MEMOIR OF RONDELET. 35 



of the limits of what are now called classes, and 

 the general differences and relations of such sections 

 of the animal kingdom, cannot be said to be superior 

 to those of Aristotle, from whose writings, indeed, 

 they were principally derived ; and they may even 

 be affirmed, in some respects, to fall greatly short of 

 the A'iews of his great master. Such being the 

 character of the work in regard to the more general 

 features of the subject, we must look for its merits 

 in the particular history and description of the 

 species introduced, and on examining these we are 

 at no loss to find much to commend. It is true 

 that no small degree of what we are now prone to 

 regard as useless labour and erudition are employed 

 in tracing out the old names of species, and making 

 us acquainted with all that ' those ancients' have said 

 and sung about them ; but when released from this 

 prolixity, w^e find a good deal of accurate observa- 

 tion and description, and what may be called legiti- 

 mate natural history. This holds true in particular 

 in regard to the fishes of the Mediterranean, as the 

 author's residence on its shores afforded him facilities 

 for investigating them such as few writers have en- 

 joyed. Here, accordingly, we have useful notices of 

 their habits, and other interesting particulars in their 

 general history, points in which the accounts of the 

 fishes from other quarters are very defective. The 

 same advantage enabled our author to become ac- 

 quainted with a good many very rare species, which 

 few ichthyologists even of the present day have had 

 an opportunity of examining, and they are obliged. 



