MAMMALIA. 43 



flat-crowned grinders, inasmuch as their feet preclude the 

 possibility of their seizing a living prey. 



Animals with unguiculated fingers were susceptible of more 

 variety; their food is of all kinds, and independently of the 

 form of their grinders, they differ greatly from each other in 

 the pliability and delicacy of their fingers. There is one 

 character with respect to this, which has immense influence 

 on their dexterity and greatly multiplies its powers ; it is the 

 faculty of opposing the thumb to the finger for the purpose 

 of seizing minute objects, constituting what is properly called 

 a hand; a faculty which is carried to its highest perfection in 

 man, in whom the whole anterior extremity is free and capable 

 of prehension. 



These various combinations which strictly determine the 

 nature of the difl'erent Mammalia, have given rise to the fol- 

 lowing orders : 



Among the unguiculated animals, the first is Man, who, in 

 addition to privileges of other descriptions, possesses hands at 

 the anterior extremities only, the posterior being designed to 

 support him in an erect position. 



In the order next to man, that of the quadrumana, we 

 find hands at the four extremities. 



In another order, that of the carnaria, the thumb is not 

 free, and cannot be opposed to the anterior extremities. 



Each of these orders has the three sorts of teeth, grinders, 

 canini, and incisors or cutting teeth. 



In a fourth order, that of the rodentia, the toes differ but 

 little from those of the Carnaria, but there are no canine teeth, 

 and the incisors are placed in front of the mouth, and adapted 

 to a very peculiar sort of manducation. 



Then come those animals whose toes are much cramped, 

 and deeply sunk in large nails, which are generally curved ; 

 they have no incisors, and in some the canines disappear, 

 while others have none of any description. We comprise 

 them all under the title of the edentata. 



This distribution of the unguiculated animals would be per- 

 fect, and form a very regular series, were it not that New 

 Holland has lately furnished us with a little collateral one. 



