180 On the Quinary System 



" In such," remarks Mr. Swainson, " as belong to the ver- 

 tebrated circle, the feet are always fully developed ; for these 

 animals are peculiarly active [Treatise on the Geography and 

 Classification of 'Animals, vol. 66. Lard?ier y s Cab. Cyc., p. 254.), 

 and enjoy in a remarkable degree the power of running and 

 leaping." 



The Edentata are one of the primary types of the verte- 

 brated " circle," the true character of which is quite the reverse 

 of that here described ; and, therefore, at once proves the fal- 

 lacy of this portion of our author's doctrine. 



Amongst the analogies (or, rather, as we remarked above, 

 contrarieties) of this type, we find short legs represented by 

 long legs ; long bills, by obtuse muzzles ; gregarious, by ani- 

 mals living only in pairs; and a uniform dull clothing, by the 

 most brilliant plumage ! But this is not all, the type is termed 

 suctorial; and we are told that the species which it contains 

 are most deficient in the organs of mastication, chiefly living 

 by suction. 



The Glires L. (Animalia rodentia Cuv.), according to our 

 author, constitute the preeminent type. Tell this to one of 

 those practical naturalists who are denominated farmers ; tell 

 him, at the same time, that rats and mice are good examples ; 

 tell him, that these are suctorial, that these procure their food 

 chiefly by suction, that these are deficient in the organs of 

 mastication. Would he not point to the holes in his barn 

 floor, and ask you what made those ? Would he not enquire, 

 by what means, then, were some of his best loads of wheat, or 

 of corn, reduced to dust? Or he might ask what substance 

 less hard, or less durable, than iron would present an insur- 

 mountable barrier to these, his greatest plagues and destroyers. 

 And do these animals thus pierce the hardest wood, thus 

 destroy the firmest texture, or thus grind such quantities of 

 grain, by means of suction ? To answer this in the affirm- 

 ative would appear highly preposterous and ridiculous ; but 

 such are the doctrines contained in, and propagated by, a sys- 

 tem termed natural, and published and supported by some of 

 our most eminent naturalists. 



Mr. Swainson states that the characteristics of rasorial 

 types (which now only remain to be considered) consist in 

 the species which constitute them being, in general, remark- 

 able for their size, being inferior only in this respect to the 

 natatorial ; for the strength and perfection of their feet, the 

 toes of which are never united, so as to be used for swimming ; 

 for the great developement of the tail, and of those append- 

 ages for ornament or defence which decorate the head. 

 (Treatise on the Geog. and Class, of Animals, p. 257, 258.) 



