Lives of Eminent Zoologists, from Aristotle to Linnaeus Part 8

"Let us, then, consider the works of G.o.d, and observe the operations of his hands. Let us take notice of, and admire his infinite wisdom and goodness in the formation of them. No creature in this sublunary world is capable of so doing beside man, and yet we are deficient herein. We content ourselves with the knowledge of the tongues, or a little skill in philology, or history perhaps, and antiquity, and neglect that which to me seems more material, I mean natural history and the works of the creation. I do not discommend or derogate from those other studies; I should betray mine own ignorance and weakness should I do so; I only wish they might not altogether justle out and exclude this. I wish that this might be brought in fashion among us. I wish men would be so equal and civil, as not to disparage, deride, and vilifie those studies which themselves skill not of, or are not conversant in; no knowledge can be more pleasant than this,--none that doth so satisfie and feed the soul; in comparison whereto that of words and phrases seems to me insipid and jejune. That learning (saith a wise and observant prelate) which consists only in the form and pedagogy of arts, or the critical notions upon words and phrases, hath in it this intrinsical imperfection, that it is only so far to be esteemed as it conduceth to the knowledge of things, being in itself but a kind of pedantry, apt to infect a man with such odd humours of pride, and affectation, and curiosity, as will render him unfit for any great employment."

We do not find any particular account of his last years, nor of his family relations and circ.u.mstances, further than that he had three daughters, and lived contentedly on very humble means; being constantly occupied, when his health permitted, in studying the works of G.o.d, and communicating the results of his observations to the world. We are not aware of a single stain on his character, and are proud to point to him as a naturalist of undoubted and acknowledged powers, who "walked humbly with his G.o.d," and furnishes the best practical refutation of the lying a.s.sertion advanced by certain philosophers of the "grand nation," that men eminent for piety are either fools or knaves. As he had lived, so he desired to die "in the communion of the Catholick Church of Christ, and a true though unworthy son of the church by law established in this kingdom," of which he considered "the doctrine pure, and the worship decent, and agreeable to the Word of G.o.d." After making this declaration, he desired the Rev. Mr Pyke, rector of Black Notley, to read to him the prayers of the church appointed to be used in the visitation of the sick; and, in particular, the absolution. He then received the sacrament, "which, as it is men's duty often to receive in the time of health, so, at the hour of death," he said, "it was a necessary _viatic.u.m_ he thought for the great journey he was now a-going."

He died in his own house, at Black Notley, on the 17th January 1705, having reached the seventy-seventh year of his age, and was buried, according to his own desire, in the church of that parish. The authors of the Biographia Britannica, however, a.s.sert that he declined the offer made by the rector, of a place in the chancel, choosing rather to repose with his ancestors in the churchyard. A monument was erected to him at the expense of some of his friends, with an elegant Latin epitaph, descriptive of his character, composed by the Rev. William Coyte, M. A.

In 1737, this monument, having fallen into decay, was restored at the charge of Dr Legge, and removed into the church. Forty-five years after, it was repaired by Sir Thomas Gery Cullum and others, who subjoined an additional inscription.

According to his biographer, Dr Derham, he "was a man of excellent natural parts, and had a singular vivacity in his style, whether he wrote in English or Latin. In a word, in his dealings, no man more strictly just; in his conversation, no man more humble, courteous, and affable. Towards G.o.d, no man more devout; and towards the poor and distressed, no man more compa.s.sionate and charitable, according to his abilities." His merits have been duly appreciated, both by foreigners and his own countrymen; and although, in the last century, they seemed in danger of falling into oblivion, amid the blaze of the numerous discoveries and improvements then made, they are, at the present day, brought more prominently into view, when men have begun to compare systems, and to shake off the influence of party-spirit. An interesting commemoration of him was made in London on the 29th November 1828. A genus of plants was dedicated to his memory by Plumier, under the name of _Jan Raia_, which Linnaeus changed into _Rajania_, and Smith into _Raiana_. _Raia_ would have been more appropriate; but unfortunately it was previously occupied by the skate, and therefore could not be allotted to him of whom Sir James Smith says, that he was "the most accurate in observation,--the most philosophical in contemplation,--and the most faithful in description, amongst all the botanists of his own, or perhaps any other time." Several species of fishes, however, are named after him, in consequence of his having been the first who made mention of them.

"Mr Ray," says Dr Pulteney, in his Sketches of the Progress of Botany, "had the singular happiness of devoting fifty years of his life to the cultivation of the sciences he loved. Incited by the most ardent genius, which overcame innumerable difficulties and discouragements, his labours were, in the end, crowned with a success before almost unequalled. He totally reformed the studies of botany and zoology; he raised them to the dignity of a science, and placed them in an advantageous point of view; and, by his own investigations, added more real improvement to them in England than any of his predecessors. The extent of his improvements in science procured him the admiration of his contemporaries, and have justly transmitted his name to posterity, among those who have done honour to their age and country."

We have now only to present a catalogue of his more important works:--

1. Historia Plantarum Generalis, species hactenus editas aliasque insuper multas noviter inventas et descriptas complectens. Two vols folio. The first was published in 1686; the second, in 1687; and the third, in 1704.

2. Synopsis Methodica Stirpium Britannicarum. The first edition was published in 1690. The second, considerably enlarged, appeared in 1696. The third, printed in 1724, was edited by the celebrated Dillenius. This edition is the one in general use, and is that referred to by Linnaeus, Hudson, Smith, and other botanists. The Synopsis was ill.u.s.trated by Petiver with a set of seventy-two folio plates, having twelve figures in each.

3. Synopsis Methodica Animalium Quadrupedum et Serpentini Generis. 8vo, London, 1693.

4. Synopsis Methodica Avium et Piscium. 8vo, London, 1713. A posthumous work, edited by Dr Derham.

5. Historia Insectorum. 4to, London. Printed at the expense of the Royal Society in 1710.

6. The Wisdom of G.o.d manifested in the Works of the Creation, in two parts. London, 1691. There are many editions.

7. Three Physico-Theological Discourses concerning the Chaos, Deluge, and Dissolution of the World.

8. Observations, Topographical, Moral, and Physiological, made in a Journey through Part of the Low Countries, &c.

London, 1673. A second edition in 1738.

To these may be added,

9. Francisci Willughbeii Ornithologiae, Libri tres, with plates. Folio, London, 1676. There is also an edition in English, with three discourses, viz. Of the Art of Fowling, Of the Ordering of Singing Birds, and Of Falconry. London, 1678.

10. Francisci Willughbeii Historia Piscium, Libri quatuor, with plates. Folio, Oxford, 1686.

When this pious writer died, his papers were intrusted to his friend Dr Derham, who, having arranged and selected such as seemed of most importance, published a part of them in 1718, under the name of Philosophical Letters between the late learned Mr Ray and several of his ingenious Correspondents, natives and foreigners, to which are added those of Francis Willughby, Esq. The same person, as has been already mentioned, also edited the Synopsis of Birds and Fishes, and prepared for publication his posthumous work on Insects. He moreover got ready for the press his Travels in England, Wales, and Scotland, to which he intended to prefix an account of the author; but, although the life was written, the book did not make its appearance until a later period, when, as has been noted above, it came forth under the direction of Mr George Scott, bearing the t.i.tle of the Select Remains of the learned John Ray.

The princ.i.p.al authorities for his life and writings are, the Select Remains just mentioned; Dr Pulteney's Sketches of the Progress of Botany; the article Ray, in Rees' Cyclopaedia, by Sir James Edward Smith; and that by Cuvier and Du Pet.i.t-Thouars, in the Biographie Universelle.

In the two latter, his botanical and zoological labours are carefully recorded; and from the former we learn, in conclusion, that "his handwriting was peculiarly fair and elegant;" which has been the case with few of the more distinguished naturalists. His portraits are not numerous, but there is one in oil, taken at an advanced period of his life, remaining in the British Museum; a miniature, in the possession of Dr John Sims, having been engraved in the first volume of the Annals of Botany, published in 1805; and two prints, the one by Elder, the other by Vertue, from a picture by Faithorne, being prefixed to the third edition of the Synopsis, and to the Historia Plantarum. We may add that, in the fifteenth number of the Gallery of Portraits, published under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, is a beautiful engraving by Meyer of the painting in the British Museum.

In the likeness of Ray the phrenologist will look in vain for indications of those intellectual faculties which are displayed in his writings. The forehead is contracted in all its dimensions; so as to form a direct contrast to that of Cuvier, another naturalist of equal industry and zeal, but perhaps of not more comprehensive mind.

FOOTNOTES:

[I] Biographic Universelle, art. Ray, tome x.x.xvii. p. 161.

REAUMUR.

_Account of the Life and Writings of Reaumur._

Birth and Education of Reaumur--He settles at Paris, where he is introduced to the Scientific World by the President Henault, and becomes a Member of the Academy of Sciences--His Labours for the Improvement of the Arts--His Works on Natural History, of which the Memoirs on Insects are the most important--His Occupations and Mode of Life.

Rene Antoine Ferchault de Reaumur, one of the most ingenious naturalists whom France has produced, was born at Roch.e.l.le in 1683. He commenced his studies in his native place, continued them at Poitiers under the Jesuits, and finished his professional course at Bourges; but feeling less inclined to the practice of law than to the investigations of natural science, he resolved to devote himself entirely to the latter.

In this respect he was the more justified in following his inclination, that he possessed a fortune sufficient to support him without engaging in any occupation merely to procure the means of subsistence. He began to prepare for his new pursuits by studying mathematics, and when he thought his proficiency such as to qualify him to make a respectable figure among the naturalists and philosophers of the capital, he removed thither in the year 1703.

The President Henault, who held a distinguished station among the literati of Paris, and who was his relative, introduced him to the scientific world. In 1708, when only twenty-four years of age, he presented some geometrical memoirs to the Academy of Sciences, who were so much pleased with his performance as to admit him into their society,--an honour which he enjoyed nearly fifty years. His exertions were directed successively to the improvement of the arts, to natural philosophy, and to natural history. From his entrance into the academy he scarcely allowed a year to pa.s.s without publishing some work of importance. Soon after his admission he was appointed to a.s.sist in drawing up a description of certain arts and trades; but not confining himself to a simple elucidation, he endeavoured also to improve them, by applying the principles of physics and chemistry. On the other hand, by observing the ingenious combinations employed in some of the arts, he had frequent opportunities of adding to his knowledge of the phenomena of nature.

In his inquiries into the business of ropemaking, for example, he proved by conclusive experiments that, contrary to the common opinion, twisting impairs the strength of ropes. Again, while describing the labours of the goldbeater, he took occasion to show the prodigious ductility possessed by certain substances. But, more especially, when examining the processes by which artificial pearls are coloured, he discovered the singular matter which gives l.u.s.tre to the scales of fishes, and even explained the formation and growth of those scales. The colouring principle in gla.s.s pearls is obtained from the bleak (_Cyprinus alburnus_), an inhabitant of fresh water, and about six inches in length. This silvery ingredient is procured by macerating its scales in water, and is then mixed with a little isingla.s.s. The small globes which are to represent pearls are first furnished with an internal coating of the solution, and then filled with melted wax to give them suitable weight. The pearly matter occurs also in the membrane which envelopes the stomach and intestines, and is supposed by Reaumur to be produced in the latter, from which it is conveyed by the blood-vessels to the scales. He likewise made inquiries into the formation and growth of sh.e.l.ls, which he proved to be developed by accessions to their outer edge. He is even said to have examined the structure of pearls, with the view of forcing the sh.e.l.l-fish to produce them. When describing the turquoise-mines of the south of France, and the means adopted to make the mineral a.s.sume a blue colour, he discovered that these alleged stones were the teeth of a large animal, which is now known under the name of the mastodon.

His most important labours, however, with reference to the arts, were his researches respecting iron and steel, which he published in 1722, in a separate work under the t.i.tle of Traite sur l'art de convertir le fer en acier, et d'adoucir le fer fondu. At this period all the steel that was used in France was imported, none having previously been made in that country; and one may imagine how numerous and patient were the trials made by Reaumur before he succeeded in his object. The Duke of Orleans rewarded him for this valuable discovery, by bestowing on him a pension of 12,000 livres. In like manner, he found out the method of manufacturing tin-plate or whiteiron, which until then had been brought from Germany. In his various experiments, he had frequent occasion to observe that melted metals a.s.sume regular forms on cooling, and he accordingly gave an account of the crystallizations which they present.

The manufacture of porcelain also engaged his attention, and received considerable improvements from him, although he did not succeed in perfecting it. In 1739, he made known a method which he had discovered of giving a whiteness and opacity to gla.s.s, which causes it to a.s.sume the appearance of chinaware. He was also the first who tried in France the expedient practised by the Egyptians for hatching eggs,--a subject which, being of a nature suited to popular apprehension, procured for him at least as much estimation as all his other researches.

In Great Britain his fame seems to rest almost entirely on his peculiar scheme of graduating the thermometer. He chose the extreme points of the freezing and boiling of water, which, under similar circ.u.mstances, are always fixed and unvarying. The interval between these points he divided into eighty degrees, upon the principle that spirit of wine, in a certain state of rectification, expands 80,000 parts. In his experiments on this subject he arrived at some valuable conclusions, in regard to the varieties in their volume and temperature which are exhibited by particular fluids when combined, as well as on frigorific mixtures. He also carefully collected the observations on heat made in different places by means of his thermometer.

The importance and utility of these researches are unquestionable, and yet there is even more of novelty and interest in those which he made in natural history. For instance, he explained the means by which many sh.e.l.ls, sea-stars, and other mollusca or zoophytes, execute their progressive motion. He likewise ill.u.s.trated the curious manner in which the claws of crabs and lobsters are reproduced. He also threw a new light on the singular action of the torpedo, and the organ by means of which it is exercised, although the phenomena of electricity were not then sufficiently understood to enable him to perceive all the relations of his subject. In 1718, he published a memoir on the rivers of France, which contain grains of gold in their sands, and soon after described the immense beds of fossil sh.e.l.ls known in Touraine under the name of _falun_. In 1723, he made observations on the l.u.s.tre emitted by several kinds of sh.e.l.l-fish, especially the pholades, which perforate wood and stones.

Physiology is indebted to him for the ingenious and decisive experiments which, in 1752, made known the difference that exists, with respect to digestion, between birds of prey, whose stomach acts on their food only by means of a solvent fluid, and granivorous birds, in which a very powerful muscular gizzard exercises a pressure sufficient to break down the hardest bodies and reduce them to powder.

These labours might well have sufficed for a single life; but the most remarkable undertaking of Reaumur has not yet been mentioned. It is ent.i.tled Memoires pour servir a l'Histoire des Insectes, and extends to six quarto volumes, which were published between 1734 and 1742. This work occupied many years, and was the result of numerous observations made princ.i.p.ally in his own garden, where he kept insects of all kinds, for the purpose of examining their habits, changes, and generation. It is, however, incomplete,--the locusts and grashoppers, as well as the whole tribe of coleoptera, having been intended for subsequent volumes, which never appeared.

In regard to these Memoires, he remarks, that although he has endeavoured to give them some degree of connexion, they might for the most part be considered as independent of each other; and that his object was not to present a systematic description of insects, but to furnish materials for the use of future naturalists. It is therefore improper to say, that he wrote his work with an entire contempt of method; and certainly the notices which he collected must have required more time and talent than the mere arrangement of insects according to characters derived from their external form. "The number of observations necessary for a tolerably complete history of so many minute animals,"

he says, "is prodigious. When one reflects on all that an accomplished botanist ought to know, it is enough to frighten him. His memory is loaded with the names of twelve or thirteen thousand plants, and he is expected to be able to recall on occasion the image of any one of them.

There is perhaps none of these plants that has not insects peculiar to itself; and some trees, such as the oak, give sustenance to several hundreds of different species. And, after all, how many are there that do not live on plants! How many species that devour others! How many that live at the expense of larger animals, on which they feed continually! How many species are there, some of which pa.s.s the greater part of their time in water, while others pa.s.s it entirely there! The immensity of Nature's works is nowhere more apparent than in the prodigious multiplicity of these species of little animals." He then proceeds to remark, that, as it is impossible for one man to acquire a knowledge of all the insects of even a limited district, and as thousands of minute insects must for ever remain unknown to us, instead of burdening our memory with the characteristic distinctions of these creatures, and thus preventing ourselves from attending to matters of more importance, it would be sufficient for us to know the princ.i.p.al genera, and especially those that are of most frequent occurrence, and to make ourselves acquainted with their peculiarities, their food, their propagation, the different forms which they a.s.sume in the course of their life, and such like circ.u.mstances. He avows that he had no great regard for a precise enumeration of the species of each genus; holding it enough to distinguish the more remarkable.

"Although," he continues, "we would greatly restrict the limits of the study, there are persons who will think them still too wide; there are even some who consider all knowledge of this part of natural history as useless, and who unhesitatingly p.r.o.nounce it a frivolous amus.e.m.e.nt. We are equally willing that these pursuits should be regarded as amus.e.m.e.nts, that is, as studies which, so far from being troublesome, afford pleasure to the person who engages in them. They do more,--they necessarily raise the mind to admire the Author of so many wonders.

Ought we to be ashamed of ranking among our occupations observations and researches, of which the object is an acquaintance with the works on which the Supreme Being has displayed a boundless wisdom, and varied to such a degree? Natural history is the history of his works; nor is there any demonstration of his existence more intelligible to all men than that which it furnishes."

The two first volumes treat of caterpillars, their forms and habits, their metamorphoses into b.u.t.terflies, and the insects which attack them, or which live within their bodies. The third speaks of the small creatures named moths, which exist in the interior of the substances which they devour, or form of them coverings for their protection. It also contains the history of the aphides, a very numerous race of small insects, which suck the juices of trees and plants, live in society, and are often productive of great damage. These animalcules are especially remarkable for their mode of generation; it having been proved by M.

Bonnet, that a single impregnation is sufficient for the production of many successive generations, and that they are viviparous in summer and oviparous in autumn. The flies which produce the excrescences named gall-nuts, and the worms from which come the dipterous insects, so diversified in their forms, manners, and places of abode, occupy the fourth volume. The fifth contains, among other genera, the bees, of which the history is so singular and interesting. Certain varieties of these as well as wasps are described in the last volume. Similar researches were made by Bonnet and De Geer, of whom we shall have occasion to speak in another part of our series.

Reaumur was the first naturalist who formed an extensive collection of animals in France. The celebrated Brisson, who was the keeper of his museum, derived from it the princ.i.p.al materials for his works on quadrupeds and birds. These last afterwards const.i.tuted the basis of the Royal Museum at Paris.

When the first volumes of Buffon made their appearance, the elegance of their style had a prejudicial effect on the popularity of Reaumur's writings; and as naturalists, like poets and artists, generally belong to the _irritabile genus_,--the sensitive cla.s.s of mankind,--our author seems to have experienced considerable chagrin. In other respects, however, he lived a very quiet life; residing sometimes on his estate in Saintonge, and sometimes at his country-house of Bercy, in the neighbourhood of Paris. He had no public employment, except that of intendant of the order of St Louis, of which he performed the duties for the benefit of a relative whom circ.u.mstances prevented from discharging them, and to whom he resigned the emoluments. He died on the 18th October 1757, at the age of 74; his death being accelerated by a fall which he had received at the castle of Bermondiere, whither he had gone to pa.s.s the vacations. He seems to have been in all respects an amiable man, of correct habits and great mildness of disposition. His life, therefore, presents none of those bickerings and other manifestations of rivalry which have produced so much disquietude to some other naturalists; and, as his fortune was sufficient for his comfortable subsistence, he was freed from those cares which distract the attention, and enabled to pursue his favourite studies with advantage.[J]

FOOTNOTES:

[J] Biographie Universelle, art. Reaumur, tome x.x.xvii. p. 198.

LINNaeUS.