in Natural History. 269 



knowledge has increased, more and more families have been 

 separated : still there is always a remainder of unknown things. 

 Take any natural system, and see if this is not the case. 

 Linnaeus in his " Fragments of a Natural Method " professes 

 only to separate from the mass those groups which he saw 

 clearly. Again, his definition of vegetables indicates the same 

 truth : " Vegetabilia comprehendunt Familias septem, Fungos, 

 Algas, Muscos, Filices, Gramina, Palmas" and then, to in- 

 clude the remainder, he adds, " et Plantas" defining the last 

 thus, " Plantae dicuntur reliquae, quae priores intrare nequeunt. 

 familias." Phil. Bot. § 78. Take up Jussieu's Genera Plan- 

 tarnm : and besides his " Plantae incertae sedis," see how he 

 is obliged to dispose at the end of many orders his M Genera 

 affinia," and " Genera nondum satis determinata." This is 

 true inductive philosophy; yet the same author may be sus- 

 pected of departing from this mode of investigation when he 

 attempts to edge in his remainder under artificial or sweeping 

 characters, as he has done in Eleagni and Junci, and when, 

 falling in with this modern innovation, he invents a multitude 

 of new orders to embrace every known species of plant. 



The mammiferous animals are arranged with more ease ac- 

 cording to a natural system, in consequence of their number 

 being comparatively small, and their forms strongly marked. 

 Nevertheless the system of M. Cuvier, in the Regne Animal, 

 clearly shows the vain attempt of finding a place for every 

 thing. Nothing can be more satisfactory and beautiful than 

 many of his orders and divisions; yet see how he is compelled 

 to change his ground when he comes to the Packydermata, 

 and to huddle together species very remotely connected. His 

 birds also exemplify the same fact, where his order Passeres is 

 made to include all that his other orders will not hold. " Son 

 caractere semble d'abord purement negatif, car il embrasse 

 tous les oiseaux qui ne sont ni nageurs, ni echassiers, ni grim- 

 peurs, ni rapaces, ni gallinaces." Thus it contains the War- 

 blers, the Shrikes, the Goatsuckers, the Crows, the Creepers ; 

 birds of the most dissimilar habits, and living upon the most 

 dissimilar food. The Chough is separated widely from the 

 Corvi, and Anthus from Alanda. Now this is what we might 

 expect from the nature of the subject ; only it is desirable that 

 the remainder of unknown things should be distinctly avowed, 

 and not reduced to an exact place in the natural system. 

 Jussieu's was the most philosophic mode, which was to place 

 this residue at the end. Linnaeus too was very correct when 

 he pronounced his natural orders to be a " Fragment;" and 

 those persons who imagine it to be necessary or advantageous 

 to find a place for every thing, and to divide and split for the 



purpose 



