INTRODUCTION, 7 



seem to pre-suppose that we possess the means of 

 distinguishing accurately the objects of such obser- 

 vation and comparison, and of making the distinc- 

 tions we establish clear to others. Without this all 

 must be a chaos of confusion, a " rudis indigestaque 

 moles." The first object, therefore, of natural his- 

 tory, the basis of all investigation, [must be the 

 formation of some certain system of arrangement, 

 some methodical classification of the countless ob- 

 jects of natural history with which creation pre- 

 sents us. 



Such is what is usually termed a system of na- 

 ture ; or, a grand catalogue of nature's works, in 

 which all things may have suitable names, may be 

 recognised by distinctive characters, and be metho- 

 dically distributed into divisions and subdivisions, 

 from the appellations and characters of which the 

 objects classified under each may be immediately 

 sought for and discovered. That each being may 

 be recognised in this catalogue, the characters by 

 which it is distinguished should be permanent and 

 essential to it ; they should never be drawn from 

 properties or habits, the exercise of which is capri- 

 cious, occasional, or transitory. They must, in 

 fact, be altogether founded upon the principles of its 

 conformation. 



But there are very few objects in nature which 

 can be recognised by any one single simple cha- 

 racter ; the combination of many of these is requi- 

 site to distinguish any individual object from others 

 which resemble it in some, though not in all, of 



