82 NATURAL SCIENCE [August 



soul above species-mongering and section-cutting ; iu other words, 

 it will be welcome to all readers of Natural Science. 



Natural Science in Japan 



The historian of science in Japan is too apt to restrict his view 

 to the influence of European science, to the introduction of New- 

 tonian and Darwinian philosophy and of the Linnean system, 

 forgetful that there were philosophies and systems in the Far 

 East centuries before, or else thinking wrongly that these were of 

 small account. In an admirable Introduction to the first number 

 of Anaotationcs Zoologicac Japoneiiscs, Prof. K. Mitsukuri corrects 

 this error. Early in the eighth century of the Christian era there 

 was already established in Japan an Imperial University with 400 

 students, devoted to Ethics, History, Jurisprudence, and Mathe- 

 matics. There was also an office for Astronomy, Astrology, Calendar- 

 compilation, and Meteorology, as well as a Medical College with 

 professors of Medicine, Surgery, Acupuncture, Necromancy (the art 

 of healing by charms), and Pharmacology. In connection with the 

 last-named branch of study, much botanical information was acquired. 

 Towards the end of the ninth century the large Imperial library 

 contained numerous medical works, among others, on the diseases 

 of women and the diseases of the horse. In later times, under the 

 Tokugawa Shoguns, natural history, especially botany, was exten- 

 sively studied, and elaborate works were published, of which Prof. 

 Mitsukuri instances the ' Shobutsu Kuisan ' issued early in the 

 eighteenth century, and the " Honzo Komoku Keimo " by the 

 celebrated teacher of natural history, Ono Eanzan, published in 

 1803. Honzo, which strictly means botany, seems to have come 

 to include general natural history, for many of these works deal 

 also with stones, metals, and all kinds of animals. In Rosny's 

 " Catalogue de la Bibliotheque Japonaise de Nordenskiold " we 

 even find a note on fossil shells, which appeared so early as 1725. 

 The naturalists also held meetings at which they exhibited their 

 •; insures to one another and to the public. The Garden of 

 Medicinal plants at Tokyo was established in 1G81. 



It was during the eighteenth century that western science first 

 came into contact with the Japanese, through the medium of the 

 Dutch language. The story of this and of the gradual development 

 of modern science in Japan has already been told in our pages by 

 Mr F. A. Bather (vol. iv., Jan., Feb., and March 1894); but many 

 details are added by Prof. Mitsukuri. Zoology, he notices, had 

 developed but slightly before the restoration of the Mikado in 18G8; 

 it was not till the appointment of Prof. E. S. Morse to the Chair 

 of Zoology at Tokyo University, in 1877, that it made any progress 



