ARISTOTLE ON DEVELOPMENT. 2? 



History of the Evolution of Man, we must rapidly £ lance at 

 the great philosopher and naturalist of antiquity, who, in 

 this as well as in all other branches of research in Natural 

 Science, stands quite alone for a period of more than two 

 thousand years. This was Aristotle, "the Father of Natural 

 History." 



Among the extant writings of Aristotle on Natural 

 History, treating of various aspects of biological research, 

 and the most important of which is the History of Animals, 

 there occurs also a smaller work, specially confined to the 

 History of Evolution. It is entitled Peri Zoon Geneseos 

 (" On the Generation and Development of Animals "). 16 

 This work is of great interest, if merely because it is the 

 most ancient, and the only one of its kind, which has 

 reached us from classical antiquity in a fairly complete 

 condition. It is important also because, like others of 

 Aristotle's writings on subjects of Natural History, it 

 entirely controlled the science for two thousand years. The 

 philosopher was a careful observer and an ingenious 

 thinker ; yet, while his importance as philosopher has never 

 been doubted, his merits as an observant naturalist have 

 only lately been duly appreciated. Those students of 

 Nature who have lately more accurately examined his 

 writings on Natural History, have been astonished at the 

 mass of interesting statements, and the remarkable observa- 

 tions which abound in them. With regard to the History 

 of Evolution, it is specially noticeable that Aristotle traced 

 it in the most diverse classes of animals, and that he was 

 acquainted, especially in connection with the lower animals, 

 with several of the most remarkable facts which we have 

 re-discovered only towards the middle of the present 

 century. K 



