ANIMAL KINGDOM. 263 



the old names of Reptilia and Amphibia are so truly un- 

 objectionable that there seems no reason why they should 

 be abandoned. We may, therefore, under the general 

 name of Reptilia assemble the following groups of M. 

 De Blainville. 



1. Gh ELOX I A NS or Tortoises, 



2. Emydo-Saurians or Crocodiles, 



3. SAURIANS or Lizards, 



4. Dipod Ophidians, 



5. Apod Ophidians or Serpents. 



The extremities of this column appear to meet in the 

 Emys longicollis (Testudo longicol/is of Shaw), and the 

 whole forms a group which may be distinguished from 

 Birds by being cold-blooded; and from the Amphibia by 

 having two auricles to the heart, by undergoing no meta- 

 morphosis, and, finally, by a different system of generation. 

 For the present we shall consider the Chelonians as their 

 structure leads us to Birds, a transition which, though by 

 no means gradual, is yet effected by affinities so plain as 

 scarcely to have escaped the notice of any naturalist. It 

 may almost be sufficient for our purpose to mention the 

 horny covering of the mandibles of a tortoise, the struc- 

 ture of its limbs and generative organs, as particularly 

 proving the accuracy of this approximation : but, throw- 

 ing aside all anatomical considerations, the Hawksbill 

 turtle puts the matter beyond doubt. This animal ex- 

 hibits to the view a rude sketch of the form of a Bird, so 

 distinctly that we can hardly refrain from supposing that 

 Nature must, in a sportive mood, have intended to show 

 us by the union of animals totally dissimilar in habit, what 

 wonders she can perform in the prosecution of her favou- 

 rite principle of affinity. It is indeed curious, that except 



