90 THEORY OF THE EARTH. 



which become nearly as certain as those deduced 

 from rational principles, when founded upon ob- 

 servations, the authenticity of which is proved by 

 frequent repetition. Hence, at the present day, 

 any one who observes only the print of a cloven 

 foot, may conclude that the animal which left this 

 impression ruminates ; and this conclusion is 

 quite as certain as any other in physics, or in 

 moral philosophy. This simple footmark, there- 

 fore, indicates at once to the observer the forms of 

 the teeth, of the jaws, of the vertebrae, of all the 

 bones of the legs, thighs, shoulders, and pelvis of 

 the animal which had passed. It is a surer mark 

 than all those of Zadig. That there are secret 

 reasons, however, for all these relations, is what 

 observation alone is sufficient to shew, independ- 

 ently of any general principles of philosophy. 



In fact, when we construct a table of these rela- 

 tions, we remark not only a specific constancy, if 

 the expression may be allowed, between a parti- 

 cular form of a particular organ, and some other 

 form of a different organ ; but we also perceive a 

 classic constancy of conformation, and a corres- 

 ponding gradation, in the development of these 

 two organs, which demonstrate their mutual in- 

 fluence, almost as well as the most perfect deduc- 

 tion of reason. 



For example, the dentary system of the hoofed 

 animals, which are not ruminant, is in general 

 more perfect than that of the cloven-footed or ru- 



