MEMOIR OF RONDELET. 



In his historical sketch of the progress of Ichthy- 

 ology, — the department of Natural History in which 

 Rondelet's reputation has been acquired, — Baron 

 Cuvier recognises three principal epochs, the first 

 of which may be indicated by the name of Aristotle, 

 who collected the scattered information of previous 

 ages and gave it some degree of consistency and 

 method ; the second dates from the middle of the 

 sixteenth century, when a small band of original 

 observers took up the subject in a more philosophi- 

 cal manner, and paved the way for the third grand 

 epoch, signalised by the names of Artedi and Lin- 

 naeus, in which, by the introduction of a correct 

 nomenclature and a lucid system of arrangement, 

 the permanent foundations of the science were at 

 length laid. The individuals whose labours consti- 

 tuted the second era, are chiefly Salviani, Belon, 

 and Rondelet, and this triumvirate were seconded 

 by others, such as Gesner, Aldrovandi, and a few 

 others of comparatively little repute. The works 

 of the former appeared nearly at the same time, 



B 



