1885.] NEW YORIv ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 31 



wlio prcccdeil liiin, ;iml Giivier who c;ime ;ifter, stands like one of 

 throe magnificent era marks, in the great road of natnral science. 



The eider Pliny, polished and gracefnl as a writer, with ex- 

 tended erudition and no inconsiderable ability in description, w;is 

 content to make nse of the writings of those before him. So far, 

 zoological learning did not advance, but as a science snit'ered a, 

 manifest retrograde movement. While Aristotle had boldly 

 expunged from the literatnre of liis day the fabulous stories 

 that had accumulated, Pliny, long afterward, exhibited a 

 weakness that led him to contribute to the popular .clamor 

 for extraordinary tales, by I'eproducing what the noble Grecian 

 had rejected. As Eome possessed in those days one of the most 

 complete menageries ever seen, it is remarkable that it should be 

 left for naturalists of a later day to rectify the abominable er- 

 rors then extant, and which had existed for 1,400 years. 



The Swedish naturalist now took up the thread of knowledge 

 well worn by long continued use, and added, by new stock, essen- 

 tial elements of strength. A glance at the considerable litera- 

 ture of the pre-Linne period reveals a plagiaristic custom that 

 certainly matches the wholesale thieving of the present day; 

 wlien tlie text of a Brehm and the zoological art of a Mctzler and 

 a Wolf furnishes, by easy process and photo-lithography, many a 

 book on natural science. The old authors during' a long period 

 seem to have either used tlie same engravings or have made close 

 copies, and published them with much the same text in large 

 folios. In some instances the same figures are copied from the 

 coai'se woodcuts into well executed copperplate. 



While the history of zoology exhibits long periods of inaction, 

 its attendant art shows about the same degree of originality. 

 At one period of time zoological knowledge made gigantic i)ro- 

 gress in one department and remained stationary in others. At 

 one epoch original research was abandoned, and the teclinicali- 

 ties of system and nomenclature alone regarded. 



The history of zoology is conveniently viewed in several stated 

 epochs. (1) Its foundation by Aristotle; (3) the time embraced 

 between the revival of learning and that of Linnaeus, and (3) from 

 the publication of the St/slema NaturcB to the time of Cuvier (4). 

 Indeed, we might almost be justified in naming another, though 

 the present is usually judged to be a continuation of the Cuvierian. 



One important aspect of the character of Aristotle, whose 

 nobleness of mind was greatly out of proportion to his surround- 

 ings, is seen in his bold rejection of the popular tales and fancies 

 that were then received by the mass of his countrymen as religi- 

 ous truth, sanctioned by anti([uity, interwoven in their history, 

 and consecrated in their i)oetry. This no1:)le appreciation of 

 truth, as opposed to fiction and fantastic illustration, stands in 



