No. 39.— 1889.] ZOOLOGICAL TABLES. 



23 



monstrosity, as Cuvier terms it, in this particular instance 

 arises solely from the fact that we are all familiar from 

 childhood with horses, oxen, and deer. The brindled gnu 

 is by no means an inharmonious combination, and if we 

 were not so familiar with the above-named animals it would 

 strike no one as being a monster ; in fact, it is no more so 

 than any other species. All animals are combinations of 

 structures ; indeed, if they were not so, a zoological diagnosis 

 would be an impossibility. 



Take the case of a species made up, so to speak, of other 

 species, with which people in general are not so familiar ; 

 say, any species of the genus Brotula amongst fish. Many 

 would probably think the fish an ugly one, but would 

 neither regard it as a harmonious or inharmonious combi- 

 nation. Show one of this genus, however, to an Ichthyolo- 

 gist, and he would at once recognise the union of the body, 

 vertical fins, and scales of the sole, with the head and barbels 

 of a catfish and the jugular ventrals of the cod. 



These combinations are frequently dwelt upon by John 

 Hunter. It is thus he describes the capybara : — " This ani- 

 mal is about the bigness of a half -grown sheep ; the hair 

 is thin and strong, like that of the agouti or of the hog ; the 

 head is like the head of the guinea-pig ; the ears are those of 

 the same animal ; the toes are strong and broad like those of 

 a stork ; the spleen is very near the shape and situation of 

 the human ; the pancreas is more like that of the human 

 than in most animals." 



Cuvier and Valenciennes, speaking of the barbel, say 

 "Le genre des barbeaux va egalement nous montrerla meme 

 puissance dans les combinaisons diverses avec lesquelles la 

 nature a su travailler les etres nombreux qu'elle a places 

 sur notre planete." (" C. et V,," vol. XVI., p. 90.) 



In classifying flies, Latreille adopted various plans of 

 arrangement, varying according to the different weight that 

 may be attached to the different characters. At one time he 

 is chiefly guided by the antennae, at another by the mouth 

 parts, at another by the nature of the metamorphoses, and 



