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XXXIX. Remarks on the Identify of certain General Lam 

 •which have been lately observed to regulate the Natural Distri- 

 bution of Insects and Fungi. By W. S. MacLeay, Esq. 

 M.A. F.L.S.* 



THE naturalists of the present day have in one respect a 

 pecuUar claim to the appellation of disciples of Linnaeus; 

 inasmuch as they direct their chief attention to what this 

 great master declared to be the end of all his immortal labours 

 m botany. His admirable maxim, that the natural system is 

 the '^idtimus botanices Jinis" is now not only universally ad- 

 mitted, but on all sides acted upon. The natural system is 

 in fact not only made the remote consequence, but the imme- 

 diate aim, of every modern observation in natural history ; the 

 rule now being to' commence with sujiposing nothing known 

 but what has actually been observed, and by comparing the 

 affinities thus collected, to search after that knowledge of na- 

 tural oroups which in the old methods we started with sup- 

 posing to be already acquired. They who formerly confined 

 themselves to artificial systems, and neglected the above im- 

 portant maxim of Linnaeus, have at least thereby lost much 

 gratification, since, if there be nothing within the whole range 

 of human science more worthy of profound meditation than 

 the plan by which the Deity regulated the creation ; so most 

 assuredly no study is more calculated to administer pure and 

 unmixed delight. Thus, for example, the satisfaction of the 

 mere gazer at a collection of animals must evidently be in- 

 ferior to that experienced by the comparative anatomist, who 

 understands their respective structures. And again, the ana- 

 tomist himself, on viewing a museum, can scarcely be so much 

 gratified by the sight, as that naturalist who, not content with 

 a bare and in some degree insidated knowledge of particular 

 organizations, endeavours to comprehend how these harmonize 

 with the rest of the creation. It is in this last mode alone, if 

 I may so express myself, that the human mind can take, as far 

 as its imperfect nature will permit, a view of the universe as it 

 was originally designed. Nor ought any person to be deterred 

 from commencing so dehghtful a pursuit, either by the sup- 

 posed difficulty of the investigation, or by the extent of prepa- 

 ratory information which it necessarily requires : for truly has 

 it been said, that he who questions his abilities to arrange the 

 dissimilar parts of an extensive plan, or fears to be lost in a 

 complicated system, may yet hope to adjust a few pages with- 

 out perplexity. i 



* From the Transactions of the Linncan Society, vol. xiv. part I. 



Having 



