Ornithological dictionary of British birds / By G. Montagu.

  • George Montagu
Date:
1831
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Ornithological dictionary of British birds / By G. Montagu. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    in their regular succession, an analogy with the corresponding groups or orders of the contiguous classes of Zoology.”* Lin- neeus himself, however, expressly records these very analogies claimed to be newly discovered. ‘ Accipitres,” says he, ‘ ana~ logous to the Ferz; Pics, analogous to the Primates; Anseres, analogous to the Bellu; Gralle, analogous to the Bruta. Gal- linze, analogous to the Pecora; Passeres, analogous to the Glires.”+ It is worthy of remark, that when Dr. Virey shows that he had published similar views in 1803,{ Mr. MacLeay not only as usual accuses him of not understanding the subject, but even compromises his own claim to the alleged discovery, by taking refuge, as may be seen in a preceding extract, in the indefinite term nature.§ I have above briefly stated some of my objections to what is called affinity, and shall now come to analogy. In some points of view analogy is exceedingly valuable as a logical in- strument of investigation, of which we have a most beautiful example in the remark of Origen, that “he who expects the scripture to have come from the Author of Nature, may well expect to find the same sort of difficulties in it as are found in Nature itself,” || so admirably developed by Bishop Butler in his ** Analogy of Religion.” But analogy is perhaps more liable to be abused than any other means of investigation, and m no department of human inquiry has the abuse of analogy oc- curred more glaringly than in some late speculations in natural history. It was remarked by Aristotle, and repeated by Willis, ** with regard to crabs and lobsters, that instead of the flesh covering the bones, the bones cover the flesh. Baron De Geer applied this fancy to insects;{+ and M. de Blainville * Linn. Trans. vol. xiv. p. 399. + Kerr’s Linneus, p.416. “ Accipitres, Analogi Feris; Pic, Analog Pri- matibus; Anseres, Analogi Belluis; Gralle, Analoge Brutis; Galline, Analog Pecoribus; Passeres, Analogi Gliribus.” Linneus, Syst. Nat. edit. 12th. + Bulletin des Sciences Naturelles, for 1825 ; and Nouv. Dict. D’Hist. Nat. Art. Animal, Ist. edit. § Zool. Journ. iv. p. 49. || Xpn wey rou ye Tov ‘drat. x. 7. A. Origen, Philocal. p. 23, ed. Cantab. {] Tleps Zwwy loropias, A. ** De Anima Brutorum, p. 11, edit. 1692. +t Memoires des Insectes, ii. 2, ed. 1771.
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