396 Mr. N. A. Vigors on the Natural Affinities 



cies, while they remained comparatively few in number, was 

 easily acquired and retained. And the naturalist, in devoting 

 his attention to them, seemed to have had no other object in 

 view but to study them in detached and isolated groups, un- 

 compared and unconnected with each other. Nay, after the 

 gradual increase of the materials of zoology had rendered sy- 

 stematic arrangement necessary for their illustration and com- 

 prehension, the various systems proposed by scientific writers 

 were confessedly artificial, and instituted alone for the avowed 

 purpose of forming an easy reference, by which the names and 

 qualities of individuals might be discovered. Classification thus 

 held out but a mere index to the volume of Nature : a catalogue 

 which the naturalist might consult to determine a name or iden- 

 tify a species. But new subjects arrived to perplex by their mul- 

 titude, and new forms to confound by their variety, the limited 

 views of the systematist. The natural growth of his subject, as 

 it expanded beneath his hands, was sufficient of itself to break 

 through the artificial fetters with which he would have circum- 

 scribed it. Forced to abandon the narrow paths of his predeces- 

 sors in a pursuit which seemed calculated, by the inexhaustible 

 profusion it exhibited, to baffle all research, the true naturalist 

 sought in Nature herself for the means of unravelling her appa- 

 rent perplexities. He studied the affinities of her various groups ; 

 he investigated the mutual relations by which they seemed to 

 approach each other ; he applied to comparative anatomy as a 

 guide to their analogous conformation ; and he traced out their 

 geographical distribution as some clue through the " mighty 

 maze" that lay before him. His mind expanded as the materials 

 of his research became multiplied. He learned to generalize his 

 observations. He looked upon the creation with a more enlarged 

 and philosophic eye — he applied a grander scale to its dimen- 

 sions — and he ceased to dwell merely on the wonders of the 



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