238 



MAMMALIA. 



genera in their elongated muzzle, but differ 

 from them in the form and disposition of the 

 teeth : the Tamandua, indeed, is altogether 

 destitute of teeth : the remaining two anoma- 

 lous species have the muzzle shortened." 



Linnseus defines the Class Mammalia, as 

 follows : 



Heart, with two auricles and two ventricles. 



Blood, warm. 



Lungs, respiring reciprocally (" Pulmones re- 

 spirantes reciproce.") 



Jaws, incumbent, covered ; armed with teeth 

 in most. 



Penis intrans. 



Generation, viviparous ; lactiferous. 



Senses, tongue, nostrils, eyes, ears, tactile pa- 

 pillae. 



Covering, hairs ; few in tropical ; very 

 sparing in aquatic mammals. 



Support, four feet, except in those which are 

 entirely aquatic, in which the posterior feet 

 are bound together in the fin of the tail. A 

 tail in most. 



Wih respect to classification, Linnaeus, like 

 Aristotle and Ray, founds his primary divisions 

 of the Class Mammalia on locomotive organs; 

 but his secondary divisions or orders are taken 

 chiefly from modifications of the dentary system. 

 The following is the scheme of his arrange- 

 ment : 



< ( Unguiculate . 



Front teeth, none in either jaw BRUTA. 



Front teeth, cutters 2, laniaries CURES. 



1 Front teeth, cutters 4, laniaries 1 PRI MATES. 



v Front teeth, piercers (6, 2, 10), laniaries 1 FERJE. 



, I Front teeth, in both upper and lower jaw BELLUJE. 



j !/ e i Front teeth, none in the upper jaw PECORA. 



[^ Muticale Teeth variable CETE. 



(From the ' Systema Nuturce,' ed. xvi. Holmiae, p. 24.) 





On comparing the three preceding systems, 

 it will be found that the most important errors 

 of arrangement have been committed, not by 

 Aristotle, but by the modern naturalists. Both 

 Ray and Linnaeus have mistaken the character 

 of the horny parts enveloping the toes of the 

 elephant, which do not defend the upper part 

 merely, as is the case with claws, but embrace 

 the under parts also, forming a complete case 

 or hoof. 



With respect to Linnaeus, however, it must 

 be observed, that although he has followed 

 Ray in placing the elephant in the unguiculate 

 group of quadrupeds, he has not overlooked the 

 great natural divisions which the latter natural- 

 ist adopted from Aristotle, as is evident from 

 the Table above quoted. He erred, perhaps, 

 in not giving names to those primary divisions. 



From the manner in which Linnaeus has ar- 

 ranged his Orders in this Table, it would seem 

 that he had the circular progression of affini- 

 ties in view. The Walrus among Bruta con- 

 nects the commencement of the chain with 

 Cete, which forms the last link ; but whether 

 or not he had perceived the affinity of Elephas 

 to the Glires, and intended it as a transi- 

 tional genus to that Order, as Cuvier has sub- 

 sequently shown it to be, is less certain. 



Pallas* divides the Class Mammalia into 

 seven Orders, viz. 



I. FERJE. II. SEMIFERJE. III. GLIRES. 

 IV. RUMINANTIA. V. ANOMALOPODA. 

 VI. BELLVJE. VII. CETACEA. 



Order I. FERM. 



The FER.<E are characterized by incisors, 

 small ; laniaries very powerful ; molars tren- 

 chant and tricuspid, (lacero- tricuspidutos ) ; 

 clavicles minute suspended in the flesh, almost 

 .obsolete and functionless ; vertebral column 

 elongated and flexible; muscular force im- 



* Zoographia Rosso-Asiatica, 1831. 



mense ; asophagus and alimentary canal wide, 

 short, with a very short coecum and colon ; 

 digestive power so active as to reduce even 

 bones to chyme ; penis supported by a bone ; 

 prolific virtue not very great; young born blind ; 

 skin pretty flexible, and fat soft, sometimes oily. 

 The genera included in the Order thus phi- 

 losophically characterized are 



1. Felis. 2. Cant's. 3. Ursus. 4. Meles. 

 5. Viverra. 6. Mustela. 7. Phoca. 



Order II. SEMIFER&. 



" All preconceived opinion being laid aside, 

 the following genera," says Pallas, " seem to 

 be linked together by an uninterrupted series 

 of affinities and to constitute a strictly natural 

 family, viz. Simia, Lemur, Vespertilio, grouped 

 together by Linnaeus under the name of Pri- 

 mates with these, Didelphys, Talpa, Sorex, 

 and Erinaceus, which he classed without any 

 stable character with the Ferte. These differ 

 from the Order Ferte in the continuity of the 

 dental series, generally also in the number of in- 

 cisors and in the less elongated canines ; in the 

 multifarious and singular structure of the pen- 

 tadactyle feet, the perfect clavicles, and in short 

 in their habit, food, and general nature." 



Order III. GLIRES. 

 " This Order," says Pallas, " is so natural 

 and clear in its characters that it did not escape 

 the older Zoologists. All the genera com- 

 posing it agree in their bifid or hare-lip, their 

 rosorial incisors generally two in number, their 

 perfect clavicles, sub-bipartite stomach, large 

 coecum, and great apparatus of the male gene- 

 rative organs, exceeding that of any other 

 order. They produce a blind offspring, as in 

 the Feree and SemiJ'erte." It must be observed, 

 however, that the perfect clavicles and large 

 ccecum are not, as Pallas states, constant cha- 

 racters of the Glires. 



