224 STUDIES IN INSECT LIFE, ETC. 



countries for the following century or two, but 

 the contents of the volume were in a state of flux, 

 additions and omissions appearing in many of 

 the issues. 



Another most voluminous and remarkable work 

 was the " Speculum naturale " of that marvellous 

 compiler Vincent of Beauvais. It was an en- 

 cyclopaedia of natural objects, and a mine of 

 information which has since been frequently 

 quarried. Vincent was a learned Dominican born 

 in France about 1190. We know almost nothing 

 of him except that he died about 1264. He is 

 presumed to have lived in the Dominican House 

 at Beauvais, but there is no evidence in support 

 of the story that he was Bishop of that diocese. 

 The " Speculum naturale/' like his other monu- 

 mental tomes, shows no originality and no first- 

 hand knowledge of the animals he describes, 

 but his industry was colossal and his application 

 untiring. As an example of his erudition it 

 may be mentioned that in the " Speculum 

 naturale " he quotes the names of no fewer than 

 three hundred and fifty different authors, Latin, 

 Greek, and Arab. The work was magnificently 

 produced in 1473 by Jean Mentelin of Strassburg. 



But the chief book on natural history in the 



