XXiv PRELIMINARY SKETCH OF THE 



found in his voluminous productions. His eru- 

 dition was equally varied and profound, and 

 his style sublime, simple, and severe. There 

 is also a sustained tone about it, which never 

 falls below the subject, nor suffers the atten- 

 tion to flag. His general views are philoso- 

 phical, bold, and expansive. Though his work 

 be a compilation, it contains multitudes of ori- 

 ginal traits, and he depicts the habits and dis- 

 positions of animals with wonderful felicity. 

 His performance, in short, with all its faults, 

 must be always considered a rich and valuable 

 storehouse of information, a miracle of eru- 

 dition, and a model of taste. 



To this great praise, however, we must add 

 very great qualification. Like almost every 

 other Writer of antiquity, Pliny was too credu- 

 lous. He was fond of prodigies, and did not 

 attach sufficient importance to such facts as he 

 might himself have verified. He adopted, with- 

 out examination, many fabulous stories, which 

 had passed current down to the time in which 

 he wrote, and with a spirit of generalizing, in 

 the opposite extreme to the character of our 

 modern writers, he neglected the details which 

 were indispensable to the truth and justice of 

 his speculations, His History of Quadrupeds 

 is, perhaps, the best part of his zoological 



