their charter. But this objection has been already 
 anticipated ; and if another answer is required, it 
 may be found in the close connection between na- 
 tural religion, which is so strongly elucidated by the 
 physical sciences, and that revealed religion, which 
 it is the business of our universities to uphold and 
 expound. 
 
 (255.) This connection of the twofold causes of our 
 homage to the Great Creator, has been so admirably 
 illustrated by the talent and eloquence of one of the 
 brightest ornaments to science now among us, that
 
 ON NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 373 
 
 it would be useless to repeat the same arguments, 
 and hopeless to place them in a stronger point of 
 view.* If, then, the material world is replete with 
 proofs, innumerable and unanswerable, not only of 
 the being of a God, but of His infinite power, wisdom, 
 and bounty ; and if, above all, these temporal things 
 speak to us, as in parables, of those eternal destinies 
 with which man is inseparably linked, the study of 
 the visible creation is second only in importance to 
 that of the spiritual. Ancient literature, whatever 
 may be its advantages, however it may, judiciously 
 selected, refine the taste, improve the diction, or 
 inform the understanding, cannot for a moment be 
 brought into equal comparison with the sublimity, 
 the pureness, and the exalting nature of natural 
 history. The student of the one draws his ma- 
 terials of thought from the works and deeds of man ; 
 the other studies from the interminable library of 
 nature, and from the examples so brought before 
 him, learns to exercise towards his fellows, however 
 imperfectly, that beneficence and compassion, and 
 that unwearied solicitude which he sees is extended 
 by his Maker to the meanest insect that crosses 
 his path. The Newtonian philosophy, indeed, ex- 
 pands the mind to such a painful degree as to make 
 it fall back upon itself, as conscious of its inability 
 to grasp the full range of the sublime truths it dimly 
 unfolds, or even of the effects which those truths 
 produce in the visible creation. Yet the wonders 
 of the heavens, however awfully magnificent, and 
 
 * A Discourse on the Studies of the University of Cam- 
 bridge, by Adam Sedgwick, M. A. Woodwardean Professor. 
 BBS
 
 374) STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 speaking a language peculiar to themselves, are yet 
 denuded of those circumstantial details which are 
 more suited to our limited faculties, and in which 
 the generality of mankind can not only feel an 
 interest, but a pleasure". 
 
 (256.) We may liken these different emotions to 
 those entertained by a traveller, who from some 
 distant eminence first gains a view of Mount Etna, 
 dilated into its full dimensions, its long extended 
 outline unobstructed by a single object, rising gra- 
 dually from the watery horizon on one side, and from 
 that of vast plains on the*other, until its pointed 
 summit seems to touch the firmament. Here and 
 there a deep line of ravines may be traced, and 
 darker stripes indicate either regions of forests or 
 extinguished rivers of lava; but beyond these obscure 
 appearances nothing can be made out on the sides of 
 this mighty mass, and which seems to circumscribe 
 half the horizon. The eye of the traveller, indeed, 
 seeks not for details : his mind is absorbed with 
 ideas of vastness and indefinite sublimity: there 
 is no room for lesser feelings, and there is no power 
 of gratifying them.* But, when he descends from 
 his station into the plains below, and after two 
 days' travel begins to ascend the sides of that 
 stupendous mountain, whose details he is now to 
 
 * I have here attempted to describe, most inadequately, the 
 view of Mount Etna which bursts upon the traveller from 
 the heights of Taormina ; but no language can do it justice. 
 I have never seen, either in the old or the new world, a pro- 
 spect of such transcendant magnificence. See Denon's Sicily, 
 p. 15., and Brydone's Tour.
 
 SUBLIME AND PLEASING SENSATIONS. 375 
 
 explore, a new set of emotions, totally unlike those 
 he before experienced, arise in his mind. In his 
 long and gradual approach, the mountain itself 
 seems to have changed its shape and its character : 
 instead of one sublime and simple whole, it appears 
 to have separated itself into innumerable ridges of 
 gradual slopes, abrupt cones, or frightful precipices ; 
 these again, as he advances further, seem to contract 
 themselves more into ordinary dimensions, until, but 
 for an occasional opening, from whence the appa- 
 rently sunken summit peeps forth, he might fancy 
 he was merely traversing a hilly or mountainous 
 country. His pleasurable feelings alone are now- 
 excited, as he passes through the little villages, talks 
 with the people, gathers a plant, catches an insect, 
 or picks up a mineral. He enters, in short, into 
 details which he can understand. He can now 
 examine and explore what he sees ; he is busied 
 with things more suited to his every-day powers of 
 contemplation, and, if his thoughts do not rest on 
 the purely sublime, they are not pained by being 
 overstretched. 
 
 (257.) Such may not be thought an unapt illus- 
 tration of the different effects produced upon us by 
 the respective studies of astronomy and zoology : 
 both have immediate reference to the power and. 
 wisdom of God ; but the one is more suited to the 
 generality of mankind than the other, and brings 
 His attributes more home to their understandings. 
 This quality being granted, does it not follow that 
 it should be encouraged, fostered, and protected, as 
 the most appropriate adjunct to revealed religion of 
 all the physical sciences? Should it not, in fact, 
 B B 4
 
 376 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 be inseparably connected, in every system of edu- 
 cation, with the study of spiritual truths. Natural 
 history is the most appropriate handmaiden revealed 
 religion can receive ; she is always at our side, 
 ready to point out in every plant that grows and in 
 every creature that breathes, the verity of those 
 things which are unseen ; things which the youthful 
 mind, however unaccustomed to reflect, is neverthe- 
 less instructed to believe in. But there is danger, it 
 may be said, in two ways, in thus making zoological 
 science one of the essentials of an academic edu- 
 cation. Firstly, that as the science in its present 
 state exhibits none of those philosophic generali- 
 sations and definite laws to be found in the astronomic 
 world, the mind may become too much attached 
 to its minute details, to dwell upon the lessons or 
 inferences they should teach ; and secondly, that as 
 natural history is rather a contemplative study, its 
 acquirement would involve more time than can be 
 spared from studies more immediately bearing on 
 the active duties of life. Both these objections, 
 more especially the latter, appear good, and there- 
 fore deserve our serious attention. 
 
 (258.) No fact can speak more plainly of the 
 consequences resulting from the disregard of zoolo- 
 gical science in Britain, than that it is the only one 
 in which (until very recently) no general laws had 
 been discovered. Other branches of physical sci- 
 ence have had their Keplers, their Newtons, and 
 their Davys, who have each, by slow but unwearied 
 inductions, reduced a multiplicity of appearances to 
 a few lofty generalisations, under which an innumer- 
 able diversity of facts, formerly isolated and appa-
 
 RECOMMENDED AT OUR UNIVERSITIES. 377 
 
 rently anomalous, are brought together, and are 
 shown to be but modifications of one and the same 
 principle. Natural history alone has hitherto re- 
 mained unhonoured by such names. Linnaeus 
 saw the station which his favourite science should 
 hold, but, with so few materials and facts before him, 
 he wisely abstained from attempting philosophic 
 generalisations. Much, indeed, has been said, by 
 those who should have known better, about what has 
 been termed the law of co-relation, of which a late 
 celebrated naturalist of France has been extolled as 
 the discoverer, but which has been known to every 
 naturalist since the days of Aristotle ; this law of 
 co-relation being, in fact, no other than that the 
 structure of an animal is adapted to its economy 
 and habits. 
 
 (259.) Such being the state of the philosophy of 
 zoology, can we imagine, that if its cultivation had 
 been fostered, it would not have reached a higher 
 altitude in the rank of the demonstrative sciences ? 
 Are we to suppose, for a moment, that it is exempt 
 from the influence of definite laws, and that the 
 almost infinite variety of form and structure in the 
 objects it embraces, cannot be reduced to a few pri- 
 mary types, or that the mode of their variation is 
 fluctuating and indefinite? If we reject all such sup- 
 positions, as being at variance with the whole analogy 
 of nature, under what circumstances can we suppose 
 such discoveries are most likely to be made? Cer- 
 tainly by those whose minds have been disciplined 
 in the universities, and who have not only acquired 
 a love for abstract truth, but who are qualified to 
 pursue it in a philosophic spirit. Now, if the very
 
 378 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 elements of zoology cannot be acquired at these 
 seats of learning, how can it be supposed that a 
 taste for it should be acquired in youth and culti- 
 vated in manhood, when the student emerges 
 from college, quits education, and at once enters 
 upon the active duties of life ? But supposing that 
 professorships were appointed, on small salaries, 
 sufficient, with the emoluments of lectures and 
 pupils, to make them desirable. What leisure is 
 left for the lecturer to prosecute original research ? 
 The emoluments of his chair being chiefly derived 
 from teaching the elements of science, these will 
 naturally engross his chief solicitude. He will strive 
 to make his lectures popular, by waiving the dis- 
 cussion of abstract principles, and dilating on all 
 those comparatively trivial matters, which his audi- 
 ence can at once understand : under such circum- 
 stances, how can he himself himself cultivate or 
 teach to others the higher principles of science ? or 
 how can he concentrate his mind to the exclusive 
 study of one or two abstract theories, which, after 
 occupying his deepest attention for years, may be 
 expressed in a few lines ? It is from among men of 
 talent, and of "learned leisure," whofrom their station 
 in society possess competency, that we may hope 
 zoological science will be pursued with true dignity ; 
 from such only may we expect its advancement in- 
 stead of its diffusion. Characters, promising to unite 
 all these necessary acquirements, are most likely to be 
 formed at our universities; and if no effectual means 
 are supplied for directing such powers where they 
 exist, what wonder is it that zoology is looked upon 
 as a mere vocabulary of technicalities, or an amusing
 
 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 379 
 
 volume of animal biography ? We admit, therefore, 
 that in the present state of things, the mind of a young 
 zoologist would be chiefly occupied in the minutiae 
 of his study, because, as to the science itself, he 
 would have little else to reflect upon ; he has nei- 
 ther been instructed, nor has he heard of definite 
 laws, in zoology, although he may be acquainted 
 with those of the Newtonian philosophy. But it by 
 no means follows, that because he busies himself 
 with minute details, his mind will therefore receive 
 a corresponding contraction. The least, no less than 
 the greatest of the Creator's works, possess the 
 power of exciting the loftiest ideas of his power and 
 wisdom, and while emotions such as these, fos- 
 tered by previous studies, rise in the youthful 
 breast, it is of little consequence to his happi- 
 ness, whether he is engaged in the investigation of 
 general laws, or examines, under the microscope, 
 the complicated structure of the mouth of an insect. 
 To stigmatise such pursuits, carried on with such 
 feelings* as trivial or mean, is not only folly, but 
 gross impiety. 
 
 (260.) But natural history, it may be said, being 
 as much an intellectual as a spiritual study, cannot 
 well be made a part of university education ; inas- 
 much as its acquirement would trench upon time 
 absolutely requisite for other studies more immedi- 
 ately bearing on the active duties of life. Now, if 
 our universities were schools for commerce, manufac- 
 tories, or the practical arts, where young men were to 
 be instructed in those professions by which the great 
 machine of active society is carried on, this objection 
 might have some weight. But a moment's consider-
 
 380 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 ation on the particular classes educated at college 
 will show the weakness of such reasoning: they 
 consist almost exclusively of the sons of the nobility, 
 of the clergy, and of the wealthy gentry : the first 
 and the last are almost exempt from the necessity 
 of following any profession, while those who are in- 
 tended for the church are equally freed from the 
 obligation of acquiring a theoretic knowledge of 
 their calling (as the physician and the lawyer are 
 obliged to do), after they have quitted the walls of 
 the university. Academic studies are rather 
 intellectual than practical ; that is to say, they 
 have no fellowship with the commercial and manu- 
 facturing the military, the naval, or the empirical 
 arts : how important is it, then, to the future happi- 
 ness of young men, educated and nurtured with such 
 feelings, to infuse into their minds a love of physical 
 science, to supply them with intellectual and pure 
 resources in after life, suited at once to those habits 
 of abstract reflection they have acquired at college, 
 and to the leisure which attends upon rank and 
 wealth ? Some, indeed, will be called into active life, 
 and will be destined to fill important stations in the 
 state ; but these, in comparison to the majority, are 
 few ; and if our statesmen and legislators had been 
 early impressed with the beauties or imbued with a 
 taste only for philosophy, and had been better in- 
 structed in its objects, the science of Britain would 
 not, at this time, be so utterly neglected. 
 
 (261.) But by far the larger portion of those 
 young collegians, not destined for the church, on 
 finishing their education, enter upon a life of indo- 
 lence and pleasure, without having imbibed a taste
 
 ITS ADVANTAGES IN AFTER LIFE. 381 
 
 for any one philosophic or intellectual pursuit, which 
 might be followed, if not as a study, at least as an 
 elegant amusement, suited to the education they 
 have received, the advantages they enjoy, and the 
 superior station of society in which they move. How 
 frequently do we see young men of naturally superior 
 abilities, after gaining university honours, to which 
 they were excited by the short-lived stimulus of 
 competition, leave their college, and settle down 
 upon their paternal estates as mere country gentle- 
 men, hunting squires, or racing patrons : filling 
 situations, in short, which should be occupied by men 
 of a lower grade in the scale of intellect, but which 
 they fall into, merely because they have not been 
 instructed in any pursuit which will call into con- 
 tinued activity those abstract powers of reasoning 
 or observation they may have acquired at college. 
 (The mind, however high may be its natural capa- 
 ' bilities, invariably sinks to a level with its usual 
 occupations. And science, being neglected by these 
 men, who have almost exclusively the power of pur- 
 suing it with true dignity, is left to those who are 
 obliged in most cases to connect it with objects of 
 trade, or of pecuniary advantage. 
 
 (262.) But if a taste for natural history is so well 
 calculated to give elegance and dignity to the re- 
 creations of the aristocracy, how much more is it 
 in unison with those feelings and habits of thought 
 which should belong to the young clergyman when 
 he quits his college, and desires to enter upon the 
 sacred duties of his profession ? The excitements 
 of collegiate studies are now over ; competition is 
 at an end, and he either waits to be called to active
 
 382 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 duties, or he enters at once upon his divine ministry. 
 In the former case there is leisure, more than 
 enough, to make himself practically conversant with 
 .the wonders of the material world ; for into what- 
 ever department of natural history his inclination 
 may lead him, our island possesses stores of objects 
 calling for observation and research. Whether his 
 attention be directed to zoology, botany, mineralogy, 
 or geology, he cannot fail of drawing from one and 
 from all these studies, materials for illustrating the 
 perfections of Him whose word he is to teach, and 
 whose works he is to " magnify in the congre- 
 gation." If, on the contrary, the young divine is 
 settled on a small curacy " remote from cities," what 
 a never-failing resource would he find in prose- 
 cuting those physical studies, the elements of which 
 had been acquired at the university. Independently 
 of the spiritual use to which he could apply material 
 things, the shadows of such as are heavenly, 
 how little would he feel the loss of ordinary society, 
 and how little would he prize that which usually 
 distinguishes country families. It is for these 
 reasons we contend that the interests of religion, 
 and the future worldly happiness of the students, 
 are most materially concerned in the present ques- 
 tion regarding our universities. It may be said that 
 these pursuits may produce evil, by absorbing too 
 much of the time and attention of the young clergy- 
 man from his pastoral duties. But this is no argu- 
 ment to the purpose, for all the good and all the 
 virtues of this world might equally be prohibited 
 for the self-same reason. 
 
 (263.) The neglect of this science at our uni-
 
 NEGLECT OF THE GOVERNMENT. 383 
 
 versities is naturally followed by a similar neglect 
 on the part of government. That government being 
 carried on, for the most part, by those who, as 
 youths, saw how slightly such acquirements were 
 held at college, and who now, as men, look upon 
 them with the same feelings of indifference. The 
 one is the natural consequence of the other. Until 
 those to whom the executive government of a nation 
 is intrusted, are impressed with a respect, if not a 
 love, for philosophical excellence, and are fully con- 
 vinced of the important influence it exercises over 
 the welfare of the community in an infinity of ways, 
 it is obviously hopeless to expect more than a 
 partial, if not a merely nominal improvement. Ne- 
 vertheless, any encouragement in the present state 
 of science, emanating from the government, may be 
 regarded as beneficial, although it may fall very 
 short of that which is necessary, or which exists 
 in other countries. It is encouraging, therefore, to 
 observe that, under the administration of Lord 
 Goderich, the sum of 1000/. was devoted to the 
 expenses of bringing out the zoological discoveries 
 of the arctic expedition ; and that another sum, in 
 like manner, was appropriated to the publication of 
 Captain Beechey's acquisitions. Yet so slight is the 
 estimation in which such publications are viewed 
 by the public at large, that, even with these helps, 
 the publishers have made no scruple of complaining 
 bitterly of the pecuniary loss that has fallen upon 
 them ; so that unless, on some future occasion, the 
 government can be persuaded to contribute more 
 largely to the publication of discoveries made at 
 the national expense, it may be fairly questioned,
 
 384 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 whether any respectable bookseller will undertake 
 the risk of publishing them. The French are well 
 aware of the necessity of national patronage to such 
 works ; and with that munificent liberality which 
 characterises all their proceedings regarding science, 
 they annually set aside a considerable sum for this 
 exclusive purpose. It has been solely owing to 
 this liberal spirit, worthy of a great nation, that the 
 splendid zoological discoveries made in the voyages 
 of Dupery and other navigators have been published 
 in a style of beauty and completeness, which is no 
 less valuable to science than honourable to the 
 nation. 
 
 (264*.) But let us proceed regularly ; and give to 
 each of those means by which an enlightened ad- 
 ministration can encourage science, a separate con- 
 sideration. These appear to be as follows : 1. 
 The appointment of scientific men to those offices 
 wherein their acquirements can be made subservi- 
 ent to the public good. 2. By aiding and assisting 
 our universities in the establishment of professor- 
 ships. 3. By condescending to consult, on all 
 such questions as relate to science, those scientific 
 institutions of the country which are the proper tri- 
 bunals for deciding such questions. 4. By removing 
 all those impediments and regulations which press 
 upon the authors of illustrative works on natural 
 history, and for the general encouragement of such 
 works. 5. By bestowing honorary or pecuniary re- 
 wards upon those whose discoveries or researches 
 reflect honour upon the nation. 
 
 (265.) I. The first subject which demands the at- 
 tention of any administration desirous of placing the
 
 HOW TO BE ENCOURAGED BY GOVERNMENT. 385 
 
 science of this country on a firm and prosperous 
 basis, relates to our universities, and to the establish- 
 ment of Regius Professorships in those branches of 
 physical science wherein there is at present no sort 
 of instruction. The important advantages which 
 would result from this measure have already been 
 sufficiently dwelt upon. At present, it seems to be 
 the general opinion, that our government (so far 
 from incurring any expense by the annual grant of 
 2000/. made by the nation for " defraying the 
 salaries of professors in the universities of Oxford 
 and Cambridge" ) receives the sums back again into 
 the treasury in the shape of taxes of the most odious 
 description, inasmuch as they are extorted, not 
 indeed by a sale of honours, but by taxing those who 
 achieve honours ; those, in fact, who proceed with 
 credit through an expensive term of years of col- 
 legiate discipline, and are therefore admitted to their 
 degrees, so that these fees become a direct tax upon 
 learning*^ in those very establishments avowedly 
 made for its encouragement ! What is given by the 
 government with one hand, is taken back, with more 
 than usurious interest, by the other. The peculiarly 
 oppressive nature of these exactions have recently 
 called forth much public complaint, and they are 
 altogether so opposed to the spirit of the age, that 
 we think the subject only requires to be mentioned 
 in parliament, to give our present ministers an op- 
 
 * Every Bachelor of Arts pays to the government three, 
 and every Master of Arts six guineas on taking his degrees. 
 Different sums, varying in amount, are imposed on other de- 
 grees. See Appendix. 
 
 C C
 
 386 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 portunity of at once removing such a stigma upon 
 the government. The salaries, moreover, thus voted 
 to the professors, at one at least, if not at both, of 
 our universities are, with two exceptions, so small, 
 as to be quite paltry.* It is probable, however, that 
 there may be local or unexplained reasons for this 
 inequality with which I am unacquainted. 
 
 (266.) It will be seen from a letter by the Rev. 
 T. Newcome, M.A., printed in the Appendix, that 
 the average amount of this tax upon learning may 
 be fairly estimated at 5000J. annually: while the 
 sum allowed by the nation to the professors is only 
 2000/., leaving a profit to the government of 3000/. 
 a year, drawn from the purse of parents, gene- 
 rally not rich, and mostly possessed only of life 
 incomes, and of those whose industry and talent 
 alone support the reputation of our universities. 
 Now, alt that is required from the government is 
 the transfer of the proceeds of this tax into the 
 university chest, for the purpose of paying their own 
 professors, and managing their own concerns. The 
 
 * According to the Cambridge Calendar they 
 lows ; 
 
 Regius Professor of Divinity 
 
 are as fol- 
 
 
 - 4O 
 - 40 
 - 40 
 - 4O 
 - 4O 
 - 10O 
 - 400 
 - 200 
 
 - 1OO 
 
 
 Hebrew 
 
 Greek 
 
 Professor of Chemistry 
 ~- Modern History
 
 TAX UPON THE UNIVERSITIES. 387 
 
 tax is certainly oppressive upon those who least 
 merit such a " reward." But even allowing it to 
 remain as it now is, the character it would assume, 
 when its proceeds were applied to the liberal endow- 
 ment of professorships, would be quite different. It 
 would be like a private subscription, raised among 
 friends, for the purpose of making up a purse for the 
 benefit of some one or more of their own number : 
 each member would gladly contribute his share, 
 under the conviction that the prizes will be awarded 
 to the most deserving; and that, with proper exertion, 
 he has as fair a chance as any other aspirant of re- 
 ceiving back his fee, augmented an hundred-fold. 
 Were it customary to choose the members of our 
 universities more from the ranks of science, than 
 from those of politics or of arms, this grievance 
 probably would not have so long continued in oper- 
 ation. At all events, it appears so easy of redress, 
 and will so effectually remove all further complaint 
 against the government in connection with the state 
 of science at our universities, that we trust in having 
 the power of omitting all such censure in another 
 edition. There can be no doubt that the heads of 
 our universities will most joyfully accept of such a 
 boon, and be glad to be thus rid of an appearance 
 only of receiving government bounty, while it can- 
 not be doubted that they will use it freely and 
 effectually for the promotion of that philosophy 
 which is properly connected with Christianity. 
 Every reflecting mind must participate with such 
 authorities, in their fear and dread of hasty and in- 
 considerate changes, or of that " radical reform," 
 now so loudly called for. The whole analogy of 
 cc 2
 
 388 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 nature shows that gradual progression, or slow de- 
 velopement, is one of the primary laws both of the 
 moral and the physical world. 
 
 (267.) Nothing gives so much stability to a govern- 
 ment, or operates more beneficially to the welfare of 
 a nation, than a judicious selection of its executive 
 officers, that is, of singling out, from among the great 
 mass of the people, those individuals who, from pos- 
 sessing talents or qualifications of a particular order 
 are best qualified for performing certain duties. An 
 axiom so plain and acknowledged would scarcely 
 require notice, was it not with us so repeatedly 
 violated for the sake of strengthening political party, 
 or of rewarding political services. Without ex- 
 pecting that any of our philosophers should be 
 cabinet ministers, or privy counsellors, or ambassa- 
 dors, although such a union may be found in Con- 
 tinental courts, it might reasonably have been sup- 
 posed that in a country like Great Britain, the 
 extent and variety of her public institutions would 
 have furnished ample provision for scientific men. 
 As mistress of the ocean, her Board of Longitude 
 should, like that of France, have furnished an ap- 
 propriate endowment for her men of science ; her 
 lighthouse Boards, with their immense revenues, 
 might, like the corresponding Board in France, 
 have supplied situations to others ; her " Boards of 
 Trade" might have been appropriately conducted 
 .by men who combine practical with theoretical 
 knowledge ; her mineral treasures might have prof- 
 fered a tithe of their produce to reward the know- 
 ledge which explored them, and applied them to 
 the arts; her Royal Societies might have added
 
 APPROPRIATE OFFICES FOR SCIENTIFIC MEN. 389 
 
 several official situations ; and her universities, be- 
 sides the ordinary chairs for professional education, 
 might have contained others, which, while they at- 
 tracted men of great name within their precincts, 
 left them sufficient leisure to pursue their researches. 
 All this might have been expected in England, for 
 this simple reason, because it is found in other 
 countries, less able and less called upon, to be 
 liberal to their philosophers. But how stands the 
 case with us? The Board of Longitude became 
 almost useless, from being occupied by unscientific 
 men ; it was thus brought into disrepute, and was 
 abolished in 1828. Of the three lighthouse Boards, 
 " by that fatality which impends over every British 
 institution," not one of all the numerous members 
 and officers is a man of science, or is even ac- 
 quainted with those branches of optics which re- 
 gulate the condensation and distribution of that 
 element which it is their sole business to diffuse 
 over the deep. That boards so constituted are 
 totally disqualified to judge of improvements or in- 
 ventions offered for their adoption, is quite natural. 
 There is a remarkable instance recorded by the 
 writer we have just quoted*, wherein the inventor 
 of a new compound lens, after vainly endeavouring 
 to draw the attention of our boards to his discovery, 
 had the mortification of seeing it claimed some 
 years after by a learned foreigner, and universally 
 introduced on the coasts of France as a new and 
 important improvement in lighthouse illumination, 
 while the lighthouses upon our shores, proverbially 
 
 * Quarterly Review. 
 C C 3
 
 390 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 the most dangerous in Europe, are still, as it is 
 asserted, illuminated by the " old unscientific me- 
 thods." If any misapplication of patronage calls for 
 an immediate reform, it is surely in these establish- 
 ments, wherein is largely involved the risk of human 
 life, and the loss of large property. Mr. Babbage 
 adduces another instance, bearing strongly upon 
 this exclusion of scientific men from the national 
 councils, which is even more to the purpose. " To 
 those who measure the question of the national 
 encouragement of science by its value in pounds, 
 shillings, and pence, I will here state," observes 
 Mr. Babbage, " the following fact: A short time 
 since it was discovered by government that the 
 terms on which annuities had been granted by them 
 were erroneous, and new tables were introduced by 
 act of parliament. It was stated at the time that 
 the erroneous tables had caused a loss to the country 
 of between 2,000,000/. and 3,000,000/. sterling. The 
 fact of the sale of those annuities being a losing 
 concern, was long known to many, and the govern- 
 ment appear to have been the last to be informed 
 on the subject." Now it is perfectly clear, that if 
 the government had condescended to consult our 
 mathematicians, before they legislated on matters 
 they were confessedly ignorant upon, this enormous 
 loss to the public purse would not have happened. 
 Had one half of this sum been judiciously applied to 
 the protection and encouragement of science, institu- 
 tions might have been endowed, professorships estab- 
 lished, and pensions provided for our philosophers, 
 which would have placed the scientific establishments 
 of the nation on an equality with those of all others.
 
 APPROPRIATE OFFICES FOR SCIENTIFIC MEN. 391 
 
 (268.) It were needless, after this, to enforce, by 
 other instances, the benefits which would follow the 
 appointment of scientific men to situations under 
 the government, wherein their acquirements might 
 be of service to the state, and -their opinions taken 
 upon all such questions as came within their respective 
 provinces of science or of art. Nor are the pursuits 
 of the naturalist altogether devoid of public utility. 
 On questions regarding the fisheries, the capabilities 
 of our colonies in supplying new articles of commerce 
 from their natural productions, and many others 
 touched upon in another part of this volume, our 
 legislators need not be ashamed of seeking advice, 
 or at least information, on matters upon which it 
 cannot be expected they should be competent 
 judges. 
 
 (269.) But it is not only in the home depart- 
 ments that Great Britain possesses ample and ap- 
 propriate means of making honourable provision for 
 men of knowledge, while she receives in return the 
 benefit of their services. Her extensive range of 
 colonies, with their numerous establishments, and 
 her consulships spread over every part of the 
 world afford situations peculiarly well adapted for 
 those enterprising spirits who ardently desire to 
 study nature in other climes, and under other as- 
 pects, than those at home. Whatever may be 
 said to the contrary, we know, from personal ex- 
 perience, that the duties of colonial governments, 
 however necessary, are generally very light, ad- 
 mitting of much leisure, which an active and power- 
 ful mind would turn to good account. Our consul- 
 ships, with few exceptions, more especially, are of 
 cc 4
 
 392 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 this character. And from the little previous know- 
 ledge requisite to discharge their duties, they 
 would be peculiarly appropriate and acceptable to 
 young men of science, already sufficiently acquainted 
 with mercantile concerns, or perhaps still engaged 
 therein, but who desire some little leisure for more 
 intellectual though profitless pursuits. There are, 
 for instance, five or six consulships, at the least, in 
 South America, where the duties seldom occupy 
 more than three or four hours in the day, although 
 the appointments are indispensable. Why cannot 
 we follow the example of France, in this instance, 
 at least, and give such situations to those who 
 (being duly qualified in other respects), are men of 
 science, desiring to visit other countries, and who, 
 in return, would enrich our national collections with 
 new objects, and our scientific transactions with 
 fresh discoveries ? The supineness of our govern- 
 ment on this subject was particularly remarked by 
 some intelligent foreigners a few years ago, when 
 the Brazilian Consuls of Russia, Prussia, and France, 
 at Rio de Janeiro, were all naturalists, having 
 full leisure to perform their official duties, and at 
 the same time to collect and transmit to their 
 governments large and valuable collections of 
 Brazilian zoology. The English Consul, at one of 
 these ports, on the other hand, was an illiterate 
 person, who turned into his hammock, and dozed 
 and smoked away the greatest part of that time 
 which his official brethren were so beneficially em- 
 ploying. We remember that the British consul at 
 Athens in 1812 was a Greek, and we found one of 
 the vice-consulships in Sicily given to a Frenchman.
 
 NATURALISTS ON VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. 393 
 
 Surely there might have been found among the 
 young independent students of nature, in this 
 country, some who would have accepted these 
 situations with small salaries and less work, for the 
 sake of the leisure they allowed, and the respect- 
 ability they gave. 
 
 (270.) There is yet another and a very important 
 mode by which a liberal government can provide 
 both for the advancement of science and the em- 
 ployment of her votaries : we mean the appoint- 
 ment of scientific men, of known reputation, to ac- 
 company our voyages of discovery. These oppor- 
 tunities, indeed, are "few and far between;" a 
 reason which might be urged as the best for con- 
 ducting them with a liberal spirit in their minor de- 
 tails. But here, again, we have reaped neither honour 
 nor credit. Not to compare the French expedition 
 to Egypt with our own, the one accompanied by 
 a splendid train of the m&st eminent savans of 
 France, the other without a single philosopher, 
 we need only think on the different fates that 
 attended two of the more celebrated Egyptian 
 travellers, Denon and Belzoni ; the one, honoured, 
 patronised, and enriched by the favour of his 
 government ; the other neglected, dishonoured, and 
 heart-broken. Belzoni, impoverishing himself to 
 accomplish that which the British government 
 should have felt honour in patronising, and thus 
 leaving his widow dependent on the casual bounty 
 of strangers. Where, again, are the zoological or 
 botanical results of Flinders's voyage ? where those 
 of the Congo expedition? or those of Ross and 
 Parry ? We admit, and we do so with pleasure,
 
 394? STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 that a better spirit has begun to show itself; and 
 that, during the enlightened administration of Lord 
 Goderich, Europe, for the first time, beheld the go- 
 vernment of this country giving to the world the 
 fruits of her zoological discoveries. But to do this 
 effectually, a more liberal system must be adopted 
 in the outset. Our present method (certainly a very 
 economic one) is to impose the duties of " naturalist" 
 upon some one of the regular officers of the vessel ; 
 at a time when such duties, to be effectually per- 
 formed, would require the undivided attention of 
 three or even four persons, each taking different de- 
 partments, and all requiring the assistance of a pro- 
 fessional artist. It is not enough that the naturalists 
 of such expeditions should bring home stuffed skins, 
 dried bones, or things in spirits ; for such duties can 
 be done by the sailors themselves. It is not a know- 
 Jedge of dead skins, but of living creatures, that we 
 now want. It is an acquaintance with the internal 
 structure of animals, and the true shape of the soft 
 Mollusca (which latter are lost or distorted the mo- 
 ment they are plunged into spirits), that will effec- 
 tually advance zoological science. Now all this in- 
 formation can only be acquired by studying and 
 drawing the animals when fresh ; and it therefore 
 follows, that such researches and duties can only be 
 made and done by experienced naturalists and pro- 
 fessional draftsmen. Here it is that the government 
 of France, from possessing scientific advisers, has 
 gained the highest credit, and has done more to ad- 
 vance the knowledge of invertebrated animals than 
 any other nation whatsoever. All their expeditions 
 have been accompanied by experienced zoologists,
 
 SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS TO THE GOVERNMENT. 395 
 
 botanists, and draftsmen, each taking some specific 
 department, and prosecuting their researches on 
 recent subjects. These new acquisitions are then 
 published at the sole expense of the government, 
 and in a style of magnificence worthy of a great 
 nation. We need no other proofs of the talent thus 
 called into action, or of the liberality which fostered 
 it, than the splendid and invaluable series of zoolo- 
 gical folios containing the discoveries of Peron, 
 Quoy, and Garnot, Lesson, and those of the na- 
 turalists and artists which accompanied the As- 
 trolobe discovery ship, now in course of pub- 
 lication. 
 
 (271.) It follows, from necessity, that if men of 
 science are once allowed, like other ranks in society, 
 to aspire to the honours of the state, by the patronage 
 and protection of " the fountain of honour," the 
 government of the country possess, in them, the 
 best advisers, and the purest means of information on 
 all scientific questions, that can be found. But we 
 must appreciate excellence, from a conviction of its 
 worth, before we condescend to ask advice of others, 
 and before we can be persuaded that we ourselves 
 are incompetent judges. So long as the influence of 
 scientific knowledge upon the business of life is 
 neither perceived nor valued, so long will its services 
 be neglected, if not despised. On the other hand, 
 when once this connection is seen and acknowledged, 
 our philosophers will be looked upon as fit advisers 
 on 'all occasions wherein their acquirements bear 
 upon the question at issue. We are again compelled 
 to cite the institutions of other countries as patterns 
 for our own. The members of the French Insti-
 
 396 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 tute*, appointed and paid by the government, became, 
 in return, its scientific advisers. There is no esta- 
 blishment of this nature in Britain ; but if the Royal 
 Society was placed upon a better footing, many of 
 the advantages derived by the French government 
 from its Institute might reasonably be expected from 
 the oldest, if not the best as they are at present con- 
 structed, of our scientific societies. It cannot be 
 expected that the government, even if otherwise dis- 
 posed, will pay much deference to the opinion of any 
 scientific body, composed (for the most part) of 
 gentlemen possessing no other qualifications than 
 general respectability, with the power of paying fifty 
 pounds for admittance. Neither can it be expected 
 that institutions so constituted, should employ their 
 influence with the government, in " staying its de- 
 stroying arm, in calling into action its powers of 
 doing good, or in demanding its bounty for such dis- 
 tinguished men, who were especially placed under 
 their patronage." Unless, therefore, government 
 shall grant salaries to a certain number of its most 
 distinguished men of science, as is done in every 
 other country, no effectual improvement can take 
 place. The " voluntary system," suits the state as 
 little as the church. In return for this bounty, 
 the society would be, as it were, the scientific ad- 
 visers of the crown, they would superintend public 
 experiments, report upon all scientific measures 
 submitted to government, and, in short, perform 
 
 * Sixty-three of the ordinary members of this noble institu- 
 tion receive each an annual pension from government of 1 500 
 francs, and the two secretaries 600 francs each.
 
 SALARIES TO SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS. 397 
 
 those multifarious and valuable duties which are so 
 admirably discharged by the Academy of Sciences 
 of Paris. Did the nation possess a scientific tribunal 
 of this sort, no administration would venture to act 
 in opposition to its unanimous voice; because, in case 
 of failure (such for instance as the loss of millions 
 of pounds in the blundering calculations about an- 
 nuities), they would be left without the shadow of 
 an excuse for the evils that might result from their 
 wilful rejection of the best advice. 
 
 (572.) It may be urged, indeed, that under the 
 present state of things, our philosophers will cheer- 
 fully give to the nation the benefit of their experience 
 and advice gratuitously, whenever our rulers will 
 condescend to ask them ; and that there exists no 
 necessi ty, therefore, for burthening the national fands 
 with the expenses of pecuniary remuneration. 
 We believe that, to a certain extent, such patriotic 
 feelings among our scientific men are very general, 
 and that their desire to advance the public good 
 will, upon most occasions, far outweigh the more 
 sordid motives of pecuniary profit. But in the de- 
 pressed state of science among us, and its neglect 
 among the aristocracy, those who are attached to its 
 pursuits find it necessary to follow some profes- 
 sion by which they can live ; and, in a country like 
 this, where the necessaries of life are so dear, and 
 its elegancies so highly prized, abstract science, 
 which is quite profitless, can only be prosecuted at 
 those hours of leisure, allowed by the intervals of 
 commercial or professional avocations. These must 
 be followed, day after day, with undeviating regu- 
 larity. How then, can it be expected, or how is it
 
 398 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 possible, for such men to withdraw themselves from 
 the duties of their calling, for the purpose of in- 
 vestigating complicated questions of science, and 
 after studying and experimenting, report upon 
 scientific measures affecting the public welfare? 
 They may have a strong inclination so to do ; but 
 they want the time ; and time, in a commercial 
 country, is often among the most valuable of posses- 
 sions. Its value should, therefore, be paid for, if it 
 subjects its possessor to loss ; just as we should 
 deem it unjust not to pay for any other marketable 
 commodity. If abstract science would procure meat 
 and drink to its possessor, if it would open a path to 
 the esteem or the patronage of ministers, or, finally, 
 if it was prosecuted by those who already have 
 wealth and leisure, the case would be different ; but, 
 under present circumstances, we do not see in what 
 manner the nation can procure scientific advisers 
 unless by paying for them. 
 
 (273.) The next improvement, which can only 
 originate in the government, is of far less moment 
 than those just dwelt upon ; yet it is not unworthy 
 of our present attention, inasmuch as it relates 
 almost exclusively to natural history. We allude 
 to the removal of those taxes upon zoological pub- 
 lications now in force, and the substitution of such 
 measures as would encourage their publication. In 
 ordinary cases our copyright laws are not only un- 
 exceptionable, but liberal. They secure to an author 
 the sole right of publishing his works for twenty- 
 eight years certain, upon the presentation of eleven 
 copies to the public libraries of the kingdom. It 
 has been observed that this tax, " which is scarcely
 
 COPYRIGHT ACT, OPPRESSIVE. 399 
 
 entitled to that name, is a mere trifle, amounting 
 only to the price of the paper of eleven copies, if 
 the work is a successful one ; but if the work does 
 not sell, the tax becomes nothing, for the eleven 
 copies have no value ; and it is better for the author 
 that they should be deposited in the public libraries 
 than converted into waste paper. Hence it follows, 
 that the author of a work has his property secured 
 to him by statute, without paying for the privilege." * 
 Against reasons so forcibly urged, and apparently 
 so conclusive, little, it may be thought, can be said ; 
 and yet, if applied to the case of illustrative works 
 on natural history, that is to say, with coloured 
 plates, they are perfectly erroneous. This error 
 originates from overlooking the simple fact, that 
 ordinary printed books are perfected by one manu- 
 facturing process, while such as have coloured 
 plates undergo two, the last of these, which con- 
 stitutes the finishing, being generally much more 
 expensive than the first process. To bring this 
 fact at once home to the conviction of the rea- 
 der, he has only to remember, that after the ex- 
 pense is incurred of the setting up, in printers' 
 types, the pages of a book, there is little more 
 expense in printing off two hundred and fifty copies, 
 than in printing a single one ; the only additional cost 
 is the paper, which, upon each copy, is a mere trifle. 
 The book is then finished by one process, and 
 comes perfect from the hands of the printer. But, 
 if it is to be illustrated with coloured plates, as 
 these plates occupy one third, or (what is very 
 
 * Quarterly Review.
 
 400 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 general) one half its bulk, there is still another 
 process to be gone into, much more expensive, at 
 all times, than the first, and generally doubling that 
 amount. All these plates must be coloured by 
 skilful hands, not indeed in a wholesale way (for 
 such an expense would be an insuperable obstacle to 
 bringing out such publications), but as they are 
 wanted for immediate sale. The expense of the 
 work, since it quitted the hands of the printer, is 
 thus increased threefold, and the author of such a 
 work is consequently subject to a tax three times 
 greater than if his book merely consisted of letter- 
 press. Did the generality of illustrative works give 
 any profit to their publishers, or even remunerate 
 them for their first expenses, there would not be so 
 much reason for complaint ; but those who have un- 
 fortunately made the experiment, with the hope of 
 benefiting science, if they are not absolute losers 
 thereby, know by experience that in nine instances 
 out of ten such publications, however admirable may 
 be their execution, are sure to entail pecuniary loss 
 upon their projectors. A recent case, strongly il- 
 lustrating the present argument, has come to our 
 personal knowledge, of a zoological publication, where 
 the copies which might be claimed by public li- 
 braries were eleven, and the subscribers to the work 
 were twelve, so that the author was subject to the 
 expense of colouring eleven copies over and above 
 the twelve which were sold, an expense, be it re- 
 membered, which there would have been no necessity 
 of incurring, except from the enforcement of the 
 copyright laws. The sale of only twelve copies of 
 each number would have done something to diminish
 
 SALE OP ILLUSTRATIVE WORKS. 401 
 
 the loss upon the publication ; but when, out of 
 these scanty proceeds, eleven other copies are to be 
 carefully coloured and then given away, the proceeds 
 to set against the first cost would be nil. It might 
 be reasonably supposed, by any one ignorant of the 
 actual state of science in this country, that a work 
 which would thus fall, as it were, still-born from the 
 press, was either utterly worthless, or at least pos- 
 sessed no claim to scientific excellence or beauty of 
 execution. But such is by no means the case. The 
 author is of established reputation, the scientific 
 merit of the work has called forth encomiums in 
 British and foreign periodicals, and the beauty of 
 the plates excites general admiration. We could 
 give other instances of 'similar works published in 
 England sharing the same fate, although, perhaps, 
 not so deplorable. Enough, however, has now been 
 stated, to show, that, however excellent and lenient 
 the tax imposed by the copyright act may be, upon 
 the generality of authors ; still, that on the description 
 of works we are now considering, it is peculiarly 
 oppressive : inasmuch as it falls with a threefold 
 weight upon those authors who are least able to 
 meet the demand, and who receive none of the 
 benefits these laws extend to others. It is only 
 when a work is eminently successful, and has an ex- 
 tensive sale, that piracy need be apprehended, and 
 the enactments of the legislature become really 
 useful. As for the value of copyright to the authors 
 of illustrated works on natural history, it is absolutely 
 nothing; for no one, with the least knowledge or 
 experience in these matters, would be so inconceiv- 
 ably silly as to infringe the laws for the sake of in-
 
 402 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 curring pecuniary loss, the certain result of such an 
 undertaking. 
 
 (274.) The importance of the class of publications 
 we are now speaking of, not only to the advance- 
 ment, but to the right understanding of science, 
 cannot be questioned. Words, however many, or 
 however well selected, cannot picture to the eye 
 the forms of things. And, next to the examin- 
 ation of the real object, an advantage seldom to 
 be obtained, its correct representation is the most 
 to be desired. Without the aid of accurate 
 figures, natural history, in all its branches, would 
 be involved in doubt and complexity, from the 
 poverty of language to express the innumerable 
 forms, and modifications of those forms, in the objects 
 upon which it treats. So much more easy is it to 
 impress a definite image upon the'mind through the 
 medium of the eye, than the ear, that a rough out- 
 line, a small woodcut occupying but a square inch, 
 will accomplish this object better than a whole page 
 of the most elaborate description. In proportion to the 
 complication of the object we wish to make known, 
 so is the necessity increased for calling in the aid of 
 the graphic art. It is, therefore, absolutely essential 
 that such works should abound in every department 
 of zoology, because the objects to be made known by 
 such means pour in upon us from all parts of the 
 world, while the difficulty of discriminating them, 
 by mere words, is proportionably increased. But 
 by whom are such works (necessarily expensive 
 from the cost of the labour to which they owe their 
 excellence) to be encouraged or patronised ? The 
 natural supposition would be, by those institutions or
 
 IMPORTANCE OF ILLUSTRATIVE WORKS. 4-03 
 
 societies expressly formed for the advancement and 
 protection of science, by the nobility and the 
 wealthy of the land, who feel a laudable pride in the 
 richness and excellence of their libraries, and by 
 men of science, who are themselves interested in 
 the success of their favourite pursuits. But,if 
 these sources of patronage are ineffectual, it is 
 clearly incumbent upon a liberal government, zealous 
 for increasing the facilities of knowledge, to stretch 
 forth a protecting hand, and either directly to take 
 upon themselves the cost (with proper limitations) 
 of publishing such works as, upon mature consider- 
 ation, may be deemed worthy of national aid, or 
 indirectly, by other means, give to those authors 
 who will take the risk upon themselves certain pri- 
 vileges or immunities, proportionate to the hazards 
 they incur. All this will doubtless appear prepos- 
 terous to those who think that science is to be 
 advanced by the cheap compilations of the penny 
 press, which, we feel almost ashamed to say, are now 
 the only books upon natural history which suffice to 
 please the " great taste" so much talked of as ex- 
 isting in the public at large: but the opinions 
 of such persons can never controvert the well-known 
 fact, that the governments of other nations make 
 especial provisions for assisting in the publication 
 of expensive works, which, without such aid, would 
 never see the light. France, who seems deter- 
 mined to take the pre-eminence in all questions of 
 national science, annually appropriates no less a sum 
 than ten thousand pounds to the costs of public- 
 ation and subscription to scientific works, nearly 
 the whole of which relate to different depart- 
 DD 2
 
 404 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 ments of natural history. By this munificence she 
 has been enabled to give to the world all the zoo- 
 logical discoveries made on her scientific expeditions, 
 besides aiding the exertions of her naturalists at 
 home, by enabling them to bring out a series of 
 illustrated folio volumes, no less valuable than splen- 
 did, at once attesting the liberality of the government 
 and the judgment it has exercised. Howmuch can be 
 done, even with a tenth of the above sum, by judgment 
 and discretion, has been made apparent by the public- 
 ation of the Fauna Americana Borealia, contain ing the 
 zoological discoveries made in Franklin and Richard- 
 son's expeditions ; and which, but for the grant of 
 1,000/. towards the engraving of the plates, would 
 most assuredly never have seen the light. Were the 
 government fully aware of the extent of the satis- 
 faction felt by all the well-informed classes, at this 
 maiden act of generosity, small though it was, that 
 even in the periodicals and newspapers of the day 
 there was but one opinion expressed, at the very 
 time when the cry for economy and cheap govern- 
 ment was at its height, if the present administra- 
 tion, we repeat, were but fully aware of all this, they 
 would never again hesitate to propose similar or 
 even more liberal grants, and thus gather to them- 
 selves those " golden opinions from all sorts of 
 men," wjiich the country has long wished to give, 
 and which its science has so long languished for. 
 
 (275.) But the occasions for exercising such liber- 
 ality on undertakings connected with national dis- 
 coveries, are few and far between ; and we cannot 
 hope, in this our generation, to witness direct 
 patronage extended to private undertakings, hew-
 
 HINTS FOR EXTENDING THEIR CIRCULATION. 4<05 
 
 ever excellent or however important. Yet there 
 are some measures, of an indirect nature, which 
 would materially promote the same object, and 
 soften the peculiar disadvantages attending the 
 authors of costly publications. In the first place, 
 those who wish it might be exempt from all the 
 advantages and the penalties of the copyright act, 
 and the government, instead of claiming eleven 
 presentation copies, might, without a charge of 
 great extravagance, subscribe for an equal number, 
 and present them, as a gift of the crown, to the chief 
 public libraries of the nation. In the next place, let 
 a drawback be allowed on the excise duties paid on 
 the paper consumed, provided it amounts to a cer- 
 tain given sum, and is of such a description as to 
 show, at once, that it has been used for a large sized 
 and expensive work. These two concessions, simple 
 and practicable as they undoubtedly are, would at 
 once have a powerful effect on the publications in 
 question ; and this in two ways : first, by diminishing 
 the original cost, and consequently removing the 
 great obstacle to their extended sale, now existing in 
 their high price ; and secondly, by thus enabling the 
 publishers to find a market for works of this descrip- 
 tion on the Continent, where the high price of those 
 published in Britain acts almost like a prohibition to 
 their sale. It is a well-known fact, that the costs 
 of publishing a book in England are exactly double. 
 what they are in Paris ; a difference easily explained 
 by the heavy duties upon our paper, and the higher 
 wages of English printers. It therefore follows, that 
 the high price of English books, but more especially 
 those of which we are now speaking, almost excludes 
 D D 3
 
 406 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. ' 
 
 them from the continental market, while nobody 
 will buy them at home. The only plan, therefore, 
 by which this virtual prohibition could be overcome, 
 would be by diminishing the cost of production in 
 some such manner as we have already suggested, or 
 by allowing a small bounty on their exportation. 
 The fact of the matter, however, is this ; that for 
 books of this description there is, in all countries, 
 more or less, such a very limited demand, that 
 profit is entirely out of the question, and the 
 only effectual way of promoting their sale, and of 
 reducing their present cost, would be by a general 
 agreement, among all civilised governments, to ad- 
 mit them free of all import duties. We believe 
 some such liberal measure has been adopted in 
 France, and we trust that the American, if not our 
 own government, will not be tardy in performing 
 this small act of generosity to men of science, who 
 are generally compelled to publish at their own cost 
 and charges, from the universal disinclination of the 
 commercial booksellers to embark their capital in 
 such hazardous projects. The import duties in 
 America are so heavy, that illustrative works, printed 
 in England, can find no purchasers among our 
 Transatlantic brethren, distinguished, as they un- 
 doubtedly are, by a much more national encourage- 
 ment of science than exists with us, and where 
 natural history, even in some of the most remote 
 provinces of the Union, already has its regular 
 professors. Petty jealousies, in such matters, if they 
 really exist, ought surely to be laid aside ; where 
 no profit worth naming can be derived, the idea 
 of competition is perfectly ridiculous. We should
 
 HONORARY TITLES. 407 
 
 hail with pleasure every addition made to our stock 
 of knowledge by the press of America, while, by 
 admitting their publications free of duty, we should 
 doubtless receive the same indulgence : and the 
 costly works of British naturalists, with a small re- 
 duction of their original price, and disburthened of 
 duties on their arrival, might then find purchasers in 
 large districts of America, where at present they 
 are only known by name. 
 
 (276.) 5. The last subject connected with our pre- 
 sent enquiry possesses much interest in itself, and 
 still more from its recent discussion in the House of 
 Commons. It is on the propriety or impropriety of 
 conferring honorary titles or distinctions upon those 
 of our philosophers who have benefited their country 
 by their discoveries or inventions. 
 
 (277.) That distinguished merit, of whatsoever 
 description, should receive reward, either pecuniary 
 or honorary, proportionate to ifcs nature and degree, 
 no one will deny ; and that great intellectual ac- 
 quirements are far superior to qualities derived 
 from the exercise of animal faculties, is also an un- 
 deniable truth ; proved, if proof were necessary, by 
 the rarity of the one and the frequency of the 
 other. But the bulk of mankind are but little 
 influenced by abstract truth. They will assent to 
 its doctrines from their incapacity of denying them ; 
 but they will seldom carry this assent into practice. 
 They will be content to admit the general principle; 
 but, if it is to be applied to particular cases, they 
 shelter themselves under the common excuse, that 
 custom, or fashion, or national feeling, is against 
 the measure; they look for precedents; they cannot 
 D D 4
 
 408 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 go against public opinion ; they must have the 
 sanction of example, before they can make inno- 
 vations. Before, therefore, we analyse the question 
 above stated, it may be as well to scan the sen- 
 timents of nearly all civilised nations, proved by their 
 acts on this subject, that we may at once see 
 whether they accord with those which have hitherto 
 guided the government of this country in the honor- 
 ary reward of merit. 
 
 (278.) A few striking facts, in addition to those 
 noticed in the preceding chapters, are alone neces- 
 sary to establish this proposition, That from the 
 earliest revival of science down to the present 
 moment, the governments of the most powerful and 
 enlightened kingdoms in Europe have considered 
 honorary titles or distinctions appropriate rewards 
 to men of science ; and that in several we find 
 distinct orders of knighthood, or of merit, expressly 
 instituted for this purpose. 
 
 (279.) We must begin with France, because, as 
 her institutions are better known in this country, her 
 situation offers an immediate point of comparison, 
 while the industry of a recent author enables us to 
 argue from the most convincing of all proofs 
 names and figures. Mr. Babbage has given the 
 following tables, the correctness of which has not 
 been questioned. " If we analyse the list of the 
 Institute," observes our author, " we shall find few 
 who do not possess titles or decorations ; but, as the 
 value of such marks of royal favour must depend in 
 a great measure on their frequency, I shall mention 
 several particulars, which are probably not familiar 
 to the English reader.
 
 SCIENTIFIC NOBLEMEN IN FRANCE. 409 
 
 No. of Members of the T f , N f h 
 
 IrHS 
 
 Grand Croix - 3 80 
 
 Grand officier - 3 160 
 
 Commandeur - - 4- 400 
 
 Officier - 17 2000 
 
 Chevalier - - 40 not limited. : 
 
 (57 
 
 Here then we have no less than sixty-seven members 
 out of seventy-five upon whom the government have 
 thought fit to bestow titles of distinction. Our 
 Royal Society, which corresponds only to the French 
 Institute in being the best of its kind in Great 
 Britain, contains 685 members, among whom there 
 are only two or three Hanoverian knights, who have 
 very recently been so created, in consequence of 
 their scientific attainments.* Next, as to the nobility 
 belonging to the Institute, the greater number of 
 whom, be it remembered, are men of science, have 
 contributed to its annals, and have been rewarded 
 with these titles in consequence. 
 
 Dukes, 2. Counts, 4. Barons, 14. 
 Marquis, 1. Viscounts, 2. 
 
 making a total of twenty-three, five of whom are 
 peers of France. Our list of the Royal Society can 
 probably show an equal, if not a superior number of 
 
 * Titles which are the reward of members eminent only 
 in the medical profession do not, of course, bear upon the 
 present question.
 
 410 STUDY OP NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 titled names; but it is scarcely necessary to add, 
 that not one has been the reward of intellectual 
 acquirements, while of those in our list who have 
 contributed to the Philosophical Transactions, and 
 have thereby demonstrated their scientific know- 
 ledge, there appears to be only one" It must not, 
 indeed, be inferred," observes our author, " that 
 the titles of nobility in the French list were all of 
 them the rewards of scientific eminence ; yet many 
 are known to be such ; but it will be quite sufficient 
 for the argument to mention the names of Lagrange, 
 La Place, Berthollet, Chaptal," and, last, though not 
 least, Cuvier. 
 
 (280.) Need we, after such facts as these, search 
 for further details on the decorations and orders of 
 merit bestowed upon living philosophers by Prussia 
 and Bavaria, which, at the present moment, of all 
 the European nations, are not inferior to France, in 
 their munificent encouragement of science, by 
 Saxony, whose chief astronomer is likewise an am- 
 bassador, by the Grand Duke of Tuscany, whose 
 prime minister is a celebrated mathematician, or 
 by Russia, whose Aulic councillors are almost ex- 
 clusively chosen from the ranks of science? These 
 instances, taken at random, are sufficient indica- 
 tions of the state of feeling throughout Europe 
 on the question before us, that philosophers should 
 have the option of accepting those titular dis- 
 tinctions, which are so much coveted by the bulk 
 of mankind, and so profusely lavished upon others. 
 Their possession, it is true, by such men, can add 
 little or nothing to that imperishable fame which 
 is their chief desire ; a paramount feeling which
 
 HONOURS WITHHELD FROM ENGLISHMEN. 411 
 
 prompts them to the sacrifice of personal interest, 
 of wealth, and of domestic comfort. 
 
 (281.) If, therefore, a question is to be decided by 
 the general custom and feelings of all civilised nations, 
 we might here stop, and enquire, what reasons can 
 be assigned by Englishmen for thus pertinaciously 
 refusing to follow the example of the rest of the 
 world ? Why are we to refuse specific honours to 
 one class of public benefactors, when we bestow 
 them, with lavish profusion, upon all others? Is 
 this eccentric opinion held by the nation at large, 
 or is it peculiar only to the executive government? 
 Let us see how this case stands. There is a sterling 
 good sense and love of independence in the people 
 of England, which leads them to rejoice in the 
 success of any one, who, by sheer force of personal 
 merit, gains distinction or reward. Now this feeling 
 springs from two motives, which constitute the 
 most prominent ingredients in the national cha- 
 racter : the one is a love of justice, the other of 
 independence ; the first fostered by the excellency 
 of our judicial laws, the latter by the freedom of 
 our constitution : with these is blended a third, 
 which tells us, that if national honours attended 
 great excellence, distinction may be attained by 
 those who, possessing talents, exert them to the 
 utmost. An instance, therefore, of independent and 
 self-created merit, fitly rewarded, comes home to 
 the individual feelings of every good man, and leads 
 us to extol it as an act of justice. Nothing il- 
 lustrated this proposition more strongly than the 
 praise which was bestowed, almost to extravagance, 
 On the recent elevation of two or three of our phi-
 
 412 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 losophers to the honour of knighthood, and the 
 bestowal of a small pension upon another,* At a time 
 when the daily press teemed with invectives against 
 the titled aristocracy, the existence of sinecures, 
 and the granting of pensions, all parties in the king- 
 dom, from the philosophic congress held at Cam- 
 bridge down to the most violent of the radical 
 papers, united with one heart and one voice in 
 extolling these acts of national liberality, and in 
 lamenting they were so seldom exercised. It is 
 plain, therefore, that the nation at large, so far from 
 participating in the indifference habitually shown by 
 our government to the science of the country, 
 applauds and approves of those honours occasionally 
 bestowed upon its votaries. From whom, then, 
 does this injustice proceed? Certainly not from the 
 nation at large, or from its intellectual classes. 
 Mr. Babbage has made it a subject of bitter com- 
 plaint, and the Quarterly Review has, to use its 
 own emphatic words, " unfolded a series of griev- 
 ances of the most afflicting kind." Murmurs and 
 reproaches have spread wider and louder in propor- 
 tion as they have been disregarded, until we now 
 find them bursting forth in the parliament of the 
 nation. 
 
 (282.) On the recent discussion in the House of 
 Commons as to restricting the Order of the Bath, a 
 well-known member, decidedly opposed to all un- 
 necessary expense or unmerited distinctions, is re- 
 ported to have made the following sound and admir- 
 able remarks: " Although England was strictly a 
 
 * See Proceedings of the British Association at Cambridge.
 
 DISCUSSION OF THE SUBJECT IN PARLIAMENT. 413 
 
 civil country, a nation opposed in constitution, 
 habits, feelings, and desires, to the despotic states 
 of the Continent, still it was found that all distinc- 
 tions were almost exclusively conferred upon military 
 and naval officers. There were no orders to reward 
 the man of genius and of science ; none to pay him 
 for the halo he gave to the name of England. There 
 were few men of eminence (whose pursuits were civil) 
 Knights of the Bath ; they were, indeed, few and far 
 between. Although there were five orders, the 
 Garter, the Thistle, St. Patrick, the Bath, and the 
 fifth, a new one, St. Michael and St. George of the 
 Ionian Islands, yet there was not one to give honour 
 to the man of genius and talent. It was quite dif- 
 ferent on the Continent ; there was found the man 
 of literary eminence in his proper place; if they went 
 to Prussia they found him honoured ; if to France, 
 highly and nobly distinguished. England stood alone, 
 and yet she was a civil country.* (Hear, hear)" 
 
 (283.) This speech, which in our opinion places 
 the inconsistency of our honorary distinctions in a 
 new and forcible light, as being utterly at variance 
 with the nature of our government, was answered 
 by another distinguished member, who in the late 
 administration was one of the chief advisers of the 
 crown. This reply deserves great attention, not 
 only from its nature, but as revealing to us those 
 sentiments entertained in the highest circles, which 
 have hitherto guided the government on all questions 
 influencing the science of the country, and from 
 which has resulted its present humiliation. The 
 
 * Taken from " The Sun," April 19. 1834.
 
 414 STUDY OP NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 right honourable member in question, in reply to 
 the foregoing speech, is reported to have said, 
 " that there were some men to whom honours 
 were unnecessary, and which could not confer 
 higher dignity than their genius and their talent 
 had invested them with. What, he would ask, 
 could a blue riband or a collar do for a Newton ? 
 Would they make his name more hallowed, his 
 family more endurable ? No, certainly not. There 
 should be a line of distinction drawn, for, if not, 
 many would be seeking them. He would not mix 
 up scientific ingenuity with military favour; he 
 would leave it to the possession of its own ennobling 
 honours." 
 
 (284.) Had the honourable member who spoke 
 next in the debate, himself a man of science, and 
 a vice-president of the Royal Society, whose 
 sentiments are known to be in unison with those 
 expressed in these pages had he replied, and 
 combated what may well be deemed the unsound- 
 ness of these doctrines, he could at once have 
 exposed their fallacy, and have spared us the un- 
 gracious task of animadverting upon one whose 
 talents we admire, and whose eloquence can give 
 to any cause he espouses almost the force of 
 demonstrative conviction. It is seldom that an 
 opening occurs, in parliamentary debate, for the dis- 
 cussion of matters affecting the interests of science ; 
 and when so few of our representatives are qualified 
 to speak on such things, it is doubly disheartening 
 to witness such opportunities for vindicating her 
 rights neglected. Perhaps, however, the forms of 
 debate might have prevented our vice-president
 
 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 415 
 
 from following up the subject; a duty, however, 
 which is imperatively imposed upon any one who 
 complains of the " decline of science." 
 
 (285.) The speech last quoted contains three 
 assigned reasons for showing the impropriety of 
 conferring titles of honour upon scientific men : 
 1. Because their highest dignity being the possession 
 of genius and talent, therefore, national honours were 
 unnecessary ; 2. Because, if such honours were con- 
 ferred " many would be seeking them;" and 3. Be- 
 cause scientific merit " should be its own reward." 
 
 (286.) There are some questions so long set at 
 rest by the general voice of mankind, that to enter 
 elaborately into their defence, on ordinary occasions, 
 is not only superfluous, but may become nearly as 
 ridiculous as to fight with our own shadow. Yet if 
 these very opinions, long explored by the reflecting, 
 are taken up for some particular purpose, clothed 
 with eloquence, and delivered with grace, by an 
 accomplished orator, they are listened and assented 
 to by the assembly, who applaud that which, if 
 spoken by a common person, would immediately pro- 
 duce ridicule. Of this character is the opinion that 
 where great merit exists, no outward sign or symbol 
 by which its possession is to be made known to 
 the world is at all necessary. Or, if necessary in 
 one class of excellence, it is not so in another. An 
 ordinary person who would thus argue, must either 
 be very little acquainted with human nature 
 with the general sense of mankind on this subject 
 or he must imagine that the feelings of philosophers 
 are totally different from those of other men. He 
 must suppose that men of science are wholly exempt
 
 416 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 from the influence of one of the ruling passions of 
 our nature ambition. That such men can derive 
 no personal gratification from such marks and tokens 
 as at once show to the world the gratitude of their 
 country, the esteem of its ministers, or the favour 
 of its sovereign ; that they are quite indifferent to 
 the public acknowledgment of their merit ; that they 
 are well content to be received in society on the 
 same footing as the most illiterate citizen ; and that, 
 in the " pride of place," they have not the least sense 
 of humiliation in being jostled in the crowd, and 
 ordered to make way for a city alderman, carrying up 
 an address for which he is to be knighted. Now all 
 these are the inevitable consequences of withholding 
 national honours from men of science. What are 
 such honours made for, but to be given to those 
 who deserve them ? Why are they created, but that 
 the nation should know to whom it is indebted for 
 its glory? If such honours cannot confer higher 
 dignity, in a worldly sense, than genius or talent, of 
 what possible use do they become? they are alto- 
 gether as worthless to the warrior, the statesman, or 
 the nobleman by birth, as to the philosopher. What, 
 it has been asked, " could a blue riband or a collar 
 do for a Newton ? would they make his name more 
 hallowed, his family more durable ? " What, let us 
 in turn demand, can a multitude of ribands, and 
 crosses, and collars, do for a Wellington ; will they 
 make his name more famous, his family more en- 
 durable ? The answer to both has been already 
 given, " No, certainly not." What, then, is the 
 use of such things? baubles though they be. 
 The answer is obvious they evince the gratitude of
 
 USES OF HONORARY TITLES. 417 
 
 a nation for benefits conferred. They certify to 
 the world that their possessors have reached the 
 height of their ambition ; an ambition which is felt 
 by the sage no less than by the hero, which is the 
 noblest stimulus to exertion the most hallowed 
 feeling of the human heart ; they are at once 
 enrolled and distinguished as benefactors to their 
 country, if not to the human race. Such is the legi- 
 timate use of titular honours and their accompanying 
 signs. That they are perpetually degraded to ignoble 
 purposes, to reward the courtly sycophant, the poli- 
 tical apostate, or the wealthy imbecile, is most true ; 
 but were they invariably so perverted, it is obvious 
 that no good man would accept or desire them. 
 They still retain the lineaments of their original 
 image, and their superscription can still be traced ; 
 and who can imagine that philosophers only are to 
 be insensible to such things, that they only are 
 devoid of ambition, that they only are indifferent to 
 the applause of their countrymen, few, very few of 
 whom would admit their deserts, and still fewer 
 understand them, but for such public testimonials ? 
 To argue, therefore, against the existence of such 
 feelings is to suppose there is no ambition in the 
 world beyond that which belongs to the grosser and 
 baser passions of our nature, which strives after 
 wealth, or power, or possessions, for themselves 
 alone, totally regardless of those means they supply 
 of doing good to others. Philosophers are but men, 
 generally exempt, indeed, from the vanity and pride 
 of vulgar minds ; yet still they cannot be insensible 
 to distinctions, earned by intellectual exertion ; any 
 more than the warrior or the statesman can be
 
 4>18 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 supposed to despise the decorations of a riband, or 
 the homage of a political party. 
 
 (287.) But then it is urged, if philosophers 
 were to be rewarded by titular distinctions, " many 
 would be seeking them." No doubt, many aspirants 
 would be found for these, as there are for all other 
 honours, whose qualifications were trifling. But in 
 what manner this evil is to be peculiar to the 
 class of society under consideration has not been 
 explained. As national honours, of whatsoever 
 description they may be, are highly and deservedly 
 prized ; so, as a matter of course, will they be 
 sought for and coveted. When a vacancy occurs for 
 the decoration of a blue riband, are there not many 
 who seek to fill it? Those who are in power can 
 best answer this question; but every one acquainted 
 with human nature, knows by induction that there 
 must be a host of aspirants, where honours are to 
 be gained; while to suppose such rewards were 
 not of sufficient value to excite competition, and 
 induce " many to seek them," is at once to proclaim 
 their unfitness for exciting that emulation which is 
 one of their legitimate uses. But supposing, for a 
 moment, that England, like all other civilised Eu- 
 ropean nations, had her own order of merit, by 
 whatsoever title it were called, and solely restricted 
 to her philosophers. Can it be imagined, for a 
 moment, that there would be a tenth part as many 
 aspirants to its honours, as there are now to the 
 titles belonging to the existing' orders ? Un- 
 questionably not, and for this simple reason : hun- 
 dreds, we might almost say thousands, in a country 
 like this, from the possession of wealth, rank, or
 
 DIFFICULTY OF FILLING A SCIENTIFIC ORDER. 419 
 
 connection, joined to the qualifications of pe*- 
 sonal courage or legal knowledge, are at this 
 moment as much entitled to be made knights of 
 the established orders of merit, as most of those 
 individuals who have actually been so honoured. 
 No one will deny this, because it has tacitly 
 been admitted in parliament. With science, how- 
 ever, the case is totally different. Instead of such 
 a superabundance of qualified individuals for filling 
 up a scientific order, the real fact would turn out to 
 be, that if high excellency was alone regarded, 
 government would find great difficulty in filling up 
 the ranks. Instead of being embarrassed where to 
 decide in the multiplicity of equal claims, they 
 would be perplexed in finding men sufficiently well 
 qualified; and if they limited the number of the 
 order even to fifty, they must of necessity admit 
 many who now occupy only a second or a third 
 station in the ranks of philosophy. This objection 
 is, therefore, a peculiarly unhappy one, since the 
 danger to be feared is, not the difficulty of selecting, 
 but the difficulty of finding. Every one, at all 
 acquainted with the subject, and with that de- 
 scription of excellency which is possessed by titled 
 philosophers upon the Continent, is fully aware of 
 the paucity of such scientific attainments in Britain. 
 And even common observation will show that the 
 numbers among us, who pursue the higher walks of 
 science, " are very few, and probably will long con- 
 tinue so." 
 
 (288.) We fully agree, indeed, with the right ho- 
 nourable member from whom these objections have 
 originated, in the justness of his remark that "some 
 EE 2
 
 420 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 distinction should be made*," and that those out- 
 ward signs or titles, which might be the reward of 
 our scientific benefactors, should not be too common. 
 Let them, therefore, be of such a description that 
 they will be inaccessible to the army, the navy, 
 the bar, the church, and the medical profession, 
 unless individuals belonging to these professions, 
 also possess scientific attainments. Under such 
 restrictions, there is no fear of scientific honours 
 being too common, if those only who deserve them 
 are so distinguished. But once admit all these 
 various professions, and the honour becomes nominal, 
 and it will no longer be an object of ambition to the 
 man of real knowledge. That some discrimination 
 of this sort should be made, is abundantly evident. 
 The truth is, that these professions already mono- 
 
 * The government would have done well, perhaps, if they 
 had followed up this principle of preserving " distinctions " in 
 the lavish profusion of honours stated to have been conferred of 
 late years. " Since the peace of 1816, no fewer than 97 
 Knights Grand Crosses, 1 64 Knights Commanders, and a whole 
 regiment of Companions of the Order of the Bath, have ap- 
 pointed : these are all military and naval men ; and though 
 the order does admit the civil servants and benefactors of the 
 state, yet only 15 of this class have been appointed, and not 
 one of these knights are men of either science or .literature. 
 In the long list of knight bachelors, we meet with a singular 
 assemblage of characters. Judges, lawyers, soldiers, sailors, 
 physicians, surgeons, apothecaries, painters, architects, book- 
 sellers, and quack doctors, and all the operatives of the political 
 machine are marshalled in ludicrous juxta-position. A few 
 honoured names, indeed, grace the multifarious list," but not 
 more than two scientific characters are to be found. Quarterly 
 Review, p. 332.^
 
 " DISTINCTIONS SHOULD BE MADE." 421 
 
 polise all the honorary distinctions of the empire. 
 They possess titular distinctions peculiar to them- 
 selves, which at once attest and define the rank 
 of each individual occupied in his own profession ; 
 but, as if they only deserve honours, they are se- 
 lected to recruit the ranks of our nobility, and to 
 share among themselves all those tokens of outward 
 dignity, which the laws and customs of other nations 
 throw open to excellence of every sort. The pro- 
 fessional titles belonging to the army and the navy 
 fix at once their station in society, and these are 
 the proper and legitimate rewards they should have. 
 So also in the bar and in the church, there are 
 titles and dignities of the same description, differing, 
 indeed, as they rightly should, in name, but equally 
 marking the different gradations of estimation or of 
 preferment, to which those who enjoy them have 
 respectively attained. With these appropriate dis- 
 tinctions let them be satisfied ; or, if one or two 
 orders of knighthood are instituted for conferring 
 additional dignity upon the possessors of animal 
 courage (we use not the term reproachfully), let 
 there at least be others, equally set apart for those 
 
 who have achieved the most glorious of all victories 
 
 
 the victory of knowledge over prejudice; whose 
 conquests have at length seated science and civi- 
 lisation upon the throne of Europe, formerly occupied 
 by barbarism and ignorance. This is the distinction 
 which should be drawn ; a distinction as great as 
 that between matter and spirit, between the arts of 
 war and the arts of peace. We deny not that both 
 these qualifications are essential, in the present 
 condition of the world, to the prosperity of a state, 
 EE 3
 
 422 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 but we also contend that both should be equally 
 honoured and rewarded by the nation. 
 
 (289.) Let us now look to the consequences of 
 leaving scientific excellence in the " possession of its 
 own ennobling honours." And why not leave all other 
 excellence to the same fate? Does science with 
 us, as with other nations, feed her children with the 
 necessaries of life ' Does she make her ways the 
 ways to estimation or preferment, to favour or to 
 patronage ? If she did, her votaries might then be 
 very well " left to the possession of their own en- 
 nobling honours;" they would have no cause for 
 complaint, they would then enjoy the substantials of 
 greatness, and would care very little for its nominal 
 privileges. But what is notoriously the result of 
 this system this visionary scheme by which 
 science is so respectfully neglected? It is, in Bri- 
 tain, to come into an heritage of poverty, obscurity, 
 and neglect. To use the words of an eloquent 
 writer, " He whom the Almighty has chosen to make 
 known the laws and mysteries of his works he who 
 has devoted his life, and sacrificed his health, and 
 the interests of his family, in the most profound and 
 ennobling pursuits is allowed to live in poverty and 
 obscurity, and to sink into the grave without one 
 mark of the affection and gratitude of his country."* 
 Such is the " barren heritage " which the ministers 
 of this country would assign to her philosophers. 
 Such are the " ennobling honours," of which they are 
 to be left in possession. 
 
 (290.) And why is this ? why are excuses sought 
 
 * Quarterly Review.
 
 TRUE CAUSE OF MINISTERIAL NEGLECT. 423 
 
 for thus acting in opposition to the plainest dictates 
 of reason and of justice, to the feelings of all other 
 civilised governments, and to those even of the in- 
 telligent classes of this country ? It is not because 
 the value of science is unknown to our rulers ; for 
 they have, as it seems, so enlarged a conception of 
 its worth, that they imagine it can provide for itself. 
 It is not because the nation at large disregards it, 
 because in no other country are there so many 
 public associations for its culture. No. It is because 
 science enters not into the strife of politics, she 
 " brings up no reserve to the minister, to swell his 
 triumph or to break his fall ;" she remains passive 
 in the warfare of elections, she possesses no courtly 
 influence, and flatters no courtier ; she neither comes 
 recommended by wealth, by power, by titles, or by 
 interest. She has, in short, nothing to give ; and 
 therefore it is, that she has nothing to receive. All 
 other reasons for her neglect merge into this ; and it 
 may be fairly questioned, whether her votaries, " now 
 depressed to the level of hewers of wood and drawers 
 of water," will ever recover their caste, until those 
 who direct public affairs will abandon the line of 
 argument we have here attempted to refute. These 
 arguments have been investigated more closely, 
 perhaps, than may appear necessary; but as emanat- 
 ing from a late cabinet minister, they deserved every 
 attention, since they clearly show, in language not 
 to be mistaken, the sentiments which pervade that 
 particular school of politics which has hitherto been 
 paramount in the national councils. 
 
 (291.) And yet, so far from desiring to see a new 
 order of merit at once instituted for our philosophers, 
 K a 4
 
 424 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 it may be questioned whether such a measure, in the 
 present state of affairs, would be in any way expedient; 
 for, if we are retrograding in the higher walks of 
 science, the first duty of a wise administration will 
 be to check that declension, and provide for a restor- 
 ation. Let us first encourage and foster scientific 
 talent, and then, if it bring forth good fruit, let it be 
 honoured and rewarded. At present our scale of 
 excellency is at so low a standard, that with the 
 exception of about a dozen names, and these con- 
 fined to two or three particular departments, we 
 have really so few possessing those high qualifica- 
 tions which are rewarded by honorary distinctions 
 in other countries, that if a distinct scientific order 
 were instituted, there would be a lack of members 
 to fill it ! The inevitable consequence of this defi- 
 ciency of real merit, would be the admission of many 
 of very slender pretensions; while from the in- 
 competency of the higher classes to judge for them- 
 selves on such matters, and the propensity there is 
 in all our administrators to augment their political 
 power the new order would be chiefly filled through 
 the channels of patronage, and by amateurs rather 
 than by acknowledged adepts. A reserved and re- 
 tired disposition, absorbed in its own unobtrusive pur- 
 suits, and shunning those busy haunts where personal 
 popularity is to be gained, and personal interests ad- 
 vanced, are the general characteristics of the man of 
 real knowledge. These men are the very last who are 
 likely to gain the attention, much less the regard, 
 of those by whose recommendation such favours are 
 dispensed. Should any administration, therefore, 
 in future times, really wish to place the science of
 
 SHOULD BE COMMENCED AT COLLEGE. 425 
 
 Britain upon another footing, it must begin with 
 national institutions for instructing, and pecuniary 
 endowments for maturing science ; and, lastly, it 
 might then proceed to reward those who attain pre- 
 eminence. 
 
 (292.) We thus bring our argument to the point 
 from whenie it began ; namely, that a love for na- 
 tural science must be imbibed at our universities ; 
 where, to be taught effectually, it should be incor- 
 porated as a necessary part of academic education. 
 It is obvious, that tastes so acquired will have a 
 powerful influence on the minds of those who may 
 hereafter become legislators ; and that finally, a go- 
 vernment composed of such legislators, will feel a 
 personal interest, far stronger than that of political, 
 in seeking out and rewarding, both with the pensions 
 and honours of the state, those whose names are 
 the brightest jewels in the diadem of the British 
 empire. It will be only when the founts of science are 
 opened to the sons of our nobility and aristocracy, at 
 those venerable and noble institutions where they 
 are educated ; it is only then that we can expect to 
 see the philosophic spirit of the Boyles, the Caven- 
 dishes, the Montagues, the Willoughbys, and the 
 Howards of former and better times, again revive in 
 their descendants, and once more occupy their proud 
 station in the scientific annals of England. It will 
 be only then, that the honours of the state will be 
 thrown open to our philosophers and literary charac- 
 ters. Then will the sage and the hero, as in other 
 kingdoms, deliberate in the same cabinet ; they will 
 be associated among the privy councillors of the 
 king, sit together in the united parliament, bear the
 
 426 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 same titles, be decorated with the same orders, and 
 the mind and the arm of the nation will be indis- 
 solubly united for its glory or for its defence. 
 
 (293.) We cannot altogether abandon the hope, 
 that at a period unexampled in our history for the dif- 
 fusion of knowledge among the people, in a time when 
 the name of Brougham will be inseparably connected 
 with this new era of intellectual developement, and 
 that not as a private individual, but as the Lord High 
 Chancellor of these realms, possessing rank, power, 
 learning, and eloquence, all that is necessary, in 
 short, for conceiving and executing the most noble 
 designs we cannot abandon the hope, that some- 
 thing effectual may yet be done, even in these our 
 times, to remove the stigma that has so long rested 
 upon our national character. We might suggest to 
 that exalted individual a truth which he will at once 
 perceive, that unless the spring-heads of knowledge 
 are sedulously repaired and renovated, the stream 
 will be soon exhausted ; and that in proportion as 
 we may anticipate a demand for more and more 
 information, we cannot furnish that supply unless we 
 sedulously protect those few secluded founts whence 
 alone it will gush forth. While we are indefatig- 
 able in diffusing that knowledge which is already 
 possessed, let us be equally careful in creating a 
 fresh supply, to be poured forth abroad when that 
 which we have in keeping is exhausted. With- 
 out such prudence, it is not difficult to foresee the 
 injurious effects which will follow ; for the science 
 of the country already begins to show them in its 
 declension. Knowledge, indeed, will be diffused, 
 but it will become proportionably superficial : all
 
 CONSEQUENCES OF THE DECLINE OF SCIENCE. 427 
 
 that is light, and novel, and amusing, will be eagerly 
 caught hold of, and scientific trifles will take the 
 place of scientific inductions. 
 
 (294.) But if this our effort fail to rouse the at- 
 tention of the present administration, " we must wait 
 for the revival of better feelings, and deplore our 
 national misfortune in the language of the wise man: 
 ' I returned, and saw under the sun that there is 
 neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men 
 of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill.' "* 
 
 * Quarterly Review, p. 342.
 
 4-28 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR THE REFORM AND IMPROVEMENT OF 
 OUR SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 
 
 (295.) WE have enlarged, in the preceding chapter, 
 upon those means possessed by the government 
 and the universities for giving a new impulse to the 
 science of Britain ; because no renovation can be 
 complete and effective, which does not commence 
 from these sources. The organisation of our scien- 
 tific societies, however, is a subject of some moment ; 
 because, unless we ourselves evince a disposition 
 for improvement, we cannot expect assistance from 
 higher quarters. To expose defects, and to animad- 
 vert upon the proceedings of such institutions, is 
 at all times an ungracious task ; yet experience has 
 shown, that it is most necessary. Imperfection 
 attaches to every thing human ; and we are most 
 ignorant of that imperfection, in proportion as we 
 turn away from advice, and disregard the opinions 
 of others. Now, where there is a disposition in the 
 majority to think correctly and to act wisely, we 
 are more disposed to treat with indulgence existing 
 defects, than to expatiate upon their universal pre- 
 valence ; preferring, at all times, dispassionate reason 
 to bitter declamation and general sarcasm. We, 
 therefore, leave to others the exposition of existing 
 or assumed abuses ; contenting ourselves with touch-
 
 KEMARKS ON THE LONDON SOCIETIES. 429 
 
 ing only upon those points which regard the well- 
 being of our respective societies, which are most con- 
 ducive to effect the objects they have in view, and 
 which are sanctioned both by reason and experience. 
 With these feelings, we shall now proceed to offer 
 a few remarks on the chief metropolitan societies 
 and institutions formed for the promotion of natural 
 sciences, and more especially natural history : viz. 
 the Royal Society of Great Britain, the Linnaean 
 Society, the Zoological Society, and the Entomo- 
 logical Society. The Geological Society will be 
 altogether omitted : first, because it more concerns 
 the mineral than the animal kingdom ; and, secondly, 
 because its laws and its management appear to be 
 so admirable, that they may be looked upon as a 
 model for all others. 
 
 (296.) The defects in the management of the 
 Royal Society have already been touched upon ; 
 they have been treated of in more detail by Pro- 
 fessor Babbage, and have been intimated by Sir 
 James South. There is one censure, however, 
 brought against the society by the Quarterly Re- 
 view, which may be here repeated, as it is passed 
 not merely upon the Royal, but upon all the lead- 
 ing societies of London. It is, that " they have 
 not employed their influence, with the government, 
 either in staying its destroying arm, or calling 
 into action its powers of doing good, or in de- 
 manding its bounty for those distinguished men who 
 were especially placed under its patronage." * But 
 this censure, just though it be, attaches more to 
 
 * Quarterly Review, p. 530.
 
 430 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 those members of the government and of the aris- 
 tocracy who are fellows, than upon the councils of 
 these societies. The latter, being chiefly composed 
 of untitled, and therefore uninfluential, men, would 
 naturally feel timidity in making representations 
 which they had not influence to support; whereas 
 the former, being chosen more for their political 
 influence than for their scientific attainments, were 
 certainly bound, in duty, to use that influence which 
 procured them their admission, for the benefit of 
 science and of its professors. 
 
 (297.) We pass over the obvious expediency of 
 free discussion, and all those ordinary means for in- 
 suring the honest and faithful administration of the 
 pecuniary affairs of these societies. The chief point 
 at which the Royal Society should aim, is that of ren- 
 dering it an object of ambition among men of scien- 
 tific eminence, to be enrolled among its members. 
 All will admit that this is most desirable ; the diffi- 
 culty lies only in the means by which it can be 
 accomplished. It appears, from the statement of 
 Professor Babbage, that some time ago, " many of 
 the more scientific members felt that some amend- 
 ment was absolutely necessary to the respectability 
 of the society ;" and a committee, in which we find 
 the names of Wollaston and Herschel, was accord- 
 ingly formed. " The council received their report 
 at the close of the session ; and in recording it on 
 the journals, they made an appeal to the council for 
 the ensuing year to bestow on it their earliest and 
 most serious attention" It appears, however, that 
 for some unassigned reason, this strong recommend- 
 ation was never attended to, and the matter was
 
 THE ROYAL SOCIETY. 431 
 
 suffered to drop. Nothing could be more injudi- 
 cious than such a step, or more disrespectful both 
 to the eminent men who composed the committee, 
 and to the members at large. If the measures so 
 recommended were impracticable, we should have 
 been told so ; if otherwise, they should immediately 
 have been acted upon. It is a great pity that the 
 opinions of a committee, so composed, concerning 
 the most vital point of interest to the society, 
 namely, its scientific respectability, should have 
 been kept secret; since it is difficult to imagine that 
 some of the improvements, at least, which they 
 recommended, might not have been carried into 
 effect. Ignorant of that document, we must there- 
 fore enquire how far the object of respectability 
 would be attained by the different means that have 
 been suggested. 1. By the " ejection of useless 
 fellows ; " 2. By their restriction ; 3. By their di- 
 vision into two classes ; and 4. By especial regu- 
 lations for future admissions. 
 
 (298.) The first plan of ejection, proposed by a 
 council of the R. S., in August, 1674, wherein was 
 Sir Christopher Wren, however honest and just, is 
 quite inapplicable to the conciliatory principles of 
 proceeding of 1834; and it may, therefore, be dis- 
 missed. The plan of restriction originated with 
 Dr. Wollaston, who thought that the society should 
 be limited to four hundred : this expedient is quite 
 as impracticable as the last ; for as the society now 
 consists of more than seven hundred, there must be 
 a complete suspension of fresh admissions until up- 
 wards of three hundred of the present race have died. 
 Besides, the mere limitation to any given number
 
 432 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 brings with it no accession of scientific honour, if 
 members are to be admitted upon the same easy 
 terms as they are now. Besides, those who would 
 raise the reputation of the society, must benefit us 
 by their head more than by their purse. The third 
 is a suggestion of Mr. Babbage, and is by far 
 the most simple and practicable plan yet promul- 
 gated. It proposes that, in the printed lists of the 
 Royal Society, a star should be placed against the 
 name of each fellow who has contributed two or 
 more papers which have been printed in the Trans- 
 actions, or that such a list should be printed sepa- 
 rately at the end. The immediate effect of printing 
 such a list, it is urged, would be the division of the 
 society into two classes. Now, if the working class 
 
 which would of course comprise those whose 
 names constitute the honour of the society were to 
 be distinguished by a .eparate designation (as that 
 of fellow in opposition to member, or otherwise), the 
 only real objection to this simple plan of proceeding 
 would be done away with ; but without a more 
 marked distinction than an asterisk, a dagger, or 
 those conventional signs used in printing, it may be 
 fairly questioned, whether, if the higher class be 
 not more plainly defined, it would become a matter 
 of ambition to belong to it ? As for the " great 
 objection" put forth against such distinctions that 
 they would be displeasing to the rest of the society 
 
 I really think it too trifling for discussion, 
 especially after what has been said upon it in an- 
 other place.* Trifling, however, as such an ob- 
 
 * Decline of Science, p. 156.
 
 THE ROYAL SOCIETY. 433 
 
 jection is, in the mind of any one who has well 
 considered the subject, it would, doubtless, be suf- 
 ficient to prevent the execution of such an arrange- 
 ment. It, therefore, only remains to consider the 
 practicability of the fourth plan, which would, in 
 process of time, purge the society of all " useless 
 fellows" and thus restore it to its pristine vigour. 
 To effect this, let no future members be considered 
 eligible until they have given in an essay or paper 
 to the society, in their own line of science, by which 
 their fitness and proficiency can be fairly judged. 
 Some few exceptions to this general rule might be 
 made, as in the case of philosophers, whose works 
 have already procured them high reputation ; or 
 of noblemen, who are acknowledged patrons of 
 science or of learning. By these regulations the 
 present members, worthy or unworthy, will be left 
 in quiet possession of their " vested rights ; " and 
 no offence will be given to either. Admission to 
 the society will immediately become an object of 
 ambition from the very moment the new law is 
 promulgated, and the next generation would see the 
 society assuming that elevated station in the ranks 
 of European science, which is her legitimate right, 
 concentrating within herself nearly all the varied 
 talents of the nation. 
 
 (299.) It is clear, however, that even this last 
 regulation would be much less effectual than it 
 should be, unless some considerable reduction was 
 made in the amount of fees paid for admission. 
 These amount, at present, we have been told, to no 
 less than 50Z. ; whereas, some fifteen years ago, we 
 remember to have paid only about 30 We know
 
 434 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 not, nor is it important to know, what were the rea- 
 sons for this additional tax being laid upon scientific 
 aspirants. It may have had its advantages, but the 
 evils it has produced have far outweighed them. It 
 is well known how very few of our philosophic en- 
 quirers are men of such independence as to render 
 the payment of so large a sum otherwise than in- 
 convenient, if not impossible. While those who 
 have already built up a reputation for themselves, 
 unaided by scientific titles, can derive no additional 
 honour from being a fellow of this or that society ; 
 and, therefore, even if their circumstances are easy, 
 they never think of expending 40/. or 50/. for such 
 an unprofitable purpose. Now, what is the con- 
 sequence of this feeling? Several of the highest 
 characters in the science of Britain do not belong 
 to the Royal Society ; and this for two reasons : first, 
 because the payment of such high fees is incon- 
 venient ; and, secondly, because scientific excellency 
 is not an indispensable requisite for admission. On 
 the other hand, the aristocracy of wealth, who, in 
 this country, measure the value of every thing by 
 what it costs, readily pay their 50/. ; and imagine, 
 that to associate with philosophers is to imbibe 
 a portion of their reputation. We firmly believe 
 that this is one among the many causes that have 
 operated of late years to the disadvantage of the 
 society, whose ranks, formerly recruited from the 
 republic of science, are now chiefly filled up by the 
 aristocracy of wealth. That it has increased its re- 
 spectability of station, according to the vulgar idea, 
 derived from wealth, there can be no doubt ; but it 
 has certainly diminished its reputation for science,
 
 THE ROYAL SOCIETY. 435 
 
 inasmuch as it virtually excludes many of the high- 
 est fame, who would otherwise, in all probability, be 
 enrolled amongst its members, and give to the So- 
 ciety that honour which is the vital spark of its 
 existence. And why should these enormous fees 
 be continued, not merely by the Royal, but by the 
 Antiquarian and the Horticultural Societies? Why 
 should they be higher than those demanded by the 
 Astronomical and Zoological, or even by the Geolo- 
 gical or Linnaean? Each of these societies publish 
 their Transactions as frequently, and are subject 
 (as far as we know) to the same necessary expenses 
 for their management ; and surely, when so sore an 
 evil has been hinted at, as it would appear, from the 
 president's chair*, it behoves the council to take 
 the matter into their serious consideration. 
 
 (300.) We neither know, or much desire to know, if 
 any and what steps have been taken to remedy those 
 defects of internal administration, charged against the 
 Royal Society, by those whose opinions are already 
 before the public. We are satisfied that an efficient 
 reform must commence with removing great griev- 
 ances, and then proceeding to the lesser subjects of 
 complaint. When it is considered, that the society, 
 as a body, has little or no political influence (for it 
 could not save the board of longitude), and that its 
 executive members, from deriving no pecuniary re- 
 compense from the government f, are obliged to give 
 
 * Anniversary address of H. R. H. the President, for 
 1832, p. 31., concluding sentence. 
 
 f The secretaries only have a small stipend much too 
 small paid by the society. 
 
 FF 2
 
 436 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 their chief attention to their own affairs, we are well 
 disposed to pass over with indulgence many of the 
 petty charges not yet substantiated. There is, never- 
 theless, one subject that has been put forth against 
 it, upon which, as being intimately connected with 
 natural history, we shall venture to touch. An 
 impression has long existed among the naturalists 
 of this country, that their favourite science, although 
 not professedly, had been virtually excluded from 
 those to which, of late years, the Royal Society had 
 more especially restricted its patronage and en- 
 couragement ; and this implied understanding had 
 arisen from the institution of the Linnaean and, more 
 recently, of the Zoological Societies, both of which 
 were formed more particularly for the advancement 
 of the science of natural history. This impression has 
 been further strengthened, by the remarkable fact of 
 no instance having occurred, of late years, of the Cop- 
 ley or any other medals having been bestowed upon 
 any of our naturalists. It seems, however, that this 
 notion is altogether erroneous : for not only does a 
 recent volume of their Transactions contain a zoo- 
 logical paper ; but it is expressly stated by the 
 illustrious president, that " physiology, including the 
 natural history of organised beings," holds the second 
 rank in the scale of those sciences, for the promotion 
 of which the royal medals were granted. How 
 great, then, was the astonishment of all those who 
 can rightly appreciate the loftiness of that genius 
 which discovers a law of nature, to see that one of 
 the greatest names in the annals of modern zoology 
 was entirely overlooked in the late distribution of 
 these national medals; while, in order that one should
 
 AWARD OF THE ROYAL MEDALS. 437 
 
 be bestowed among the cultivators of natural history, 
 the council deemed it expedient to look abroad for a 
 fit subject, and to bestow it upon one whose labours 
 in the minutiae of his science have been indeed in- 
 teresting, but whose merits, in comparison to those of 
 the first discoverer of the system of circular affinities, 
 are much the same as those which exist between a 
 numherer of the stars, and the discoverer of the 
 laws of their motion ! Was there no member of the 
 council present, at this most extraordinary adjudi- 
 cation, sufficiently acquainted with the philosophy 
 of natural history, or of those Baconian principles 
 upon which it should be prosecuted, who protested 
 against an award so signally unjust to native genius? 
 We have the pleasure of personally knowing the 
 amiable and excellent professor at Geneva; and 
 we are thorough!}' convinced, that his surprise at 
 receiving this medal, knowing and appreciating as he 
 does, the splendid talents of our countryman, must 
 have been fully as great as that experienced by the 
 zoologists of England when first informed of the 
 event. If the value of a scientific discovery is to be 
 measured by the universality of its application, by 
 its effect upon all existing systems, annihilating some, 
 and breaking up all, by the promulgation of a new 
 and universal law (the greatest of which zoology at 
 present can boast), then does the discovery in 
 question leave all others, save one*, at an immeasur- 
 able distance. We presume not to criticise the de- 
 
 * We allude to the discovery of the metamorphosis of the 
 Cirripeda and of the Crustacea, by Thompson, before alluded 
 to, p. 345. 
 
 FF 3
 
 438 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 cisions of the council in their other awards, or to 
 hazard an opinion how far the censures passed 
 against it by others are well or ill deserved, for these 
 questions relate to branches of science upon which 
 we are ignorant ; but in our own walk we may be al- 
 lowed to form and to express an opinion, and it is 
 this that the discovery alluded to (which, we may 
 fairly suppose, was unknown to the council of the 
 Royal Society) is, in natural history, what that of 
 gravitation is in astronomy. If this developement 
 of the first great law of natural arrangement has not 
 yet been seen in its true magnitude, it is because 
 our naturalists, absorbed in the minutiae of details, 
 shrink from the complicated and severe researches 
 necessary for its verification. We should have re- 
 joiced, had the imperishable fame, which future ages 
 will bestow upon him who achieved so brilliant a 
 generalisation, been anticipated by the Royal Society 
 of Great Britain : yet at the eleventh hour an uninten- 
 tional act of injustice may still be rectified : and we 
 believe, that the council, upon further enquiry, will 
 admit the validity of our objection. We feel quite 
 satisfied that the illustrious president, no less than 
 his advisers, will not be backward in awarding, upon 
 a future occasion, to the first philosophic zoologist 
 this country has ever produced, that honour which 
 will most assuredly be bestowed upon him by pos- 
 terity. 
 
 (301.) The Linnaean Society, as far as concerns 
 the cultivation of zoology, is the first in Great 
 Britain ; whether as regards seniority of date, the 
 scientific rank of its members, or the value of its 
 published Transactions. The unostentatious and
 
 THE LINNJEAN AND ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETIES. 439 
 
 regular manner with which its affairs are conducted, 
 gives it an honourable exception from censure, 
 whether private or public. 
 
 (302.) There is probably no society in Britain, 
 which, under other regulations, might do so much to 
 restore zoology to her legitimate elevation as the Zoo- 
 logical Society. And yet, as at present constituted, 
 it seems eminently calculated to encourage that su- 
 perficial and almost useless taste for natural history 
 now so prevalent, and which arises from the custom of 
 regarding it as an amusement rather than as a science. 
 Where there are ample funds, as in the present 
 case, a judicious management may unite, in equal 
 proportions, popular recreation with the encourage- 
 ment of legitimate science ; for the attraction of the 
 former would raise funds for paying the latter, and 
 thus the highest objects might be combined with 
 those that were more ornamental than useful. Our 
 idea of what a society, so constituted, should do, is as 
 follows: Three or four competent persons should be 
 in the regular pay of the society, as travelling na- 
 turalists, who should be sent to different parts of the 
 world to collect live animals, and preserve dead ones. 
 Let them be furnished with proper instructions, 
 as to those subjects to which they should more par- 
 ticularly devote their attention, such as the habits 
 and manners of particular species in a state of 
 nature. Their journals should be kept regularly, and 
 transmitted from time to time to the society. To 
 diminish, in some measure, the expense of these 
 missions, the duplicates, of which there would be a 
 large proportion, might be sold by auction for the 
 benefit of the society, or by private contract among 
 F F 4
 
 440 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 the members. , This plan would, in all probability, 
 diminish the expense to one half*, and the society 
 might have its menagerie recruited by its own 
 officers direct, instead of paying large sums with 
 the accumulated profits of many intermediate 
 dealers ; so that finally it might be reasonably ex- 
 pected, that this plan would add but very little to 
 the present expenditure of the society, in purchasing 
 their animals through the instrumentality of several 
 agents. The museum, also, would be thus acquir- 
 ing a constant accession of new and interesting 
 objects, unprocurable by any other means. In a 
 few years, instead of the present poor collection in 
 Bruton Street, altogether unworthy both of the 
 name and the funds 01 the society, it might have a 
 museunr to which the public would willingly pay 
 for admittance, and feel satisfied with a payment 
 which, at present, is certainly too high. Materials 
 being thus provided, let them be turned to good use. 
 If the society be unwilling to embark in publishing 
 them in a complete and scientific form, let the 
 museum be opened, without vexatious restrictions, 
 to all who are disposed to take such risk or expense 
 upon themselves, no matter whether they be Fellows 
 or not. The very least that can be done, in the way 
 of liberality to scientific men, is, to give them the 
 facility of doing that which the society declines, 
 and which so very few individuals have either the 
 disposition or the talents to accomplish. It savours 
 of that narrow and despicable spirit which is now 
 fortunately so rarely to be met with, to turn a 
 museum into a scientific preserve, where none but 
 the members are allowed to hunt for information.
 
 THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 44-1 
 
 If, indeed, there was no deficiency of scientific and 
 working naturalists in the society, who would not 
 suffer these objects to remain in the museum, year 
 after year, unexamined and unrecorded, until time 
 or moths consumed them, then, indeed, the case 
 would be different. But the contrary is notoriously 
 the fact: the museum of this society, under the 
 present regulations, is of little or no use to the 
 science of the country ; the members make very 
 little use of it themselves, and prohibit it to 
 others *, who have generally the abilities, and the 
 industry, to turn it to advantage. Short specific cha- 
 racters may do very well for securing the first honours 
 of nomenclature ; but this primary examination, 
 after all, is merely skimming the surface of things ; 
 and even this, if we are rightly informed, has never 
 yet been done to the museum in question, at least 
 so far as ornithology is concerned, the most inviting 
 branch of vertebral zoology. 
 
 (303.) But this negative encouragement of science 
 is not all that would be done by such a society, if 
 it really wished to build itself a solid scientific re- 
 putation, apart from that popularity which it will 
 always derive from its gardens and menageries. 
 Might it not be reasonably expected, that from this 
 society a series of illustrative works should emanate, 
 on all new objects coming into its possession? If 
 not, it could at least appropriate an annual sum for 
 subscriptions to such publications of this description 
 as are deemed worthy of support. Works with 
 coloured plates, for instance, which hardly ever 
 
 * See Fauna Americana Borealis, vol. ii. pref. p. Ixii.
 
 442 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 pay their bare expenses, should receive its decided 
 patronage, and be regularly subscribed for, as a matter 
 of course. Nay, the society might go a step further, 
 and subscribe for ten or more copies ; one of which 
 being deposited in the library, the others might be 
 distributed by lot, or otherwise, among the members, 
 or exchanged with foreign academies, or authors, 
 for similar works, not already in the library. 
 
 (304.) The institution of annual prizes or medals 
 is another effectual mode of advancing the true know- 
 ledge of zoology, and also of honouring and reward- 
 ing its votaries. With such enormous funds at their 
 disposal, why do not the Zoological Society institute 
 two or three annual medals, or premiums, for the 
 best essays upon the innumerable subjects belong- 
 ing to pure zoological science, now lying open, as 
 a field inviting the reapers, but into which no 
 one will put his sickle ! Why this backwardness 
 exists has already been stated. Every writer who 
 courts popular applause must make natural history 
 light and amusing, or, in other words, treat his 
 subject superficially ; and thus the very few among 
 us, who are qualified to extend the boundaries of 
 philosophic zoology, abandon original research, which 
 is neither regarded nor understood, and betake them- 
 selves to a less honourable, but more profitable, oc- 
 cupation the compilation of little volumes, and the 
 editing of animal biographies. What more effectual 
 method, therefore, exists, for raising the tone of the 
 public mind of withdrawing it from the compara- 
 tively trivial and isolated facts of natural history, to 
 its comprehensive sublimities and large generalisa- 
 tions than the institution of prize essays on the
 
 THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 4-4-3 
 
 philosophy of the science, given by a society already 
 possessing a popular reputation, and awarded or dis- 
 tributed with all the " pomp and circumstance" 
 appropriate to such occasions ? Let these rewards 
 not be merely confined to the members of the 
 society, or even to British naturalists in general let 
 them bear the stamp and dignity of that enlarged 
 and liberal policy which knows no distinction of 
 persons or of nations, let them be thrown open to 
 the learned naturalists of all parts of Europe. Let 
 the greatest competition be excited. Let these prizes 
 become objects of ambition, not for their intrinsic 
 value, but for the scientific honour they would confer. 
 Then, and then only, will our zoological institutions 
 advance the true interests of science, instead of 
 limiting its office to the low standard of vulgar 
 minds, and the sole purpose of popular amusement 
 and recreation. 
 
 (305.) It is impossible, in a society constituted 
 as this is, to make scientific acquirements a ne- 
 cessary qualification for admission ; nor would it, 
 indeed, be at all desirable. It would be quite 
 sufficient if there was but one society in Britain 
 where neither money nor interest could procure 
 admission that should be the Royal Society, or a 
 new one. The Zoological might well continue on 
 their present footing in all things, but those upon 
 which we have just enlarged. By devoting one 
 half, or even one third, of its present revenue to the 
 promotion of true science, there would surely be 
 enough left to purchase amusement for the public ; 
 and the society, from being virtually a mere as- 
 sociation of amateurs for encouraging the import-
 
 444 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 ation of living animals, and exhibiting them to the 
 public, would become the powerful and efficient 
 promoter of zoological science, and be honoured and 
 extolled throughout Europe. Opposed, as we always 
 have been, to that illiberal feeling which the influence 
 of one or two of its members have diffused over its 
 councils, we firmly believe that a beneficial change 
 has already begun its work. That when the sub- 
 stance, and not the shadow, of scientific zoology will 
 be better understood, the Zoological Society will 
 realise all that its real friends and its supposed 
 enemies can possibly desire. 
 
 (306.) It is upon this, more than upon any other 
 society, that the benevolent duty devolves of put- 
 ting aside a small percentage from their funds for 
 decayed naturalists, and their families. Zoological 
 collectors, exploring wild and often unhealthy re- 
 gions, are exposed, more than any other defcrip- 
 tion of men, to the chances of a premature death. 
 It is fit, therefore, that an association like this 
 should be mindful of men so deserving ; and, 
 should they have families, administer to their 
 widows and their orphans some small support out 
 of their abundant wealth. What " golden opinions" 
 might be gained from all men, if the society, for in- 
 stance, set apart the shillings paid by the visiters to 
 their museum, for the purpose of forming a charitable 
 fund of this description ! How cheerfully, for such a 
 purpose, would visitors part with their money ; for 
 how nobly would it be appropriated ! * 
 
 * A case of peculiar distress is now before the scientific 
 world. The late Rev. Lansdown Guilding, one of the first
 
 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOC. BRITISH ASSOC. 445 
 
 (307.) The Entomological Society, we would fain 
 hope, is too young to have imbibed any thing but 
 zeal and energy in the prosecution of a fascinating 
 science ; nor can we foresee but one result, if its 
 proceedings are governed by the general wishes of 
 its members. It has but scanty funds let them 
 be husbanded well ; we hope that associates will be 
 admitted, taken from among the poorer brethren 
 of the net; and that the influential members will 
 inculcate a taste for sound philosophic induction, 
 rather than for speculative theories and technical 
 descriptions. 
 
 (308.) To the British Association for the advance- 
 ment of science might be suggested a few hints. 
 The plan of forming sections or committees upon 
 the different branches of physical science is ad- 
 mirable, and might be rendered doubly advantageous, 
 were it one of the duties imposed upon the chair- 
 man or secretary of each, to draw up a short but 
 comprehensive report on the progress which their 
 own particular science has made during the past 
 year ; including, if possible, abstracts of the most 
 important discoveries, and short biographical notices 
 
 of our zoologists, has been taken from us in the prime of life, 
 leaving a widow and four children totally unprovided for. 
 Had the relict of this distinguished man been old, there are 
 public charities for the widows of the clergy, which might 
 have protected her : but because she is young, she is excluded 
 from their influence. Can she find no friend among the high 
 and titled members of this society, who will advocate her cause 
 in the proper quarter? Or is there no one, in this country, 
 to befriend " the widow and the fatherless " of an accomplished 
 savant 9
 
 44-6 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 of the chief members who have been taken from its 
 ranks. In this respect the speeches or reports of 
 H. R. H. the President of the Royal Society, are 
 admirable models, and deserve to be imitated by 
 every society. The separate reports might then be 
 collected into one, and printed. By thus committing 
 the different branches of science to those most 
 conversant with them, this collection of reports 
 would assume an importance far greater than any 
 other, the work of one or two individuals only, 
 could possibly enjoy. The range of the -physical 
 sciences is now so wide, so many discoveries and 
 revolutions are continually going on in each, and 
 the diversified knowledge necessary to appreciate 
 the true value of these changes so vast, as to render 
 it beyond the power of any mind, however powerful, 
 to grasp the whole. This difficulty, however, would 
 be entirely done away with by the plan now sug- 
 gested. The funds of the society might not allow 
 the institution of prize essays ; but it would be highly 
 to the advantage of science if each section proposed, 
 in committee, some one particular subject for re- 
 search or investigation during the next year ; the 
 best essay or paper upon which might be printed at 
 the expense of the society, and some honorary 
 mark of distinction might be conferred upon its 
 author. In natural history, for instance, no subject 
 could be more appropriate than the confirmation or 
 fallacy of any particular theory upon natural affi- 
 nities ; always taking care to select, as the proposed 
 theme, some subject which will call into application 
 those Baconian principles of philosophy upon which 
 all true science must repose.
 
 OUTLINES OF A NEW SOCIETY. 447 
 
 (309.) We are rejoiced at bringing this part of 
 our subject to a close. Prompted by a disinterested 
 zeal for the advancement of that science to which 
 life has been devoted by us, and anxious that all the 
 societies founded for its advancement should acquit 
 themselves with honour, we have felt it a duty to 
 point out those defects which, as we conceive, 
 prevent their full success. These opinions, it is 
 true, are but those of a very humble individual ; 
 yet, as they are founded upon some experience, and 
 upon influences which operate universally, they are 
 not undeserving of attention. Censure, under any 
 circumstances, should be indulgent where the in- 
 tentions are good. It cannot be supposed, for a 
 moment, that any man, or body of men, having 
 the least love for science, would associate to- 
 gether but for the real purpose of advancing 
 its interests. We may all agree in the object, 
 but differ materially as to the means of accom- 
 plishing it. Difference of opinion, therefore, among 
 honest and ingenuous minds, is productive of 
 this good that new views are elicited, and old 
 ones placed in new and unexpected lights. That 
 freedom of discussion, which, when conducted in 
 a good spirit, is the best safeguard of a govern- 
 ment, spreads its beneficial influence over all minor 
 associations, and is a perpetual check upon that 
 tendency to abuse and decay, inseparable from all 
 human institutions. 
 
 (310.) Having now suggested the chief of those 
 improvements by which the interests of science can 
 be upheld by our public societies, it is expedient, in 
 this place, to notice a plan which has been talked of
 
 448 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 among a few of the highest scientific individuals in 
 this country, and whose names alone would ensure 
 success to any measures they deemed it expedient to 
 adopt. This plan consists in the formation of a new 
 society, composed entirely and exclusively of the 
 elite of science ; and into which no member should 
 be admitted, unless his reputation was already esta- 
 blished by his writings, or unless he delivered to the 
 society an original paper, certified as being entirely 
 his sole and whole composition * ; his calibre would be 
 then known, and his admittance or rejection decided 
 upon by ballot. Associates would also be admitted, 
 chiefly selected from distinguished foreigners : the 
 subscription would be comparatively small, so as not 
 to operate as a pecuniary objection. The number of 
 members would be very limited, so that not more 
 than two, or, at most, three, in each department of 
 the physical sciences, would be admitted. When 
 the society consisted of about thirty or forty, 
 new elections would only take place when vacancies 
 arose from death or otherwise. Such are the main 
 
 * It may appear singular that such a certificate should be 
 necessary, but the ingenious author of the " Reflections, " 
 however ably he has exposed most of the frauds of science, 
 seems yet to be unacquainted with one, which has been exten- 
 sively practised of late years among naturalists. It is for an 
 unscientific individual to get some " friend " to write a paper 
 for a journal or a society, describing his discoveries, and to 
 which his name is appended as the author. We know, from 
 personal knowledge, several instances of this fraud. The most 
 remarkable, however, are those that have been practised upon 
 the Linnaean Society ; in whose Transactions are two papers 
 on ornithology, bearing the name of one whom we happen to 
 know can scarcely write his own name.
 
 OUTLINES OF A NEW SOCIETY. 44-9 
 
 features of the contemplated association ; and, if 
 its necessity be conceded, it is impossible it can be 
 founded upon better principles. It is urged as a 
 reason for such a society, that no effectual support 
 can be expected from government either in the way 
 of creating a scientific tribunal, whose opinions 
 would deserve the confidence of the nation, or in 
 bestowing titular or honorary distinctions, by which 
 the true philosopher can be recognised from the 
 mere pretender, or the wealthy amateur. It is 
 likewise argued, that the Royal Society, up to the 
 present time, has done nothing to reform its in- 
 ternal government, or to remove the least of those 
 complaints that have been urged against it from so 
 many quarters.* It is further contended, and we 
 think justly, that such a society, by the difficulty 
 there would be of belonging to it, would at once 
 concentrate the united talents of the kingdom, to 
 the exclusion of all common-place merit ; and that it 
 would consequently become an object of the highest 
 ambition with men of science, to be enrolled among 
 its members. Whether the meetings were held in 
 a palace or a hovel, would be perfectly immaterial; 
 for all who had scientific ambition would ardently 
 desire to be of the elite: they would find that 
 neither titles, nor wealth, nor interest, would avail 
 
 * It should be stated, however, that full and very satis- 
 factory accounts of the pecuniary transactions of the society 
 have recently been printed and sent to the members. The 
 publication of the president's speeches is also an improve- 
 ment. But the contemplated plan of recruiting the funds of 
 the society, by increasing the admission fees, is only an aggra- 
 vation of the evils detailed at p. 434. 
 G G
 
 450 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 them ; and they would therefore strive, by study, to 
 reach that proficiency which was the sole qualifica- 
 tion for admission. That such a feeling would sti- 
 mulate many of those who are now content with 
 moderate acquirements, is perfectly obvious; and 
 that this study would lead to a great extension of 
 knowledge, is no less evident. We must confess, 
 that if no steps are taken by the present council to 
 raise the scientific character of the Royal Society, 
 or by the government to distinguish in some way 
 our men of science, we cannot but wish to see 
 such an association as the above matured and 
 embodied : and we should desire it upon the 
 ground, that it would effect present and future 
 gcod ; that it would serve as a nucleus for assembling 
 together those few of our first-rate philosophers 
 whose names are now scattered among hundreds of 
 amateurs, in dozens of societies; and that, under the 
 auspices of such men, a tone and a vigour would be 
 given to the science of Britain, which it seems almost 
 hopeless to expect from any other quarter.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Letter from the Rev. Thomas Newcome, M.A., Rector of Shen- 
 ley, Herts, on a Plan for instituting Professorships of Zoology 
 in the English Universities. 
 
 Shenley Parsonage, 7th March, 1834. 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 Concurring with you in opinion that the Government of 
 this great country does less for the encouragement of science 
 than that of any other civilised state, I am not disposed to 
 admit that our English universities and ecclesiastical establish- 
 ment are copartners with our civil governors in the disgrace 
 attaching to them by this statement of a fact. As to " Natural 
 History," as a science, it was not "come to the birth" was 
 scarce indeed conceived, or in embryo state at the time when 
 the several colleges were founded, and scholarships and fellow- 
 ships endowed, by the pious and munificent of days gone by. 
 These men saw and felt the want of something more imme- 
 diately necessary than science itself; and it is no imputation 
 on their judgment or their charity on their heads or their 
 hearts that they provided, in the first place, and by due 
 preference, " for their own." Had they not done so, they 
 would have been " worse than the infidel " of modern times, 
 who endows no institution for the promotion of that science he 
 affects to value as the favourite of Liberals, and the one thing 
 " useful." Considering, however, how delightful a study, and 
 how cheap an amusement is ever within the reach of the 
 " country parson," in any branch of natural history, such as a 
 Herbert might recommend to him by precept, and a White of 
 Selborne or a Kirby by example, such, too, that no Squire 
 can grudge the Rector his field sports in this kind, nor Bishop 
 will deny or discourage their prosecution, that natural reli- 
 gion is the basis of revealed, and is itself built on some observ- 
 ation of nature*, I would propose the endowment of a Pro- 
 
 * Romans i. 20. Psalm xix. 1. Acts xiv. 17. and xvii. 17. 
 G G 2
 
 452 APPENDIX. 
 
 fessor of Zoology in Oxford and Cambridge, whose public 
 lectures would at least serve "just to put the taste for this 
 study into the mental mouths of the young disciples, to be fol- 
 lowed up when they shall have quitted college." The stigma 
 on the Government, and on the lay members of the universities, 
 for thus long neglecting to promote this science, may be cheaply 
 redeemed by the former remitting its abominable stamps upon 
 Degrees taken in Arts, viz. three guineas, I believe, upon the 
 A.B., and six on the M.A. degree. These sums are paid by 
 hundreds of clerical parents, who at great cost and homefelt 
 sacrifice educate one son for the church. Now these are taxes, 
 doubly and trebly faulty, as being partial, if not oppressive; 
 and, unlike the newspaper tax, are obstacles in the road to ob- 
 taining that " sound learning and religious education," and 
 that " useful knowledge," also, which colleges profess and are 
 intended specially to promote, " for fit supply to serve God in 
 Church and State."* I have not the means at hand of esti- 
 mating correctly the produce of these taxes ; but, from an old 
 Cambridge Kalendar of the year 1 827, I learn that about 20O 
 persons then took the degree of M. A. This gives 1 200 guineas 
 for one degree, in one only of our universities. So that, for all 
 degrees in Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin, I will assume 5OOO 
 is annually paid into the national treasury, which repays back 
 less than one fifth, or IOOOL, to ten Professors in Cambridge. 
 This is the sum total of national help to that university. Here, 
 then, is a fund for endowing ten professorships of 500/. per 
 annum, on any of the more neglected sciences, " a refuge for 
 the destitute," such as many an able and languishing son of 
 science would gladly accept, and for which he would fearlessly 
 and cheerfully devote his services. Let the Government, then, 
 remit the tax, but not, as now, pay and appoint the professors. 
 Let all the graduates pay the same sums as before, but into the 
 university chest : and, so paying, let all (that will) exercise a 
 right of voting in person or by proxy for any candidate, whether 
 he be a member or not, at the time, of the university. Let 
 these Professors be actual masters and lecturers in their science 
 not sinecure dignitaries of the scientific world, but labourers 
 
 -* Quoted from Canonical prefatory Prayer before Assize and Visitation 
 Sermons, &c.
 
 APPENDIX. 453 
 
 worthy of their hire, and above " carking care" for bread. I 
 think they should not be bound to take holy orders, nor yet 
 prevented from so doing. At the same time, I do not think 
 that these new professors for the university at large should have 
 a share in the internal government of any particular college. 
 This would preclude any distraction from their proper province 
 might open a safe door for the scientific dissenter yet re- 
 serve to the clerical members of the colleges that prescriptive 
 right which they now possess in their discipline and emolu- 
 ments ; it being the evident, if not expressed, intention of the 
 founders to make the MAIN object of our university education 
 the preparing men to serve God and man in the government 
 of the Church and State. Science that is not honourably sub- 
 ordinate to these great and nobler ends, and directed Heaven- 
 ward, is mere temporary "utilitarianism ;" a degraded hand- 
 maid to personal pride, to pecuniary profit, and to corporeal 
 ease, a thing, in short, of this world only, and to perish with 
 its other vanities. I am, 
 
 My dear Sir, 
 Your true, though not scientific Friend, 
 
 THOMAS NEWCOME. 
 
 P. S. Since writing the above, I have been able to pro- 
 cure the following document, which at once substantiates 
 my argument, and shows to what extent the universities 
 administer to the expenses of that government which should 
 support them. 
 
 A RETURN made to Parliament of the number of members 
 admitted to the two Universities, and the degrees granted 
 by the same, in each of the three years 1831, 1832, and 
 1833, with the amount of duty on each degree, and the 
 aggregate amount of each year : 
 
 The number of Noblemen and Fellow Commoners admitted 
 into the University of Cambridge from the 10th of October, 
 1830, to 1831, 31; Pensioners, 377; Sizars, 45: total, 453. 
 1831 to 1832 Noblemen and Fellow Commoners, 33; Pen- 
 sioners, 335 ; Sizars, 41 : total, 409. 1832 to 1833 Noble- 
 men and Fellow Commoners, 48; Pensioners, 345; Sizars, 
 G G 3
 
 454 APPENDIX. 
 
 38 : total, 431. Each person upon his matriculation pays the 
 sum of 11. to Government. The degrees conferred from Oc- 
 tober, 1830, to 1831 D.D., 8; D.C.L., 1; D.M., 5; B.D., 
 13; B.C.L., 9; B.M., 8; Licentiate to practise Medicine, 4; 
 M.A., 205; B.A., 323: total, 2535. From 1831 to 1832 
 
 D.D., 3; D.C.L., 1; D.M., 3; B.D., 10; B.C.L., 12; 
 B.M., 10; Licen. to prac. Med., 3; M.A., 185; B.A.,316: 
 total, 2,334. From 1832 to 1833 D.D., 2; D.C.L., 6; 
 D.M., 3; B.D., 15; B.C.L., 13; B.M., 9; Licen. to prac. 
 Med., 3; M.A., 213; B.A., 302; Mus. Bac., 1: total, 
 2558. Each person on his admission to B.A. pays to Go- 
 verment 31. ; to any other degree, 61. There are in each year 
 a few noblemen, each of whom, upon his admission to any de- 
 gree higher than B.A., pays 107. 
 
 The number of degrees granted in the Oxford University in 
 1831 : D.D., 6 at 6l. ; D.C.L., 2 at 6?. ; D.M., 1 at 61. ; 
 B.D., 8 at 61. ; B.C.L., 7 at 67. ; B.M., 1 at 6l. ; M. A., 177 
 at 61. ; B. A., 268 at 3l. ; B. Mus., 1 at 31. Total number 
 of degrees, 471 ; total amount, 201 91. Certificates of degrees 
 
 10 at 101., and 1 at Sl. lOSl. Matriculations, 380 at 11. 
 
 3801. Grand total for the year 1831, 25027. 
 
 In 1832 : D.D., 2 at 6/. ; B.D., 8 at 6/. ; B.C.L., 4 at 
 61. ; B.M., 1 at 6l. ; M.A., 175 at 67. ; B.A., 270 at 31. 
 Incorporations M. A., 1 at 61. ; B.A., 2 at 31. Total 
 number of degrees, 460; total amount, 1962?. Certificates 
 of degrees, 18 at 107., 6 at 3l. 1981. Matriculations, 393 
 at II. 3931. Grjmd total for the year 1832, 25537. 
 
 In 1833: D.D., 4 at 6l. ; D.C.L., 3 at fil. ; D.M., 
 3 at 61; D. Mus., 1 at 61. ; B.D., 10 at 61. ; B.C.L., 1 at 
 61.; B.M., 5 at 6l. ; M.A., 185 at 6l. ; B.A., 293 at 37. 
 Incorporation B.A., 1 at 3/. Total number of degrees, 
 507; total amount, 21607. Certificates of degrees, 10 at 
 107. 10O7. Matriculations, 363 at 17. 3637. Grand 
 total for the year 1833, 26237.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ACADEMY of Science at Pe- 
 tersburg, 351. 
 
 Adanson, remarks on his 
 works upon botany and 
 zoology, 79. 
 
 ^Elian, 10. 
 
 Affinities, discovery of the 
 circular nature of, 91. 
 
 Affinity and analogy, doc- 
 trines of, 116. 
 
 Albin, 32. 
 
 Aldrovandus, Ulysses, the na- 
 turalist, remarks on his 
 works, 14. 
 
 Analogy and affinity, theo- 
 retical distinction of, 214. 
 
 Analogy, importance of, when 
 applied to the confirmation 
 of theory, 282. Analogy 
 between the natural and the 
 moral world, 283. Import- 
 ance of, to natural history, 
 284. Difference between 
 an argumentative and an 
 illustrative analogy, 286. 
 Interest arising from, 289. 
 General effects and advan- 
 tages produced by, in the 
 elucidation of truth, 290. 
 Three sorts of analogies, 
 291. Material and spirit- 
 ual, 293. Applicable to 
 physical science, 295. 
 
 Animals, form and construc- 
 tion of, 167. External dis- 
 tinction preferable to inter- 
 
 G G 
 
 nal, 169. Internal con- 
 struction of, 171. Aids 
 afforded by anatomy, 172. 
 The properties of, 173. 
 Habits and economy of, 
 
 174. Diversity of the 
 habits and operations of, 
 
 175. Properties of, in re- 
 gard to their influence or 
 uses in the economy of 
 nature, 179. Instances of 
 analogy and affinity of, 1 83. 
 Contrariety of structure in, 
 illustrated, 229. Grada- 
 tion of form in, 231. Re- 
 sults of numerical equality 
 in tribes, 233. Characters 
 of natural groups, 236. 
 Universal characters objec- 
 tional, 239. Variations of 
 character, 241. Generic 
 characters of, 243. Uni- 
 formity in natural groups, 
 245. Essential characters 
 of, 248. Simplicity of de- 
 finition, 249. General form 
 of, 25 1 . Appendages of the 
 head, 253. Characters from 
 caudal appendages, 255. 
 Characters of, founded on 
 the structure of the mouth, 
 259. Suctorial animals, 263. 
 Value of distinctions de- 
 rived from the organs of 
 locomotion, 264. Progres- 
 sion of molluscous ones, 275. 
 
 Aristotle, 5.
 
 456 IN 
 
 Arrangement of insects, 201. 
 Difficulties of, 203. Groups 
 not always perfect, 213. 
 Order of succession, 215. 
 Verification of groups, 217. 
 Importance of uniform re- 
 sults, 223. 
 
 Art and nature, reflections on, 
 97. 
 
 Artedi, one of the earliest and 
 most eminent disciples of 
 the Linnaean school, 45. 
 Remarks on his writings, 
 46. 
 
 Ashmolean Museum presented 
 to the university of Oxford 
 in 1682, by Dr. Elias Ash- 
 mole, account of, 320. 
 
 Asiatic Society, the, 33O. 
 
 Audebert, 89. 
 
 Author, anecdote of the, 129. 
 
 Azara, Don Felix de, the 
 Spanish naturalist, 81. Re- 
 marks on his writings, 82. 
 
 Babbage, Mr., 306. 
 
 Bacon, 7. 
 
 Banks, Sir Joseph, 39. Anec- 
 dote of, 128. 
 
 Barbut, 70. 
 
 Barraband the best ornitholo- 
 gical painter France ever 
 produced, 81. 
 
 Bat, various opinions of the 
 individual construction of 
 the, 153. 
 
 Bauer, F., 350. 
 
 Beechey, Captain, 383. 
 
 Belon of Mans, 10. Obser- 
 vations on his works, 11. 
 View of his system, 1 2. 
 
 Belzoni, the felebrated Egyp- 
 tian traveler, 393. 
 
 Berzelius, 352. 
 
 Bicheno, Mr., 364. 
 
 Birds, diversity of habits 
 among, 177. Their feet the 
 
 means of discriminating the 
 primary divisions of the fea- 
 thered race, 266. Feet of 
 climbing birds, 269. Claws 
 of birds, 271. 
 
 Bloch, remarks on his fa- 
 mous work upon ichthyo- 
 logy, 61. 
 
 Boccone, the famous Sicilian 
 botanist, 24. 
 
 Boerhaave, 22. 
 
 Bonnet, 21. 
 
 Bontius, 19. 
 
 Borlase, 50. 
 
 Born, remarks on his work 
 upon systematic concho- 
 logy, 59. 
 
 Bradley, 32. 70. 
 
 Brisson, M., remarks on his 
 writings, 77. 
 
 British Association for the Ad- 
 vancement of Science, 327. 
 Objects of, 328. Sugges- 
 tions for the improvement 
 of, 445. 
 
 British Museum, 332. Re- 
 cent national encouragement 
 given to, 337. 
 
 Brown, Mr., 32. 
 
 Bruguire, M., 161. 
 
 Buffon, 44, Remarks on his 
 works, 45. Character and 
 progress of his school, 74. 
 
 Cambridge Philosophical So- 
 ciety, 318. 
 
 Catesby, 33. 
 
 Catherine II. of Russia, 59. 
 
 Chain of being, 205. Paucity 
 of its known laws, 2O7. 
 
 Colonna, Fabius, remarks on 
 his treatises upon natural 
 history, 15. 
 
 Contrariety of opinion on the 
 structure of animals, 153. 
 
 Continuity of structure of 
 animals illustrated, 153.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 4-57 
 
 Cook, Captain, 55. 
 
 Copyright act, 398. 
 
 Cramer, remarks on his writ- 
 ings, 57. 
 
 Croonian lecture, origin of, 
 310. 
 
 Cuvier, M., 81. Remarks 
 on his work entitled Regne 
 Animal, 86. 
 
 D'Argenville, remarks on his 
 work entitled Conchology, 
 41. 
 
 Daubenton, 44. 
 
 Davy, Sir H., 340. 
 
 Denon, the celebrated Egyp- 
 tian traveller, 393. 
 
 Desmarest, 89. 
 
 Different analogies in the 
 creation, 115. 
 
 Dillwyn, Mr., remarks on his 
 conchological writings, 73. 
 
 Donovan, remarks on his 
 writings, 70. 
 
 Drury's Exotic Insects, 52. 
 
 Duhamel, remarks on work 
 upon ichthyology, 80. 
 
 Duncan, Mr., 323. 
 
 East India Company, the 
 Hon., 329. 
 
 Edwards, George, 41. Re- 
 marks on his writings, 42. 
 
 Elgin Marbles, the, 97. 
 
 Ellis, John, immortalised by 
 his discovery of the nature 
 of coralline animals, 38. 
 Remarks on his writings, 39, 
 
 Engramelle, father, an Au- 
 gustine monk, remarks on 
 his work on the Lepidoptera 
 of Europe, 68. 
 
 Entomologic student, dissec- 
 tions for the, 201. 
 
 Entomological Society, found- 
 ation of, 317. Suggestions 
 for the improvement of, 445. 
 
 Entomology, 46. Rise and 
 progress of, 47. 
 
 Ernst, 68. 
 
 Esper, his work upon the 
 Lepidoptera of Europe, 68. 
 
 Eudamus, a species of butter- 
 fly, 210. 
 
 Fabricius, Otho, remarks on 
 his writings, 53. His work 
 on the Zoology of Green- 
 land, 67. 
 
 Fairchild's lectures, origin of, 
 308. 
 
 Feraj, 266. 
 
 Fermin, 32. 
 
 Fischer, Professor, the cele- 
 brated zoologist of Russia, 
 remarks on his writings, 
 91. 
 
 Flinders, Captain, 350. 
 
 Forester, Mr., 55. 
 
 Forskal, M., 49. 
 
 French school of zoology, 82. 
 
 Fries, E., his discovery of the 
 circular nature of affinities 
 in the vegetable world, 92. 
 
 Fuessly, J. G., remarks on 
 his writings, 82. 
 
 Garden, Dr., 60. 
 
 Geer, Baron de, remarks on 
 his writings. 77. 
 
 Genera, 211. Extensive ge- 
 nera favourable for study, 
 
 1 219. 
 
 Geological Society, 313. 
 
 Gionea, the genus, origin of, 
 161. 
 
 Gmelin, Dr., remarks on his 
 writings, 73. 
 
 Goderich, Lord, 33C. 
 
 Goedartius, his experiments 
 in entomology, 20. 
 
 Gradation of form, 231. 
 
 Grew, Dr., remarks on his 
 works, 31.
 
 458 INI 
 
 Gronovius, remarks on his 
 writings, 43. 
 
 Hampden, extracts from his 
 work on the truths of na- 
 tural history as connected 
 with those of religion, 291. 
 
 Hanstein, Professor, 352. 
 
 Hardwicke, General, 312. 
 
 Harris, Moses, 52. 
 
 Hasselquist, 49. 
 
 Hawk, the, 146. 
 
 Haworth, Mr., extract from 
 his work entitled Lepidop- 
 tera Britannica, 126. 
 
 Hedgehog, experiments to 
 ascertain the natural food of 
 the, 160. 
 
 Herbert, Mr. Thomas, 322. 
 
 Herbst, his work upon ento- 
 mology, 69. 
 
 Hermann, Professor, remarks 
 on his writings, 60. 
 
 Herschel, Sir John, 340. 
 
 Hessian fly, panic caused by 
 the supposed appearance of 
 it in this country, 140. 
 
 Honorary titles, uses of, 
 417. 
 
 Horse Entomologicae, 91. 
 
 Horsfield, Dr., 331. 
 
 Hiibner, his works on ento- 
 mology, 69. 
 
 Humboldt, Baron, 349. 
 
 Ichthyology, rise and progress 
 of, 61. 
 
 Illiger, 89. 
 
 Illustrative works, sale of, 
 401. Importance of, 403. 
 Suggestions for facilitating 
 the circulation of, 404. 
 
 Insects, feet and wings of, 
 273. Remarks on the me- 
 tamorphosis of, 276. 
 
 Jablonsky, his work on en- 
 tomology, 69. 
 
 Jacquin, the celebrated bo- 
 tanist, 350. 
 
 Jay, the, 145. 
 
 Jones, Sir William, 330. 
 
 Kirby, Mr., 88. 
 Klein, 32. 
 Knorr, 32. 
 
 La Cepede, 61. 
 
 Lamarck, M., 83. 
 
 Latham, Dr., remarks on his 
 General Synopsis of Birds, 
 63. 
 
 Latreille, M., 55. 83. 
 
 Laspeyres, remarks on his 
 entomological works, 72. 
 
 Le Vaillant, 80. Remarks 
 on his works upon orni- 
 thology, 81. 
 
 Leach, Dr., 335. 
 
 Linnasan school, rise and 
 progress of, 44. 
 
 Linnasan Society, 312. Sug- 
 gestions for the improve- 
 ment of, 439. 
 
 Linnaeus, Sir Charles, 5. Re- 
 marks on his character and 
 writings, 34. 
 
 Lion, analogy of the, with the 
 vulture, 185. 
 
 Lister, Dr. Martin, 10. Re- 
 marks on his writings on 
 conchology, 23. 
 London University, 324. 
 Lyonnet, 21 . 
 
 MacLeay, Mr., his discovery 
 of the circular nature of 
 affinities, 92. His illustra- 
 tion of the continuity of the 
 structure of animals, 228. 
 His remarks on the meta- 
 morphosis of insects, 277.
 
 MacLeay, Alexander, 312. 
 
 Man, design in the creation of, 
 110. Unnecessary to the 
 operations, and disconnected 
 with the designs, of nature 
 in the material world, 111. 
 The apparent anomaly of 
 the design in the creation 
 of man explained by an 
 enquiry into the truths of 
 religion, 112. Inferences 
 from design, 113. 
 
 Manchester Natural History 
 Society, 325. 
 
 Marcgrave, remarks on his 
 works upon zoology, 19. 
 
 Marco Polo, 147. 
 
 Marsham, 70. 
 
 Martini, his great work on 
 general conchology, 52. 
 
 Martyn, 70. 
 
 Maurice of Nassau, 1 7. 
 
 Merram, remarks on his writ- 
 ings, 60. 
 
 Merrett, Dr., his Pinax the 
 first work that was devoted 
 exclusively to the animals 
 and plants of Great Britain, 
 19. 
 
 Moufiet, his Theatrum In- 
 sectorum the first zoologi- 
 cal work ever printed in 
 Britain, 15. 
 
 Miiller, 55. 
 
 Natural history, state of, in 
 the early ages of the world, 
 5. Declension of, under 
 the Romans, 9. Introduc- 
 tory remarks on the study 
 of, 93. Its general nature 
 and advantages, 95. Writ- 
 ings of the ancients on, 97. 
 Striking advantages in re- 
 ference to the human mind 
 resulting from the study of, 
 100. Distinctions and ob- 
 
 459 
 
 jects of the study of, 102. 
 In its early stages, a science 
 of observation ; in its latter, 
 one of demonstration, 105. 
 Its connection with re- 
 ligion, 107. Viewed as 
 a recreation, 117. The 
 study of, congenial to a 
 country life, 118. Sub- 
 servient to the economic 
 purposes of life, 1 22. A re- 
 laxation from business, 123. 
 Conducive to health, 125. 
 Beneficial to invalids, 127. 
 Reflections on the study of, 
 130. Considered in refer- 
 ence to commerce, and the 
 economical purposes of life, 
 1 33. In reference to its in- 
 timate connection with agri- 
 culture, 139. Acquaint- 
 ance with, useful to planters 
 and emigrants, 142. A 
 knowledge of, an essential 
 qualification for travellers, 
 147. As a philosophical 
 study, elaborate and diffi- 
 cult, 150. Dismissal of 
 prejudice absolutely essen- 
 tial to the study of, 152. 
 A science of facts and in- 
 ferences, 153. Exempt 
 from general laws, 156. 
 Necessity of correcting the 
 prejudices of sense in the 
 study of, 1 58. General di- 
 rections for the study of, 
 201. Its special claims for 
 support on the national in- 
 stitutions, 356. Expense of 
 naturalists' materials, 359. 
 Sublime and pleasurable 
 sensations resulting from 
 the study of, 375. The 
 study of, recommended at 
 our universities, 377. Ob- 
 jections answered, 379. Its
 
 460 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 advantages in after-life, 380. 
 The study of, calculated to 
 advance the interests of re- 
 ligion, 382. Neglected by 
 the government, 383. How 
 to be encouraged by the 
 government, 385. 
 
 Naturalists, sent on voyages of 
 discovery, 393. 
 
 Newcome, Rev. J., his letter 
 upon the tax on universi- 
 ties, 386. 
 
 Newton, Sir Isaac, 7. 
 
 Occupation of scientific men, 
 363. 
 
 Olivier, the celebrated French 
 entomologist, remarks on 
 his work upon coleopterous 
 insects, 56. 
 
 Olivi, his work on the marine 
 productions of the Gulf of 
 Mexico, 67. 
 
 * Ornithology, 62. Rise and 
 progress of, 63. 
 
 Ortus Sanitatis, the first print- 
 ed work that treated on the 
 nature of animals, 10. 
 
 Osbeck, 49. 
 
 Pachydermata, 252. 
 
 Pallas, Professor, 57. Re- 
 marks on his writings, 58. 
 
 Panzer, remarks on his ento- 
 mological works, 71. 
 
 Payhull, remarks on his ento- 
 mological works, 71. 
 
 Penn, Thomas, 16. 
 
 Pennant, remarks on his writ- 
 ings, 50. 
 
 Petagni, remarks on his ento- 
 mological works, 71. 
 
 Petiver, 31. 
 
 Phana?us, 216. 
 
 Pinto, Ferdinand Mendez, 
 147. 
 
 Piso, 19. 
 
 Pliny the elder, remarks on 
 his writings 8. 
 
 Polecat, the, 145. 
 
 Poli, 87. Remarks on his 
 work upon the comparative 
 anatomy of the mollusca, 89. 
 
 Raffles, Sir Stamford, 17. 
 
 Rawlinson, Dr., 322. 
 
 Ray, the naturalist, 10. Re- 
 marks on his writings, 29. 
 
 Reaumur's Memoirs towards 
 the History of Insects, 
 43. 
 
 Redi, M., his experiments in 
 entomology, 20. 
 
 Reg^nfuss, 41. 
 
 Religion, connection between 
 natural and revealed, 372. 
 
 Renard, 32. 
 
 Robin redbreasts, the natural 
 history of the, 144. 
 
 Roemer, 24. 56. 
 
 Roesel, 41. 
 
 Rondeletius, remarks on his 
 work upon ichthyology, 12. 
 
 Rosse, Professor, 71. 
 
 Royal Society, 311. Sugges- 
 tions for the improvement 
 of, 430. 
 
 Royal Museum at Munich, 
 351, 
 
 Rumphius, remarks on his 
 works upon conchology and 
 botany, 40. 
 
 Salviani, remarks on his work 
 upon ichthyology, 13. 
 
 Savigny, 87. 
 
 Schellenberg, remarks on his 
 work upon the two-winged 
 genera, 70. 
 
 Schneider, Professor, his writ- 
 ings, 62. 
 
 Schoeffer of Ratisbon, re- 
 marks on his writings, 48. 
 
 Schrank, his works, 55.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 461 
 
 Schreber, remarks on his work 
 upon quadrupeds, 57. 
 
 Schroeter, remarks on his 
 work upon systematic con- 
 chology, 59. 
 
 Science, present state of, in 
 Britain, 339. Claims of, 
 for patronage from the go- 
 vernment, 342. Diffusion 
 and extension of, in Eng- 
 land, as compared with other 
 countries, 343. Neglect of 
 comprehensive enquirers, 
 345. Continental patron- 
 age, 347. By whom it 
 should be protected, 355. 
 Concluding reflections in 
 reference to all the physical 
 sciences, 365. Means pos- 
 sessed by the government 
 
 and universities for en- 
 couraging it, 367. Neg- 
 lected at our universities, 
 371. Consequences of the 
 decline of, 427. 
 
 Scientific societies, influence 
 of, 297. Present state of, 
 in Britain, 299. Publish- 
 ing committees, 305. Re- 
 wards and medals given by, 
 306. Difficulty of filling 
 a scientific order, 419. Dis- 
 tinctions should be made, 
 421. True cause ministerial 
 neglect, 423. Suggestions 
 for the improvement and 
 reform of, 428. Outlines 
 of a new one, 449. Sci- 
 entific men, appropriate of- 
 fices for, 389. Propriety 
 of conferring honorary titles 
 on,407. Scientific noblemen 
 in France, 4O9. Honours 
 withheld from Englishmen, 
 4 1 2. Discussion of the sub- 
 ject in parliament, 414. Ob- 
 jections answered, 415. 
 
 Scopoli, remarks on his work 
 upon the entomology of 
 Carniola, 47. 
 
 Scotch universities, 324. 
 
 Seba, Albertus, 33. 
 
 Sepp, remarks on his works 
 on the insects of the Low 
 Countries, 47. 
 
 Shaw, Dr., remarks on his 
 writings, 65. 
 
 Sloane, Sir Hans, remarks on 
 his works, 31. 
 
 Smeathman, Mr. Henry, his 
 interesting account of the 
 insects generally termed 
 white ants, 52. 
 
 Smith, Sir James, remarks on 
 his works, 66. 
 
 Solander, Dr., 39. 
 
 Sonnerat, his works, 80. 
 
 Sonnini, his works, 80. 
 
 South, Sir James, 429. 
 
 Spallanzani, 48. 
 
 Sparmann, 49. 
 
 Sparrows, natural history of, 
 145. 
 
 Squirrel, the, 145. 
 
 St. Hilaire, Geoffroy, his sys- 
 tem of ornithology, 87. 
 
 Stewart, Dugald, his opinion 
 of the importance of analogy, 
 284. 
 
 Swammerdam, his laborious 
 researches and anatomical 
 discoveries, 21. 
 
 Systematists,prejudices of, 1 57. 
 
 Systems, natural and artificial, 
 188. Advantages of artifi- 
 cial ones, 191. Origin of 
 mixed systems, 197. Natural 
 systems alone conducive to 
 the advancement of natural 
 history as a physical science, 
 200. Inconsistency of arti- 
 ficial ones, 237. 
 
 Temminck, M., 81.
 
 462 IN 
 
 Theatrum Insectonan, the first 
 zoological work ever printed 
 in Britain, 15. Remark 
 on, 16. 
 
 Theories in general, 201. 
 Modes and considerations 
 by which they are to be 
 verified, 206. Importance 
 of analogy when applied to 
 the confirmation of, 282. 
 
 Thunberg, 55. 
 
 Topsel, Edward, his works, 17. 
 
 Tradescant, John, 321. 
 
 Trembley, 38. His discovery 
 of the reproductive powers 
 of the freshwater polype, 42. 
 
 Trichius, the genus, 216. 
 
 Trochilids, 224. 
 
 Uddman, 70. 
 
 Universities, tax upon, 386. 
 
 Viellot, 89. 
 Villiers, 55. 
 
 White of Selborne, 51. 
 
 Wilks, Benjamin, his ento- 
 mological figures, 52. 
 
 Willughby, the naturalist, 10. 
 Remarks on his character 
 and writings, 26. 
 
 Wolff, remarks on his work 
 upon European Hemiptera, 
 70. 
 
 Wollaston, Dr., 431. 
 
 Woodpecker, the, 145. 
 
 Wotton, Edward, 16. 
 
 Wren, Sir Christopher, 431. 
 
 Zoological Society, constitu- 
 tion of, 314. Suggestions 
 for the improvement of, 
 439. 
 
 Zoology, general observations 
 on the rise and progress of, 
 2. Division of the subject, 
 5. Progress of, in England 
 and France, 88. 
 
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