MAMMALIA. 



MAMMALOGY. 



the AunffiM of Mammalia, compared with UIOM of the Museum of 

 the Zoological Society of London and of the Senkenbergian Society 

 t Frankfurt (the only two Urge collection* of which, u far a* I am 

 aware, complete catalogue! hare been publiahed), may be deduced 

 from toe following statement The number* in the two latter columns 

 of the Ublo are derived from Mr. Waterhouse'* ' Catalogue of the 

 Mammalia in the Miueum of the Zoological Society,' and iU Supple- 

 ment, publiahed just before the packing up of that collection in store 

 in 1839, and from Dr. RuppeU'a ' Catalogue of the Mammalia in the 

 Mtueum of the Senkenbergian Society,' published in the summer of 

 1843. It U much to be regretted that there are no means of continuing 

 the comparison with reference to the museums of Paris, Leyden, Ber- 

 lin, Vienna, or Brussels; no catalogue, or even estimate, of the con- 

 tents of any of those collections having, to my knowledge, been given 

 to the world. It U almost unnecessary to add, that such a comparison 

 as that now given cannot be at all points perfectly correct, Mr. Water- 

 house or Dr. Ruppell occasionally regarding as species what in the 

 present catalogue are considered varieties, and the reverse ; but this 

 difference of opinion will be found to have very little influence on the 

 general results." 



" It may be remarked," adds Dr. Gray, " that the last general work 

 on the specie* of Mammalia, Fischer's 'Synopsis Mammalium,' 



, , 



in 1828 and 1830, contained 1126 which he considers well 

 d, wd 880 Tnr doubtful species. Though the Museum 

 collection newly appreache* these number., and U the largest assem- 

 blage of specie* hitherto brought together and arranged in one series. 

 yet there are at least between 800 and 400 other species now known 

 M existing in the different European collections wanted to complete 

 the serit., and many of these are inhabitant* of our own ponsewiunn 

 or place* with which we have considerable trade : it is therefore to be 

 hoped that we shall soon be able greatly to reduce the number of our 

 desiderata." 



ThU was written in 1843 : since tnen a large number of the deside- 

 rata have been added to the collection, an account of which will IM- 

 found in the detailed catalogue* of the museum, not yet completed. 

 These are given under the bead* of the families in this work. 



For the history of the science relating to the arrangement of the 

 Mammalia generally, the reader 1* referred to the article MAMMAUMT ; 

 and for the natural history and organisation of the beinns which 

 form the claw, to that articlo and the articles MAX, MAMMARY OLAXM 

 LOCOMOTION w AXIMAU, DmrmoK, TKBTB, and HEART, a* well a* 

 the various title* referrible to the orders, familie*, and gn< r* belong- 

 ing to the class in this work. 



MAMMA'LOG Y, a hybrid word, the roots being derived from the 

 Latin and the Greek. Accordingly, M. Desmareat has proposed the 

 term Mastology, and M. De Blainville that of Mastozoology, u being 

 entirely of Oreek origin, and therefore of more legitimate construction. 

 Vicious however as the word is, the term Mammalogy is in such 

 general use by the zoologists of England and France that it seems to 

 be leas objectionable to retain it, with all iU fault*, than to attempt 

 to supersede it by another word, which, though it may be more 

 correct, would be comparatively very little known. 



Mammalogy then ia the science which ban for its object the study 

 and classification of animals with mamma;, or tents, that is to aay, 

 Man, and Quadrupeds properly so called, including the Quodruinanoua 

 Animals and Whales. 



The objects of this science are numerically much leu than those 

 which constitute the other classes of animated beings ; their bulk, as 

 compared with that of the others, if generally speaking of greater 

 volume, and their structure in more readily laid open by the knife of 

 the zootomist ; whilst, with the exception of those passages by which 

 nature gradually pae from one form to another, their differences are 

 moro strongly marked. Their habits too are better known, and 

 consequently they afford maU rials for classification capable of a com- 

 paratively certain arrangement. 



To a certain extent the knowledge of Mammalia and their nominal 

 distinctions, as regards their hiibiu and economic uses, must have 

 been of the earliest date. The Holy Scriptures abound with passages 

 to confirm this statement, if indeed it needed confirmation. Ancient 

 monuments too, long anterior to the times of the Greeks and Romans, 

 speak the same language. Wheu we come down to the time of 

 Aristotle, we find that the science had not proceeded further than a 

 knowledge of the external and internal structure of these animals, 

 without any attempt at a systematic arrangement of them. If we 

 descend lower, we find the science in the same state, whether we con- 

 sult the works of Pliny, or of the other ancient writers who followed 

 Aristotle. 



Conrad leaner, though he treated of the Mammalia alphabetically in 

 his ' History of Quadrupeds ' (1551), finally divided them into groups, 

 such as Monkeys, Horses, Deer, Oxen, 4c., as indeed he did with 

 regard to the Oviparous Quadrupeds (Tortoises, Lizards, Frogs, 4c.) 



Aldrovandus, Johnston, and the rest of that class of mammalogists, 

 seem to have followed Gesner as closely as the ancient writers followed 

 Aristotle. 



The first great step in system was made by our countryman John 

 Ray, in his 'Synopsis Methodic* Auimaliimi ' (1693), wherein he 

 separated the Mammalia into two great classes, the Uugulated or 

 Hoofed animals, and the Unguiculated, or animals with nails or claws. 



The Ungulated class aro divided into 1, the Solijxda, as the 

 Horse ; 2, quadrupeds with a divided hoof, properly so called, as the 

 Ox or Sheep ; and 3, quadrupeds which have the feet divided into 

 more than two part*, as the Elephant 



The animals with a divided hoof are again subdivided into two 

 sections: 1. Those which do not ruminate, as the Hog. 2. Rumi- 

 nants, which consist of four genera Sheep, Gouts, Stags or Deer, and 

 Oxen. 



Those of the Unguiculated Mammals which have the nails wide 

 and resembling those of Man, such as the Apes or Monkeys, are 

 separated from those which have the nails sharp and narrow. These 

 last he separates into those which have a bifid foot, as the Camels, and 

 into those which have a multifid foot, which he names Puvipectet. 



The Fuiifxda are subdivided into 1, the Analogous Group, which 

 have more than two incisor teeth in each jaw, as the Lions, or Great 

 Cats, the Dogs, Ac,, or two incisors only, as the Beaver, the Hares, the 

 Guinea Pigs, the Squirrels, the Marmots, &c. ; 2, the Anomalous 

 Group, which have no teeth at all, as the Tamamlua, and other Ant- 

 Eaters [ANT-EATER], or which have teeth differing in form, in number, 

 and position from those of the other Mammals, as the Hedgehogs, 

 Armadillo, Moles, Sloths, 4o. 



Our limits will not permit us to do more than allude to the authors, 

 and they were not few, who entered upon this branch of the science 

 after Kay. Of these Seba may be considered one of the principal, and 

 his work is justly appreciated for the number, and generally speaking 

 for the accuracy of the well-executed plates which ill 

 voluminous work. But there now arose one who was eminently 

 li-tinguished from the crowd of zoologie.il authors. Liniirciis, an 

 outline of whose system is given in another place [MAMMM.IA], fixed 

 the science upon a basin which hi* penetrating genius inline, li.it. -\y 

 saw wan the secure one. He may be said to have invented a language 

 admirably adapted to the wants of that science ; and it is in this 

 department that the groat Swedish naturalist shines preeminently as a 

 coalogwt. In vain was the splendid guntus of liuflbu arrayed against 

 him ami his pupils; in vain did Klein, who seemed to live for no other 

 pur|M,iio than to attack the Swede, publish his ' Quadrupedum Dispo- 

 sitio brevisque Historia Natural!* ' (1751), wherein he separated the 

 Mammalia int.. two groups, the Ungulated and the Unguicn 

 each ooDflsting <>f five families; in vain did Brisaon (1756) publish 

 his 'Animal Kingdom divided into Eleven Classes,' containing 18 

 r.|pM and 42 genera, some of the latter well defined and still 

 admitted ; the philosophical system of Linnaeus daily gained ground, 

 and at length became almost the universal language of ecology. 



