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1 have been accustomed to consider a system as more natural in 

 proportion as it brings together those beings or substances that bear 

 the greatest resemblance to each other in all their parts, and vice ver- 

 sa, as less natural in proportion as these "evident affinities" are dis- 

 regarded. Whether I am right in my opinion is another question ; 

 but until the above statement is proved to be incorrect, I shall feel 

 myself bound to adhere to it. Tried by the above rule, it is easily 

 shown that the modern so-called natural system deserves that name, 

 while the term " artificial " is justly applied to that of Linnaeus, in 

 which so many incongruous forms are united under the same order 

 and class. 



Secondly. — I have always thought that " species " was understood 

 by naturalists as'a collective term, including all individuals possess- 

 ing similar characters, and not applicahle to any one individual. 

 Thus it is improper, in my opinion, to say that a plant, for example, 

 of Mentha viridis, is a species ; but rather, that it belongs to the spe- 

 cies viridis of the genus Mentha, the species being a collective term, 

 under which any number of individuals may be ranged. If each in- 

 dividual be a species, it is evident that there are as many species as 

 individuals, which is absurd. The characters of individuals cannot 

 be the individuals themselves. Moreover, species being a collective 

 term, cannot exist in external Nature, but becomes an intellectual 

 conception or idea existing in the mind of man alone ; in short, as I 

 have called it in my former communication, an induction. I shall 

 now endeavour to show proofs of this opinion. 



The term species, it must be remembered, is applicable to all natu- 

 ral substances and beings ; to animals, to plants, to minerals. It sig- 

 nifies, according to its etymology, a sort or kind. How then does the 

 mind of man arrive at this term } Obviously the only method is by 

 comparison and abstraction. Man sees around him a vast multitude 

 of substances and beings ; prompted by his natural curiosity, he ex- 

 amines these objects, and finds that certain individuals agree or dis- 

 agree in their form, their sensible qualities and habits. Placing before 

 his mind a number of individuals, he finds them to agree in all their 

 more important characters, giving to them a kind of identity : and he 

 thence draws the deduction or induction that they belong to the same 

 kind or species. It follows that the species is neither an individual 

 nor any number of individuals, but a collective term including all in- 

 dividuals that have existed, do, or may exist, possessing similar cha- 

 racters ; and hence the species is entirely ideal. Proceeding in the 

 same manner by comparison and abstraction, he arrives at the higher 



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