44-2 Mr. W. S. MacLeay o}i the Dying Struggle 



witnessed his dichotomy of British animals founded on their 

 circulation spurned, scoffed at, and sacrificed to that quinary 

 system, which takes notice of circulation and every thing else, 

 and which in the vexation of his soul he is pleased to call hy- 

 pothetical views. Not a shadow of apology has been vouch- 

 safed on the occasion. " Even the division of animals into 

 vertebral and invertebral has been rejected, because it does not 

 state enough ; and that the young naturalist, placing full re- 

 liance on it, may be led to conceive that animals have been 

 formed on only two distinct plans." Thus 1 have declared 

 that the Vertebrata form one natural group, and that so far 

 all other animals may be correctly called Livertebrata ; but it 

 is said that these Livertebrata do not present one natural group 

 of equal degree with the Vertebrata, but four. "This state- 

 ment however," says the Dominie, "exhibits a very inaccurate 

 view of the subject; for while the vertebral group is declared 

 as formed on a Plan (and this no one will deny), the inverte- 

 bral group is distinguished only by the negative mark, being 

 destitute of a vertebral column and concomitant characters." 

 This means, in plain English, that the above statement is in- 

 accurate, because what is not vertebral must be invertebral, — 

 because Dr. Fleming is not the Pope. 



Although it does not bear on the question under discussion, 

 the truth, that xv/iat is 7iot vertebral must be invertebral is not 

 very difficult to be believed. But it does not therefore follow 

 that no animal out of the natui-al group called Vertebrata can 

 possess vertebrae. Such a notion, it is to be hoped, is not a 

 good test of the state of zoological knowledge on the north 

 side of the Tweed. Here is a D.D. who has been for years 

 manufacturing books on Natural History, and he appears not 

 yet to know what every zoologist since Aristotle could have 

 told him, namely, that Jhmulosa possess a vertebrated column, 

 but differ from the Vertebrata in having it on their outside. 

 Perhaps he will say that he knows this also, and has therefore 

 grouped the Anmilosa with the Vertebrata under the common 

 title of Articulata * in his late work on British Animals. I 

 know not whether he has done this ; but if so, how comes he 

 in another part of his article to be angry at the Mollusca being 

 proved inferior to the Anmilosa ? 



But I proceed with his quotations from myself in favour of 

 number two. It seems that Mr. MacLeay "acknowledges 

 that the Vertebrata are the perfection of one plan of organi- 

 zation, as the Annulosa may be of another." 1 do indeed ac- 

 knowledge it, and much more my surprise, that this most 

 brilliant genius has not also scraped up in his own behalf 



* See Linn, Trans, vol. xiv. p. 60. 



passages 



