|
genera descended from (I). So that we here have many species descended from a single progenitor grouped into genera; and the genera
→are included in, or subordinate to,
sub-families, families, and orders, all
→united into one
grand fact
→in natural history
of the
→subordination of
under
which, from its familiarity, does not always sufficiently strike us, is in my judgment
explained. ↑ |
|
→try
to arrange the species, genera, and families in each class, on what is called the Natural System. But what is meant by this system? Some authors look at it merely as a scheme for arranging together those living objects which are most alike, and for separating those which are most unlike; or as an artificial
enunciating, as briefly as possible, general propositions,— that is, by one sentence to give the characters common, for instance, to all mammals, by another those common to all carnivora, by another those common to the dog-genus, and
by adding a single sentence, a full description is given of each kind of dog. The ingenuity and utility of this system are indisputable. But many naturalists think that something more is meant by the Natural System; they believe that it reveals the plan of the Creator; but unless it be specified whether order in time or space, or
→what
else is meant by the plan of the Creator, it seems to me that nothing is thus added to our knowledge.
as that famous one
Linnæus,
which we often meet with in a more or less concealed form,
the characters do not make the genus, but that the genus gives the characters, seem to imply that
→something more
is included in our
than mere resemblance. I believe that
→something more is included;
and that
of
the
known cause of
similarity
organic
is the bond,
→hidden as it is
by various degrees of
|
