288 Natural-Historical. Collections. 



proof of knowledge on many points superior to our own. He makes known, in 

 different parts of his book, as many as 117 fishes, although his object in this 

 work was not to enumerate species, but only to present general results. Amongst 

 the facts which he relates, many are still in doubt ; however, from time to time, 

 new observations teach us the justice of some of his assertions, even of those 

 which seem the most hazardous. He says, for example, that a fish named phycis 

 makes a nest like birds. For a long time the thing was treated as a fable ; how- 

 ever, very recently, M. Olivi discovered that a fish named the goby {Gobius niger) 

 has similar habits. The male, in the season of love, makes a hole in the sand, 

 surrounds it with fucus, making a true nest, near which his mate waits, and 

 which he never leaves till the eggs which have been deposited in it are hatched. 



Aristotle, in the part where he speaks of the sensations, is particular in mention- 

 ing the animals which are deprived of any organ of sense, and those in which these 

 organs present certain peculiarities. Thus, on vision, he speaks of the eye of the 

 mole, which is hidden under the skin, but is similar in its configuration to that 

 of other animals, and is furnished by a nerve, which is evidently of the fifth pair. 

 On taste, he speaks of the fleshy palate of the carp. He treats of the hearing of 

 fishes, and determines that water must serve as a medium for the transmission of 

 sound. He shows that insects also enjoy the faculty of hearing, and even that 

 they have the sense of smell, since they are driven away by certain odours, and 

 attracted by others. In speaking of the voice, he distinguishes properly the true 

 voice, which comes from the air driven out of the lungs, and the different noises 

 which some animals make. He describes, on this occasion, the musical appara- 

 tus of grasshoppers and that of locusts, which consists of a very different mecha- 

 nism. He speaks also of the voice of the parrot, and of the disposition of the 

 tongue of frogs, which instead of being, as in most animals, free anteriorly and 

 fixed behind, has its root attached to the anterior part of the jaws, and its point 

 directed towards the palate. 



In treating of waking and sleeping, Aristotle speaks of the hibernation of many 

 animals, and of the sleep of fishes. He enters into details on this subject, which 

 we should have much difficulty to verify at this day. But he was placed in very 

 favourable circumstances for obtaining information on these animals, Greece 

 abounds in gulfs and straits fuU offish ; the inhabitants of the coast would there- 

 fore devote themselves to fishing at an early period. It appears, it is true, from 

 certain passages of Homer, that anciently this profession was despised ; but this 

 prejudice did not exist long. Considerable fisheries were established, and salt 

 fish became an important article of commerce. It is on account of the riches 

 which this kind of labour brought to the inhabitants of Byzantium, that their port 

 received the name of the Golden Horn. 



In the part where generation is in question, we find very extended and very 

 just observations. Aristotle speaks here of the membranes in which many mol- 

 lusca envelope their eggs, and describes them in the octopus and sepia. He ex- 

 poses the metamorphoses of insects, which, before acquiring their last form, pass 

 through the states of larva and of chrysalis. He knew also those incomplete meta- 

 morphoses in which the larva differs from the perfect insect only by the absence 

 of wings, and undergoes only a single transformation. He speaks of insects 

 which are found in the snow ; and gives a multitude of most interesting details, 

 whose accuracy is perfect. He admits, however, spontaneous generation in these 

 animals, and thinks that when the constituent elements are found in certain pro- 

 portions and in favourable circumstances, they may give origin to living beings ; 

 but it must be recollected that at this period such an error was almost inevitable : 

 the microscope alone has been able to undeceive us. He speaks of the economy 

 of bees, and says that some persons consider the king to be assuredly a female. 

 He describes the kind of cell constructed for these privileged individuals, which 

 shows that he had observed the interior of hives, although it is certain that he 

 had not been able to make use of glass, which so much facilitates such an exami- 

 nation. He treats then of the domestic economy of wasps, of hornets, of mason- 



