18 
SYSTEM OF NATURE. 
vampyre bats, closely resembles some of the insectivorous 
Ferae. Galeopithecus approaches the Primates, and the 
similarity of Vespertilio pipistrellus, and other of the 
smaller bats, to the mice among the Glires is very obvious. 
It is perhaps no proof of these structural resemblances 
that they are so generally admitted, yet this must be my 
excuse for passing them over with so slight a notice. 
2ndly. The Bruta or herpetoid placentals. Among these 
Myrmecophaga didactyla, a little climbing animal about 
the size of a rat, and furnished with a prehensile tail, ap¬ 
proaches some of the lemurs and the sloths ; and the 
armadilloes, either with or without the intervention of 
Megatherium, &c., are considered by all zoologists to ap¬ 
proach the Belluae : among the Glires, some of the climb¬ 
ing porcupines, with long and prehensile tails and great 
claws, certainly approach the climbing ant-eaters. 
3rdly. The Cete or ichthyoid placentals . With regard 
to the contents of this group, I must confess that I feel 
inclined to dissent from the views of Linneus, Cuvier, and 
all the more eminent zoologists. It has long seemed to me 
that sufficient attention has never been paid to uniformity 
of plan in the characters assigned to divisions, and if I 
repeat this somewhat frequently, and insist on it somewhat 
strenuously, it is because I am deeply impressed with its 
importance. Now if we regard the aquatic birds as a good 
and natural group, why not, on the very same principle, 
collect the aquatic Mammalia. Why should the seal (and 
more especially the walrus, living wholly on sea-weed) 
be associated with the lions and tigers, when the sea-gull 
is not associated with the eagles ? No naturalist can re¬ 
gard for a moment the bulky walrus, either as to its habit, 
its food, its ivory tusks, or its general osteology, and pre- 
