CUVIER AND A. D. THOUARS. 



105 



as his * History of Plants/ and were arranged by him in 

 a similar manner ; and it is easy to perceive that they are 

 from the same hand and written in the same style ; their 

 materials, however, had been collected by Willughby, 

 who undertook the department of zoology, on the original 

 partition of his and Ray's common task. 



Although these materials were still in disorder, and in- 

 complete when Ray received them, yet he considered it 

 as a strict obligation to raise from them a monument to 

 the memory of his friend, and with this view he published 

 them entirely under his name. 



The first of these works, or the ' Ornithologia,' ap- 

 peared in 1676, in one vol. folio ; and the second, which 

 required still more labour, and which is more complete of 

 its kind, the ' Historia Piscium,' in 1686, in two vols, 

 also folio. Besides all the species of Belon, Rondeletius, 

 Gesner, Aldrovandus, Olina, and Margraaf, there are a 

 great many in these two histories which were observed 

 by Willughby and Ray in Germany and Italy. 



The fishes of the Mediterranean especially are there 

 described with remarkable precision ; and it is frequently 

 more easy to find them in Willughby than in Linnaeus. 

 These works also contain numerous figures, the great part 

 of which indeed are only copies, but among them are 

 several original and very good. Those even which are 

 taken from Belon and Rondeletius acquire interest on 

 account of the descriptions with which they are accom- 

 panied, and which are much superior to those of the 

 original authors. 



Ray has left under his own name some less extensive 

 works on zoology, but which have had no less influence 

 on the progress of the science. These are, 



1st, ' Synopsis Methodica animalium Quadrupedum et 

 Serpentini generis,' in 8vo, London, 1693 ; in which are 

 united, under the common title of quadi'upeds, both the 

 mammiferous and the oviparous classes. 



2d, ' Synopsis Methodica Avimu and 



3d, ' Synopsis Methodica Piscium.' 1713. 



