46 Dr Craigie's Observations on the 



curacy of his observation, by informing his reader of the pecu- 

 har and separate situation of the lithoid or petrous bones, in which 

 the nerve of hearing is distributed. I may remind the reader, 

 that one of the peculiarities of the Cetacea is, that the lithoid or 

 petrous portion is distinct from the squamous of the temporal 

 bone, and that this fact indicates that the former is the proper 

 auditory bone. 



He describes at considerable length the reproductive organs in 

 both sexes, and gives an accurate account of the manner of ge- 

 neration of the dolphin. Into this, however, my limits do not 

 allow me to enter. 



Besides the subjects now mentioned, Belon introduces others, 

 with the view of illustration or explanation, all of which shew 

 with what accuracy and diligence he had observed natural 

 phenomena. When speaking of the mamma of the dolphin, 

 he informs his readers, that he dissected bats in the great pyra- 

 mid of Egypt, and within the labyrinth of Crete ; that he had 

 observed the dams suckling the young bats by thoracic mam- 

 mae ; that these animals build nests ; and that they suspend 

 by their wings their young ones while sucking, as if they were 

 attached to the stone walls of the vaults. Multlparous animals, 

 or those which produce several at a birth, e. g. moles, hogs, 

 hedo-ehoo-s, and porcupines, have several teats or nipples extend- 

 ing along the belly ; while those which rear only one at a time, 

 of which he enumerates the giraflFe, elephant, camel, horsPj 

 chamois, buck, &c. have only two. He had seen the heart pul- 

 sating, and the lungs moving, in the young of the camel and 

 other animals ; but he erroneously infers that the foetus breathes 

 within the womb. He was aware of the viviparous character of 

 the angel fish {Squalus squat'ma), the great dog-fish, and the 

 small dog-fish (canicula) ; and he mentions an instance in which 

 he found in the uterus of a specimen of the latter, eleven young. 

 He describes the uterus of the dolphin, remarks its cornua above 

 the ovaries at the side, and its orifice and connexion with the 

 vagina below, and describes and dehneates a foetal dolphin within 

 the womb in situ. In this work also he delineates the sea-fox 

 {S. vulpes), the hammer-headed shark (Squalus zygaend) the 

 yiippofotamus, the nautilus, and the mother-of-pearl shell. 



The first book of the History of Birds, is devoted to the ex- 

 planation of the anatomical structure. The most important re- 



