| → as 1859 1860 1861 1866 |
| in the diagram as 1869 |
|
| → in the diagram, 1859 1860 1861 1866 |
| OMIT 1869 |
|
| → a branching diagram had not been used, and only 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869 |
| OMIT 1872 |
|
| → written 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869 |
| simply written down 1872 |
|
| → possible to have given a natural arrangement; 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869 |
| natural; 1872 |
|
| → view which I hold, the 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869 |
| OMIT 1872 |
|
| → very ancient language had altered 1859 1860 1861 1866 |
| ancient languages had altered very 1869 1872 |
|
| → (owing 1859 1860 1861 1866 |
| had altered much owing 1869 1872 |
|
| → from a common race) had altered much, 1859 1860 1861 |
| from a common stock) had altered much, 1866 |
| races, 1869 1872 |
|
|
This natural arrangement is
→as
far as is possible on paper,
→in the diagram,
but in much too simple a manner. If
→a branching diagram had not been used, and only
the names of the groups had been
→written
in a linear series,
would have been still less
→possible to have given a natural arrangement;
and it is notoriously not possible to represent in a series, on a flat surface, the affinities which we discover in nature amongst the beings of the same group. Thus,
the
→view which I hold, the
natural system is genealogical in its
like a
but the
of modification which the different groups have
to be expressed by ranking them under different so-called genera, sub-families, families, sections, orders, and classes. |
|
| It may be worth while to illustrate this view of classification, by taking the case of languages. If we possessed a perfect pedigree of mankind, a genealogical arrangement of the races of man would afford the best classification of the various languages now spoken throughout the world; and if all extinct languages, and all intermediate and slowly changing dialects,
to be included, such an arrangement
be the only possible one. Yet it might be that some
→very ancient language had altered
and had given rise to few new languages, whilst others
→(owing
to the
and
of civilisation of the several
→from a common race) had altered much,
and had
rise to many new
and
The various degrees of difference
the languages
the same stock, would have to be expressed by groups subordinate to groups; but the proper or even
possible arrangement would still be genealogical; and this would be strictly natural, as
|
