244 



MAMMALIA. 



" The analogy of the Rasores to the Rumi- 

 nating Animals was first, I believe, mentioned 

 by Linnaeus in the ' Systema Nature? It has 

 since his days been copied and copied, until 

 now it almost becomes a sort of heresy to in- 

 quire into its accuracy. I am not, however, 

 aware that any reason for this analogy has ever 

 been assigned, beyond the fact, that one order 

 affords the principal part of those birds which 

 are domesticated by man for purposes of food ; 

 and the other, the principal part of quadrupeds 

 which are destined to the same purpose. Now, 

 granting even this domestication not to be the 

 work of art, but to be an analogy really existing 

 in nature, I would observe, setting the whole 

 family of Anatida aside, that the Glires 

 afford us many eatable or domesticated animals, 

 such as the Capromys and Rabbit ; and the Gral- 

 latores afford us similar instances in the Snipe 

 and Psophia. If some Rasores be said, like 

 the Pecora, to have ornamental appendages to 

 the head, so it must be remembered has the 

 Crowned Crane ; whereas no rasorial bird is 

 truly horned, like the Palamedea. But it may 

 be worth while to take into consideration suc- 

 cessively the grand characteristics of the Ra- 

 sores, as given by ornithologists to distinguish 

 them from all other birds. 



" The Rasores are, properly speaking, frugi- 

 vorous birds; by which I do not mean eating 

 fruits only, but all manner of seeds or grain. 

 Now this character of being frugivorous applies 

 much more to the Glires than the Ungulata, 

 which are truly herbivorous, and only feed on 

 grain in an artificial or domesticated state. To 

 begin, then, with the rasorial or scratching 

 powers of gallinaceous fowls ; these are cer- 

 tainly the most burrowing of frugivorous birds : 

 now the most burrowing of frugivorous quad- 

 rupeds are certainly not the Ungulata, but the 

 Glires. These birds are characterised by the 

 shortness of their wings and the weakness of 

 their pectoral muscles. Now if we inquire 

 whether it is among the Glires or Unguluta 

 that we find the corresponding appendages of 

 the vertebral axis, that is, the fore-feet most 

 shortened, the answer will be, certainly not 

 among the Ungulata; where, on the contrary, 



the Giraffe has them extraordinarily lengthened : 

 but among the Glires we have the Jerboa, in 

 this respect almost a bird. In general, more- 

 over, this latter order is distinguished, like the 

 Rasores, by the strength of those muscles of 

 the two posterior appendages of the vertebral 

 axis or hind-feet, that contribute to locomotion. 

 Gregarious habits distinguish the most of the 

 Rasores ; so they do in a still more extraordi- 

 nary manner the Glires. Many are insecti- 

 vorous in both orders, and some are omnivo- 

 rous. The muzzle or facies of Glires is short 

 and round, very like that of Ferte, there being 

 a direct relation between the two orders. The 

 facies of Rasores is also short and round, very 

 like that of Rap tores (the order analogous to 

 that of Ferte) ; and there is also a direct rela- 

 tion between these two orders. Many Rasores 

 perch and nestle on trees ; so do many of the 

 Glires. The Rasores generally feed on hard 

 grain, which they pick up with their hooked 

 beak, and masticate in a triturating gizzard : 

 the Glires feed also on hard substances, which 

 they gnaw with their strong hooked incisors, 

 and masticate with their grinders. In both 

 orders the thumb is very often rudimentary. 

 In both orders the tail vanes from an extraordi- 

 nary length, as in the Squirrel and Pheasant, 

 to being very short, as in the Hare and Par- 

 tridge No orders in their respective 



classes present the tail so spread out and 

 flattened as the Glires and Rasores, witness 

 the Beaver and Peacock. In both orders the 

 sense of hearing is much developed. In both 

 orders we find animals, such as Squirrels and 

 Pigeons, with their toes perfectly free; and 

 others, as Hydromys and Pha&ianus, which 

 have them united at the base by a membrane. 

 Castor is an aquatic animal, having some rela- 

 tion to Cetacea ; Struthio is a terrestrial animal, 

 approaching to the Natatores. And so on rela- 

 tion comes so fast upon relation, that I know not 

 how we can for a moment hesitate to place the 

 Glires opposite to the Rasores. 



" 1 conceive it now to be demonstrated, that 

 so far as relates to the analogies existing in 

 nature between the orders of Mammalia and 

 Aves, we ought to place them thus : 



Animals typically. 



1. FERJE Carnivorous 1. RAPTORES. 



2. PRIMATES Omnivorous 2. INSESSORES. 



3. GLIRES Frugivorous 3. RASORES. 



4. UNGULATA Frequenting the vicinity of water . . . .4. GRALLATORES. 



5. CETACEA Aquatic 5. NATATOHES." 



The additional knowledge of the organization 

 of the Mammalia, and especially of the Mar- 

 supialia, which has been acquired since the 

 time of Cuvier, has led to corresponding im- 

 provements in their classification. A primary 

 binary division of the class based on modifica- 

 tions of the generative function has been esta- 

 blished chiefly by the proofs that have been 

 adduced of their co-existence with characteristic 

 conditions of the nervous and vascular systems, 

 as well as of the generative organs themselves. 

 These primary groups or sub-classes I have 

 named PLACENTAHA and IMPLACEMTALIA, 



indicative of the adherence of the ovum to the 

 uterus in the one, and its non-adherence, as in 

 the ovo-viviparous reptiles, in the other group. 



Taking the orders as they are defined and 

 characterised by Cuvier, the progression of 

 their affinities, so far as they can be given in a 

 linear series, seems to be as follows :* 



Class. MAMMALIA. 

 Sub-Class. PLACENTALIA. 



Orders. I. Bimana. II. Quadrumana. 



* See the excellent Catalogue of the Mammalia 

 in the Museum of the Zoological Society, by 

 George Waterhouse, Esq. Cura-or. 



