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It is impossible then to reach any of the ultimate animal forms by
dichotomous division.
4
It deserves inquiry why a single name denoting a higher group was
not invented by mankind, as an appellation to comprehend the two
groups of Water animals and Winged animals. For even these have
certain attributes in common. However, the present nomenclature is
just. Groups that only differ in degree, and in the more or less of an
identical element that they possess, are aggregated under a single
class; groups whose attributes are not identical but analogous are
separated. For instance, bird differs from bird by gradation, or by
excess and defect; some birds have long feathers, others short ones,
but all are feathered. Bird and Fish are more remote and only agree in
having analogous organs; for what in the bird is feather, in the
fish is scale. Such analogies can scarcely, however, serve universally
as indications for the formation of groups, for almost all animals
present analogies in their corresponding parts.
The individuals comprised within a species, such as Socrates and
Coriscus, are the real existences; but inasmuch as these individuals
possess one common specific form, it will suffice to state the
universal attributes of the species, that is, the attributes common to
all its individuals, once for all, as otherwise there will be
endless reiteration, as has already been pointed out
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