MEANING OF ORDERS. 79 
considered symmetrical. Under a third head he 
brought tegether the Radiates; but his symmet- 
rical division united Articulates, Mollusks, and 
Vertebrates in the most indiscriminate manner. 
He sustained his theory by assuming intermediate | 
groups,—as, for instance, the Barnacles be- 
tween the Mollusks and Articulates, whereas 
they are as truly Articulates as Insects or Crabs. 
Thus, by misplacing certain animals, he arrived 
at a series which, like that of Lamarck, made a 
strong impression on the scientific world, till a 
more careful investigation of facts exposed its 
fallacy. 
Oken, the great German naturalist, also at- 
tempted to establish a connected chain through- 
out the Animal Kingdom, but on an entirely 
different principle; and I cannot allude to this 
most original investigator, so condemned by some, 
so praised by others, so powerful in his influence 
on science in Germany, without attempting to 
give some analysis of his peculiar philosophy. 
For twenty years his classification was accepted 
by his countrymen without question ; and though 
I believe it to be wrong, yet, by the ingenuity 
with which he maintained it, he has shed a flood 
of light upon science, and has stimulated other 
naturalists to most important and interesting in- 
vestigations. 
This famous classification was founded upon 
