136 SPECIES AND BREEDS. 
and Genus as much as of its Species. Specific 
characters are only those determining size, pro- 
portion, color, habits, and relations to surround- 
ing circumstances and external objects. How 
superficial, then, must be any one’s knowledge of 
an animal who studies it only with relation to its 
specific characters! He will know nothing of the 
finish of special parts of the body, — nothing of 
the relati@ns between its form and its structure, 
—nothing of the relative complication of its or- 
ganization as compared with other allied animals, 
—nothing of the general mode of execution of 
its structure, — nothing of the general plan of 
structure expressed in that mode of execution. 
Yet, with the exception of the ordinal charac- 
ters, which, since they imply relative superiority 
and inferiority, require, of course, a number of 
specimens for comparison, his one animal would 
tell him all this as well as the specific characters. 
All the more comprehensive groups, equally 
with Species, are based upon a positive, perma- 
nent, specific principle, maintained generation 
after generation with all its essential characteris- 
tics. Individuals are the transient representa- 
tives of all these organic principles, which cer- 
tainly have an independent, immaterial existence, 
since they outlive the individuals that embody 
them, and are no less real after the generation 
that has represented them for a time has passed 
away, than they were before. 
