Lives of Eminent Zoologists, from Aristotle to Linnaeus Part 3

The fragments which remain of Aristotle's History of Animals may, perhaps, be considered as presenting the general views which he had intended to precede his more particular descriptions; but, regarded even in this light, it cannot be denied that they are extremely deficient in method. There is in them no approach to a regular cla.s.sification, we do not say of animals, but of subjects to be discussed. He is continually making abrupt transitions, seems to lose sight of the object more immediately in view, to indulge in digressions foreign to it, and frequently repeats a circ.u.mstance which he had related before. His work resembles the rude notes which an author makes previous to the final arrangement of his book; and such it may possibly have been. Of descriptions, properly so called, there are few,--those of the elephant, the camel, the bonasus, the crocodile, the chameleon, the cuckoo, the cuttlefish, and a few others, being all that we find.

It may appear strange, that the statements of naturalists should so frequently prove incorrect. In how many works, even of the present day, are errors to be discovered, which might have been avoided by a proper use of the organs of vision, and a resolution to take nothing on trust!

But it is much easier to employ the imperfect remarks of others, to collect from books, compare and arrange, than to seek or make opportunities of observation for one's self; and of so little consequence do some men hold the actual inspection of natural objects, that, without practising it to any extent, they nevertheless arrogate to themselves the t.i.tle of philosophical inquirers.

In fine, the observations of Aristotle, considering the period at which he lived, and the p.r.o.neness of the human intellect to wander from the true path, are remarkable for the great proportion of truth which they present to us. Whatever may be their actual merits, they are certainly superior to those of any other naturalist whose works have come down to us from the remote ages of cla.s.sical antiquity; and we may take leave of this distinguished man by observing, in the words of Dr Barclay, that, "notwithstanding his many imperfections, he did much both for anatomy and natural history, and more, perhaps, than any other of the human species, excepting such as a Haller or Linnaeus, could have accomplished in similar circ.u.mstances."

The best edition of his History of Animals ([Greek: Peri Zoon Historia]), is that of Schneider, in 4 vols 8vo, which issued from the press at Leipsic in 1811. Many editions of his works have been published; but the most complete is said to be Sylburge's, printed at Frankfort, containing,--Organon, 1585; Rhetorica et Poetica, 1584; Ethica ad Nicomachum, 1584; Ethica Magna, &c. 1584; Politica et Oeconomica, 1587; Animalium Historia, 1587; De Animalium Partibus, &c.

1585; Physicae Auscultationis, lib. viii. et Alia Opera, 1596; De Coelo, lib. iv.; De Generatione et Conceptione; De Meteoris, lib. iv.; De Mundo; De Anima; Parva Naturalia; Varia Opuscula, 1587; Alexandri et Ca.s.sii Problemata, 1585; Aristotelis et Theophrasti Metaphysica, 1585.

FOOTNOTES:

[C] Biogriphie Universelle.

[D] See Edinburgh Cabinet Library, No. X. Travels and Researches of Alexander Von Humboldt, p. 91.

PLINY THE ELDER.

_Account of his Life and Works._

Introductory Remarks--Notice respecting Pliny by Suetonius--Account of his Habits, as given by his Nephew, Pliny the Younger--Various Particulars of his Life--His Death occasioned by an Eruption of Vesuvius--Buffon's Opinion of the Writings of Pliny--Judgment of Cuvier on the same Subject--Brief Account of the Historia Naturalis, including Extracts respecting the Wolf, the Lion, and other Animals--Cleopatra's Pearls--History of a Raven--Domestic Fowls--General Remarks.

Between the death of Aristotle and the birth of the celebrated naturalist whose life and writings we now proceed to delineate, there elapsed nearly three centuries and a half. It was in the reign of Tiberius in the 774th year of Rome and the 20th of the Christian era, that Pliny was born. Some a.s.sert that he was a native of Verona; others maintain that Comum was his birthplace; while Hardouin labours to prove that the honour belongs to Rome. Of his history little, except the circ.u.mstances of his death, is known that could afford any interest to those who look into biographies for marvellous adventures, although it would appear that he had travelled extensively, having visited Germany, Spain, the coast of Africa, and perhaps Britain, Egypt, and Judea. There are only two brief notices respecting him to be found among the ancient writers, besides those contained in the works of his nephew, Pliny the Younger, and the incidental remarks that occur in his own books on natural history. From these, together with a few casual observations by other authors, have been elaborated all the lives of this ill.u.s.trious naturalist that are to be found in our dictionaries and cyclopaedias. The first authentic account is contained in the book of Suetonius, De Viris Ill.u.s.tribus, and is to the following effect:--

Caius Plinius Secundus was a native of New Comum. When young he served with distinction in the cavalry. He was intrusted with the most important procuratorships, and on all occasions discharged his office with the greatest integrity. At the same time he engaged with so much a.s.siduity in the study of literature, that hardly any one, though entirely free from public occupations, wrote so many works. Among these was an account of all the wars that had been carried on between his countrymen and the Germans, which he comprehended in twenty volumes. He also compiled thirty-six volumes of natural history.

From his nephew we learn the following interesting particulars respecting his habits:--In summer he usually began his studies about sunset, and in winter generally at one in the morning, never later than two, bestowing very little time on sleep. Before it was day he went to the Emperor Vespasian, who, like himself, was in the practice of using the hours of darkness for philosophy or business. He then proceeded to discharge the duties of his office, and, on returning home, spent the remainder of the morning in reading or contemplation. In summer, when he happened to have any leisure, he often lay in the sunshine, having a book read to him, from which he carefully took notes. It was a saying of his, that no treatise was so meagre but that some part of it might afford instruction. Afterwards he usually took a cold bath, ate a little, and slept a very short time. He then resumed his labours till the hour of dinner. These were his ordinary habits while occupied with his public duties, and amid the tumult of the city. In retirement his studies were still more constant. When travelling, he seemed to set all other cares aside, and employ himself in literary occupations. He had a secretary by his side with a book and tablets, his hands in winter protected by gloves, so that even the inclemency of the weather should not cause any loss of time. For the same reason, when at Rome, he was carried in a sedan chair. By this continued application he acc.u.mulated an almost incredible ma.s.s of materials, insomuch that his works, had they been preserved, would have formed a library of themselves.

But it is very obvious that the study of books, to which alone he seems to have been addicted, cannot impart all the information necessary to const.i.tute a naturalist; and accordingly the writings of Pliny contain less a description of the objects of which they treat than a compilation of all that had been recorded by observers regarding them. As such, however, they are of considerable value.

At an early age he went to Rome, where he studied under Appion. It does not appear that he could have seen Tiberius, who by this time had retired to Capreae; but it is probable that he was admitted to the court of Caligula. When twenty-two years of age, he resided some time on the coast of Africa, and afterwards served in the cavalry under Lucius Pomponius, when he had an opportunity of traversing Germany from one extremity to the other. At this time he wrote a treatise, De Jaculatione Equestri, on the art of casting the javelin on horse-back; and afterwards composed an historical work, in which he detailed all the wars carried on by the Romans beyond the Rhine. Returning to Rome at the age of thirty, he pled several causes, and became a member of the college of augurs. Part of his time was spent at Comum in superintending the education of his nephew, for whom, it is probable, he composed his three books ent.i.tled Studiosus, in which he described the progress of an orator in the various steps towards perfection. During the greater part of the reign of Nero he seems to have been without any public employment; but towards the end of it he was appointed procurator in Spain, where, it is presumed, he remained pending the civil wars of Galba, Otho, and Vitellius. On revisiting the capital he was favourably received by Vespasian, on whom he had the privilege of waiting every morning before sunrise, as already mentioned. It is probable that at this period he wrote the History of his own Times, which consisted of thirty-one books, and completed the work which Aufidius Ba.s.sus had left unfinished. His Natural History, which he dedicated to t.i.tus, appears to have been finished about the 78th year of our era.

He was at Misenum, where he commanded the fleet which protected all that part of the Mediterranean comprised between Italy, the Gauls, Spain, and Africa, when a great eruption of Vesuvius took place. His sister and her son, the latter of whom was then about eighteen years of age, were with him. He had just retired to his study, when he was apprized of the appearance of a cloud of the most extraordinary form and size. It resembled a pine-tree, having an excessively elongated trunk, from which some branches shot forth at the top, and appeared sometimes white, sometimes dark and spotted, according as the smoke was more or less mixed with earth and cinders. Anxious to discover the cause of this singular appearance, he ordered a light vessel to be got ready, and was proceeding on board, when he met the mariners belonging to the galleys stationed at Retina, who had just escaped from the danger. They conjured him not to advance and expose his life to imminent peril; but he ordered the fleet immediately to put to sea, for the purpose of rendering aid to such as might require it; and so devoid of fear was he, that he noted all the variations and forms which the cloud a.s.sumed. By this time the vessels were covered with ashes, which every moment became hotter and more dense, while fragments of white pumice and stones blackened and split with the heat threatened the lives of the men. They were likewise in great danger of being left aground by a sudden retreat of the sea. He stopped for a moment to consider whether he should return; but to the pilot who urged to this expedient, he replied, "Fortune helps the brave--steer to Pomponia.n.u.s." That officer was at Stabiae, and being in sight of the danger, which, although still distant, seemed always coming nearer, had put his baggage on board, and was waiting a more favourable wind to carry him out. Pliny finding him alarmed, endeavoured to recall his firmness. In the mean time the flames were bursting from Vesuvius in many places, so as to illuminate the night with their dazzling glare.

He consulted with his friends whether it were better to remain in the house or to flee to the open fields; for the buildings were shaken by frequent and violent shocks, so as to reel backwards and forwards, and in the open air they were not less in danger from the cinders. However, they chose to go forth, as the hazardous alternative, covering their heads with pillows, to protect them from the stones. It was now morning, but the country was enveloped by thick darkness. He proceeded towards the sh.o.r.e by the light of torches, but the sea was still so much agitated that he could not embark; and, seating himself on a sail which was spread for him, he asked for some water, of which he drank a little.

The approach of flames, preceded by the smell of sulphur, put his companions to flight, excepting two slaves, who a.s.sisted him to rise, when he seems to have immediately fallen, suffocated by the vapours and ashes. On the following day, his body was found in the same place without marks of external violence, and resembling a person asleep rather than one who had suffered death. This event took place on the 24th August, in the seventy-ninth year of the Christian era, and a few months after the demise of Vespasian.

As in the case of almost every writer of eminence, so in that of Pliny, we find panegyrists, whose admiration leads them to lavish the most extravagant praise, and calumniators, who seem resolved to leave nothing to be admired. It is astonishing, says one, that in every department he is equally great. Elevation of ideas, and grandeur of style, give additional exaltation to his profound erudition. Not only was he acquainted with all that was known in his time, but he possessed that facility of forming comprehensive conceptions, which multiplies science; he possessed that delicacy of reflection on which depend elegance and taste; and he communicates to his readers a certain freedom of mind, a boldness of thought, which is the germ of philosophy. His work, which is as varied as Nature, paints her always in a favourable light. It may be said to be a compilation of all that had previously been written, a copy of every thing useful and excellent that existed; but in this copy the execution is so bold,--in this compilation the materials are disposed in a manner so new, that it is preferable to the greater part of the originals which treat of the same topics.[E]

The judgment of a recent author, founded also on an extensive view of his character, is perhaps more worthy of our confidence. It were impossible, it is remarked, that in handling, even in the briefest manner, so prodigious a number of subjects, he should not have made known a mult.i.tude of facts, which are not only in themselves remarkable, but so much the more valuable to us, that he is the only author who has made mention of them. Unfortunately, the manner in which he has collected and expounded them detracts much from their value; while, from the mixture of truth and falsehood, but more especially from the difficulty, and even in some cases the impossibility, of making out the objects of which he speaks, the reader is often left in the dark. Pliny was not such an observer as Aristotle; much less was he a man of genius like that great philosopher, capable of apprehending the laws and relations according to which Nature has disposed her productions. He was in general merely a compiler, and even in many instances a compiler who, not having himself any knowledge of the objects concerning which he collected the testimony of others, was unable to appreciate the truth of these testimonies, or even in all cases to comprehend their precise meaning. He is in short an author dest.i.tute of critical ac.u.men, who, after occupying a great deal of time in making his extracts and arranging them in certain chapters, has added to them reflections which have no relation to science properly so called, but present alternately the most superst.i.tious impressions, or the declamations of a peevish philosophy, which is continually accusing man, nature, and the G.o.ds themselves. The facts which he acc.u.mulates ought not, therefore, to be considered in connexion with the opinion which he forms of them; but, on the contrary, ought to be restored in imagination to the writers from whom he has derived them; and the rules of criticism should be applied agreeably to what we know of those writers, and the circ.u.mstances in which they were placed. Studied in this manner, the Natural History of Pliny is one of the richest stores; it being, according to his own statement, composed of extracts from more than 2000 volumes, written by authors of all kinds, travellers, historians, geographers, philosophers, and physicians,--authors of whom there remain to us only about forty, and of several of whom we have merely fragments, or works different from those which Pliny used; and, even of those whose labours are lost to us, there are many whose names have escaped from oblivion only through the quotations which he has made from them.

On comparing his extracts with such originals as we still have, and in particular with Aristotle, we find that he was by no means accustomed to select the parts that were most important or most correct. In general, he fixes upon the singular or marvellous; upon those circ.u.mstances which answer best for the contrasts which he is fond of making, or for the reproaches which he so often prefers against Providence. He certainly does not place the same confidence in all that he relates; but his doubts and affirmations are made at random, and the most childish stories are not those that most excite his incredulity. For example, there are none of the fables of the Grecian travellers, about headless and mouthless men, men with only one foot, or men with large ears, that he does not place in his seventh book, and with so much confidence in their truth, that he concludes his enumeration with this remark: _Haec atque talia ex hominum genere, ludibria sibi, n.o.bis miracula, ingeniosa fecit natura_: "See how nature is disposed for the nones to devise full wittily in this and such like pastimes to play with mankind, thereby not onely to make herselfe merrie, but to set us a wondering at such strange miracles." Any one may judge, from this credulity in respect to the absurd fables about the human species, of the little discernment which he must have exercised in selecting testimonies respecting exotic or little-known animals. Accordingly, the most fabulous creatures, manticores, with the head of a man and the tail of a scorpion, winged horses, catoblepas, the mere sight of which caused death, occupy their station by the side of the elephant and lion. However, all is not false even in those articles which are most replete with falsehoods. We can sometimes come at the truths which have given rise to them, by recollecting that they are extracts from travellers, and supposing that the ignorance of the ancient tourists, and their love of the marvellous, betrayed them into the same exaggerations, and dictated the same vague and superficial descriptions, with which we are shocked in so many of their modern successors. It may likewise be said of Pliny, that he does not always give the true sense of the authors whom he translates, especially when treating of the designation of species. Although we have now very few means of judging with certainty respecting errors of this kind, it is easy to prove, that on several occasions he has subst.i.tuted for the Greek word which denoted a particular animal in Aristotle, a Latin word which belongs to another species. It is true that one of the great difficulties experienced by the ancients was that of fixing a nomenclature; and the defects of their systems are more perceptible in Pliny than in any other writer. The descriptions, or rather the imperfect indications, which he gives, are almost always insufficient for recognising the species, when tradition has not preserved the names; and there is even a very great number, of which he mentions the names without joining to them any character, or affording any means by which they may be distinguished. Could there be any longer a doubt as to the advantages of the systems invented by the moderns, it would be dissipated by finding that all that the ancients have said of the virtues of their plants is lost to us, from our not being able to distinguish the species to which they a.s.signed them.--Were we to give credit to all that he says in the part of his work devoted to Materia Medica, there is not a disease incident to humanity for which nature has not provided twenty remedies; and unfortunately, during two centuries after the revival of letters, all these absurdities were confidently repeated by physicians. It must therefore be admitted, that with reference to facts the volume of Pliny is of no real interest, excepting in regard to the manners and customs of the ancients, the processes which they followed in the arts, and some particulars respecting geography, of which we should otherwise be ignorant.[F]

The Historia Naturalis was the last work which Pliny wrote, and is the only one that has come down to us. It is not a treatise on natural history, as that term is at present limited; but, besides relating all that he knew of animals, plants, and minerals, it embraces astronomy, geography, agriculture, commerce, medicine, and the arts; so that it may be considered as a cyclopaedia rather than a publication on any particular subject. It is divided into thirty-seven books.

The first contains a dedication to the Emperor t.i.tus Vespasian, together with a summary of the following sections, and the names of the authors who contributed to them.

In the second book, he treats of the universe, the elements, and the stars. The world and the heavens, which he says are G.o.d, are infinite, without beginning and without end; the form of the latter is spherical, the motion circular, and they are impressed with innumerable forms of animals and other objects. The elements are four; namely, fire, air, earth, and water. There are seven planets, or wandering stars, in the midst of which moves the sun, the ruler of all things. As to G.o.d, if indeed there be any Existence distinct from the world, it were absurd, says he, to a.s.sign him any form or image, He being all in all; for which reason the G.o.ds that the nations worship are mere fancies. It is absurd to imagine that He should have regard to the human race, for by interfering with their affairs he would necessarily be polluted. Men, he observes, are wretchedly p.r.o.ne to superst.i.tion of all kinds; however, it is beneficial, he admits, to believe that the G.o.ds take care of them, and punish malefactors. The nature of the planets, the moon, eclipses, comets, lightning, winds, clouds, meteoric stones, land, water, earthquakes, and many other subjects, are discussed in this book.

The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth, treat of geography; and the seventh of the different races of men, monsters, great characters, human inventions, longevity, and other matters relating to the human race, disposed without order, and selected without discrimination.

The eighth book, which is devoted to land-animals, contains notices respecting the elephant, dragons, serpents, lions, panthers, tigers, the camel, the camelopard, the rhinoceros, and a mult.i.tude of other mammalia, and reptiles. As a specimen of our author's manner of discussing these subjects, we give his account of the wolf:--

It in commonly believed, says he, in Italy, that the sight of wolves is hurtful, and that when they see a man before he observes them, they cause him to lose his voice for the time. Those which are produced in Africa and Egypt are small and sluggish; but in the colder climates they are fierce and cruel. That men are changed into wolves, and afterwards restored to their proper shape, we must either believe to be false, or else at once admit all those tales which have for so many ages been proved to be fabulous. But how this opinion came to be so firmly fixed, that when we would apply the most opprobrious term to one, we call him _versipellis_ (or turn-skin), I shall shew. Euanthes, a respectable Greek writer, reports that he found among the records of the Arcadians, that a person is chosen by lot from the family of Anthus. Being led to a certain pool in that country, he relinquishes his clothes, which are hung up on an oak, swims over, proceeds into the deserts, is transformed into a wolf, and for nine years herds with the wild animals of that race. This period being completed, if he has refrained from eating human flesh, he returns to the same pool, and, recrossing it, is restored to his original form, only looking nine years older than before. Fabius adds, that he finds his clothes again. It is strange to see how far the credulity of the Greeks goes; for there is no lie so shameless that it does not find one of them to vouch for it. Thus, Agriopas, who wrote of the conquerors at the Olympic games, relates that Demoenetus of Parrhasia, at a sacrifice, ate of the entrails of a child that had been offered as a victim (for the Arcadians at that time offered human sacrifices to Lycean Jupiter), and turned himself into a wolf; and that the same person, ten years after, having been restored to his proper shape, fought at the Olympian games, and was proclaimed victor. Besides, it is commonly believed that in the tail of this animal there is a minute hair possessing a power over love, and that the wolf casts it when he is taken; but that it has no efficacy unless it be plucked from him when alive. Wolves pair only during twelve days in the whole year.

When famished, they eat earth. With respect to auguries, when one meets a wolf, and the latter turns to the right hand, especially if he have a full mouth, there could not be a better presage. There are some of this kind that are called stag-wolves, such as the one mentioned by us as having been seen in the circus of Pompey the Great. They say that this animal, however hungry he may be, should he happen to look back, forgets the food which he had, and goes to look for some elsewhere.

The following extract from Pliny's account of the lion, "right pleasaunte" as it is in the original, is rendered still more so by Dr Holland. "To come againe to our lions: the signe of their intent and disposition, is their taile; like as in horses, their ears: for these two marks and tokens, certainly hath nature given to the most couragious beasts of all others, to know their affections by: for when the lion stirreth not his taile, hee is in a good mood, gentle, mild, pleasantly disposed, and as if hee were willing to be plaied withall; but in that fit he is seldome seene: for lightly hee is alwaies angrie. At the first, when hee entreth into his choller, hee beateth the ground with his taile: when hee groweth into greater heats, he flappeth and jerketh his sides and flanks withall, as it were to quicken himselfe, and stirre up his angry humor. His maine strength lieth in his breast: hee maketh not a wound (whether it be by lash of taile, scratch of claw, or print of tooth), but the bloud that followeth is blacke. When his belly is once full, all his anger is past, and he doth no more harme. His generositie and magnanimitie he sheweth most in his daungers: which courage of his appeareth not onely herein, that he seemeth to despise all shot of darts against him, defending himselfe a long time onely with the terrible aspect of his countenance, and protesting as it were that he is unwilling to deale unlesse he be forced thereto in his own defence, and at length maketh head againe, not as compelled and driven thereto for any perill that he seeth, but angred at their follie that a.s.saile and set upon him: but herein also is seen rather his n.o.ble heart and courage, that be there never so many of hounds and hunters both following after him, so long as hee is in the open plaines where he may be seene, hee maketh semblance as though he contemned both dog and man, dismarching and retiring with honour, and otherwhiles seeming in his retreat to turne againe and make head; but when he hath gained the thickets and woods, and gotten once into the forrests out of sight, then he skuds away, then hee runneth amaine for life, as knowing full well that the trees and bushes hide him, that his shamefull dislodging and flight is not then espied. When he chaseth and followeth after other beasts, hee goeth alwaies saltant or rampant; which he never useth to doe when he is chased in sight, but is onely pa.s.sant. If hee chaunce to be wounded, hee hath a marveilous eye to marke the partie that did it, and be the hunters never so many in number, upon him he runneth onely.

As for him that hath let flie a dart at him, and yet missed his marke and done no hurt, if he chaunce to catch him, hee all to touzeth, shaketh, tosseth, and turneth him lying along at his feet, but doth him no harme at all besides. When the lionesse fighteth for her young whelpes, by report, she setteth her eies wistly, and entirely upon the ground, because she would not be affrighted at the sight of the chasing-staves of the hunters. Lions are nothing at all craftie and fraudulent, neither be they suspicious: they never look askew, but alwaies cast their eie directly forward, and they love not that any man should in that sort looke side-long upon them. It is constantly beleeved, that when they lie a dying they bite the earth, and in their very death shed teares. This creature, so n.o.ble as he is, and withall so cruell and fell, trembleth and quaketh to heare the noise of cartwheeles, or to see them turne about; nay he cannot abide of all things charriots when they be void and emptie: frighted he is with the c.o.c.ks comb, and his crowing much more, but most of all with the sight of fire. The lion is never sick but of the peevishnes of his stomacke, loathing all meat: and then the way to cure him, is to tie unto him certain shee apes, which with their wanton mocking and making mowes at him, may move his patience and drive him for the verie indignitie of their malapert saucinesse, into a fit of madnesse; and then, so soone as he hath tasted their blood, he is perfectly well againe: and this is the onely remedie.

"_Q. Scaevola_ the sonne of Publius, was the first at Rome that in his Curule aedileship exhibited a fight and combat of many lions togither, for to shew the people pastime and pleasure: but _L. Sylla_, who afterwards was Dictatour, was the first of all others that in his Pretorship represented a shew of an hundred lions, with manes and collars of haire: and after him _Pompeius_ the Great shewed 600 of them fighting in the grand Cirque, whereof 315 were male lions with mane. And _Caesar_ Dictatour brought 400 of them into the shew-place. The taking of them in old time was a verie hard peece of worke, and that was commonly in pit-fals; but in the Emperor _Claudius_ his daies it chaunced, that a shepheard or heardman who came out of Gaetulia, taught the manner of catching them: a thing (otherwise) that would have been thought incredible, and altogither unbeseeming the name and honour of so goodly a beast. This Getulian I say, fortuned to encounter a lion, and when he was violently a.s.sailed by him, made no more adoe but threw his mandilion or ca.s.socke full upon his eies. This feat or cast of his was soone after practised in the open shew-place, in such sort, that a man would hardly have beleeved, but he that saw it, that so furious a beast should so easily be quailed and daunted so soone as ever hee felt his head covered, were the things never so light; making no resistance, but suffering one to doe what he would with him, even to bind him fast, as if in very truth all his vigor and spirit rested in his eyes. Lesse therefore is it to be marvelled at, that _Lysimachus_ strangled a lion, when as by commaundement of _Alexander_ the Great, he was shut up alone togither with him. The first that yoked them at Rome and made them to draw in a charriot, was _M. Antonius_. And verily it was in the time of civill warre, after the battaile fought in the plains of Pharsalia, a shrewd fore-token and unhappie presage for the future event, and namely, for men of an high spirit and brave mind in those daies, unto whom this prodigious sight did prognosticate the yoke of subjection: for what should I say, how Antonie rode in that wise with the courtisan _Cytheris_, a common actresse in enterludes upon the stage? to see such a sight was a monstrous spectacle, that pa.s.sed all the calamities of those times. It is reported, that _Hanno_ (one of the n.o.blest Carthaginians that ever were) was the first man that durst handle a lion with his bare hand, and shewe him gentle and tame, to follow him all the citie over in a slip like a dogge. But this device and tricke of his turned him to great domage, and cost him his utter undoing: for the Carthaginians hereupon laid this ground, that _Hanno_, a man of such a gift, so wittie and inventive of all devises, would be able to persuade the people to whatsoever his mind stood; and that it was a daungerous and ticklish point to put the libertie of so great a state as Carthage was, into the hands and managing of him, who could handle and tame the furious violence of so savage a beast: and thereupon condemned and banished him." He then relates two examples of the gentleness of this animal, or rather of his confidence in man. On one occasion, a lion applied to Mentor, a Syracusan, for relief from a thorn which had pierced his foot; and on another, Elpis, a Samian, had the honour, when in Africa, of extracting a bone from the palate of the royal beast, for which he was rewarded by him with an abundant supply of fresh venison so long as he remained in the country.

In this book Pliny follows no methodical arrangement, either as to the animals themselves or as to the descriptions and anecdotes in each article. He commences indeed with the largest, and ends with mice, which are among the smallest bred on land; but in this catalogue he includes mammalia, crocodiles, lizards, serpents, and snails. It may be said generally, that in his descriptions at least three-fourths of each article are erroneous, false, or fabulous; and that he scarcely anywhere attempts to elicit general principles, or to discover the circ.u.mstances in which animals agree or differ. It were therefore vain for the student of nature to look into this book for any information on which he could place reliance, with respect to their organization or habits. Some particulars respecting the exhibition at Rome of elephants, lions, panthers, crocodiles, and other ferocious creatures, with the combats of which the emperors and great men amused the people, and a few facts relating to the geographical distribution of the more interesting species, are all that the reader finds to recompense him for the labour of examination.

The ninth book treats of fishes, crabs, sea-urchins, mollusca, and other marine animals, including not only turtles and cetacea, but also mermaids, tritons, and other fabulous creatures. These he arranges in no definite order, although he proposes a kind of cla.s.sification founded on the covering or skin; some, as seals and hippopotami, having a skin and hair; others skin only, as the dolphin; while the tortoises are covered with a substance resembling bark; oysters and other sh.e.l.ls with a substance as hard as flint; echini with crusts and p.r.i.c.kles; fishes with scales; sharks with a rough skin fit for polishing wood; lampreys with a soft skin; and polypi with none at all.

As might be expected, many wonderful tales are related of the dolphin, which was a special favourite with the ancients, on account of its supposed attachment to the human species. One of these animals, if we may credit Pliny and his authorities, carried a boy daily to school and home again, from Baianum to Puteoli; another, who used to mount a child on his back, having one day suffered him to be drowned, brought back his body, and out of grief thrust himself ash.o.r.e, where he of course died; and, lastly, a king of Caria having caught a dolphin, and kept him prisoner within the harbour, a whole mult.i.tude of the same species came to beg his release, and remained until their prayer was granted.

The most interesting chapters in this book are those on pearls and the sh.e.l.l-fish that furnished the purple dye so highly esteemed by the Romans. This oyster, he says, which is the mother-of-pearl, at a certain season of the year, gapes and receives one or more drops of a kind of dew, which are ultimately converted into pearls. According to the nature of this dew, or the state of the weather at the time of its being received, the pearl is dusky or white, dull or possessed of a brilliant l.u.s.tre. These ornaments were very highly esteemed in Pliny's days. The ladies wore them dangling at their fingers and ears, took great delight in hearing them rattle, and not only appended them to their upper garments, but even embroidered their buskins with them. It will not suffice them, says he, nor serve their turn, to carry pearls about them, but they must tread upon pearls, go among pearls, and walk as it were on a pavement of pearls. Lollia Paulina, the wife of Caligula, was seen by him, on an ordinary occasion, ornamented with emeralds and pearls, which she valued at forty millions of sestertii (about 300,000).

The two finest specimens ever seen were in the possession of the celebrated Cleopatra, who, on being sumptuously feasted by Mark Antony, derided him for the meanness of his entertainment; and on his demanding how she could go beyond him in such a matter, answered that she would spend upon him in one supper ten millions of sestertii. Antony, conceiving it impossible for her to make good her boast, laid a great wager with her about it. When the supper came, although it was such as to befit the condition of the hostess and guests, it presented no extraordinary appearance; so that Antony jeered the queen on the subject, asking by way of mockery a sight of the bill of fare; whereupon she affirmed, that what had as yet been brought to table was not to be reckoned in the count, but that even her own part of the supper should cost sixty millions. She then ordered the second service to be brought in. The servants placed before her a cruet of vinegar, and she put into it one of the pearls which were appended to her ears. When it was dissolved, she took up the vessel, and drank its contents; on which Lucius Plancus declared that she had gained the wager. Afterwards, when Cleopatra was taken prisoner and deprived of her royal estate, the other pearl was cut into two, and affixed to the ears of the statue of Venus in the Pantheon at Rome.

The tenth book speaks of birds, beginning with the larger species, and concluding with remarks on generation, the food of animals, and other circ.u.mstances of a general nature. He believes that the spinal marrow of a man, as many persons have a.s.serted, may turn into a snake; that salamanders, eels, and oysters, are neither male nor female; and that young vipers make their way through the sides of their mother. His History of Birds is extremely meagre and incorrect; but many amusing particulars are related by him, of which we select two examples.

In the days of Tiberius Caesar, a young raven that had been hatched in a nest upon the temple of Castor and Pollux took her first flight into a shoemaker's shop just opposite. The master of the booth was well pleased to receive the guest, especially as it had come from so sacred a place, and took great care of it. In a short time the winged visitor began to speak, and every morning flew to the top of the rostra, where, turning to the open forum, he saluted the emperor, and after him Germanicus and Drusus, the young princes, each by his name, and after them the people that pa.s.sed by. This he continued to do for many years, till another shoemaker, either envying his neighbour the possession of so rare a prize, or enraged at the bird for muting on his shoes, killed him. At this rash proceeding, the people were so indignant that they drove the ungenerous mechanic out of the street, and afterwards murdered him. The body of the raven was solemnly interred in a field two miles from the city, to which it was carried by two blacks, with musicians playing before, and a great crowd following. In such esteem, says Pliny, did the people of Rome hold this wit and aptness to learn in a bird, that they thought it a sufficient cause for ordering a sumptuous funeral, and even for putting a man to death, in that very city where many brave and n.o.ble persons have died without having their obsequies solemnized, and which afforded not one individual to revenge the undeserved death of the renowned Scipio aemilia.n.u.s, after he had conquered both Carthage and Numantia.

c.o.c.ks, he says, which are our sentinels by night, and destined by nature to rouse us from sleep and call us up to our work, have also, like the peac.o.c.k, a sense of glory, and a love of approbation. They are astronomers too, and know the course of the stars; they divide the day by their crowing which is performed at the end of every three hours; they go to roost when the sun sets, and before he rises again they warn us of the approach of day by clapping their wings and crowing. They are rulers in their own community, whether consisting of other males or females. Their sovereignty is obtained by combat, as if they knew that they had weapons on their heels for the purpose, and the battle is often protracted until one is killed. The conqueror proclaims his victory by crowing, while the vanquished hides his head in silence, although it goes hard with him to be beaten. Not only are these fighting c.o.c.ks thus high-minded, but even the common dunghill kind are equally proud, marching in a stately manner, their neck erect, with a comb on the head like the crest of a soldier's helmet. There is no other bird that so often looks aloft to the sun and sky, and as he moves he carries his tail in an arched form. Even the lion, the most courageous of animals, stands in awe of the c.o.c.k. Some of these birds are made for nothing else than fighting, and are never satisfied unless when engaged in a quarrel; and to them the emperors and n.o.bles of Rome do not disdain to give honour. The best breeds are from Rhodes, Tenagra, Melos, and Chalcis.

These birds rule our rulers, nor is there a great man in Rome that dare open or shut the door of his house before he knows their good pleasure; even the sovereign, in all the majesty of the empire, with the insignia of office, neither sets forward nor recedes without their direction.

They give orders to armies to advance to battle, or command them to keep within the camp. They supplied the signal and foretold the issue of all the famous fields, in which the Romans achieved their victories in all parts of the world. In a word, they command the greatest commanders of all nations, and, small as they are, prove as acceptable to the G.o.ds in sacrifice as the largest and fattest oxen. Their crowing out of time is portentous, and it is well known that, by once crowing all night long, they foretold to the Boeotians the n.o.ble victory which that people achieved over the Lacedemonians, for this result was expected, as these birds never crow when beaten. When converted into capons, they cease to crow; but in this state they become sooner fat. At Pergamus there is a solemn c.o.c.k-fight every year. It is recorded that, within the territory of Ariminum, in the year when Marcus Lepidus and Quintus Catulus were consuls, a dunghill-c.o.c.k, belonging to one Galerius, spoke; but, as far as Pliny could learn, the like never happened again.

Bees, silkworms, spiders, scorpions, locusts, grashoppers and a few other animals of a similar nature, are briefly treated of in the eleventh book, which, moreover, contains an anatomical description of the human body, and of various parts of animals, not remarkable for its accuracy, but not the less interesting to the historian of science. The greater part is derived from Aristotle.

Then follow seventeen books on plants, their cultivation and uses in domestic economy and the arts, and the remedies that are obtained from them. These subjects form the most extensive portion of Pliny's writings, but they are discussed in so irregular and injudicious a manner, that it is impossible, in most cases, to determine the species of which he speaks; and as to the cures alleged to be accomplished by means of herbs, it is obvious that no confidence can be placed in his details. The culture of many of the more important species, such as the vine, the mulberry, the olive, wheat, and other cereal plants, is described at length; as are the processes of making bread, wine, olive-oil, and other substances obtained from vegetables.

The twenty-eighth book treats of dietetics, remedies derived from various animals, and the nature and cure of certain diseases. These subjects are continued to the end of the thirty-second book, and give occasion to the discussion of numerous topics, such as water, magic, medicine, &c.

The metals are considered in the two next books; colours and painting in the thirty-fifth; stones and minerals are mingled in the thirty-sixth with obelisks, temples, and statues; and the last book contains an account of precious stones, the descriptions of some of which, amber and beryl, for example, are as good as those of many of our modern mineralogists.

It is not our object to present a detailed account of the contents of any of these books, it being sufficient for our purpose to indicate the general nature of the work, and to point out a few of the subjects discussed. It affords a magazine of curious information on most subjects connected with natural history and the arts; but it is obvious that this information could not be useful to the student unless he were furnished with a correct commentary. Pliny's volumes have been translated into various modern languages, and there is an English version by Dr Philemon Holland, published at London in 1601. This performance, although generally accurate, fails in the nomenclature of the plants and animals; so that a good translation is a desideratum at the present day, which, however, is not likely to be soon supplied,--an extensive acquaintance with Greek and Roman literature, and a critical knowledge of the various branches of natural history, being essentially requisite in him who should undertake it.

Although Pliny cannot be depended upon as a naturalist, his writings are important as a source of pure Latinity. His style is generally simple, sometimes harsh, usually laconic, although when he enters upon philosophical reflections it becomes animated, energetic, and copious.

His morality is more pure than we could have expected, considering his doubts respecting the existence of a Deity, his disbelief in the immortality of the human soul, and the absence of those motives by which mankind are commonly influenced. He never ceases to censure vice of every kind; and as to the examples of cruelty, luxury, and effeminacy, which he has occasion to relate, his remarks are not less accordant with reason than with the soundest principles of Christian ethics.

The first editions of Pliny appeared at Venice in 1469, and at Rome in 1470. The most useful and convenient is that of Franzius, in ten volumes 8vo, published at Leipsic in 1791.

From what has been said above it will appear, that down to the time of Pliny naturalists had not succeeded in forming any system of zoology. In the writings of that author, the animals of which he treats are so disposed, that the absence of all arrangement is very obvious; nor is it even possible to guess upon what principle he makes the species succeed each other. In his chapter on land-animals, he places the elephant first; and as mice come last, we might imagine that he had intended to proceed on the principle of size. The bison, the wild-horse, the elk, the bonasus, the lion, the panther, the tiger, the camel, and the camelopard, of which the first individual seen at Rome was exhibited by Julius Caesar at the Circensian games, follow in order. Then come the rhinoceros, the lynx, apes and monkeys, wolves, serpents, the ichneumon, the crocodile, the skink, the hippopotamus, first shown at Rome by Marcus Scaurus, lizards, tortoises, hyenas, frogs and seals, deer, porcupines, bears, marmots, squirrels, vipers, snails, dogs, horses, a.s.ses, and mules, and the other princ.i.p.al domestic animals. His arrangement of birds is equally unsystematic. The fabulous phoenix occupies the first rank, and is followed by eagles, hawks, birds of evil omen, as ravens and owls, woodp.e.c.k.e.rs, peac.o.c.ks, the domestic fowl, geese, cranes, swans, thrushes, doves, the ibis, the nightingale, and the kingfisher. With these are mingled various heterogeneous elements.

The same may be said of all the other departments. Were the knowledge of animals which we possess at the present day not regularly methodized, it would be utterly impossible for an individual to distinguish half the number of mammalia and birds, which are among the least extensive cla.s.ses. The first inventor of a system, however imperfect, has therefore the strongest claims upon our grat.i.tude. Aristotle may be said to have laid the foundation for one, or at least to have made an attempt; Ray was the first who sketched a rude cla.s.sification, in which he partly adopted that of the Stagirite: it is to Linnaeus, however, that we owe a system, which is at least methodical and perspicuous; and if succeeding zoologists have produced more perfect arrangements, they can only be said to have improved upon his.