XX PRELIMINARY SKETCH OF THE 



This was Aristotle of Stagyra, one of the 

 most extraordinary geniuses that, perhaps, the 

 world ever saw. A man, who, in reference to 

 his times, the then state of knowledge, and 

 the means of its cultivation, may be considered 

 as a prodigy of invention, acuteness, and 

 research. He remoulded, as it were, the en- 

 tire system of human knowledge; ascended 

 to the primary laws of thought, and gave rules 

 of composition to orators and poets, which 

 must be as lasting as their respective arts. 

 He illustrated all the moral and physical sci- 

 ences, and founded a new philosophy, which 

 reigned for ages with an ascendency unparal- 

 leled in the history of the human mind. 



This great man was the first to observe and 

 attempt to explain the organization of animals. 

 His book, Uegi Zpuv 'Icrogtug, will always be 

 justly regarded as one of the master-pieces of 

 antiquity. It contains in the clearest style a 

 prodigious number of facts and observations. 

 The organization of animals in its divers parts 

 is compared with that of man. Their genera- 

 tion, their habits, their organs, the mechanism 

 of their functions, their relations, their resem- 

 blances, and differences, are discussed with 

 astonishing clearness and sagacity. He may 

 be considered to have established a solid basis 



