10 



ESSAY ON CLASSIFICATION. 



Part I. 



the adaptation of means to encb, upon which the Bridgewater treatises, for example, 

 have been based.^ But this does not appear to me to cover the whole ground, for 

 w^e can conceive that the natural action of objects upon each other should result in 

 a final fitness of the universe, and thus produce an harmonious whole ; nor does 

 the argument derived from the connection of organs and functions seem to me more 

 satisfactory, for, beyond certain limits, it is not even true. We find organs without 

 functions, as, for instance, the teeth of the whale, which never cut through the gum, 

 the breast in all males of the class of mammalia ; these and similar organs are pre- 

 served in obedience to a certain uniformity of fundamental structure, true to the 

 original formula of that division of animal life, even when not essential to its mode 

 of existence. The organ remains, not for the performance of a function, but with 

 reference to a plan,^ and might almost remind us of what we often see in human 

 structures, when, for instance, in architecture, the same external combinations are 

 retained for the sake of symmetry and harmony of proportion, even when they have 

 no practical object. 



I disclaim every intention of introducing in this work any evidence irrelevant to 

 my subject, or of supporting any conclusions not immediately flowing from it; but I 

 cannot overlook nor disregard here the close connection there is between the facts 

 ascertained by scientific investigations, and the discussions now carried on res2Decting 

 the origin of organized beings. And though I know those Avho hold it to be very 

 unscientific to believe that thinking is not something inherent in matter, and that 

 there is an essential difference between inorganic and living and thinking beings, I 

 shall not be prevented by any such pretensions of a false philosophy from expressing 



•' The Bridgewater Treatises, on the Power, Wis- 

 dom, and Goodness of God, as Manifested in the 

 Creation : Chalmers, (Thomas,) The Adaptation of 

 External Nature to the Moral and Intellectual Consti- 

 tution of Man, Glasgow, 1839, 2 vols. 8vo. — Kidd, 

 (John,) On the Adaptatit)n of External Nature to 

 the Physical Condition of Man, London, 1833, 1 vol. 

 8vo. — Whewell, ("Will.,) Astronomy and General 

 Physics considered with Reference to Natural Theol- 

 ogy, London, 1839, 1 voL 8vo. — Bell, (Chakles,) 

 The Hand, its Mechanism and Vital Endowments, as 

 evincing Design, London, 1833, 1 vol. 8vo. — Roget, 

 (Peter Mark,) Animal and Vegetable Physiology, 

 considered with Reference to Natural Theology, Lon- 

 don, 1834, 2 vols. 8vo. — Buckland, (Will.,) Ge- 

 ology and Mineralogy considered with Reference to 

 Natural Theology, London, 183G, 2 vols. 8vo. ; 2d 



edit. 1837. — Kirby, (Will.,) The Power, Wisdom, 

 and Goodness of God, as Manifested in the Creation 

 of Animals, and in their History, Habits, and Instincts, 

 London, 1835, 2 vols. 8vo. — Prout, (Will.,) Chem- 

 istry, Meteorology, and the Function of Digestion, 

 considered with Reference to Natural Theology, Lon- 

 don, 1834, 1 vol. 8vo. Compare also: Stkauss- 

 DuRKHEiM, (Herc.,) Theologie de la Nature, Paris, 

 18.52, 3 vols. 8vo. — Miller, (Hugh,) Footprints of 

 the Creator, Edinburgli, 1849, 1 vol. 12mo.— Bab- 

 BAGE, (C.,) Tile Ninth Bridgewater Treatise, a Frag- 

 ment, London, 1838, 1 vol. 8vo. ; 2d edit. 



^ The unity of structure of the limbs of club- 

 footed or pinnated animals, in which the fingers are 

 never moved, with those which enjoy the most per- 

 fect articulations and freedom of motion, exhibits this 

 reference most fully. 



