]94 MAMMALIA. 



he assimilated in a greater or less degree, to one or otner of tiie following typical 

 forms; viz. Man, the Lion, the Horse, the Whale, and the Mouse. I shall shew 

 hereafter how these five orders form a continued series returning into itself, so as to 

 be a natural group. In the mean time I must recall to the attention of the reader 

 the orders of birds, as defined and arranged by Mr. Vigors; and to which definitions 

 and arrangement I have just applied so severe a test, only to con-oborate their ac- 

 curacy, and to make them display additional harmony. 



' When we have heard the Parrot, or Mainate, speaking; when we have witnessed 

 the former feeding itself as it were with a hand; when, in short, we have reflected on 

 the remarkable intelligence and developnient of brain throughout the whole order of 

 Insessores, to which both birds belong, there has been no one, perhaps, dull enough 

 not to compare them to Primates. I allow, indeed, that it is difficult to follow the 

 opinion of the great naturalist of France, who, ignorant of the true nature of rela- 

 tions of analogy, imagined that the Psittaceous tribe of birds ought to occupy the 

 first step in the scale of nature below man; but we cannot help adopting the notion 

 of Linnaeus, in the ' Systema Naturae,' that, although not near him In construction, 

 they are yet analogous to him in various important respects. And, adopting this 

 notion, we must place the whole order of Insessores, to which Psittacus belongs, op- 

 posite to the Primates, of which Man forms the type. 



' The analogies existing between birds of prey and carniverous quadrupeds having 

 been noticed by Aristotle, who called both groups Gampsonucha, were enlarged upon 

 by Plutarch. Among a host of moderns, who have been struck with the resem- 

 blance, I may particularly mention Linnaeus, who, in his ' Systema NaturEe,' has 

 expressly called his Accipitres ' Feris analogi;' and Buffbn, who has treated the 

 subject at length, and with his usual eloquence. I conceive, therefore, that no one 

 can object to the propriety of my placing the Ferae opposite to the Raptores. 



' The analogy between aquatic birds and aquatic mammalia scarcely requires the 

 mention of the authority of Linnaeus to make it be granted. It is indeed so evident, 

 that Hermann, according to his custom, takes it for a relation of affinity. In both 

 orders the anterior appendages of the vertebral axis dwindling into fins, and the two 

 undivided posterior appendages being placed so far behind on the axis as to shew 

 that both were intended for motion in the water rather than on land, are circum- 

 -stances of themselves sufficient to authorize the placing of the Cetacea opposite to 

 the Natatores. 



' Two orders still remain in each class to be considered: the Glires and Ungulata 

 among the mammalia; and among birds, the Rasores and Grallatores. The relations 

 of analogy pointed out by Linnaeus between mammalia and birds are, as Hermann 

 has obsen'ed, not always correct : and his errors have arisen from the misfortune of 

 his not detecting the natural group of Aristotle and Ray, which the latter has called 

 Ungulata. Having only been able to seize Aristotle's subdivision of this group, he 

 lost the parallelism of analogy, and fell, as I shall hereafter shew, into very glaring 

 mistakes. In the ' Systema Naturae,* however, he has mentioned that very striking 

 analogy which appears between his groups of Gralla; and Bruta: that is, according 

 to the parallelish of analogy between the orders of Grallatores and Ungulata, since 

 the Bruta, as we have seen, do not form an order, but only a natural subdivision of 

 the Ungulata. That this analogy is denionstrably true, I deduce from the following 

 facts. Of their respective classes, the orders of Ungulata and Grallatores contain 

 examples of the longest legs in proportion to the body — witness Camelopardalis and 

 Haemantopus. Both orders present us, in groups not exactly aquatic, with instancss 

 of the toes soldered together, as in the horse; or connected together by a web, as in 

 the Flamingo. Both orders present us with the greatest elongation of muzzle or fa- 

 cies — witness Myrmecophaga, or Antilope (particularly A. huhalus, L.), and Scolopax; 

 and also with the most depressed form of muzzle — witness Hippopotamus and Pla- 

 teala, which genera also afford us the truest specimens of Wading Vertebrata. In 

 both orders we have the most elongated claws — witness Megalonyx and Parra. Both 

 orders afford us the swiftest animals in running — as the Horse and Tachydromus; 

 and the most pugnacious on account of love — as the Bull and Machetes. The Bull, 

 moreover, and the Butor (or Bostaurus, for hence comes the bird's name), afford 

 us the loudest and hoarsest voice of their respective orders: where we have also the 

 most remarkable instances of the upper and under mandibles touching each other 

 merely at their base and point; as Myrmecophaga, or the whole of the ta men ouk 

 nmphoclouta of Aristotle, and Anastomus, Illig. Both orders exhibit ornamental ap- 

 pendages to the head— as the antlers of the stag aiid the crown of the crane; and 



