396 A CENTURY OF SCIENCE 



1794. He is also well known for his work on insects 

 and fungi. 



Jefferson in 1781 published an interesting book 

 describing the natural history of Virginia, and during 

 his presidency was of inestimable service to zoology 

 through his support of scientific expeditions to the west- 

 ern portions of the country. 



Previous to Agassiz's introduction of laboratory meth- 

 ods of study in comparative anatomy and embryology in 

 1847, American naturalists generally confined their atten- 

 tion to the study of the classification and habits of the 

 multitude of undescribed animals and plants of the 

 region. 



Such studies were naturally begun on the larger and 

 more generally interesting animals such as the birds and, 

 mammals, and although many of these were fairly well 

 described as to species before the opening of the nineteenth 

 century, little was known of their habits. The natural 

 history of our eastern birds first became well known 

 through the accurate illustrations and exquisitely written 

 descriptions of Alexander Wilson (in 1808-1813). Bona- 

 parte's continuation of Wilson's work was published in 

 four folio volumes beginning in 1826. 



In 1828 appeared the first of Audubon's magnificent 

 folio illustrations of our birds. These were published in 

 England, with later editions of smaller plates in America. 

 Nuttall 's Manual of the Ornithology of the United States 

 appeared in 1832-1834. 



The second work on American mammals appeared in 

 the second American edition of Guthrie's Geography, 

 published in 1815. The author is supposed to have been 

 George Ord, although his name does not appear. In 1825 

 Harlan published his " Fauna Americana: Descriptions 

 of the Mammiferous Animals inhabiting North Amer- 

 ica." This was largely a compilation from European 

 writers, particularly from Demarest's Mammalogie, and 

 had little value. 



In 1826 Amos Eaton published a small "Zoological 

 Text-book comprising Cuvier's four grand divisions 

 of Animals: also Shaw's improved Linnean genera, 

 arranged according to the classes and orders of Cuvier 

 and Latreille. Short descriptions of some of the most 



