xxxiv Proceedings. {April 23rd, ipoj. 



entitled " Astronomicon," which treats of astronomy and 

 astrology, and is of high merit. A poem on Aetna, by Lucilius 

 Junior, dates from the 1st century A.D., but must have been 

 composed before the great eruption of Vesuvius in the year 79, 

 as it contains no mention of that disaster. Avienus (4th century 

 A.D.) translated the " Phenomena " of Aratus into Latin verse, 

 and also a book of travel by Dionysius Periegetes, under the 

 title of " Descriptio Orbis Terrarum." To him we also owe 

 " Ora Maritima," a description of the Mediterranean and Black 

 Seas. Another metrical translation of Dionysius, by Priscianus, 

 dates from the 6th century. 



After this a considerable interval follows, the next poem 

 to claim mention being the " Physiologus " or " Bestiary " of 

 Theobaldus, an Italian, written between 1022 and 1035. I n 

 accordance with the custom of the Middle Ages it deals far less 

 with the real than the fancied habits of the creatures discussed, 

 and is little, if at all, in advance of the works of Aristotle and 

 Pliny. Myths and superstition are rampant throughout, almost 

 every animal quality being identified with the good or the evil 

 principle in nature, for the purpose of drawing a moral. The 

 " De Gemmis " of Marbodus, an Englishman, who w r as Bishop 

 of Rennes between 1096 and 1123, has attained some notoriety, 

 the opening words " Evax rex Arabum " referring to an entirely 

 mythical King cf Arabia. Alexander Neckam (12th century) 

 wrote " De Laudibus Divinae Sapiential," a metrical version of 

 his own " De Naturis Rerum," and to about the same period 

 belong Philippe de Thaune's " Le Livre des Creatures," and 

 the " Bestiaire Divin " of Guillaume, " le clerc de Normandie." 



A rather surprising amount of alchemical lore is found in 

 Chaucer's " Canon's Yeoman's Tale" (14th century), after which 

 there is again a gap till we come to the age of Fletcher, Milton, 

 and Cowley. Neither the former's " Purple Island," nor yet the 

 " Plantarum Libri Duo," nor the " Ode to the Royal Society " 

 of Cowley, is worth more than a passing mention, while the 

 grandeur of " Paradise Lost " is extra-scientific, and therefore 



