LIFE AND WEITINGS OF PLINT, 
xix 
that he states that the first^ thing in which mankind agreed; 
was the use of the Ionian alphabet ; the second, the practice 
of shaving^ the beard, and the employment of barbers ; and 
the third, the division of time into hours, 
"We cannot more appropriately conclude this review of 
the Life and Works of Pliny, than by quoting the opinions 
of two of the most eminent philosophers of modern times, 
Buffon and Cuvier ; though the former, it must be admitted, 
has spoken of him in somewhat too high terms of commen- 
dation, and in instituting a comparison between Pliny's work 
and those of Aristotle, has placed in juxtaposition the names 
of two men who, beyond an ardent thirst for knowledge, had 
no characteristics in common. 
"Pliny," says Buifon^, " has worked upon a plan which 
is much more extensive than that of Aristotle, and not im- 
probably too extensive. He has made it his object to em- 
brace every subject ; indeed he would appear to have taken 
the measure of Kature, and to have found her too contracted 
for his expansive genius. His ' Natural History,' inde- 
pendently of that of animals, plants, and minerals, includes 
an account of the heavens and the earth, of medicine, com- 
merce, navigation, the liberal and mechanical arts, the 
origin of usages and customs, in a word, the history of all the 
natural sciences and all the arts of human invention. What, 
too, is still more astonishing, in each of these departments 
Pliny shows himself equally great. The grandeur of his 
ideas and the dignity of his style confer an additional lustre 
on the profoundness of his erudition ; not only did he know 
all that was known in his time, but he was also gifted with 
that comprehensiveness of view which in some measure mul- 
tiplies knowledge. He had all that delicacy of perception 
upon which depend so materially both elegance and taste, 
and he communicates to his readers that freedom of thought 
and that boldness of sentiment, which constitute the true 
germ of philosophy. His work, as varied as Nature herself, 
always paints her in her most attractive colours. It is, so to 
say, a compilation from all that had been written before his 
1 B. vii. c. 58, 59, 60. 
^ Mankind must surely have agreed before this in making the instru- 
ments employed in shaving. 
" Discours Premier sur I'Histoire Naturelle." 
S2 
