42 THE NEW BIOLOGY 



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ancients was the common dolphin of the Atlantic shores, 

 often confounded with the porpoise. True fishes which 

 had been called dolphins, such as the sturgeon, tunny, 

 &c., are figured and shortly described. In a second 

 part the anatomy of the dolphin is discussed ; its brain 

 is said to be very like that of a man ; the embryo in the 

 uterus is figured. The hippopotamus is described from 

 a live specimen which Belon had seen in Constantinople, 

 and compared with ancient sculptures. The shells of 

 the argonaut and pearly nautilus are figured and 

 compared. 



The book on Aquatic Animals aims at giving by 

 means of descriptions and figures some rough notion of the 

 various creatures which inhabit the waters. Cetaceans, 

 the beaver, otter, seal, water-rat, tortoises, true fishes of 

 many kinds, mollusks, crustaceans and brittle-stars are 

 included. There is also a small admixture of animals 

 which Belon did not profess to have met with, such as 

 the fabled horse of Neptune, the sea-wolf, rather like 

 a hyaena, which was thought to haunt the shores of 

 England, and the fish which resembled a monk. Each 

 animal is shortly described, and its names in difierent 

 languages are quoted. Identification of the fishes men- 

 tioned by ancient writers is a prominent feature. The 

 illustrations are somewhat rude woodcuts, which never- 

 theless give a fair notion of the different species. There 

 is no regular classification, and hardly any definitions of 

 groups, large or small, but animals which would now be 

 referred to the same class or order are usually kept 

 together. The systematic arrangement indicated by the 

 succession of species is based upon Aristotle. As usual 

 in the works of early naturalists, too much weight is 

 given to the general form and the place of abode. The 

 text is largely a compilation, and most of the figures 



