Mr. Burnett's Illustrations of the Subferince. 343 



or even three sections have been distinguished in this race, the 

 first with clavicles, as the beaver, the rat, the squirrel, &c. ; the 

 others, with rudiments only, or without, as the porcupine, the 

 hare, and the cavy. The synonymes, as analogous to the 

 several titles of the preceding race, may be enumerated Biden- 

 tulae, from their two sorts of teeth ; GLIRES (Liberae), or free 

 beasts, from their habits ; and as now enumerated, they vary 

 little from theGlires of Linnaeus, the Rodentiaof Blumenbach, 

 the Rongeurs of Cuvier, the Prensiculantia of Illiger, the Cele- 

 rigrades of Blainville, &c. &c. (Vide Table, p. 350.) 



The Unguipedates hitherto unmentioned are chiefly charac- 

 terized by negative qualities ; in them even the digits become 

 less and less in number, are less distinct and less exserted ; the 

 teeth are never of more than two kinds, usually canines and 

 molars, the incisors are almost always absent ; in some, as the 

 Tatusia, and Orycteropus, there are molars only, and in others, 

 even the fibrous molars are wanting, and there are no teeth at 

 all. These animals not only connect the quadrupedous mam- 

 malia with the Monotremes, but also by some of their species, 

 as the scaly ant-eaters, to the Cheloniart reptiles. From their 

 common want of incisor teeth, they have been called Exinci- 

 soria; from the absence of the canines, as well as from the 

 imperfect structure of the molars when present, and the fre- 

 quent absence of all, Edentulae, Edentata?, or Edentia ; but, 

 perhaps, from their habits their best name would be SUBFE- 

 RlNiE, or Semiferae, wild beasts ; thus contrasting them with 

 the Ferae and the Liberae, the free and savage beasts. As 

 now enumerated, they correspond to the Bruta of Linnaeus, 

 excluding the elephant and the walrus ; the Effodientia and 

 Tardigrada of Illiger, excluding Prochilus ; and the Edentes 

 of Cuvier, excluding the Monotremes. ( Vide Table, p. 351.) 

 The PRiECOClNATiE (Praecocinates); Marsupiatae (Mar- 

 supiates); Mastothecatae (Mastothecates) ; sacculated or teat- 

 pouched beasts, which form the second district of the type of 

 Quadrupeds, strongly characterized by the extraordinary per- 

 version of their genitals, were gathered together from the se- 

 veral orders into which their varied dental developements would 

 disperse them, and associated most philosophically by Cuvier 

 as a separate tribe ; and although, in his arrangement, they 

 form but a sub-section of the Carnassiers, this anomaly has 



