LINN^AN SYSTEM. VERMES. l69 



Corallina. Fixed. Stem with filiform calcareous joints. 

 Sertularia. Fixed. Stem with filiform fibrous joints. 

 Vorticella. Fixed. Stem with fibrous gelatinous joints. 

 Hydra. Free. Stem medullous, naked. 

 Pennatula. Free. Stem coriaceous, resembling a quill. 

 Taenia. Free. Stem or body moniliform, articulated. 

 Volvex. Free. Body roundish or spherical. 

 Furia. Free. Body linear, and ciliate on each side with re- 

 flected prickles. 

 Chaos. Free. Body a mere point. 



(220.) The most objectionable part of the Linnaean 

 system is unquestionably the arrangement of the soft 

 invertebrated animals, here placed in the class Vermes. 

 But if we bear in mind the state of zoological science 

 when this system was formed, and consider that the 

 labours of this wonderful man were spread over the 

 whole of organised matter, so far from joining in the 

 ill-judged censure that has been cast upon him for neg- 

 lecting the lower animals, we shall only be astonished 

 that his errors were not greater, or that he was able to 

 contemplate them at all. It is, therefore, no disparage- 

 ment to Linnaeus that the labours of his successors have 

 obliterated this portion of his system from the pages of 

 modern science ; yet it must be remembered, that, as the 

 three aberrant divisions of the animal kingdom {Acrita, 

 Radiata, and MoUusca) form a natural group by them- 

 selves, this group, with but very few exceptions, will 

 comprise the whole of the Linnaean class of Vermes; so 

 that, even here, in the most objectionable part of our 

 author's system, it seems highly probable that his views, 

 in some respects, are more conformable to nature than 

 many of those which have recently been promulgated. 

 On the whole, therefore, we must express our convic- 

 tion that the name of Linnaeus must ever remain as that 

 of the great father of natural history since the revival 

 of learning ; and that the benefits he bestowed upon 

 our favourite science are as multifarious as they are 

 incalculable. By the unrivalled simplicity of his arti- 

 ficial system, and the admirable precision of his no- 

 menclature, he enticed votaries and students to the 



