RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. XXXI 



things. Francis Bacon, born towards the end 

 of the sixteenth century, was the destined in- 

 strument of this wonderful reformation. He it 

 was who laid the foundation of a new edifice of 

 the science, and pointed out the mode in which 

 the superstructure should be finished. He 

 awakened Europe to the necessity of emanci- 

 pating her mind from the chains of the peripa- 

 tetic ; pointing out the path to posterity, he 

 himself opened the wide field of nature, and 

 taught the art of making discoveries in every 

 region of her illimitable empire. The sciences 

 received a new impetus, and started forward 

 with unexampled rapidity for the goal of per- 

 fection. They soon became a chief element of 

 the prosperity of nations and the bulwark of 

 their civilization. Passing from the hands of 

 mere speculators, they became more immedi- 

 ately applicable to the common uses of social 

 life. 



Natural History was more especially bene- 

 fited by the speculations of this great philoso- 

 pher. It received a form more worthy of its 

 object, a spirit and character more profound, 

 and resting on the basis of experiment and ob- 

 servation; every branch of it was cultivated 

 with rival ardour by a multitude of illustrious 

 observers. Zoology, Botany, and Mineralogy, 



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