CHARACTERS OF THE RASORIAL TYPE. 265 
facts upon which these results are founded, be pointed 
out, it will then be time enough to talk of “ want of 
demonstration.” We would even wish, that every thing 
that has been hitherto said upon the natural system were 
considered as an hypothesis, which remained to be 
proved in those volumes where the details of each class 
of animals are to be entered upon. 
(322.) There is one question which the reader may 
possibly wish answered, arising out of the assertion 
just made, that the dog is a rasorial type ; and it would 
be this: — The dog belongs to the carnivorous order of 
Fere ; how, then, can it be of a different type? does 
not this imply a contradiction? By no means. The 
Fere, as a whole, is a sub-typical group (305.) ; but 
as it is a natural group, it contains, within itself, a ra- 
sorial division. Hence, although this animal belongs to 
the Fere, it is one of the rasorial examples of that 
order ; and, accordingly, we find it the most intelligent 
and docile of all its congeners. If the order Fer@ had 
no rasorial types, then it would be an imperfect group ; 
and so, from not being circular, there might be reason 
to suspect it was not a natural one. But, as all its 
divisions assimilate to the other types here defined, it is, 
therefore, presumed to be both natural and perfect. So 
in like manner, among birds, Melanerpes Sw. is the 
aquatic (or fissirostral) type of the sub-family of wood- 
peckers (Piciane Sw.) ; although this group, of which 
it forms a part, is, as a whole, a scansorial type. 
(323.) In substantiating the proposition with which 
we commenced this chapter, we have endeavoured to 
consult, in our definitions and examples, brevity and 
perspicvity. It is obvious, that where the modifications 
of a particular form pervade the whole animal creation, 
the difficulty of definition becomes vastly increased. We 
have, therefore, drawn our explanations and illustrations 
chiefly from the best known vertebrated groups, and 
from such only as have been submitted to analysis. A 
far greater number might have been adduced from the 
annulose kingdom, reposing on the same grounds ; but 
