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As will be seen from this Synopsis, the new classification is 

 based on principles of comparative anatomy and embryology 

 combined. From this point of view no naturalist was better 

 fitted for the task than Prof. Vogt, being equally eminent in both 

 branches. We understand that it has received the sanction of 

 the leading zoologists of Germany and the continent of Europe, 

 and may therefore be considered as the expression of the actual 

 state of the zoological science in those countries. 



Besides the four departments of the classification of Cuvier, 

 Mr. Vogt admits three additional ones, making in all seven 

 great divisions or departments, which he calls circles, (Kreis.) 

 The new departments are those of the Protozoa^ the Cepha- 

 lopoda^ and the Worms. The first embraces the Rhizopods^ 

 of M. Dujardin, erroneously classed among the Cephalopods 

 by Lamarck, and many of the Infusoria, including thus the 

 lowest of all animals. The second of the new divisions in- 

 cludes the cuttle-fishes and kindred animals, which figure in 

 Cuvier's system as a mere subdivision of the Molluscs. They 

 are here raised to the rank of a department, on the ground of 

 their embryological development, which is known to differ widely 

 from that of the other Molluscs. The most important improve- 

 ment, however, concerns the Worms, which Prof. Vogt separates 

 entirely from the Articulates, and which he subdivides into four 

 classes, including, besides the Annelids and intestinal worms, a 

 number of other animals, which in the other systems figure 

 partly among the Radiata, partly among the Infusoria. The 

 department of Mollusks undergoes also some essential modifica- 

 tions in its subdivisions, inasmuch as the Brachiopoda are sep- 

 arated from the Acephala as a distinct sub-class. Finally, we 

 find the Medusse classified here for the first time, according to 

 their true affinities. The subdivisions of the departments of 

 Articulata and Vertebrata are not given, probably because they 

 do not differ materially from those of the other systems. 



Prof Agassiz observed, that what is true in this classifica- 

 tion is not new, and that what appears new is not true. This 

 same classification of the Protozoa and Worms he showed in a 

 work of Siebold. As to the modifications in the classes, he 

 remarked " that animals to come under the same order should 



PROCEEDINGS B. S. N. H. 23 DECEMBER, 1850. 



