VIII. 



ON CERTAIN" EEEOES RESPECTING THE 

 STRUCTURE OF THE HEART ATTRI- 

 BUTED TO ARISTOTLE. 



IN all the commentaries upon the "Historia Ani- 

 ?nalium" 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 famili- 

 arity with the subject of Aristotle's description, and 

 whose habitual caution and moderation seem to desert 

 him when the opportunity of panegyrising the philoso- 

 pher presents itself, is betrayed into something like a 

 sneer on. this topic. 



" Du reste il n'attribue a cet organe qne trois cavit6s, erreur qui 

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



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 care- 

 ful study which they deserve, to sundry passages in the 



* "Histoire des Sciences Naturelles*" i. p. 152. 



