2S LECTURE H. 



pent tribes. The fourth division comprehends 

 Fishes; the fifth Insects ^ and the last Worms t which 

 latter term is to be received in a very extended 

 signification; comprising a great multitude of 

 Animals which, in common language, bear very- 

 different titles. 



With some occasional variations and transposi- 

 tions, the Linnaean distribution of animals will be 

 that by which we shall regulate our own survey of 

 the animal world ; and we shall, of course, begin 

 with Quadrupeds or Linnsean Mammalia. The 

 old and generally received English term Quadru- 

 ped, means, as every one knows, a four-footed 

 animal; and it is evident that it will apply to a 

 Lizard, a Tortoise, or a Frog, as well as to the 

 higher order of Quadrupeds, or such as are ge- 

 nerally called four-footed Beasts. It was therefore 

 absolutely necessary to fix upon some term which 

 should sufficiently distinguish the viviparous from 

 the oviparous quadrupeds; and Linnaeus according- 

 ly instituted the expressive term Mammalia, mean- 

 ing such animals as are furnished with organs for 

 suckling their young. This (except in one doubt- 

 ful instance) sufficiently distinguishes Quadrupeds 

 of the higher order, or four-footed Beasts, from the 



