548 Classification of Animals. 



ful, or at least carried to what may be considered, if not a ridiculous, 

 at least an unwarrantable extent. Such an opinion, indeed, we have 

 already heard broached more than once ; but a theory substantiated 

 bv a long and painful course of investigation is not to be repudiated 

 and condemned, unless it can be proved, by an examination as strict 

 as that to which it has been subjected, that it is founded in error and 

 unsupported by facts. We allow that many of the analogies or symbo- 

 lical resemblances instanced by Mr Swainson, particularly when they 

 relate to groups or individuals far removed, are, -unless tested by 

 analysis, often difficult to be recognized or perceived ; but this is only 

 what ought reasonably to be expected from the very nature of the 

 subject, as such resemblances cannot be supposed so strong, or so easi- 

 ly perceptible in objects far removed from each other, as in propin- 

 quant groups. There are many who would at once allow and recog- 

 nize an analogy between the eagle and the lion, who would yet dispute 

 its existence in the case of the woodcock and the rat, (strikingly as 

 it may be illustrated in the characteristic wood-cut at page 17, Vol. i. 

 Birds), but it only requires an examination and analysis of inter- 

 vening groups and forms to be as firmly persuaded of the correctness 

 of the one as of the other. It is moreover a law, we think beauti- 

 fully illustrative of the " wisdom of God as displayed in the Crea- 

 tion," and strongly corroborative of that unity of design which we 

 can scarcely doubt prevails throughout all the works of the Creator, 

 and which, in a late admirable treatise, is shown to have existed at 

 least in Zoology, from the earliest epochs of the globe we now in- 

 habit. 



From what we have already said, our readers must be aware that 

 we are followers of what is frequently termed the circular system, 

 and believers in the principles or laws upon which it reposes. We 

 have long been so, from a conviction that it is the natural system or 

 true mode of investigating animal life, — a conviction, however, we 

 must repeat, not merely drawn from or resting upon the writings 

 and dicta of others, but the result of a long and patient examina- 

 tion of the subject. We therefore agree with Mr Swainson in the 

 great principles he advocates, though we may occasionally differ 

 or require further proof in regard to minute details. In addition to 

 the profound and intimate knowledge of his subject, practical as 

 well as theoretical, the author brings to his task the aid of a power- 

 ful and original mind, capable of the most extensive generalization, 

 as well as of entering into minute and laborious detail. The ar- 

 rangement of the volumes is, we think, upon the whole, good, and 



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