1838. . HOUSE—No, 72. 7 
ercise of the same powers as are employed in the detection of coun- 
terfeit bills, in estimating correctly the difference of value between 
two horses, or two farms, or of the degrees of guilt in two criminals 
arraigned at the bar of justice, or the shade of difference in the mean- 
ing of two words. The method of nature has another advantage 
over any other, in this, that though we may be obliged to stop in our 
inquiries at a certain point, and though we cannot now see that they 
bear on the arts of life, or the good of the world, yet hereafter they 
may be taken up and pursued from the point at which we leave them, 
without having to go over the previous ground ; they may subse- 
quently be carried out, after light has been shed on the path by some 
kindred science, to a most valuable purpose in civilized life. 
To pursue the preceding views a step farther, we may refer to 
the advantage of a scientific catalogue of animals, over one arranged 
alphabetically. If, inthe former, the principle of resemblance has 
been employed to a legitimate extent, then the several groups contain 
individuals whose external as well as internal configurations are simi- 
lar in some of their most important features ; again, those groups or 
families, under some distinguishing name, will follow each other in 
some regular order, each family will be adjacent to those which it 
most resembles, while those whose resemblance is remote, will oc- 
cupy a remote station. A system is thus formed of the series, easy 
of reference, and in which we may see at a glance the affinities of a 
whole kingdom. In the latter case it is easy to see, that the alpha- 
betic arrangement is entirely deficient in information and value, ex- 
cept so far as names are concerned. It may be employed like a 
dictionary of words, and therefore may be employed occasionally 
for reference, but ought never to supersede the systematic arrange- 
ment. 
I shall now pass from these general and somewhat desultory re- 
marks, to the consideration of the subjects of this report. Of the 
domestic animals I have selected the ox as the first for description. 
The points on which I shall dwell at some length are, his natural 
history and anatomical structure, his diseases and mode of cure. 
The zoological characters of the class Mammalia, (the class of ani- 
mals on which I am directed to report,) are the following, ‘* Animals 
having mamme or teats, or whichsuckle their young.”’ In this class 
