shall afterwards examine what characters ought immediately to succeed them, and form the first subdivisions.

In considering the animal kingdom according to the principles that have been stated, and setting aside the prejudices established by the divisions formerly received, if we regard only the organisation and the nature of animals, without reference to their size, their utility, or the more or less perfect knowledge we have of them, or any other incidental circumstances, we shall find that there are four principal forms, four general plans, if I may be allowed the expression, according to which all animals appear to have been modelled; and all the ulterior divisions, by whatever names they may have been decorated by naturalists, are only slight modifications, founded on the developement or addition of some parts, which do not change, in any respect, the essential parts of the plan.

In the first of these forms, which is that of man and the animals that resemble him the most, the brain and the principal trunk of the nervous system are enclosed in a bony envelope, which forms the skull and the vértebræ; to the sides of this vertebral column are attached the ribs and the bones of the members, that form the framework (charpente) of the body. The muscles generally cover the bones, which they move, and the víscera* (les viscères) are enclosed in the head and the trunk of the body.

Animals of this form we call VERTEBRATED ANIMALS ( Animàlia vertebrata). They have all red blood, a muscular heart, and a mouth, with two horizontal jaws; distinct organs of sight, of hearing, of taste, and smell, are placed in the cavities of the face. Vertebrated animals have never more than four limbs (membres), the sexes are always separated, they have all nearly the same distribution of the medullary masses, and of the principal branches of the nervous system.

In examining closely all the parts of this great division, we shall find some analogy even in species the most remote from each other, and we can trace the gradations of the same plan, in a descending series, from man to the lowest genus of fishes.

In the second form there is no skeleton; the muscles are only attached to the skin, which forms a soft envelope that is contractile in every direction. In many species the skin produces stony coverings called shells, the position and extent of which are analogous to those of the mucous body. The víscera and the nervous system are included in the general

Víscera, in common language, is applied generally to the intestines; in a scientific acceptation, víscus singular, víscera plural, may denote any internal organ or organs.

envelope. The nervous system is composed of many distinct masses, united by nervous threads, the principal of these are placed near the oesophagus, and have received the name of the brain. In animals of this division we can only distinguish the organs of two senses, which are those of taste and sight. One single family only exhibits organs of hearing. The system of circulation is, however, complete, and there are particular organs for respiration. The organs of digestion and secretion are nearly as complicated as those of vertebrated animals.

The animals of this second form are called MOLLUSCOUS ANIMALS (Animàlia mollúsca). Although the plan of their organisation, with respect to the external configuration of the parts, may not be so uniform as that of vertebrated animals, there is always a resemblance between these parts, at least of the same degree, in the structure and in the functions. The cuttle-fish, and animals with univalve or bivalve shells, belong to this division.

The third form is that which is observed in insects, worms, &c. In animals of this division the nervous system consists of two long chords, ranging along the belly, and swelling out at intervals into ganglions or knots. The first of these knots, placed near the oesophagus, is called the brain; it is but little larger than the rest. The envelope of the trunk is divided by transverse folds into a certain number of rings, the coverings of which are sometimes hard, and sometimes soft, but the muscles are always attached to them beneath. The trunk has often articulated members, or legs, on each side, but is frequently without them. The animals of this form we call ARTICULATED ANIMALS (Animalia articulata).

In the animals of this division we first observe the passage from circulation in a vascular system to nutrition by imbibition, and a corresponding passage from respiration in circumscribed organs to that in air-vessels called tracheæ, which are spread over the whole body. The organs of taste and sight are the most distinct in the animals belonging to this division; one single family, only, exhibits organs of hearing. The jaws are always lateral.

The fourth form, which comprises all the animals known. under the name of zoophytes, may be called RADIATED ANIMALS (Animalia radiàta).

In all the preceding divisions the organs of sense and motion are placed symmetrically, on the two sides of an axis; in the animals of this fourth division they are placed circularly, round a centre. Many radiated animals approach in substance to the homogeneity of plants, they exhibit no distinct nervous system, nor organs of the particular senses; in

some of them we scarcely perceive any traces of circulation; their organs of respiration are almost always on the surface of the body; in the greater number the whole intestine consists of a bag without a vent; and in the lowest families the bodies are a kind of homogeneous pulp, possessing a certain degree of mobility and sensation. The next essay will contain the principal parts of Cuvier's chapter on the intellectual functions of animals, and some farther observations on organisation, before we give his more complete description of the characters of vertebrated animals, and their subdivision into four classes. (To be continued.)

ART. II. The Tests by which a real Mermaid may be discovered. By CONCHILLA.

Sir,

I VENTURE to address you upon a subject which has at various times interested the ingenious, and not a little puzzled philosophers themselves; I mean the tests by which a real mermaid may be discovered; if, indeed, there is such an animal at all. I am led into these reflections by having lately visited one of the principal cities in Holland, in the museum of which I was shown one of these wonderful creatures; of this, from memory, I have made a slight sketch. (fig. 47.) It was in a glass case, and about 3 ft. in length. The face, head, and breast were like those of a monkey of the orang-outang kind; but it had no arms, and, from the middle downwards, it resembled a fish. I asked some questions concerning it, and was informed that its inward conformation down to the middle resembled that of a human being; that, like an honest creature, it had its heart in the right place; that

its lungs were excellent; and that it was not deficient in brains! I asked from whence it came, and was told from Japan; and I could not help replying, after I had spent some time in its examination, that, if it had been presented as an artificial instead of a natural curiosity, it would have been worthy of

admiration, but that, as it was, I conceived it to be an unworthy imposition. My reasons are deduced from the following considerations: - And to speak, first, as to what concerns the perfection of its lungs; fishes, with the small exception afforded by the cetaceous class, being, according to the best authorities, devoid of hearing, are also denied a voice; for, in creatures who could not converse with each other, this would indeed have been an incongruous superfluity. How, then, came this singular inhabitant of the great deep to be thus wonderfully endowed with organs of which it could never make any use? If, too, as it appears from its being so rarely seen, its place is at the bottom of the sea, how could a creature, with a conformation of the lungs resembling our own, live and breathe there, when there is nothing better authenticated, than that the most expert and practised divers are unable to stay at the bottom of the sea more than half an hour? But supposing it, for argument's sake, belonging to the class of fishes to which I have adverted, it is a well attested fact, that they are not able to remain under the water for more than two or three minutes together, before they rise to its surface, in order to take in a new inspiration; and is it possible that this animal should be so rarely seen, if this were the case? Further, every inhabitant of the waters carries on its motions through them by means of its fins, as birds do theirs through the air by their wings; and, to be entirely equipped, two pair of fins and three single ones appear necessary to the former, though one pair of wings is sufficient for all the wants of the latter. Of these the pectoral fins, which are placed near the gills, act like oars, and serve to impel the animal forward; they likewise keep the head from descending too much into the water, or from being too much above it. The ventral fins are nearer the tail, and seem chiefly useful in balancing the fish in the water; and of the single fins it may be observed, that the dorsal fin and the anal one, which are on the ridge of the back, serve, in some degree, all these purposes, while the tail answers to all intents the purpose of a rudder. This, as I said before, is the perfect complement of a fish in the way of fins; nevertheless, there are many not, in this way, so perfectly endowed, because some peculiarity in their conformation, would render so great a number of fins superfluous, if not, indeed, retarding to them. For instance, the form of the Muræ na, or eel, being so entirely equal, requires little balance either one way or the other, it is, therefore, entirely destitute of ventral fins; and the Gymnòtus (gymnos, naked, nōtos, back), or Carapo, having the back broad and flat, would rather be rendered unsteady if it were in possession of a dorsal

fin. Some fishes, also, have no tail fin. But what shall we say to a fish of above three feet in length, which has no fin but that; which has, as one may say, a broad chest and a heavy head, without any one contrivance to keep it from being, at all times, lower than any other part of its body? It might, indeed, be inferred, that so extraordinary a creature would live in an extraordinary manner; and certainly no manner could be more extraordinary, than that of living with its head downwards, and its tail in the opposite extreme! But this must be impossible under these points of view; and, I am apt to believe, that if all mermaids were tried by one or other, or all, of these tests, they would be found equally imaginary. Yes, Sir, I cannot help thinking, that in such cases we are not less deceived than our ancestors were, though it may be less agreeably; for their mermaids sang, and combed their sunny locks, and were, besides, extremely personable monsters, while ours are not only altogether mute, but as ugly as can be well conceived. If, then, Mr. Editor, we must be in error, pray give us your potent assistance to fall back into our earlier and more poetical absurdities; but if to come at the truth is a more desirable thing still, and if you find that my communication tends at all to that end, I shall be happy to see among your other contributions this of CONCHILLA.

ART. III. Anecdotes of a tamed Panther. By Mrs. BOWDICH. Sir,

ON perusing the First Number of the Magazine of Natural History, I find that you admit zoological anecdotes. I am, therefore, induced to send you some account of a panther which was in my possession for several months. He and another were found when very young in the forest, apparently deserted by their mother. They were taken to the king of Ashantee, in whose palace they lived several weeks, when my hero, being much larger than his companion, suffocated him in a fit of romping, and was then sent to Mr. Hutchison, the resident left by Mr. Bowdich at Coomassie. This gentleman, observing that the animal was very docile, took pains to tame him, and in a great measure succeeded. When he was about a year old, Mr. Hutchison returned to Cape Coast, and had him led through the country by a chain, occasionally letting him loose when eating was going forward, when he would sit by his master's side, and receive his share with comparative gentleness. Once or twice he purloined a fowl, but easily