Book II. SYSTEMATIC ZOOLOGY. 281 



agreement in structure, with the exception of the organs of the reproductive system, and 

 the modifications of some parts subservient to their functions. When a female indivi- 

 dual comes under notice, it is frequently very difficult, if not impossible, to determine 

 the species to which she belongs, while external characters alone are employed. This 

 difficulty, in the case of birds, meets the student at every step ; but it in a great mea- 

 sure disappears, when the internal characters are chiefly relied on. In Great Britain, 

 during the latter half of the last century, descriptions of animals were chiefly drawn up 

 in a very superficial manner. The internal structure was in a great manner over- 

 looked, and the more obvious varieties of color were selected, rather than the more 

 characteristic appearances of the shape. Such, generally, are the descriptions of Pen- 

 nant, Shaw, Donovan, and even Montagu. This is the more surprising, as the eminent 

 naturalists who florished towards the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the 

 eighteenth centuries (the golden age of British zoology), excelled in the minute details 

 with which their descriptions abounded. The writings of Willoughby, Ray, and Ellis, 

 furnish very striking examples. But descriptions are daily becoming more labored in 

 their details, from the increase of species, and the necessity of determining the charac- 

 ters on which their claim depends. This will contribute greatly to the progress of 

 zoology. 



180S. The best descriptions are often insujjzcient, tvithout the aid of drawings or 

 specimens. Many relations of parts, and many gradations of form, may be perceived' 

 by the eye, which words are unable to express. Drawings therefore have largely con- 

 tributed to the progress of zoology. Specimens can only be obtained generally of the 

 smaller animals, though examples of the largest sorts are to be found in the public 

 museums. They are generally exhibited in a dried state ; but sometimes immersed in 

 spirits of wine. Marme objects are prepared by maceration in fresh water. Dried sub- 

 jects are commonly anointed with some poisonous liquid, to preserve them from the 

 attacks of insects. In a small tract entitled Taxidermy, will be found plain instruc- 

 tions for collecting and preserving zoological specimens. 



1804. In naming animals, the same principles are followed as in naming plants ; but it 

 is remarkable, as Dr. Fleming has observed, that while in botany and mineralogy, generic 

 titles are frequently the names of those naturalists wlio have contributed to the advance- 

 ment of these sciences, yet the generic titles of animals are never derived from the same 

 source, nor similar honors bestowed on zoological observers. Specific names are, as in 

 botany, adjectives in concord with the generic name as a substantive ; and should express 

 some circumstance connected with color, form, habit, station, or distribution. In some 

 cases the specific name is a substantive, and occurs either in the nominative or genitive 

 case, and without reference to the gender of the name of the genus. This want of con- 

 cord happens, when a species has been long known by a distinct appellation, and when 

 this is employed in science as its specific name. Thus, in the genus Turdus, while one 

 species is distinguished in the ordinary manner, viz. T. torguatus, another, T. menda, 

 furnishes an example of the exception here referred to. "When the specific name is in 

 the genitive case, it is always derived from the proper name of the zoologist who dis- 

 covered it, or who contributed to illustrate its characters. Thus Liparis Montagui was 

 so named by Donovan {British Fishes, tab. Ixviii.) in honor of the late George Montagu, 

 Esq. who first detected it on the Devonshire coast. ITie application of the proper names 

 of zoologists, to the construction of the specific names of animals, ought to be restricted 

 to those who have illustrated the species. Of late years, however, this honor has been 

 bestowed on observers to whom the species has even been unknown ; and not contented 

 with using the names of zoologists, those of wives, friends, or patrons, have been exten- 

 sively employed. To bestow zoological honors on those who are not interested in the 

 progress of science is ridiculous ; and to neglect the original discoverer, in order to do 

 this, is base. It were better, perhaps, to proscribe the practice. 



1805. The classification of animals is by no means established on so firm and philoso- 

 phical a basis as that of plants. Two different methods have been employed ; the one 

 founded on a particular system of organs which constitutes the artificial system of 

 Linneeus, and the other founded on the joint consideration of all the systems of organs, 

 external and internal, from which has been established various natural methods, of which 

 the most generally esteemed at present is that of Cuvier. A mixed method has been 

 adopted by many naturalists, and is preferred by Dr. Fleming, who suggests some useful 

 improvements, and has exhibited their application in the general arrangement of animals 

 to be given in his Famia, (Phil. Zool. ii. 160.) 



