OF CURIOSITY. ifi 
have no notion that thefe can be of any man T 
ner of ufe hot to thofe amongft whom they 
are found. To the end therefore that we may 
gain a clearer conception of the harmony, and 
ufe of thefe things, it will be neceflarv to run 
thro* fame of the moll obvious particulars, re- 
lative to this fubjed, that every one from 
hence may better comprehend the advantage 
of natural hiftory in general 
§. 5. 
The antients were of opinion, that the bo- 
dies about us concerned us no farther than as 
they were good for food or fhyjlc . Hence 
their inquiries all tended to find out what were 
fit to eat, and what would cure fome diftem- 
per, and whatever plant or animal could not 
be referred to one of thefe clafies was negled- 
ed l It is trije that the immediate ufe of 
many 
y I mull take the liberty to contradict the ingenious au- 
thor on this occalion. For any one who has ever looked 
?nto Ariflotle’s hillory qf animals, and Theophrallus’s of 
plants, mull at once be convinced of the contrary. This 
juflice i thought due to thofe two firll Iketches of natural 
hiftory, in which the fagacious, and extenfive genius of the 
mailer, and the difciple fully Ihine forth. It is true this fpi- 
rit was not long kept up, nor is it to be wondered at, that 
extravagant fpeculations, and fyllems concerning things out 
of 
