M A M M A L I A. 



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boasts both of England and of natural history, that 

 John Ray was an Englishman and a naturalist. 



Many minor names appeared in the interval ; but 

 we can scarcely pause to notice any between Ray 

 and Linnaeus, This was a man of the most sterling- 

 merit ; and though his system is not exactly applica- 

 ble in the present state of knowledge, it is unques- 

 tionably before the age in which it was written ; and 

 though many parts of the writings of Linnaeus are 

 fanciful, and some of his names and classifications 

 more poetic than natural, one cannot help admiring 

 him as one of the most successful labourers in the 

 field of natural history, and one whose very errors 

 have been lights to show the truth, after those struc- 

 tural peculiarities of animals which were but ill known 

 in his time had been illustrated by others. 



Subsequent to Linnaeus, we have to mention natu- 

 ralists, or at. least writers on natural history, of a 

 very different class ; but yet who, though they per- 

 haps did injury to zoology as a science, promoted the 

 love of it among the people generally. At the head 

 of this class we must place Buffon, whose fascinating 

 volumes are so well known to most readers. That 

 the style of those volumes is very inviting must be 

 admitted, and the assistance which Buffon received 

 from Daubenton, especially in the anatomy of the 

 mammalia, gave considerable value to that part of 

 the work ; but unfortunately Buffon was quite wild 

 as a theorist, and, generally speaking, his specula- 

 tions are of the most visionary nature, and even 

 where his observations are valuable there are no 

 means by which they can be generalised, so as to 

 turn their value to account. Pennant was a most 

 laborious observer, or at all events, describer ; but 

 lie brought to his work a deal of credulity, arid freely 

 gave to the world whatever he himself believed. 

 Shaw, of the British Museum, was not much better, 

 if indeed he was as good ; but his situation gave him 

 various opportunities of being the first introducer of 

 new subjects to the attention of the world, though he 

 was loose in his nomenclature, and equally so in his 

 descriptions. Goldsmith, and the rest of that class, 

 who, though fascinating writers, must be acquitted of 

 any general knowledge in natural history, may be 

 passed over with little notice. That they promul- 

 gated much error and absurdity is perfectly true, but 

 perhaps it is equally true that the charm of their 

 writings has invited to the study of nature many per- 

 sons who otherwise would have remained ignorant 

 of it. In more recent times the science of zoology 

 generally, and that of the mammalia in particular, 

 have been more fortunate, because the structures of 

 the animals have been studied at the same time with 

 their manners ; and comparative anatomy and physio- 

 logy have 'gone hand in hand with description, so 

 that the functions of the different animals and the 

 places which the}' hold in nature have been ascertained 

 with a very great degree of precision. The establish- 

 ment of zoological societies has contributed greatly 

 to the promoting of correct knowledge with regard 

 to the mammalia ; and perhaps there is no society 

 which has done more service to the cause of science 

 in this respect than the Zoological Society of London. 

 Its committee of science is composed of some of the 

 most accurate observers and the most skilful com- 

 parative anatomists and physiologists of the age ; 

 and as their labours are carried on purely from love 

 of science, and not with a view to any personal 

 emolument or aggrandisement, they are the more 

 meritorious. 



In noticing the different labourers in this depart- 

 ment of natural history, it would be unjust to pass 

 over the late Baron Cuvier, one of the most eminent 

 men perhaps that ever devoted himself to this or to 

 any other science. Profoundly skilled in anatomy 

 and in animal mechanics, Cuvier analysed the subject 

 down to the ultimate principles ; so that while his 

 arrangement of the mammalia is the most simple that 

 ever was propounded, it is at the same time the most 

 profound ; and though it would be injustice not to 

 state that there are in Cuvier a few trifling errors in 

 the details, the wonder is that his view of animals is 

 at once so brief, so comprehensive, and so accurate. 

 We shall not enter farther into the progress of the 

 science of the mammalia, or the notice of those by 

 whom that science has been promoted, for the names 

 in these latter times would fill volumes ; and our 

 object "is merely to show the general interest which 

 the subject has attracted in all ages. In order to be 

 as brief and at the same time as perspicuous as pos- 

 sible, we shall arrange the few observations which 

 we have to make on those interesting animals under 

 different heads. 



SECT. I. GENERAL STRUCTURE OF MAMMALIA. 

 Though, in one or other of their species, the mam- 

 malia are adapted to every locality on the globe, 

 from the margin of the snows on the mountain top to 

 the free range of the wide ocean ; and though in 

 consequence of this there is necessarily a great diver- 

 sity of structure among them, so that each may be 

 fitted for its own locality in the best manner possible ; 

 yet there is a general type which runs through the 

 whole, and distinguishes them from all other animals. 

 This type is not confined to the mere external shape 

 of the animals ; for it runs through every part of 

 them ; and the solids, the soft parts, and the cover- 

 ings of the mammalia are all easily distinguishable 

 from those of any other animal. This general type 

 is, however, much more easily understood than de- 

 scribed. It is difficult to give expression to it with- 

 out falling into the description of some particular 

 ' species, and by this means rendering it inapplicable 

 j to others. Still it is necessary that every one who 

 I pays any attention to those animals (and who does not 

 ; pay attention to them ?) should have at least a general 

 ! knowledge of their common structure, in order to 

 judge of such individuals as may present themselves, 

 and to perceive how finely their varied structures are 

 adapted to their several habits in nature. 



All the mammalia are symmetrical animals, divis- 

 ible upon a mesial plane into two sections, which are 

 the exact counterparts of each other, the one turned 

 to the right hand and the other to the left. Some of 

 the internal parts are not exactly divisible upon this 

 plane, because these are soft, and often bent and con- 

 voluted, so as not to be divisible exactly upon any 

 plane into symmetrical parts ; but all the external 

 parts, and generally speaking all the solid parts, of 

 the structure are thus divisible. If the part is single, 

 the plane passes through the centre of it ; but if it is 

 double, the two portions are situated at equal dis- 

 tances from the plane. It passes through the centre 

 of the head, dividing the nose and mouth equally, and 

 having an eye and an ear on each side of it. It 

 passes through the centre of the spinal column in the 

 back, and through the middle of the sternum or breast 

 bone, and that of the abdomen on the opposite side; 

 or, as we say, speaking with reference to the general 

 position of mammalia, the under side of the animal. 

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