172 Mr. ViGORs's and Dr. Horsfield's Deacription of the 



as to the number of species, still we must observe that they 

 appear to us, when judiciously modified and faithfully inter- 

 preted, not merely to embrace all the later acquisitions of sci- 

 ence, and to include them within the bounds prescribed by their 

 natural afHnities, but to evince an almost intuitive insight on the 

 part of that great master into the laws of nature. We have been 

 accustomed, indeed, to contemplate with astonishment the ex- 

 pansiveness of those vievvs with which he anticipated the modi- 

 fications of form which have been brought to light by succeeding 

 researches, and provided a station for them in his system suited 

 to their place in nature. In but few instances have we seen 

 cause to object to those leading views ; and a slight modification 

 will stamp even these few instances as of equal value with the 

 rest. On the other hand, we are free to confess that among the 

 various systems of ornithology which have arisen professedly to 

 supersede his principles of arrangement, we see everywhere 

 what appears to us to be an unfaithful representation of nature. 

 When we adhere, then, to the principles of Linna.>us, and to 

 those grand and leading divisions which he has portioned out 

 for our instruction, although with a modification of the terms of 

 his nomenclature, — a modification which the fleeting nature of 

 nomenclature itself renders necessary, and to which the scien- 

 tific language of our own days must submit in its turn,— we 

 conceive that we pay the most genuine homage to his genius 

 and reputation. Were we, on the other hand, to adhere strictly 

 to his nomenclature, and endeavour to square it to the gigantic 

 mass of materials that is progressively increasing upon us, we 

 consider that we should endanger his reputation by exposing the 

 inadec^uacy of his system to any practical purposes, and thus 

 prove ourselves by ill-judged adulation to be the mere lip- 

 worshi})pers of his name. 



It is thus, by adhering to the general views of Linnœus, but 



partially 



