28 
MEMOIR OF 
was by importations from India,'* and possessed 
of the greatest pecuniary resources, may be a 
matter of supposition, but cannot now be ascer- 
tained ; as also the influence of his example, in 
regard to such pursuits, upon his many learned 
and pious cotemporaries and successors. 
The first individual who can positively be 
proved to have pursued the study of Natural 
History as a science, is the immortal Aristotle. 
Previously, however, to taking that degree of 
notice of his researches which is required by 
the object of the ensuing sketch, it may not be 
unacceptable to some readers if it be attempted 
briefly to state what is to be understood by the 
scientific pursuit of any department of Natural 
History. 
Mankind universally have, no doubt, ever been 
able to distinguish and to. describe with more or 
less accuracy some or other of the individuals of 
the animal kingdom ; every one who has fre- 
quently seen such creatures, knowing the diffe- 
rence between a quadruped and a bird, between 
a bird and a fish, and between individuals of the 
same order, as between a dog and a cat, a pigeon 
and a hawk ; and it is probable that even written 
descriptions and drawings of some animals, having 
various degrees of truth and similarity, have ex- 
* 1 Kings, x. 22. For the king had at sea a navy 
of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram ; once in three 
years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and 
silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks, — or parrots, as some 
understand by the word in Hebrew. 
