414 Remarks on Zoological Classification. 



and their allies, will not appear harsh to any naturalist. The 

 Crustaceans resume the station assigned by Aristotle. 



6. It has also been necessary to keep out of sight any sup- 

 posed gradation of dignity in structure ; the very existence of 

 any re-entering series forbids this, nor could our views on this 

 point have any basis in practice beyond mere imagination. — 

 Lamarck aims at a kind of intellectual scale, which ought to 

 throw the dog, the elephant, and the ant into proximity, where- 

 as intellect is a matter of very subordinate importance in mere 

 animal nature. What makes such an attempt more unfortu- 

 nate, is the result herein exhibited, that the zoological race 

 not only consists of a single re-entering series, but that this 

 series itself consists of three sub-races, each also forming a 

 re-entering assemblage : — the Infusoria swell through the Ra- 

 diata and Conchifera up to the Crustacea, and then descend 

 through the true Mollusca down to the Polypoid Molluscs ; 

 the series then swells through certain Pisces and Amphibia 

 up to the Aves and Mammalia, and descends through other 

 Amphibia and Pisces down to the Cartilaginous Fish ; the se- 

 ries then swells from the Annelida and Myriopoda up to the 

 Coleopterous Insects, and then descends through the Arach- 

 nida to the Epizoa and Entozoa. For anything we know to 

 the contrary, one structure may be equivalent to another, and 

 a developement in one direction may compensate a non-deve- 

 lopement in another; in Botany, a parasitic plant without 

 leaves, may rank with others of apparent high developement. 

 Possibly in zoological structure the whole series may be stea- 

 dily rising towards an independent aeration, flight, or some 

 other property equivalent to the apparent contraction. 



7. Naturalists have been very jealous about the place of 

 man in the system, and some have gloried in the impossibility 

 of placing him any where. He seems to me to stand between 

 Pithecus and Troglodytes, or between Troglodytes and one of 

 the Cebidce, yet to be discovered, and he seems to indicate an 

 approach towards the plantigrade Lemurs. Let us not deceive 

 ourselves ; the importance of man does not lie in the forma- 

 tion of his animal structure ; in this he is vastly inferior to ma- 

 ny other animals ; he is not free to use both land and water, 

 nor has he wings, nor the relative strength of the Termes, nor 

 the prodigious powers of insect leaping, nor senses as acute 

 nor perhaps as various as many, nor the wonderful powers of 

 manipulation in many, nor the speed of others, nor a shell or 

 other covering for protection, nor independent powers of re- 

 production, nor independent existence immediately after birth, 

 nor eyes multiplying many thousand-fold, nor independent 



