RISE AND PROGRESS OP ZOOLOGY. 73 



diced by the appearance of the thirteenth edition of 

 the Sy sterna Natures, " enlarged and reformed" by 

 Dr. Gmelin. * It is unnecessary to say that the worthy 

 editor was one of those admirers of the great Swede, 

 who departed not from the letter of his master, and 

 that consequently he admits scarcely any of the im- 

 provements made by his more judicious followers ; 

 nor has Gmelin (probably from not having had the 

 use of a rich national museum, like that of France) 

 endeavoured to unravel the innumerable errors of 

 his predecessors. His sole object was to concentrate 

 their labours ; and in this he has shown, if not judg- 

 ment, at least great and singular research and industry. 

 It unfortunately happens, that the odium of those 

 errors, which he had probably no means of detecting, 

 has been thrown upon him, and his real merits com- 

 pletely overlooked. It may fairly be questioned 

 whether, in regard to the nomenclature of species, 

 there are not to the full as many errors in the Regne 

 Animal, as there is in the compilation before us. 

 The time, in fact, had even then arrived, when it be- 

 came utterly impossible for any one individual, who 

 undertook to illustrate the whole animal kingdom, 

 to examine the characters and the synonyms of 

 species : he must, in numberless instances, repose 

 on the opinions of others ; and consequently must 

 lay himself open to the charge, however severe, of 

 perpetuating error. Gmelin, as a compiler, and he 

 pretends to nothing beyond, is neither inferior to 

 those who preceded or to those who followed him ; 



* J. F. Gmelin. Caroli a Linne, Systema Naturae per Regna 

 Tria Naturae. Editio decima tertia, aucta, reformata. Cura 

 J. Fred. Gmelin. Lipsia?, 1788. 3 vols, (in 10 parts) 8vo. 



