RENAISSANCE 97 



vellous creatures reported to have been seen, such as, for instance, a fish hav- 

 ing "the appearance of a bishop," he does so w^ith a reservation as to the 

 irrational nature of stories relating to such phenomena. 



Besides Rondelet, a younger countryman of his is worthy of mention, 

 Pierre Belon, in several respects a man possessing great ideas about the 

 future. He was born in 15 17 near Le Mans, in central France, of poor parents. 

 His genius attracted the attention of the bishop there, who defrayed the cost 

 of his medical studies in Paris. After that Belon went to Germany for a course 

 of study. Upon returning to France he received, through the kindness of 

 certain distinguished patrons, funds to enable him to undertake a still 

 longer journey, through Greece, Turkey, Syria, and Egypt. Everywhere he 

 collected material with great energy and made notes, not only on natural- 

 scientific, but also on archaeological and ethnographical subjects. On his 

 return home he settled in Paris, where he was granted a pension by King 

 Henry II. In 1564 he was murdered by highwaymen. His period of scientific 

 authorship was thus brief, lasting not more than about ten years, but during 

 that time he brought out ideas of great significance for the future. He was 

 held in high esteem even by his contemporaries; he counted amongst his 

 friends the famous poet Ronsard, who wrote verses in his honour. 



Like Rondelet, Belon devoted himself to the study of marine animals and 

 published two monographs: UHistoire naturelle des estranges poissons marins 

 and La Nature et diversites des poissons. The term "fishes" he makes even more 

 comprehensive than Rondelet: not only whales and seals, crustaceans, mol- 

 luscs, and actinic-e, but the hippopotamus, the beaver, and the otter are also 

 described amongst the fishes. And even if all these animals could be classified 

 by a faithful Catholic as fishes, just because the Church included them among 

 the animals that may be eaten during a fast, it is hard to understand why the 

 chameleon and the uromastix lizard are catalogued in the book — these 

 beasts of the desert which have nothing whatever to do with water. Though 

 the external grouping of the subject, then, leaves much to be desired, Belon 

 has certainly endeavoured to introduce into the class of true fishes some kind 

 of systematic division, based not merely on external, but also on internal 

 anatomical characteristics. Cartilaginous and bony skeletons, Ovipara and 

 Vivipara, constitute the bases of classification, which still hold good today, 

 and on the whole his system of classification bears a somewhat more modern 

 stamp than Rondelet's. Even attempts at an investigation of various forms 

 on the lines of comparative anatomy occur in Belon's work. Whether and, 

 if so, to what extent he was influenced by his immediate predecessor it is 

 difficult to decide. Their works were published practically at the same time. 

 As regards wealth of material, at any rate, Belon's work is superior. More- 

 over, thanks to his travels, he was able to include many oriental animal 

 forms which were previously unknown to the Western world. 



