M^Murtrie^s Translation of the Regne Animal. 449 



I 



one of them. Cuvier, at page 15, of his introduction,* says, 

 " Tons les etres organises produisent leur semblables ; autrement 

 la mort etant une suite necessaire de la vie, leurs especes ne 

 pourroient subsister ;" — which he has rendered, " All organized 

 beings produce their like, otherwise death would be a ?iecessary con- 

 sequence of life, and the species must become extinct — than which, 

 nothing can be more absurd. The true version is, ''All organized 

 beings produce their like ; if it were not so, death, being a neces- 

 sary consequence of life, their species would become extinct.''^ Dr. 

 M'Murtrie's translation consists but of four volumes, and is 

 to be preferred, on this account ; for there is no end to 

 the production of the other, which has already reached the 

 thirty-first number, and upwards of 6000 pages. This work 

 will eventually be swelled out to forty numbers, containing 

 at least 8000 pages, and will cost the subscribers, in this 

 country, one hundred and thirty dollars. But this cannot 

 be fairly called a translation of Cuvier ; the supplements and 

 notes of the translator and his coadjutors, have increased the bulk 

 of the work beyond all expectation, and have turned Griffith's 

 version of the Regne Animal, into a job of an indecent length, 

 and an exorbitant expense, for which the work by no means 

 compensates in its intrinsic value ; the translation being fre- 

 quently very carelessly and blunderingly executed ; the original 

 matter often very erroneous; and the engravings, many of which 

 are beautifully executed, especially those of the genus cerVus 

 and felis, being superfluously expensive; many genera not having 

 a- single species given, whilst in other instances, numerous figures 

 are given of the same species. The errors in the supplementary 

 matter are not only numerous, but often brought forward ex 

 cathedra, as if they were the ne plus ultra of observation in the 

 anatomy, physiology, and habits of animals. At page 32, Reptilia, 

 part 1, he says "poisonous snakes are harmless to their own 

 kind," which is inconsistent with observation ; for the poison of 

 the rattle snake is not only fatal to its kind, but to itself, when 

 accidentally self- wounded. At page 40, he says, the intestines of ■ 

 the tadpole are " destined to digest vegetable nutriment ;" when 

 we know the tadpole feeds on animal food ; for there is no better 

 method of cleaning the skeletons of small animals, than by em- 

 ploying tadpoles.f But it is useless further to multiply instances ; 



* Regne Animal, Vol. I. Paris 8vo- 1829. t Vide p. 239, Month. Am. Jour, of Geoi. 



Vol. I.— 57 



