106 Des Moulms on the genera CJnio and Anodonta. 



ques annees, aiix collecteurs, aux observateurs, aiix faiseurs d'es- 

 peces meme, pour ne pas les decoiirager; et pour laisser ainsi 

 s'augmenter iiotablement la masse des materiaux ;" so that, when 

 the heap of knowledge shall be thus '^ notablement augmentee;' 

 some future classifier, endowed perhaps with a Linneean power of 

 generalizing, may extinguish the superfluous species, and arrange 

 the remamder in exact scientific order. 



Mr. Des Moulins wears his Christian mantle with so much 

 grace and courage, that he has even quoted Saint Augustine for 

 a profound generalization of the works of God. And perhaps in 

 this matter the saint has excelled the savant; for the latter offers 

 the following exposition of the three kingdoms: 

 Mineralia crescunt, 

 Vegetabilia crescunt et vivunt, 

 Animalia crescunt et vivunt et sentiunt ; 

 but the former says : 



Q-uasdam sunt, i. e. Mineralia ; 

 Q,ua3dam sunt et vivunt, i. e. Vegetabilia; 

 Cluasdam sunt, vivunt et sentiunt, i. e. Animalia. 

 Mr. Des Moulins seems to be in error in making growth a pred- 

 icate of mmerals. He applauds Linn^us for having borrowed 

 ^'presque textuellement a Saint Augustin les trois premiers ter- 

 mes de cette magnifiqye progression dHnstitntion divine,^' and 

 yet hunself departs from the Augustinian text by substituting 

 crescere for esse; and as he departs, so far he errs. 

 The Linnaean scheme is as follows : 

 Lapides corpora congesta, nee viva, nee sentientia. 

 Yegetabilia corpora organisata et viva, non sentientia. 

 Animalia corpora organisata et viva et sentientia, sponteque se 

 moventia. 



Minerals are bodies aggregate, not living nor perceiving. 

 Vegetables are bodies organic arid living, not perceiving. 

 Animals are bodies, organic, living and perceiving, and movino- 

 of their own accord. ^ 



The schemes of the two modern philosophers, when compared 

 with that of the ancient divine, seem to be deficient in seventy 

 and precision. 



Young naturalists will find Mr. Des Moulins' paper an interest- 

 ing and improving study; and the application of its principles 

 need not be restrained to the branch of natural history in discus- 



