The tri-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1866-1868, 1867-02-16
Tie Animals of Brazil-..Lecture d!
Prof. AgaSSiZs

The second lecture OF Fro1. sASaSsI
before the Mercantile Library Associa
ton of Brooklyn, was delivered in thu
Academy of Music of that city last even
inc. The audience was not so large a
at the Saturday evening lecture, owing
probably to the extreme cold. The sub
feet of last evenings lecture was thu
ssAnimals of Brazil He did not propose
he said, to enumerate the race ofanimal
that inhabit that part Of the Continen
of South America. The whole ANNA
kingdom presented various relations tc
each other In its general structure II
presented evidences ofsystem. All AMI
mails were constructed upon four gener-
al plans. Even man is rooted III that
animal kingdom which has its structure
deep down in the strata OF the earth
where coal beds are formed. The great
question which agitated the scientific
world now is whether the different spe-
cies ofthe animal kingdom are connected
by descent alone, or whether their con-
nection is an intellectual one. The ami
mails that inhabit the earth now are link
ed with those that existed in former
ages. 1t is as idle to attempt to deter
mine the relations OF any of the present
animals without looking into the past
as to examine the different nationalities
of the human family without studying
the history Of those nationalities so we
must study the geographical dlstr1bu-
ton of animals to see whence they
come-whether they are natives OF the
soil or immigrants from another region.
The great question is, whether the world
grew out of itself, or whether it was the
work OF an Intelligent Creator. The
fe1ds between naturalists on this qucs-
ton were as great and rs holly contest
as the differences between theologlans
or politicians. The animals Of South
America were widely different from
those of other parts of the globe. South
America was world in itself now, and
had been in the past. lie could do lit
tie more in the present lecture than COM
pare some Of the more prominent types.
The animal kingdom, as before stated,
was built on four different plans, pre-
senting such fundamental differences
that one could he easily recognized and
distinguished from the other. These
four plans were represented by the radl-
ates, the moluscs, the articulates and
the vertebrates. To the radiates belong
the polypus, the starfish, &. {; to the mo-
luscs belong the bivalves, as the oyster
and the like; to the articulates belong
the worms, crabs, HOLSTERS, &c. and to
the vertebrates belong fishes, reptiles,
birds and mammala, at the head of which
is man. the lecturer here showed by
drwings on the blackboard the similar
ity in structure between the fish, reptile,
bird, quadruped and man. These four
different types of the animal kingdom,
as represented by their distinct plans Of
structure, have existed in all ages. We
find them side by side in the oldest beds
of the earth in which animals remains
have been discovered. And yet in face
ofthis fact there are theorists who would
make us believe that the higher order
of ANIMALS are of later date. 1t is
Justification of science. In spite of the
obloquy that might be heaped upon him,
he did not hesitate to assert that all the
animals of the different geological
epochs came upon the earth at the same
time, and that they could not have de-
scended from each other according to
the development" theory so plausibly
advanced by certain naturalists. All
the four types of animals now existing
may be found side by side in the low
est geological strata, and were repre-
sented from the beginning. The geo
logical epochs which were at first con-
fined to three, have now, with the prog
ress of science and more accurate infor-
nation, been extended to 80 or more,
and in the first ofthese epochs are found
the representatives of the four types in
to which the animal kingdom is at pres
ent divided. Prof Agassiz here point
ed out the different epochs at which diff
ferent representatives of these flnda-
mental types made their first appearance
on the earth. Man did not make his
appearance until the present epoch, or
IN other words, until the order of things
now existing on the earth commenced. |
Every district of the earth's surface has
its peculiar inhabitants, the same as the
different parts of the ocean, each have
their different kinds of water animals |
The fishes of the Amazon, the San Fran
isco and the Platte belonged to families
that have no representatives with us. |
80 with the reptiles, and birds of Brazil, |
we find different families from those |
existing in any other country. With |
us there is only one kind of humning
bird, while South America has more
than 100 different species. If we look
at the quadrupeds we find still greater
difference. The moose, the deer and
animals of that family represented here
have only small representation in the
shape ola kind of deer without antlers
in South America. So in contrasting
the animals of South America with those |
OF Africa, we find totally different fami-
lies existing on the two continents. In
South America we find an animal close |
ly resembling the camels of the East.
except that they thrived best in the re,
glons OF eternal snow. Now if the ami
mails OF the earth came from each other.
1t was strange that the offspring of the
discriminating and heat-endurine
camel of the east should wander to the
heights of Of Andes in order to deyelon
himself. The Professor then alluded to
the monkeys of South America as com
pared with those of the Asiatic Islands
The monkey, he said, was the nearest
approach to man-so near in fact as to
shock the mind of those who entertain
Al |