INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. XI 



The first and most obvious distribution seems to 

 have been founded on the localities frequented by 

 animals, " the beast of the earth, the fowl of the 

 air, and the fish of the sea ;" separating, however, 

 from the first " the creeping thing :" this we find 

 in the Mosaic account of the Creation. In the sacred 

 narrative of the Deluge, the same arrangement is 

 adopted as regards the terrestrial and aerial animals ; 

 and beasts are farther divided into " clean and un- 

 clean." But indications of a much more elaborate 

 division appear in the Book of Leviticus (ch. xi.), 

 and in the parallel passage in Deuteronomy (ch. 

 xiv.), which we notice the more readily, because it is 

 by far the earliest attempt at that orderly arrange- 

 ment which we usually designate system, and be- 

 cause it seems to have been altogether neglected 

 by those who have written the history of our science. 

 The principal orders of animals seem very clearly 

 distinguished : " Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and 

 is cloven-footed, and cheweth the cud among the 

 beasts," (Lev. xi. 3,) indicates, of course, the Rumi- 

 nants of modern science ; " the Coney," and " the 

 Hare " (ver. 5 and 6) may be considered as typical 

 of the Rodentia,* and "the Swine" (ver. 7) of the 

 Pachydermata ; while " whatsoever goeth upon his 

 paws, among all manner of beasts that go on all 

 four," (ver. 27,) seems to point out clearly enough 

 the Carnivora. Then, among aerial animals, we 



* It does not seem a sufficient objection to this view, that the classi- 

 fication is not in all respects natural : admitting the Coney to be the modern 

 Hyrax, and a true Pachyderm, still its external appearance is that of a 

 Rodent. 



