Contributions to the philosophy of zoology / by R. Knox. Pt. I., On the relation of species or race to genus or natural family : a question of transcendental anatomy.

  • Knox, Robert, 1791-1862.
Date:
1855
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Contributions to the philosophy of zoology / by R. Knox. Pt. I., On the relation of species or race to genus or natural family : a question of transcendental anatomy. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    since the period (1811) when it first became known to me. To the writings of Vicq. cVAzyr I am indebted for the first hints of its existence. Biassed in favour of descriptive anatomy, I have ever ob- jected to the too hasty adoption of extreme transcendental views, holding it to be a true maxim in science, as well as in social life, that the change or step in advance, in order to be certain and trustworthy, must ever be made with caution, and, if possible, supported by the demonstration of physical materials; or, in other words, the thought which genius submits to the world as an idea must become a physical demonstration before the world can fairly be called on to admit its truth. This is the view I take in the following Memoirs, in some of which it is my intention to apply the transcendental to Natural History as a preliminary to my inquiry into the natural history of man. The true relation of species or race to genus or natural family seemed to me to present a favourable mode of testing the value of the transcendental, not with any idea of testing its truth,— that has been settled long ago,—but of ascertaining its practical value as an instrument of research. The true relation of race to natural family being first discovered, it will then be time enough to apply the transcendental to the relation presumed to subsist between natural families, and, lastly, between these and the universal primaeval life of the organic world of this globe. In selecting the natural family of the Salmonidae as a subject of research I have been guided by several considerations: I had already made them the subject of extended research, and their external characters offered favourable points of view for such an inquiry. It is chiefly to the exterior that I give my attention in the present Memoirs; the interior will follow. I commenced with the dentition, that natural-history character to which all, whether naturalists or anatomists, ascribe such importance; next followed a brief inquiry into the systems of coloration and proportion. To all these the transcendental applies, or ought to apply, if true. That it is true as a theory I have not a doubt myself, however I may fail in proving it to the satisfaction of others. My immediate object is to prove the existence of a (jeneric animal^ the product, no doubt, of hereditary descent from a species, but in itself including the charac- teristics of all the species belonging to that natural family; or, in other terms, proving hereditary descent to have a relation primarily to genus or natural ftimily. By this term I endeavour to explain family like- nesses commingling with the generic ; the more or less resemblance for example, of an individual with other affiliated races, to none of