180 ERRORS ATTRIBUTED TO ARISTOTLE. [LECT. 



VIII. 



ON CERTAIN ERRORS RESPECTING THE 

 STRUCTURE OF THE HEART ATTRI- 

 BUTED TO ARISTOTLE. 



IN all the commentaries upon the " Historia Ani- 

 malium " which I have met with, Aristotle's express 

 and repeated statement, that the heart of man and 

 the largest animals contains only three cavities, is 

 noted as a remarkable error. Even Cuvier, who had 

 a great advantage over most of the commentators in 

 his familiarity with the subject of Aristotle's descrip- 

 tion, and whose habitual caution and moderation 

 seem to desert him when the opportunity of pane- 

 gyrising the philosopher presents itself, is betrayed 

 into something like a sneer on this topic. 



" Du reste il n'attribue a cet organe que trois cavity's, erreur 

 qui prouve au moins qu'il en avait regard^ la structure." 1 



To which remark, what follows will, I think, 

 justify the reply, that it " prouve au moins " that 

 Cuvier had not given ordinary attention, to say 

 nothing of the careful study which they deserve, to 

 sundry passages in the first and the third books of the 

 " Historia " which I proceed to lay before the reader. 



: "Histoire des Sciences Naturelles," i. p. 152. 



