( 34 ) 



ROBERT SIBBALi:) AND HIS PR()i:)R()MUS. 



BY 



W. H. MULLENS, m.a., ll.m., f .l.s. 

 [Plate 2.] 



The first attempt to treat of the Fauna of Scotland on a 

 comprehensive scale* was that made by Robert Sibbald in 

 his Scotia Illustrata sive Prodromus Historioe Naturalis, pub- 

 lished in Edinburgh in 1684. This " Prodromus," or " Fore- 

 runner," which Sibbald produced after a labour of twenty 

 years, t was the result of an attempt on his part to compile a 

 geographical and historical account of Scotland, including a 

 description of the natural history of that kingdom. Under- 

 taken at the instance of his patron the Earl of Perth, the actual 

 l^roduction of the " Prodromus " seems to have been due to 

 the command of Charles II., whose physician and geographer 

 Sibbald was, and although it entailed on him, as he tells us, 

 " great pains and very much expense in buying all the books 

 and manuscripts I could gather . . . and procuring information 

 from all parts of the country, even the remote isles,"" his only 

 reward Avas, according to his own account, a fee of a hundred 

 guineas, bestowed on him by James VII. | in March, 1685. 



The full title and collation of the " Prodromus " is as 



follows : — 



Scotia Illustrata / sive / Prodromus / Historiae Xaturalis/ 

 in quo / Regionis natura, Incolarum Ingenia & Mores, 

 Morbi iisque medendi Methodus, & / Medicina Indigena 

 accurate explicantur : / ET / Multiplices Naturae Partus 

 in triplice ejus Regno, Vegetabili scilicet, Animal i & 

 Mineral! / per hancee Borealem Magnae Britaniae Partem, 

 quae Antiquissimum Scotiae / Regnum constituit ; undi- 

 quaque diffusi nunc primum in Lucem eruuntur, & varii 

 eorum Usus, Medici praesertim & Mechanici, quos ad 

 Vitae / cum necessitatem, tum commoditatem praestant 



* Some ornithological matter is contained in the writings of Hector 

 Koethius or Boece (14(55-L').S6), and of George Buchanan (1506-82). 

 They both wrote Histories of Scotland. 



t c/. title-page of " Prodromus." 



X James II. of England. 



