50 ESSAY ON CLASSIFICATION. 



time is passed, when the mere indication of the conti- 

 nent whence an animal had been obtained could satisfy 



i/ 



our curiosity; and those naturalists who have an oppor- 

 tunity of ascertaining closely the particular circumstances 

 under which the animals they describe are placed in their 

 natural homes, are guilty of a gross disregard of the inte- 

 rests of science when they neglect to relate them. Our 

 knowledge of the geographical distribution of animals 

 would be far more extensive and precise than it is now, 

 but for this neglect. Every new fact relating to the geo- 

 graphical distribution of well-known species is as import- 

 ant to science as the discovery of a new species. Could 

 we only know the range of a single animal as accurately 

 as Alphonse de Candolle has lately determined that of 

 many species of plants, we might begin a new era in Zoo- 

 logy. It is greatly to be regretted, that, in most works 

 containing the scientific results of explorations of distant 

 countries, only new species are described, when the mere 

 enumeration of those already known might have added 

 invaluable information respecting their geographical dis- 

 tribution. The carelessness with which some naturalists 

 distinguish species merely because they are found in dis- 

 tant regions, without even attempting to secure specimens 

 for comparison, is a perpetual source of erroneous conclu- 

 sions in the study of the geographical distribution of 

 organized beings, not less detrimental to the progress of 

 science than the readiness of others to consider as identi- 

 cal animals and plants which may resemble each other 

 closely, without paying the least regard to their distinct 

 origin, and without even pointing out the differences they 

 perceive between specimens from different parts of the 

 world. The perfect identity of animals and plants living 

 in very remote parts of the globe has so often been ascer- 



