|
He examined with the great- est freedom the opinions of his predecessors, and did not suffer the methods which they had employ- ed to regulate the construction of his own divisions, He exhibited the most convincing proofs of the ne-cessity of frequent changes in the arrangement, to keep pace with the progress of science. Within the space of thirty years, his system passed through twelve editions, the greater numher of which were revised by himself : these in succession, by the numerous altera- tions made in the characters, number and distribu- tion of the genera, evinced the depreciated value of those which preceded, and predicted the temporary excellence of all that should follow. The blind adhe- rence of British naturalists to the systematical ar- rangement of animals which LINNAEUS recommend- ed, which led them to neglect the important services of LISTER and RAY, and reject the methods which these illustrious observers had proposed, and their hostility to every reformation, appear the more re- markable, when it is considered that his Mineralo- gical System was arrested in its progress by the fee- ble barriers which WOODWARD and DACOSTA had raised up. Perhaps a part of this influence may be traced to the purchase of the Linnean cabinet by its present illustrious possessor Sir JAMES ED- WARD SMITH, and the interest in favour of its former owner which this circumstance could not fail to excite in this country. At all events, there is reason to rejoice that this influence, once so powerful, is on the decline ; and to hope that the activity of the present cultivators of the science will atone for the last forty years of zoological list- lessness. prev next |