THE CANADIAN' SPORTSMAN AND NATURALIST. 



relations or affinities : and the second a pecu- 

 liar system of technical names adopted ae des- 



crij)tive of tbe /list. One, then, must he sub- 

 servient to the other, yet in intimate relatio 

 to it. Again, classification should be an 

 arrangement the mosl easily adapted l" the 

 demands of science, at the same time affording 

 the best means of study and research ; in lact, 

 should he the guide-board on the tree road of 

 science, instead of (as it too frequently is) the 

 harrier and stumbling block to progress. 



Nomenclature, too, is expected to ^vrve the 

 purpose of an aid to the examination and classi- 

 fication of objects in connection with the laws 

 by which they are governed, and as a means 

 of investigating their structure, history, and 

 uses. For this reason Latin or Greek names 

 were adopted as affording uniformity that 

 could not he attained by the use of common or 

 vulgar designations, and as permitting scien- 

 tists of all nations to meet upon a common 

 ground, irrespective of profuse lingual know- 

 ledge. Whether nomenclature is serving such 

 a purpose, or not, we shall see further on. 



Embracing so wide a scope as does natural 

 history, objects animate and inanimate, from 

 the awe-inspiring celestial bodies in their mul- 

 titude, to the most insignificant of earthly 

 microcosms, and details so numerous that to 

 possess a knowledge of the smallest portions is 

 a competent task for a lifetime spent in study 

 and investigation, it is little wonder that errors 

 are both numerous and constant. Yet this 

 affords nc- excuse for their unremitting multi- 

 plication by individuals of less than two score 

 of years who insist on forcing them upon us 

 regardless of scientific truth or progress. They 

 laugh, sneer, and pooh-pooh, the patiently 

 acquired results of old, staid and carefully 

 plodding and reasoning naturalists to scorn ; 

 and not satisfied with this, only too frequently 

 resort to abusive epithets and vituperative 

 abuse. For what rights has either age or rea- 

 son that are not subsei vient to Young America , 

 when full of egotism, he steps upon the stage? 



Our interest as an association is centered 



chiefly <n< those forme of fera natura usually 

 denominated game, with, perhape a minor 

 regard tor the fur-bearing species. Individual 



animals, we feel, demand individual and at the 



same time appropriate names : names indica- 

 tive somewhat of their character — nch is the 



inn' rule <>t nomenclature and classification. 

 The better to exhibit relationship, individuals 



are collected into groups that present tie great- 

 est number of characteristics in common such 

 being called genera. Genera an- further collect- 

 ed under the same general rule into I'mm 

 families into orders ; and orders in turn into 

 classes. 



Were it possible to arrange all classes in puch 

 a manner that the individuals of one genera of 

 an order should he connected more nearly with 

 that order than any other, little would I"' i 

 sary to render classification both simple and 

 complete. But, unfortunately, it ha- been found 

 that characters are not sufficiently uniform, and 

 at the same time easily cognizable, to allow the 

 arrangement of all groups ol individuals into 

 closely oennected families. Aware of this, the 

 great Swedish Naturalist employed one system 

 of organsas the basis ol classification. Others 

 have aimed to classify only by the structure 

 of individuals, as a whole, and this latter could 

 it be carried into effect, would seem the most 

 philosophical ; it has been found, however, that 

 either system followed exclusively results in 

 heterogenous combinations. It was like errors 

 that caused the famous controversy between 

 Huxley and Owen a lew years since, and which 

 led to the re-classification of mammals. A 

 combination of the two systems is now in vogue 

 as being the least objectionable, and affording 

 the greatest facility in investigating the pro- 

 ductions of nature. 



The six primary orders of Linnaeus are 

 now divided into vertebrates and invertebrates. 

 Of the former, mammals, birds and fishes alone 

 have special interest for us. Following classifi- 

 cation onward, we find mammals divided into 

 classes in accordance with their marked phy- 

 siological and anatomical peculiarities : and the 



