BRITISH

10 NO BBW

HIUSELY

OF

EMINENT ZOOLOGISTS,

FROM

ARISTOTLE TO LINNÆUS:

WITH

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON THE STUDY OF
NATURAL HISTORY,

AND

OCCASIONAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE PROGRESS
OF ZOOLOGY.

BY W. MACGILLIVRAY, A. M., F. R.S. E., &c.

Author of "A Narrative of the Travels and Researches of
Alexander von Humboldt."

WITH A PORTRAIT OF LINNEUS ENGRAVED BY HORSBURGH,

EDINBURGH:

OLIVER & BOYD, TWEEDDALE COURT;

AND SIMPKIN & MARSHALL, LONDON.

MDCCCXXXIV.

BRITISH MUSEU

Transferred to

DUPLICATE

ENTERED IN STATIONERS' HALL.

Printed by Oliver & Boyd,

Tweeddale Court, High Street, Edinburgh.

PREFACE.

NATURAL HISTORY has of late become a favourite pursuit in this country; and although its progress as a study may not have been equal to the enthusiasm which it has excited, its general effect is unquestionably beneficial. In consequence of the interest which it has created, a great variety of works, from the simple catechism to the elaborate treatise, have appeared in rapid succession. But while compends and manuals are thus multiplied, little has been said with regard to the private history and professional pursuits of the distinguished persons who have contributed most to the general stock of knowledge from which these popular essays have in a great measure been derived. We have, therefore, endeavoured in some degree to supply this deficiency, by presenting a series of Lives of the more Eminent Zoologists, from Aristotle to Linnæus inclusive.

In the Introduction will be found a view of the objects, to the investigation of which the talents of the individuals whose annals we record were principally directed. The remarks there offered are calculated to enable such readers as may not have been