NATURAL HISTORY OF CREATION. 197 



to parents is generally persevered in. The dog, for 

 instance, is a species, because all dogs can breed together, 

 and the progeny partakes of the appearances of the 

 parents. The human race is held as a species, primarily 

 for the same reasons. Species, however, is liable to 

 another subdivision, which naturalists call variety ; and 

 variety appears to be subject to exactly the same system 

 of representation which has been traced in species and 

 higher denominations. In canis, for instance, the bull- 

 dog and mastitt' represent the ferocious sub-typical 

 group; the water-dog is natatorial; we see the speed 

 and length of muzzle of the suctorial group in the 

 greyhound ; and the bushy tail and gentle and service- 

 able chai-acter of the rasorial in the shepherd's dog and 

 spaniel. Even the striped skin of the tiger and panther 

 is reproduced in the more ferocious kind of dogs — an 

 indication of a fundamental connexion between physical 

 and mental qualities which we have also seen in the 

 zebra, and which is likewise displayed in the predomi- 

 nance of a yellow colour in the vultures and owls in 

 common with the lion and his congeners. 



It is by no means clearly made out that this system 

 of nine gradations over and above that of variety applies 

 in all departments of nature. On the contrary, even 

 Mr. Swainson gives series in which several of them are 

 omitted. It may be that, in some departments of 

 nature, variation from the class or order has gone down 

 into fewer shades than in others; or it may be, that 

 many of the variations have not survived till our era, or 

 have not been as yet detected by naturalists ; in either 

 of which cases there may be a necessity for shortening 

 the series by the omission of one or two grades, as for 

 instance tribe or suh-fcunihj. This, however, is much to 

 be regretted, as it introduces an irregularity into the 



