72 Baron Cavi£r''s Lectures on tJw Natural Sciences. 



rities. Thus, on the subject of vision, he speaks of the eye of 

 the mole, which is concealed beneath the skin, but which is si- 

 jiiilar in its conformation to that of other animals, and equally 

 furnished with a nerve, which is evidently that of the fifth pair. 

 In treating of taste, he speaks of the fleshy palate of the carp. 

 He speaks of the organ of hearing of fishes, and shews that the 

 skin may serve for the transmission of sounds. He shews that 

 insects also possess the faculty of hearing, and even that they 

 have the sense of smell, as they are driven off by certain smells, 

 and attracted by others. In speaking of the voice, he dlstin- 

 •o-uishes correctly between the true voice, which is produced by 

 air expelled from the lungs, and the various noises which some 

 animals emit. He describes, on this occasion, the musical ap- 

 paratus of the cicadas and grasshoppers, which consists of quite 

 a different mechanism. He then speaks of the voice of the par- 

 rot, and the disposition of the tongue in frogs, which, instead of 

 beinof, as in most animals, free anteriorly and fixed behind, has 

 its base attached to the fore part of the jaws, and the point di- 

 rected towards the palate.. 



In treating of waking and sleep, Aristotle speaks of the hy- 

 l)ernation of several animals, and the sleep of fishes ; and, on 

 this point, gives details which it would be very difficult for us 

 •at the present day to verify. But he was placed in very fa- 

 vourable circumstances for obtaining information respecting 

 these animals. Greece abounds in gulfs and straits full of 

 fishes, and the inhabitants of tlie coasts must therefore have en- 

 gaged at an early period in fishing. It would indeed appear 

 from some passages in Homer, that tliis profession was anciently 

 held in disesteem, but the prejudice did not last long. Exten- 

 sive fisheries were established, and salt fish became an important 

 article of commerce. It was on account of the riches which this 

 occupation procured to the inhabitants of Byzantium that tlieir 

 port received the name of the golden horn. 



In the part in which generation is spoken of, we find very ex- 

 tensive and accurate observations. Aristotle there speaks of the 

 membranes in which several moUusca envelope their eggs, and 

 describes them in the octopus and loligo. He explabs the me- 

 tamorphoses of insects, which, before acquiring their last form, 

 pass through the larva and chrysalis states. He also knew the 



