510 Cuvierian, or Natural, System of Zoology : — 
of men, or lambs, or pigeons, are the greatest blasphemers, 
atheists, and idolaters in the world. 
I hope your Magazine of Natural History will make us 
acquainted with a system of nature much superior to that 
which has been handed down to us from the barbarous ages, 
viz. that there is but one earth, a four-cornered platform ; and 
one heaven, an arch over it; and that the stars were so many 
brass or silver nails driven cate the ceiling ; and that some day 
soon they would fall out upon the earth, like apples from a 
tree in a whirlwind! ‘Truly, Sir, such doctrine is more ridi- 
culous than that of the old woman who said she looked 
upon the stars as so many oles which let through the light of 
heaven! We have been pestered lately with new theories of 
the earth, and new systems of geology ; and if the above only 
add one to the number, it will be that of your sincere friend. 
Some people take a pride in boasting of their great achieve- 
ments, such as killing dragons, like St. George ; or dun cows, 
like Guy of Warwick ; or fighting with bears, lions, unicorns, 
or alligators ; but the only achievement of this kind which ever 
I performed was swimming into a fish-pond, skirted with 
reeds, and grasping by the neck a large snake, 3 ft. 4 in. long. 
I brought him alive to land, and made him disgorge two fall- 
grown toads, one of which I had just seen him swallow; the 
other was three parts decomposed, or little more than the 
bones and skin. I was but young then; I wore the skin of 
the snake as a hatband for several weeks; and I kept its oil 
in a bottle for several years, with the notion of curing dis- 
orders, burns, scalds, and the bites and stings of reptiles, as I 
had been taught by the old women in our country. 
I remain, Sir, yours, &c. 
Stowe, May, 1830. AGRONOME. 
Art. IV. The Cuvierian, or Natural, System of Zoology. By B. 
Essay 4. On Mammiferous Animals ; their Division into Orders, 
and distinctive Characters of each. Comparison between the 
Cuvierian and Linnean Systems. 
(Continued from p. 134.) 
Tue first of the four classes of vertebrated animals, called 
by Cuvier Mammiferous, by Linnzeus Mammalia, from the 
Latin word mamma, breasts or teats, are the only animals that 
suckle their young; and this external character distinguishes 
them better than any other from the animals of the three sub- 
