ornithologist's text-book. 155 



the Linnsean system at the present day is, how- 

 ever, manifestly absurd. A single glance over the 

 synoptical table of his system, which we have 

 given at p. 101, will sufficiently establish this pro- 

 position, and indeed there are now few, very few, 

 who still consent to follow the Sy sterna Naturae as 

 their guide. This classification has had its day, 

 And a long and serene day it was. — It has served 

 its purposes, and has long since yielded to systems 

 better suited to the present advanced state of 

 science, and more in accordance with the laws of 

 Nature. No one would now think of including the 

 Eagles and Hawks, the Kinglets (RegulusJ and 

 Wagtails, the Swans and Ducks, &c, in the same 

 genera. Let us not, however, be misunderstood. 

 We are far from wishing to detract from the merits 

 of the Linnaean system, or to undervalue the la- 

 bours of its immortal author, but merely wish to 

 establish the inefficiency of such a system to answer 

 the purposes of science at the present day. A 

 system founded entirely on any one character, as 

 the bill, blaws, wings, &c, may have been suffi- 

 ciently accurate at a time when only about nine- 

 hundred species of the feathered tribes w 7 ere known ; 

 but as Naturalists are now acquainted with about 

 eight times that number, it would be perfectly ri- 

 diculous to adhere to such a system. The neces- 

 sity of attending to the internal as w T ell as to the 

 external structure, and to the habits of each in a 

 state of Nature is now, we believe, almost universally 

 admitted; it has also recently (in 1818) been dis- 

 covered that all Nature revolves in a circle, and 

 that each species has a double affinity; and it is 

 certain that many points have on this theory been 

 cleared up, which were before considered irrecon- 

 cilable. That any development of such a theory 

 may, and does at present, contain errors, we freely 

 admit ; but are we on this account to discard the sys- 



