12 OF CLASSIFICATION IN GENERAL. 



dog and the wolf, are examples. In the natural classifications, 

 the species which resemble each other, we unite into groups, 

 called genera, and add to their peculiar or specific name a 

 generic name which is common to them : thus, we say, to desig- 

 nate the different species of bears, URSUS arctos, (the brown 

 bear of Europe); URSUS Americanus, (the North American black 

 bear); URSUS maritimus, (the polar bear, &c.); and LACERTA 

 agilis, LACERTA ocellata, LACERTA viridis, &c., to designate the 

 various species of the genus LACERTA or lizard. 



4. Each animal has, as is seen above, two names, which may 

 be compared to the family and baptismal names of men, with the 

 difference that they are inverted in the order in which they are 

 placed ; the name of the genus always precedes the name of the 

 species. 



5. Those genera which resemble each other most, are united 

 into TRIBES, and the tribes into FAMILIES. 



6. The families are distributed on the same principle, into 

 groups, of a higher rank to which the name of ORDER is applied. 



7. Finally, the orders are, in turn, united into CLASSES, and the 

 classes themselves are the divisions of the great BRANCHES of which 

 the animal kingdom is composed. 



8. Thus, to class the various animals, the animal kingdom is 

 divided into 



Branches; the branches into 

 Classes; the classes into 

 Orders; the orders into 



Families ; the families into 



Tribes; the tribes into 

 Genera ; the genera into 



Species, which designate 

 assemblages of individuals. 



The following table shows still better the manner in which the 

 animal kingdom is divided into groups, which in turn are sub-di- 

 vided farther and farther, until all the individuals belonging to the 

 different species are separated from each other. 



" 3. What is meant by the term genera 1 



4. What is the number of names given to each animal ? What is the 

 character of these two names ? Is the generic or specific name placed first 

 ih order? 



5. What constitutes a tribe? What is included in the term family ? 

 6 How is the term order applied ? 



7. When several orders are united together, what do they constitute ? 

 What do the classes form? 



8. To enable us to study it with greater facility, how is the animal king- 

 dom divided ? 



