MEANING OF ORDERS. 79 



considered symmetrical. Under a third head he 

 brought together the Radiates ; but his symmet- 

 rical division united Articulates, Mollusks, and 

 Vertebrates in the most indiscriminate nlanner. 

 He sustained his theory by assuming intermediate 

 groups, as, for instance, the Barnacles be- 

 tween the Mollusks and Articulates, whereas 

 they are as truly Articulates as Insects or Crabs. 

 Thus, by misplacing certain animals, he arrived 

 at a series which, like that of Lamarck, made a 

 strong impression on the scientific world, till a 

 more careful investigation of facts exposed its 

 fallacy. 



Oken, the great German naturalist, also at- 

 tempted to establish a connected chain through- 

 out the Animal Kingdom, but on an entirely 

 different principle ; and I cannot allude to this 

 most original investigator, so condemned by some, 

 so praised by others, so powerful in his influence 

 on science in Germany, without attempting to 

 give some analysis of his peculiar philosophy. 

 For twenty years his classification was accepted 

 by his countrymen without question ; and though 

 I believe it to be wrong, yet, by the ingenuity 

 with which he maintained it, he has shed a flood 

 of light upon science, and has stimulated other 

 naturalists to most important and interesting in- 

 vestigations. 



This famous classification was founded upon 



