vii Aristotle on Birds 165 



where he was wrong ; and during all those centuries 

 hardly any progress was made in our knowledge of 

 the world of plants and animals. No one thought 

 of making a fresh start by using his own eyes and 

 collectiag his materials independently of all books. 

 Even the great Pliny is no exception to this rule 

 in his zoological studies ; it is told of him that he 

 once scolded his nephew for talcing a walk when 

 he might have used the precious time for reading. 

 All through the middle ages we seek in vain for a 

 true naturalist ; it is only when the revival of 

 learning and the reformation of the church had 

 freed men's minds from the tyranny of books and 

 traditions, that at last we find such men as Gilbert 

 and Bacon and Galileo beginning to interrogate 

 nature for themselves. How incredible it seems to 

 us in these days that not a single monk — not one 

 in all those splendid monasteries that swarmed all 

 over England — should have been inspired to write 

 such a book as that of Gilbert White ! What would 

 we not give for an exact record of the plants, the 

 birds, and beasts which were to be found six 

 centuries ago around Fountains, or Eivaulx, or Netley, 

 or Abingdon ! 



This darkness is in some degree to be attributed to 

 Aristotle, though he hirhself would have most deeply 

 deplored it. He would have recognised how hope- 

 less it is to abide content with the learning of 



