OCR Text |
Show ~.. I • ·' t • s 0 • ~,:.. • ' ::': t. 12~ MACLEAY SYSTEM 011' beautiful thouO'h as yet obscure relation bet"' e~n t1.1e ttwl 0 grand for' ms o:f-, beinO' and consequen tl Y a u n1ty In 1e laws which brouO'ht t~h' em both I· nto ext·s t ence. So. com-plete does this. a~alogy appear even in t~e pr~sent ~~r~e~; feet state of scwnce, that I tully expect Jn a few Y d see the animal and vegetablA kingdoms duly ra~kf ~fagainst each oth.er .in a system of .par~llels, wh1c 1 ~~61 admit of our ass1gn1ng to each speci.es In ~h~ former particular shrub or tree correspond1?g to 1t In the l~tter, aU marked by unmistakable analogtes of the most Inte-resting kind. d' t It is as yet but a few years since a system of subor Ina e analo(J'ies not less remarkable began to be speculated upo!l as within the range of the an.imal kingdom. ~rob3;bly It also exists in the vegetable kingdom; but to this. p01nt nc direct attention has been given ; sow~ are l.eft to Infer th~t such is the case from theoretical consideratw~~ only. "! e are indebted for what we know of these beautiful anaiogH:s to three naturalists-Macleay, Vigors, and Swamson, whose labors tempt us to dismiss in a great measure .the artificial classifications hitherto used, and make an entirely new conspectus of the ani~al kin.gdom, not .to sp~ak of the corresponding reform whtch Will be requued In our svstems of botany also. . w The Macleay system, as it may be called in honor of Its principal author, announces that, ~het~e~ yve tal~e the whole animal kingdom, or any definite divisiO.n of It, yve shall find that we are examining a grou_p of beings whiC.h is capable of being arranged al?ng a series o~ close affinl· ties, in, a circular form-that 1~ t.o say, starting from any one portion of the g-roup, when It IS pr?perly arran_ged, ~e c.an proceed from one to another by nnnute gradations, till at len(J'th havin<Y run throu(J'h the whole, we return to the b 0 ~ • 1 point whence we set out. All natural groups of. anima s are, therefore, in the language of Mr. Yacleay, ctrc'l.tlf!-r; and the possibility of throwing any su~p_osed grou_p Into a circular arrann·emei•t is held as a decisive te-st of 1ts be ing a real natur~l one. It is of cour~e t? be. und~rstood that each cird~ is composed of a set of 1nfenor Circles; for example, a set of tribe circles composes an order_, a set of order circles, again, forms a class j and so on. C?f each group, the component circles are invariably five ~n ~t~.'umber; thus in the animal kingdom, there a1·e five 11ub· I 'e • ANIMATED N4TURE. 123 kingdoms-the vertebrata, annulosa, * radiata, acrita, t mollusca. Take, again, one of these sub-kingdoms, the vertebrata, and we find it composed of five cluRSes-the mammalia, reptilia, piscis) amphibia, and aves, each of the other. sub-kingdoms being simiJarly devisable. Take the mammalia, and it is in like man~er found to ,he composed of five orders-the cheirotheria,:J: ferro, cetacea, glues, ungulata. Even in this numerical uniformity, which goes down to the lowest ramifications of the system, there ":ould be somethi~g very remarkable, as ar~ui.ng a definite and preconceived arrangement; but this Is only the least curious part of the Macleay theory. We shall best understand the wonderfully complex system of analogies developed by that theory, if we start from the part of the kingdom in which they were first tracednamely, the class aves, or birds. This gives for its five orders-incessores, (perching birds,) raptares, (birds of prey,) natatores, (swimming birds,) grallatm·es, (waders,) rasores, (sct·apers.) In these orders our naturalists discerned distinct organic characters, of different degrees of perfectness, the first being the most perfect with regard to the general character of the class, and therefore the best representative of that class; whence it was called the typical order. The second was found to be inferior, 01~ rather to have a less perfect balance of qualities; hence it was designated the sub-typical. In this are comprehended the chief noxious and destructive animals of the circle to which it belongs. The other three groups were called aberrant, as exhibiting a much wide1· departure from the typical standard, although the last of the three is observed to make a certain recovery, and join on to the typical group so as to complete the circle. The first of the aberrant groups (natatores) is remarkable for making the water the theatre of its existence, and the birds composing it are in general of comparatively large bulk. The second (grallatores) are lQng-limbed and long-billed, that they may wade and pick up their subsistence in the shallows and marshes in which they chiefly live. The third (rasores) are distinguished by strong feet, for walking or running on th~ ground, and for scraping in it fo1· theii· food: also by • Corresponding to the articulata of Cuvier. t A new sub-khlgdom, made out of part of the radiata of Cuvier t Thts is a new l;r applied term, the reasons for which will bees rlained in the sequel |