MAMMALIA. 9 



creatures superior, by their organization, to the rest of the 

 animals which we have just passed in review. Thej^ are provided, 

 indeed, for the most part, with an organ of prehension and of touch, 

 which is wanting in other animals ; they have a hand, and this 

 character accompanies a degree of intelligence higher than is 

 generally found in the other orders of Mammalia. 



The Quadrumana constitute the last step on the ladder of the 

 animal series. With them the animals culminate, and after them, 

 in the order of creation, comes man alone, a superior being whom 

 we nevertheless must physically compare with the rest of the 

 animal creation. 



The following table sums up the classification of the Mammalia 

 which will be followed in this work : — 



* The Mammalia have also been divided, primarily, into tho sub-classes Im- 

 placentalia and Flacentalia. The former of these comprises only the Monotremata 

 and the Marsupiata. The latter fall into the leading scries, which may be termed 

 Zoophagoida and Thytophagoida ; the one subsisting mainly on animal products and 

 the more highly azotized parts of vegetables, the other subsisting chiefly upon 

 vegetable products, although subordinate exceptional cases occur in both instances. 

 The Zoophagoida next divide into the true Cetacea on the one hand, and the rest of 

 the contained orders on the other : the Fhytophagoida, in like manner, divide into 

 the Edentata on the one hand, and the rest of the contained orders on the other. 

 The Cetacea and the Edentata may be considered as the abnormal divisions of their 

 respective series. The Zoophagoida culminate in Man ; the Ehytophagoida culminate 

 in the Elephant group. — Ei>. 



