M. LE COMTE DE LACEPEDE. 27 



voluminous and pleasing account of cetaceous animals 

 that has ever appeared from the press.'* He adds, 

 " the style is animated and poetical, and his history 

 is a most interesting work; hut the interest, in 

 many cases, is augmented at the expense of truth ; 

 it is by no means accurate." (Artie, reg. i. 447 9.) 

 Perfectly agreeing in this criticism, and ascribing the 

 many inaccuracies to the imperfect state of this very 

 difficult branch of science at the time of the publi- 

 cation, we deem these few words sufficient to put 

 our readers on their guard, in their perusal of this 

 interesting production. 



After this time M. Lacepede undertook a work 

 somewhat different in its character ; more philoso- 

 phical, and less liable to become antiquated by the 

 rapid progress of science. He designated it a 

 History of the Ages of Nature, in which he com- 

 prehended that of man, considered in his indivi- 

 dual developement, and in that of the race. The 

 article Homme, in the Diet, des Sciences Naturelles, 

 is a sort of programme of what he contemplated on 

 the physical history of our race. The romances 

 which he wrote, Ellival and Caroline, and Charles 

 cFEllival etAlphonsine de Florentino, and published 

 about this time, were considered by him as studies 

 upon man's moral history. But it was soon ap- 

 parent that in the midst of these meditations the 

 gradual developement of social life had the most 

 especial charms for him, and the naturalist gradu- 

 ally merged into the historian ; he dwelt chiefly 

 upon the political and religious establishments 



