THE 



AMERICAN 

 JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, &c. 



Art. I. — Some 7iotice of British Naturalists ; by Charles Fox, 



Natural History, like other branches of science, has had its 

 infancy, its childhood, and its maturity. At first and in early 

 times, it observed isolated facts and grouped them promiscuously, 

 without skillful arrangement and classification founded on natural 

 analogies and differences. It has advanced slowly, until in our 

 times it has fallen into the train of the inductive sciences, and 

 now marches onward with confidence and success. 



Solomon is the earliest naturalist ; then follows Aristotle, Pliny, 

 and Elian. Of the works of Solomon on natural history, we 

 know little, although he described " Trees from the cedar-tree 

 that is in Lebanon, even unto the hyssop that springeth out of 

 the wall ; and spake also of beasts, and fowls, and of creeping 

 things, and of fishes." It is believed that Aristotle not only had 

 access to his writings, but made great use of them in the com- 

 pilation of his own works. Natural History was to him a collec- 

 tion of miscellaneous facts ; mingled with much that was doubtful, 

 and still more that was apocryphal : his works evince vast indus- 

 try in collecting, and a mind well adapted to research. In the 

 words of Mr. Swain son ;* 



" In his famous book, neqv Zaav 'lawgiag, he first sought to define 

 by the precision of language, those more prominent and compre- 

 hensive groups of the animal kingdom, which, being founded on 



* Cabinet CycloptEclia. 

 Vol. XXXVI, No. 2— April-July, 1839. 28 



