62 



ARISTOTLE. 



scales. vSerpents are also scaly, and, excepting the 

 viper, oviparous. Yet all viviparous animals are not 

 hairy; for some fishes, he remarks, likewise bring 

 forth their young alive. In the great family of vivipa- 

 rous quadrupeds also, he says, there are many spe- 

 cies (or genera), as man, the lion, the stag, and the 

 dog. He then mentions, as an example of a natural 

 genus, those which have a mane, as the horse, the 

 ass, the mule, and the wild-ass of Syria, which are 

 severally distinct species, but together constitute a 

 genus or family. 



This introduction to the History of Animals the 

 philosopher seems to have intended, less as a sum- 

 mary of his general views respecting their organiza- 

 tion and habits, than as a popular exordium, cal- 

 culated to engage the attention of the reader, and 

 excite him to the study of nature. Whatever errors 

 it may contain, and however much it may be defi- 

 cient in strictly methodical arrangement, it is yet 

 obviously the result of extensive, and frequently ac- 

 curate observation. He then proceeds to the de- 

 scription of the different parts of the human body, 

 first treating of what anatomists call the great re- 

 gions, and the exterior generally, and then passing 

 to the internal organization. His descriptions in 

 general are vague, and often incorrect. As an ex- 

 ample, we may translate the passage that refers to 

 the ear. 



This organ, he says, is that part of the head by 

 which we hear ; but we do not respire by it, for 

 Alcmeon's opinion, that goats respire by the ears, is 

 incorrect. One part of it has no name, the other is 

 called lobos ; it consists entirely of cartilage and flesh. 

 The internal region is like a spiral shell, resembling 



