258 Britain's Heritage of Science 



College and, in the matter of livings, somewhat of a pluralist, 

 published, under the title " The Historie of Foure-Footed 

 Beastes," an abstract of Gesner, and in the next year followed 

 it up with " The Historie of Serpents," both illustrated with 

 charmingly quaint, if inaccurate, woodcuts. Topsell had, 

 what the modern zoologist must have (but the possession 

 in his time was less common), a sound knowledge of 

 German, and to this knowledge his books owe much. 

 These works give us a fair idea of what the educated in those 

 days knew of zoology in all its aspects, and that these aspects 

 covered a far wider area than, with the present expansion 

 of knowledge, we can now contemplate under this single 

 science, is shown by the title-page to TopselTs magnificent 

 quarto volume : 



" The History of Foure-Footed Beastes. Describing 



the true and lively figure of every Beast, with a discourse 



of their severall Names, Conditions, Kindes, Vertues (both 



naturall and medicinall), Countries of their breed, their 



love and hate to Mankinde, and the wonderful worke of 



God in their Creation, Preservation, and Destruction. 



Necessary for all Divines and Students, because the 



story of every Beast is amplified with Narrations out 



of Scriptures, Fathers, Phylosophers, Physitians, and 



Poets : wherein are declared divers Hyerogliphicks, 



Emblems, Epigrams, and other ,good Histories, collected 



out of all the Volumes of Conradus Gesner, and all other 



Writers to this present day. By Edward Topsell. 



London, Printed by William Jaggard, 1607." 



Falconry also played a part in the Zoology of the later 



Tudor times. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth this 



sport was " much esteemed and exercised." People of all 



classes eagerly took part in it. To quote Mr. Harting : 



" The rank of the owner was indicated by the species 

 of bird which he carried. To a king belonged the ger- 

 falcon; to a prince, the falcon gentle; to an earl, the 

 peregrine; to a lady, the merlin; to a young squire, 

 the hobby ; while a yeoman carried a goshawk ; a priest, 

 a sparrowhawk; and a knave, or servant, a kestrel." 

 The sport was, however, expensive, for it took much 

 time and devotion to train the birds. The falcon, in those 



