their organization, the varied instincts and habits with which they are endowed, their means of offence and defence, and the great diversity of form and structure which they exhibit, as rich a feast of intellectual gratification to the philosophic student of Nature, as any other of the wonderful works of God.
In this last respect the Class of Reptiles is eminently worthy of attention. “In Mammalogy and Ornithology, we find that the animals which are treated of under those branches are respectively formed according to one leading type, which, however modified, may be traced throughout the whole chain of beings with which those branches of Zoology are conversant. From an Elephant to a Mouse, from a Whale to a Porpoise, the same uniform principle of construction may be recognised. The same principle of organization governs the conformation of an Ostrich and a Humming-bird. But in Herpetology, we have various types or principles of structure. Not to dwell upon the more obvious differences in the organization of a Tortoise and a common Snake, we shall find in more cognate creatures, the Saurians for example, a striking variation in structure. The skeleton of a Crocodile differs widely from that of a Chameleon; … and how widely are these again separated from the Frogs and Toads!”[1]
- ↑ Penny Cyclop. xix. 403.
