392 HISTORY OF ZOOLOGY. 



zoology as in botany, a period of unsystematic 

 knowledge ; a period of misapplied erudition ; an 

 epoch of the discovery of fixed characters ; a period 

 in which many systems were put forwards ; a strug- 

 gle of an artificial and a natural method ; and a 

 gradual tendency of the natural method to a mani- 

 festly physiological character. A few references to 

 Cuvier's history will enable us to illustrate these 

 and other analogies. 



Period of Unsystematic Knowledge. It would 

 be easy to collect a number of the fabulous stories 

 of early times, which formed a portion of the ima- 

 ginary knowledge of men concerning animals as 

 well as plants. But passing over these, we come 

 to a long period and a great collection of writers, 

 who, in various ways, and with various degrees of 

 merit, contributed to augment the knowledge which 

 existed concerning fish, while as yet there was 

 hardly ever any attempt at a classification of that 

 province of the animal kingdom. Among these 

 waiters, Aristotle is by far the most important. 

 Indeed he carried on his zoological researches under 

 advantages which rarely fall to the lot of the natu- 

 ralist; if it be true, as Athena3us and Pliny state 1 , 

 that Alexander gave him sums which amounted to 

 nine hundred talents, to enable him to collect ma- 

 terials for his history of animals, and put at his 

 disposal several thousands of men to be employed 

 in hunting, fishing, and procuring information for 



1 Cuv. Hist. Nat. dex Poissons, i. 13. 



