ON THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF 
THE STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY 
UP TO THE TIME OF LINN^US, AS 
ILLUSTRATED BY A SERIES OF OLD 
WORKS ON NATURAL HISTORY IN 
THE MUSEUM. 
O F THE earliest beginnings of the proper study of Natural 
History no information is available, or to be expected ; 
it began with the dawn of civilisation, and doubtless had its 
origin, so far as animals and plants were concerned, in the 
primitive observations of the Hunter and of the Medicine¬ 
man, or Priest-Physician, while the search for stone, and 
subsequently for metals, with which to fashion weapons and 
tools, served to draw attention to the nature and structure of 
the earth. 
That the Hunters of the Stone Age were not unobservant 
of the Quadrupeds they pursued is evinced by the carvings and 
the incised outline representations on bone, as well as the really 
remarkable pictures, drawn in manganese and red ochre, on the 
chalk walls of some caves in the South of France (Dordogne). 
Plants they do not appear to have delineated, although 
many of the animals are depicted in the act of browsing. 
Both Plants and Animals, on the other hand, appear on 
Egyptian and Assyrian monuments, though they figure as 
adjuncts to the scenes depicted, and not as the central objects 
of the design. 
At the same time the love of the Egyptians for Animals of 
all sorts, especially for those sacred to special deities, is well 
known. These, such as the Cat, Dog, Hawk, Ibis, &c., and 
Nos. I 
& 2 . 
No. 3. 
5 
