VI PREFACE. 



only the history of his own time, "but also the natural history 

 of Persia and of India, and that probably with more accu- 

 racy than has been usually attributed to him. India he had 

 not visited personally, so that he could only describe it 

 from the information of others ; but this implies that he 

 was not alone in the studies which he devoted to natural 

 objects. With such predecessors and aided by his own 

 acute observations, we need not wonder that Aristotle pro- 

 duced a work which has ever been admired by naturalists, 

 and must continue to rise in their estimation the longer 

 it is in their hands. 



The Index to the present volume has been formed on the 

 basis of that of Schneider, and considerable pains have been 

 taken to add as many names as possible from other sources, 

 especially the Index of Strack, and Kiilb's recent translation 

 of the History of Animals, both of which contain identifica- 

 tions of a great many animals. A few identifications have 

 also been added from Liddell and Scott's Lexicon, as well as 

 from Professor Bell's Catalogue of Animals in Captain Spratt's 

 work on Lycia ; and the cephalopods are named from Pro- 

 fessor Owen's article on that class, in the Cyclopaedia of 

 Anatomy. It is hoped, therefore, that the Index will be 

 found to contain a greater number of suggestions for the 

 identification of the animals mentioned by Aristotle than 

 have been hitherto published collectively. It is also right to 

 add, that it has been compiled after the translation was com- 

 pleted ; and, therefore, in any differences which may be found 

 between the identifications at the foot of the page and those 

 given in the Index, the reader will rather prefer the latter, 

 as the result of later research in works which were not ac- 

 cessible when the translation was made. 



April 30, 1862. E. C. 



