360 Orkney Natural History Society. 



as between the crow and owl ; the diseases of animals traced through- 

 out the series, extending even to fish ; hydrophobia described 

 as being communicated by the bite of the rabid dog to all animals 

 except man, which appears to be the correct statement with respect 

 to hot climates, and not (as has been represented by some modern 

 travellers) an entire absence of the disease. 



These detached specimens of the contents of this work furnish, 

 however, a very inadequate idea of its real value. There are in it 

 whole sections, the separate sentences of which would furnish texts 

 for as many Bridgewater Treatises. The freshness and originality 

 of the observations, taken from nature herself, and not made up from 

 quotations of preceding writers ; the extent of the views, not bounded 

 by any necessity for complying with preconceived or prevalent no- 

 tions, but capacious as the author's mind itself, and frequently lead- 

 ing the reader into the most interesting under-currents of thought 

 branching oiF from the great fountain ; these are all merits belonging 

 to the work, but not constituting its chief value, — which is, that it 

 is a collection of facts, observed under peculiar advantages, such as 

 have never since occurred, and that it is at the present day to be con- 

 sulted for new discoveries. 



Now that Greece is, for the first time since the revival of letters, 

 in possession of a government capable of appreciating scientific in- 

 vestigations, a favourable opportunity offers for preparing an edition 

 of the work, at once worthy of the age in which it was composed, 

 and of that in which we live ; and perhaps some individual may be 

 found, possessing a competent knowledge of the Greek language, 

 and of zoology and comparative anatomy, who, after a sufficient ex- 

 amination of the animals now in Greece, shall undertake the task of 

 editing and illustrating this great work. Such a performance, pro- 

 perly executed, would be the resuscitation of a body of knowledge 

 which has lain buried for above 2000 years ; and would certainly be 

 no less acceptable to zoologists and anatomists than to the cultiva- 

 tors of classical learning. 



ORKNEY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 



"We are glad to see, by the Second Report, which has just reached 

 us, that this Society is proceeding'vigorously and successfully in the 

 promotion of those objects for which it was instituted (see page 137 

 of our present volume), and that several of the more influential gen- 

 tlemen who are connected with those northern regions have given 

 it their support. We feel confident that it cannot but succeed in 



