1311] 
It is proper here to observe, that he 
has every. where illustrated the. various 
-subjects of which he treats, by an infi- 
nite number of receipts and ‘observations 
extracted from the books of many an- 
cient writers, whose works have perished 
through the injury of time. In his pre- 
fatory. address tothe Emperor Vespasian, 
he isiforms us, that be condensed into his 
history the substance of two thousand vo- 
lunies;* and, in another passage of his 
work, that it contains an abridgment of 
filty volumes written by Aristotle.+ 
It isimpossible to peruse this immortal 
work without being impressed with the 
deepest sense of the author's pre-eminent 
abilities. He is, in every part, equally 
great. He astonishes the reader withthe 
sublimity of his ideas, and with the energy 
of his style, heightened and adorned by 
his profound eradition, He was not only 
in possession of all the information of his 
age; he also possessed that faculty of 
thinking which enabled him to digest, ar- 
range, anil exhibit, to his readers, i in the 
most "advantageous point of view, the 
vast. treasures of knowledge which Jhis 
insatiable curiosity and his unwearied in- 
dustry had enabled him to accumulate; 
he possessed, in an eminent degree, that 
delicacy of reflection, which is the only 
legitimate source of elegance of taste; 
and he imparts to his readers that bold 
and liberal mode of thinking which con- 
stitutes the only solid. basis of true philo- 
sophy. His admirable work, although as 
‘yariegated in its appearance as Nature 
herself, yet always depicts her in her 
most engaging ature, soas to conciliate 
the affections of the behelders.. 
It must indeed be admitted that his 
work 1s not entirely originals it is an 
abstract of all the volumes contained in 
his library; a compilation of all that was 
written on the arts and sciences before 
him—the Eneyclopadia of Antiquity, 
slice the most inquisitive and profoundly. 
Searned author, with unparalleled indus- 
try, collected all the facts recorded by 
every Roman and Greek author prior to 
bis ume, concernmg the animal, vegeta- 
ble, and mineral, kingdoms; and has de- 
— 
. cujusgue inventa sunt. Emere et vendere 
instituit Liber Pater,” &c.——-C, Plinii Hist. 
WNutur Vib. viiccap. vil. 
* © Viginti miilia rerum dignarum cura, 
ex Iectione voluminum circiter duum millium, 
quozem paucos admodum stodiosi attingunt, 
. propter secretum materia, ex exquisitis auc- 
toribus centun, inclusimus triginta sex vo- 
luminibus,” &c. ° 
+ ¢* Quinquaginta volumina Aristotelis in 
hoc meum opus contraxi,” 
Memoirs of Caius Plinius Secundus the Elderg 
- fection are observed ! Where 
527 
tailed, ina clear and luminous arranges 
ment, a truly ducidus ordo, all that the 
accumulated experience of past ages had 
recorded relative to the nature of ani- 
mals, vegetables, and minerals, to physi- 
cal astrology, meteorology, botany, ie@- 
dicine, &c. &c. 
But, although it is admitted that the 
Natural History is in a great measure a 
transcript, it is contended that this copy 
has such striking and peculiar features, 
that the composition of which we treat, 
contains such a vast variety of important 
objects exhibited in a light so entirely 
new, that it is preferable to the most va- 
luable of those original productions whicts 
treat of the same subjects, 
Pliny’s work may be divided into four 
parts: Natural History, including Physi- 
cal Geometry; Geovraphy; Rural Eco- 
nomy; and Materia Medica. 
On the subjeets of Natura! Mistory, 
besides his masterly view of various 
other departments of that most alluring 
science, his most eloquent, trnly philo- 
sophical, and profound disquisitions, cons 
cerning the structure, the econumy, and 
the instincts, of the inferior animals, can- 
not fail to excite the readers admiratfn, 
The truth of this remark might be substan- 
tiated by various quotations from his his- 
tory; I can, however, here afford room 
for only one passage from’ the preface of 
his Treatise on Insects. ‘In great bo» 
dies,” (says he) “* Nature had a large aud 
easy shop to work upen obsequious mat~ 
“ter; whereas in these so sinall, and, as 1t 
were, no bodies, what striking marks of 
reason, what power, what exquisite per- 
has Nature 
placed the senses of a grat? Where is 
the seat of its siglit, of its taste, of its 
smell? Where has she fixed the organs 
of that terrible and most sonorous voice? 
With what artifice has she sct on its 
wings, extended its leys, and formed its 
stomach and belly; given it a keen thirst 
for blood, especially for haman blood? 
With what ingenuity has she furnished it 
with a weapon to perforate the skin, and, 
-working in a conrpass_ hardly visible, 
equally weil as on the largest scale, has 
made that weapon at once sharp for 
piercing, and hollow for sucking up? 
What teeth has she given to the woods 
louse for perforating the hardest oak, as 
is manifest by the sound it makes, and bas 
given it its chief sustenance fram wood? 
We admite the turret- bearing shoulders 
of the elephant, the neck of the bull, and 
its power of tossing aloft with fury. its 
enemy, the ravages ‘of the’ tizer, and the 
mane ef the lion ; whereas the power of 
Nature 
