Volume 1

Natural history, general and particular / by the Count de Buffon, illustrated with above six hundred copper plates. The history of man and quadrupeds, translated with notes and observations by William Smellie... A new edition, carefully corrected and considerably enlarged, by many additional articles, notes and plates, and some account of the life of M. de Buffon. By William Wood.

  • Buffon, Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de, 1707-1788.
Date:
1812
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Natural history, general and particular / by the Count de Buffon, illustrated with above six hundred copper plates. The history of man and quadrupeds, translated with notes and observations by William Smellie... A new edition, carefully corrected and considerably enlarged, by many additional articles, notes and plates, and some account of the life of M. de Buffon. By William Wood. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    23/570 (page 15)
    In natural history, two ends only can be attained by system. Both of them are use- ful ; but they are extremely different in their kinds. System may be employed either to facilitate the distinction of ob- jects, or to ascertain their relations in the scale of being. The first species of system, it is obvious, must consist entirely of a series of external or internal characters. It is of little mo- ment, whether the objects ranked under ^ particular Orders be mutually connected; because, if we may judge from the many laborious, but abortive, attempts which have been made, Nature seems not to have expressed such connexions in characters recognisable by our senses. A system so limited in its principles and design, can never assume any other form than that of a technical index or dictionarv. If the ae- neral and particular characters be so marked, that a student, after learning the divisions and language of the author, can investigate the proper names of the objects presented to him, this system is perfect; because its sole and primary intention is fulfilled. Were every naturalist of the same senti-