ANALOGOUS TYPES. 103 



CHAPTER VII. 



ANALOGOUS TYPES. 



I COME now to an obscure part of my subject, 

 very difficult to present in a popular form, and 

 yet so important in the scientific investigations 

 of our day that I cannot omit it entirely. I al- 

 lude to what are called by naturalists Collateral 

 Series or Parallel and Analogous Types. These 

 are by no means difficult to trace, because they 

 are connected by seeming resemblances, which, 

 though very likely to mislead and perplex the 

 observer, yet naturally suggest the association 

 of such groups. Let me introduce the subject 

 with the statement of some facts. 



There are in Australia numerous Mammalia, 

 occupying the same relation and answering the 

 same purposes as the Mammalia of other coun- 

 tries. Some of them are domesticated by the na- 

 tives, and serve them with meat, milk, and wool, 

 as our domesticated animals serve us. Repre- 

 sentatives of almost all types, Wolves, Foxes, 

 Sloths, Bears, Weasels, Martens, Squirrels, Rats, 

 etc., are found there ; and yet, though all these 



