FRANCIS W1LLUGHBY. 103 



none that I know of bath performed any thing 

 therein worthy of commendation ;) he (Mr Wil- 

 lughby) made the study thereof his province, 

 applying himself with all diligence to the culti- 

 vating and illustrating it ; which, that he might 

 the more effectually do, he not only read what had 

 been written by others, but did himself accurately 

 describe all the animals he could find or procure 

 either in England or beyond the seas, making a 

 voyage to forein countries chiefly for that pur- 

 pose, to search out, view, and describe the several 

 varieties of nature ; and though he was not long 

 abroad, yet travelled he over a great part of 

 France, Spain, Italy, and the Low Countries. 



" In all which places he was so inquisitive and 

 successful, that not many sorts of animals des- 

 cribed by others escaped his diligence. For my 

 part, I know no man who hath seen more species, 

 been more exact in noting their differences, and 

 inventing characteristic marks, whereby they may 

 be certainly distinguished, or more curious in 

 dissecting them, and observing the make and 

 constitution of their parts, as well internal as 

 external. The reason of this his diligence was, 

 because he observed that some of the descriptions 

 of former writers of this kind, either by reason of 

 their brevity, or because they contained only 

 general notes, were very obscure, and gave 

 occasion to many errors and mistakes, but chiefly 

 unnecessary multiplications of species, the readers 

 often mistaking several descriptions of the same 

 animals, which they met with in divers authors, 



