On the adaptation of external nature to the physical condition of man : principally with reference to the supply of his wants, and the exercise of his intellectual faculties / by John Kidd.

  • Kidd, John, 1775-1851.
Date:
1833
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the adaptation of external nature to the physical condition of man : principally with reference to the supply of his wants, and the exercise of his intellectual faculties / by John Kidd. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    this obscurity arising of course from the points of re- semblance apparently balancing, or more than balan- cing, the points of difference. Let us for instance in the atmospherical kingdom, take a fragment of a perfectly transparent crystal of pure ice; and,under ordinary circumstances, it would be difficult, either by the sight or the touch, to distinguish it from a fragment of transparent quartz, or rock crystal: in- deed the transfer of the original term sepvafawioj, from the one to the other, shows the close resemblance of the two. Some minerals again so nearly resemble vegetables in form, as to have given rise to specific terms of appellation, derived from the vegetable king- dom ; as flosferri, mineral agaric, &c. And, lastly, many of the animals called sea-anemones so far re- semble the flower called by the same name, that their real character is at first very doubtful to those who are unacquainted with the animals of that genus. But, omitting these rare and equivocal instances, and avoiding the confinement of abstract definitions, we may safely affirm that, of all the kingdoms of nature, the individuals of the animal kingdom have the most extensive and important relations to the surrounding universe. And I need not here insist on the obvious inference, that if among the kingdoms of nature ani- mals hold the first rank, in consequence of the im- portance of these relations, among animals them- selves the first rank must be assigned to man.