MEMOIR OF CAMPER* 35 



half the size of an ordinary octavo volume- This 

 treatise on this interesting family, though it could not 

 now-a-days be regarded as a complete monograph of 

 the genus, yet exhibits great knowledge for the time 

 it was composed, and unwearied perseverance in the 

 elucidation of the subject. We do not assert that 

 all the opinions which it promulgates would now be 

 admitted as correct, but we unhesitatingly affirm, 

 that there is a vast collection of curious and original 

 matter contained in the essay, especially much mi- 

 nute detail in comparative anatomy; and that any 

 one wishing to make himself master of the subject, 

 and of the successive steps by which correct views 

 have been entertained, would be a great loser if he 

 neglected to make himself thoroughly acquainted with 

 the labours of Camper. 



One circumstance is particularly conspicuous in 

 our author's work on the Monkey tribe, as indeed it 

 is in all his treatises on the different subjects of na- 

 tural history which he undertakes to elucidate, and 

 we shall here take occasion to mention it, once for 

 all, as a marked characteristic of all his investiga- 

 tions we allude to the patient research he inva- 

 riably displays in investigating what was previously 

 known on the subject, whether contained in the 

 writings of the ancient naturalists, such as Aristotle, 

 Galen, &c. or found in the works of Eustachius, Ve- 

 salius, and others, who, on the revival of learning, 

 led the way to renewed scientific observation. He 

 'thus does much to connect the knowledge of former 



