76 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



so, in the natural world, it is necessary to the right 

 understanding of the station which an animal holds 

 in the scale of creation, that all its characteristics 

 are known, either from actual observation, or by 

 analogical arguments drawn from its general struc- 

 ture. With these preliminary remarks, let us now 

 take a rapid survey of the writers who belong more 

 or less to this descriptive school, nearly all of whom 

 are countrymen of their master. 



(32.) The rapidity with which succeeding edi- 

 tions of the works of Buffon were called for, almost 

 equalled the avidity which was manifested to possess 

 the Systema Naturce ; and both had a most extensive 

 circulation. It is unnecessary for us, however, to 

 enumerate the various reprints of these works, some 

 one of which are in the hands of almost every na- 

 turalist. BufFon's work has been more than once 

 translated into English, but hitherto by no one at 

 all qualified for the undertaking : the translation by 

 Woods is, probably, the best. His History of Birds 

 was illustrated by a separate publication, at the cost 

 of the government, but without letterpress, generally 

 termed the Planches Enlumine.es. These consist of 

 one thousand and eight coloured plates of birds, 

 printed both in folio and in quarto. The execution 

 of these plates has been much over-rated ; although 

 they were doubtless the work of the best artists then 

 to be met with in France : they are very inferior to 

 those of Edwards ; and the best that can be said of 

 them is, that they are recognisable. That they even 

 still continue to be essential for purposes of refer- 

 ence, is entirely owing to the enormous expense of 

 publishing such a voluminous collection of plates. 



