The History of Ichthyology 389 



je scai bien, et me console . . . avec grand travail . . . qu'on 

 pourra trouver plusieurs bones choses e dignes de louange 

 ou proufit e contentement des homes studieux e a I'honneur e 

 grandissime admiration des tres excellens e perfaits ceuvres de 

 Dieu." 



And with the many "bones choses" of the work of Rondelet, 

 men were too long satisfied, and it was not until the impulse 

 of commerce had brought them face to face with new series 

 of animals not found in the Mediterranean that the work of 

 investigating fishes was again resumed. About 1640, Prince 

 iVIoritz (Maurice) of Nassau (1604-79) visited Brazil, taking 

 with him two physicians, Georg Marcgraf (1610-44) and Wil- 

 helm Piso. In the great work " Historia Naturalis Brasiliae," 

 published at Leyden (1648), Marcgraf described about one 

 himdred species, all new to science, under Portuguese names 

 and with a good deal of spirit and accuracy. This work was 

 printed by Piso after Marcgrafs death, and his colored draw- 

 ings — long afterward used by Bloch — are in the "History of 

 Brazil" reduced to small and crude woodcuts. This is the first 

 study of a local fish fauna outside the Mediterranean region 

 and it reflects great credit on Marcgraf and on the illustrious 

 prince whose assistant he was. 



There were no other similar attempts of importance in 

 ichthyology for a htmdred years, when Per Osbeck, an enthusi- 

 astic student of Linnaeus, published (1757) the records of his 

 cruise to China, under the name of " Iter Chinensis." At about 

 the same time another of Linn^us' students, Fredrik Hassel- 

 quist, published, in his "Iter Palestinum" the account of his 

 discoveries of fishes in Palestine and Egypt. More pretentious 

 than these and of much value as an early record is Mark 

 Catesby's (1679-1749) "Natural History of Carolina and the 

 Bahamas," published in 1749, with large colored plates which 

 are fairly correct except in those cases in which the drawing 

 was made from memory. 



At about the same time, Hans Sloane (1660-1752) published 

 his large volume on the "Fishes of Jamaica," Patrick Browne 

 (1720-90) wrote on the fishes of the same region, while Father 

 Charles Plumier (1646-1704) made paintings of the fishes of 

 Martinique, long after used by Bloch and Lacepede. Dr. Alex- 



