NOMENCLATURE. 137 



does it happen, that, when we have discovered in any 

 species, one system of organs in its most perfect state, 

 all the other systems may be expected to be in the same 

 condition. The whole history of the animal kingdom con- 

 tradicts such expectations of co-existing characters, and 

 justifies the conclusion, that, in the same species, one or 

 more of the systems of organs may be in a perfect state, in 

 co-operation with others which may be considered as im- 

 perfect *. 



* It is truly surprising to find such an observer as CUVIER, in the face of 

 observations and his own experience, asserting the existence of this mutual 

 dependence of the different organs ; or, as he is pleased to term them, the 

 necessary conditions of existence. In " his view of the Relations which ex- 

 ist amongst the Variations of the several Organs," (Comp. Anat. vol. i. 

 p. 47.)> he says, " It is on this mutual dependence of the functions, and 

 the aid thy reciprocally yield to one another, that the laws which deter- 

 mine the relations of their organs are founded, laws which have their ori- 

 gin in a necessity equal to that of the metaphysical or mathematical laws ; 

 for it is evident, that a suitable harmony between organs which act on one 

 another, is a necessary condition of the existence of the being to which they 

 belong ; and that if any one of the functions were modified in a manner in- 

 compatible with the regulations of the others, that being could not exist." 

 That such harmony prevails in every species is evident ; but instead of being 

 always produced by the same agents in the same state of mutual dependence, 

 it is maintained in the midst of a diversity of combinations, by a variety of 

 compensating means, which display in the most astonishing manner, the 

 endless resources of the wisdom and power of the Great Creator. 



In illustration of the same views, he adds, " an animal, therefore, which 

 can only digest flesh, must, to preserve its species, have the power of dis- 

 covering its prey, of pursuing it, of seizing it, of overcoming it, and tearing 

 it in pieces. It is necessary, then, that this animal should have a penetra- 

 ting eye, a quick smell, a swift motion, address, and strength in the claws 

 and in the jaws. Agreeably to this necessity, a sharp tooth, fitted for cut- 

 ting flesh, is never coexistent in the same species, with a foot covered with 

 horn, which can only support the animal, but with which it cannot 



