10 CLASSIFICATION OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



great natural orders, land and water fowls. The first he 

 subdivides into six families ; rapacious birds, pies, gallina- 

 ceous, columbine, passerine, struthious : the last into three 

 families ; cloven-footed, birds with pinnated feet, and web- 

 footed. 



He defines reptiles in the following terms : " body 

 covered either with a shell or strong hide, divided by 

 sutures, four fin-like feet, and a short tail." Under this 

 class he comprehends the tortoise, the frog, the lizard, 

 the viper, and the snake kinds. 



Mr. Pennant makes three orders of fishes ; those which 

 are cetaceous, cartilaginous, or bony; In the subdivisions 

 of the last order, he follows the arrangement of Linnaeus; 

 and, for the sake of science, it might have been wished 

 that his deviations from such a guide had been less fre- 

 quent. There is often more real glory, and certainly 

 more utility, in beautifying and improving an established 

 system, when generally conformable to nature and to 

 reason, than in inventing a new one. Crustaceous ani- 

 mals form a separate class ; comprehending the numerous 

 tribes of crabs, lobsters, &c. 



Worms, in his sixth and last class, he divides into tne 

 intestine, the soft, and the testaceous. The last include 

 all the numerous variety of shells, in the arrangement of 

 which he follows the generally-received distinctions. 



LINNJEUS, the first in celebrity, though the last in this 

 catalogue, (his system alone being universally appealed to 

 by other naturalists as a permanent standard,) appeared 

 as a systematic writer on natural history in 1735; and, 

 having gradually improved and enriched his scheme by 

 indefatigable perseverance and attention, presented the 

 twelfth edition of his work to the public in 1766-7 About 

 21 years after his death, however, another edition, aug- 

 mented by all the recent discoveries of inquisitive 

 naturalists and travellers, came out under the care of 

 professor Gmelin ; which, without materially altering the 

 original plan and arrangement, has highly contributed to 

 the perfection and utility of the system. Other naturalists 



