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THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol. XLVIIt 



have collapsed because they were built on the sands of an in- 

 correct classification? The similarity between the faunas of 

 South America and Madagascar is supported by many facts, 

 but the value of Solenodon in Cuba and Centetes in Madagascar 

 has been lessened by the recognition that the two genera re- 

 semble each other by convergence, and should now be classified 

 in different families. 



The Dendrobatina? also are considered by Dr. Gadow as an 

 unnatural group, the two divisions — South American and Mas- 

 carerie — having, according to him, lost their teeth independently. 

 Again, Dr. Gadow refers to the Ratitse as a heterogeneous as- 

 semblage of birds which is "absolutely worthless" for the 

 zoogeographer. There are scores of such artificial groupings— 

 the work of the systematist— which have led zoogeographers 



The result is that systematic work as at present pursued is 

 of very little use to us in the study of geographical rilmi ion. 

 It is hopeless nowadays for a zoologist to sit down with a 

 list of species and their range and trusting implicitly in sys- 

 tematic work to make maps of distribution and, as he so often 

 does, to draw deductions therefrom, for the validity of such de- 

 ductions must ultimately depend upon the anatomical and mor- 

 phological data. Moreover the study of geographical distribu- 

 tion is developing new methods of tackling its problems. 



We do not consider it necessary to touch on the other remedies 

 that might be applied with a view to redeeming zoological taxo- 

 nomy from its present artificial state and to hringing it into line 

 with the rest of biology. 



Such remedies— for instance, testing the validity of species 

 by genetic experiment and the intensive study of variation — 

 have been advocated many times before.'- although with little 

 success. We believe, however, that the reforms in descriptive 

 zoology we have advocated above are the more urgent. 



2Cf. E. B. Poulton, "Essays on Evolution," 2. "What is a Species?" 

 and K. Jordan, "Novitates Zoologies," 3, ]896. 



