FOOTNOTES:[H]Reaumur, Histoire des Insectes, tome i. p. 28.
[H]Reaumur, Histoire des Insectes, tome i. p. 28.
[H]Reaumur, Histoire des Insectes, tome i. p. 28.
Birth and Parentage of Ray—He receives the Rudiments of his Education at Braintree School—At the age of Sixteen enters at Katherine Hall, Cambridge—Removes to Trinity College, where he passes through various Gradations, and becomes a Fellow—Publishes his Catalogue of Cambridge Plants, and undertakes several Journeys—Extracts from his Itineraries—Resigns his Fellowship—Becomes a Member of the Royal Society—Publishes his Catalogue of English Plants, &c.—Death of his most intimate Friend, Mr Willughby—Character of that Gentleman—Mr Ray undertakes the Education of his Sons, and writes a Vocabulary for their Use—Notice of Dr Lister—Several Works published by Mr Ray, who improves and edits Willughby's Notes on Birds and Fishes—Continues his scientific Labours—Remarks on the Scoter and Barnacle—Letters of Dr Robinson and Sir Hans Sloane—Notice respecting the latter—Publication of the Synopsis of British Plants, the Wisdom of God manifested in the Works of Creation, &c.—Estimate of the Number of Animals and Plants known—Synopsis of Quadrupeds and Serpents—Classification of Animals—Various Publications—Ray's Decline—His last Letter—His Ideas of a Future State, and of the Use of the Study of Nature—His Death, Character, and principal Writings.
Birth and Parentage of Ray—He receives the Rudiments of his Education at Braintree School—At the age of Sixteen enters at Katherine Hall, Cambridge—Removes to Trinity College, where he passes through various Gradations, and becomes a Fellow—Publishes his Catalogue of Cambridge Plants, and undertakes several Journeys—Extracts from his Itineraries—Resigns his Fellowship—Becomes a Member of the Royal Society—Publishes his Catalogue of English Plants, &c.—Death of his most intimate Friend, Mr Willughby—Character of that Gentleman—Mr Ray undertakes the Education of his Sons, and writes a Vocabulary for their Use—Notice of Dr Lister—Several Works published by Mr Ray, who improves and edits Willughby's Notes on Birds and Fishes—Continues his scientific Labours—Remarks on the Scoter and Barnacle—Letters of Dr Robinson and Sir Hans Sloane—Notice respecting the latter—Publication of the Synopsis of British Plants, the Wisdom of God manifested in the Works of Creation, &c.—Estimate of the Number of Animals and Plants known—Synopsis of Quadrupeds and Serpents—Classification of Animals—Various Publications—Ray's Decline—His last Letter—His Ideas of a Future State, and of the Use of the Study of Nature—His Death, Character, and principal Writings.
The distinguished individual whose history we are about to sketch, and who is considered by many persons of the present age as the greatest naturalist that Britain has yet produced, was born on the 29th November 1628, at Black Notley, near Braintree in Essex. His father, Roger Wray, was a blacksmith,—a circumstance which affords another proof thatnatural history has had among its most successful cultivators men of all stations in society, from the lowest to the highest. He received the rudiments of his education at Braintree School, under the care of a Mr Love, who, it seems, was but indifferently qualified for his office. Young Wray, however, profited so well by his opportunities of acquiring knowledge, that at the age of sixteen he was sent to the University of Cambridge, where he entered at Katherine Hall in June 1644. As it is not stated that on this occasion he had to draw on the generosity of any of his rich neighbours, it is to be presumed that his father was in prosperous circumstances. At the end of a year and three-quarters he removed to Trinity College, where he had the good fortune to have for his tutor Dr Duport, a man of great learning, under whose direction he acquired considerable skill in the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages. About three years afterwards he was chosen Minor Fellow of Trinity, at the same time with his friend the celebrated Isaac Barrow; and, after passing through the usual gradations, was appointed Greek lecturer of the College in October 1651, Mathematical lecturer in October 1053, and Humanity reader in October 1655. After this he was made Prælector Primarius, Junior Dean, and College Steward, having been sworn into the latter office in 1659.
During the time of Mr Wray's residence at the university, he had several gentlemen of great merit under his tuition. He also became eminent as a pulpit orator, being, according to the testimony of Dr Tenison, archbishop of Canterbury, "much celebrated for his preaching solid and useful divinity, instead of that enthusiastick stuff, which thesermons of that time were generally filled with." He contracted an intimate friendship with Mr John Nid, who, like himself, was an ardent "admirer of the works of God," and whom, in a funeral sermon, he eulogizes for his admirable amenity and candour, his strict probity, innocence of life and manners, singular modesty, and great learning. He was aided by this gentleman in writing his Catalogue of Cambridge Plants, which he published in 1660, and which was found of great use in promoting the much-neglected study of botany at that university. But before it was entirely finished, he was deprived of the companion whose society had afforded him so much delight.
The favourable reception given to the work now mentioned, encouraged Mr Wray to prosecute his researches with more vigour, and induced him to extend his excursions through the greater part of England and Wales, as well as over a portion of Scotland. On these journeys or "simpling voyages," as he calls them, he was usually accompanied by some of his friends, and in particular by his pupil, Mr Willughby. The notes made on these hurried expeditions were afterwards published by Mr George Scott, under the title of "Select Remains of the learned John Ray;" and as they are not deficient in interest, one or two extracts from them may be not misplaced here:
"August the 17th (1661), we travelled to Dunbar, a town noted for the fight between the English and Scots. The Scots generally (that is the poorer sort) wear, the men blue bonnets on their heads, and some russet; the women only white linen, which hangs down their backs as if a napkin were pinned about them. When they go abroad, noneof them wear hats, but a party-coloured blanket, which they call a plad, over their heads and shoulders. The women generally to us seemed none of the handsomest. They are not very cleanly in their houses, and but sluttish in dressing their meat. Their way of washing linens is to tuck up their coats, and tread them with their feet in a tub. They have a custom to make up the fronts of their houses, even in their principal towns, with firr boards nailed one over another, in which are often made many round holes or windows to put out their heads. In the best Scottish houses, even the king's palaces, the windows are not glazed throughout, but the upper part only, the lower have two wooden shuts or folds to open at pleasure, and admit the fresh air. The Scots cannot endure to hear their country or countrymen spoken against. They have neither good bread, cheese, nor drink. They cannot make them, nor will they learn. Their butter is very indifferent, and one would wonder how they could contrive to make it so bad. They use much pottage made of coal-wort, which they call keal, sometimes broth of decorticated barley. The ordinary country houses are pitiful cots, built of stone, and covered with turves, having in them but one room, many of them no chimneys, the windows very small holes, and not glazed. In the most stately and fashionable houses, in great towns, instead of cieling, they cover the chambers with firr boards, nailed on the roof within side. They have rarely any bellows, or warming-pans. It is the manner in some places there, to lay on but one sheet as large as two, turned up from the feet upwards. The ground in the valleys and plains bears good corn, but especiallybeer-barley, or bigge, and oats, but rarely wheat and rye. We observed little or no fallow-grounds in Scotland; some layed ground we saw, which they manured with sea-wreck. The people seem to be very lazy, at least the men, and may be frequently observed to plow in their cloaks. It is the fashion for them to wear cloaks when they go abroad, but especially on Sundays. They lay out most they are worth in cloaths, and a fellow that hath scarce ten groats besides to help himself with, you shall see come out of his smoaky cottage clad like a gentleman."
That this is a true character of the people of the southern division of Scotland in those days is very probable;—it is needless to say that things are much altered now. Still the picture applies in almost every particular to the inhabitants of several districts at the present day, although the men seldom plough in their plaids; but as the Scots cannot (any more than the English) endure to hear their country spoken against, we desist from making any reflections, merely wishing that they would strive to render it such as to merit the utmost praise.
The next extract which we shall present, has a reference to the Bass Rock, in the estuary of the Forth:
"August the 19th, we went to Leith, keeping all along on the side of the Fryth. By the way we viewed Tantallon Castle, and passed over to the Basse Island; where we saw, on the rocks, innumerable of the soland geese. The old ones are all over white, excepting the pinion or hard feathers of their wings, which are black. The upper part of the head and neck, in those that are old, is of a yellowish dun colour. They lay but one egg a-piece,which is white, and not very large. They are very bold, and sit in great multitudes till one comes close up to them, because they are not wont to be scared or disturbed. The young ones are esteemed a choice dish in Scotland, and sold very dear (1s. 8d. plucked). We eat of them at Dunbar. They are in bigness little inferior to an ordinary goose. The young one is upon the back black, and speckled with little white spots, under the breast and belly grey. The beak is sharp-pointed, the mouth very wide and large, the tongue very small, the eyes great, the foot hath four toes webbed together. It feeds upon mackrel and herring, and the flesh of the young one smells and tastes strong of these fish. The other birds which nestle in the Basse are these; the scout, which is double ribbed; the cattiwake, in English cormorant; the scart, and a bird called the turtle-dove, whole-footed, and the feet red. There are verses which contain the names of these birds among the vulgar, two whereof are,
'The scout, the scart, the cattiwake,The soland goose sits on the lake,Yearly in the spring.'
'The scout, the scart, the cattiwake,The soland goose sits on the lake,Yearly in the spring.'
"We saw of the scout's eggs, which are very large and speckled. It is very dangerous to climb the rocks for the young of these fowls, and seldom a year passeth, but one or other of the climbers fall down and lose their lives, as did one not long before our being there. The laird of this island makes a great profit yearly of the soland geese taken; as I remember, they told us £130 sterling. There is in the isle a small house, which they call a castle; it is inaccessible, and impregnable, but of no great consideration in a war, there being no harbour, norany thing like it. The island will afford grass enough to keep thirty sheep. They make strangers that come to visit itBurgesses of the Basse, by giving them to drink of the water of the well, which springs near the top of the rock, and a flower out of the garden thereby. The island is nought else but a rock, and stands off the land near a mile; at Dunbar you would not guess it above a mile distant, though it be thence at least five. We found growing in the island, in great plenty,Beta marina,Lychnis marina nostras,Malta arborea marina nostras,et Cochlearia rotundifolia."
In this sketch, short as it is, there are several inaccuracies, and yet it is on the whole more correct than some later accounts of the same interesting islet.
On the restoration of Charles II., when there was a prospect of peaceable times, and the church of England was re-established, Mr Wray took orders, though he continued a fellow of Trinity College. But his views of preferment were blasted by his resolution not to subscribe to the conditions implied in the Act of Uniformity, by which divines were required to declare that the oath entitled the Solemn League and Covenant was not binding on those who had sworn it. The reason of his refusal did not, however, arise from his having himself taken the oath, which he never did, having always believed it to be unlawful, but from his considering those who had taken it as still under an obligation to abide by it. In consequence of this opinion he deemed it proper to resign his fellowship in 1662.
On leaving Cambridge he resolved to go to the Continent, with the view of extending his knowledgeof natural history, to which he had long been devoted. Accordingly, in the spring of 1663, accompanied by Mr Willughby, Mr Skippon, and Mr Bacon, his pupils, he crossed to Calais, and traversing the Low Countries, visited Germany, Italy, and several islands in the Mediterranean. In returning homewards he directed his way through Switzerland and France, and arrived in his own country in the spring of 1666, with a rich store of materials for the cultivation of his favourite science. He now occupied himself in reading the works that had been published during his absence; in reviewing and arranging Mr Willughby's collections; and in making a catalogue of such plants as were natives of the English soil. He was also employed during the winter in forming a table of plants and quadrupeds to illustrate the famous work of Dr Wilkins on a "Real or Universal Character." In the summer of 1667, he made a journey into the west, accompanied by his favourite pupil. While on this excursion the two friends described many natural objects, and in particular examined the Cornish mines, and the methods employed for smelting ores.
His fame as a naturalist being now fully established, he was solicited to become a member of the Royal Society, which he accordingly entered in 1667. The remainder of this year he spent with his friends in Sussex and Warwickshire. In 1668, he made a journey into Yorkshire and Westmoreland, where he assiduously exerted himself in collecting plants and animals. The greater part of the winter was passed in Warwickshire, with Mr Willughby, who in the following spring engaged with him in a series of experiments on the ascent and descent ofthe sap in trees, the results of which were published in the Philosophical Transactions.
Although botany seems to have been his principal study, his attention was by no means confined to it, for, like most naturalists of the time, he was a general collector. The materials which he had accumulated in the course of his journeys having now increased to a great extent, he began to digest his observations; commencing, rather oddly, with a set of proverbs, which he made ready for the press, although they were not published till 1672. In 1669, he also prepared his Catalogue of English Plants, which was printed in the following year.
At this time he changed his name to Ray, omitting the initial letter; the altered mode of spelling being, as he conceived, more correct. In one of his notes to Dr Lister he mentions his having had an offer of L.100 per annum to travel with three young noblemen, expressing, at the same time, his unfitness for the office, and his unworthiness of so large a salary. To this his friend replies: "I joy you of the condition offered you. If you accept it, I wish you all the satisfaction and comfort in the world of it; and I pray God, of his infinite mercy, to preserve you in your travels, and to send me home again my dear friend well. Fix not long with them in any place; for the gentry of France are very proud, and will soon (when acquainted) learn them to despise their tutors, however well deserving." This proposal, however, Mr Ray rejected, being in a weak state of health, and considering it more expedient to continue his pursuits.
In the spring of 1671, he had an attack of jaundice, of which, as he informs Dr Lister, he"got pretty well rid." On recovering, he pursued his experiments on the motion of sap, and in summer visited several of his acquaintances; after which, in July, he commenced a journey to the northern counties, taking with him Thomas Willisel, from whose assistance in collecting and describing plants he derived much profit.
In this erratic mode of living,—at one time wandering over the country in quest of its rarer productions, at another residing with his friends at their country-seats, enjoying their conversation, and deriving instruction from the inspection of their collections,—Mr Ray must have experienced much real happiness; one principal source of which, however, was now dried up. He had scarcely returned from his excursion when he was informed of the dangerous illness of Mr Willughby, who, having been seized with violent pain in his head, followed by pleurisy and fever, expired in the thirty-seventh year of his age, on the third day of July 1672.
The character of this estimable man and excellent naturalist cannot be better described than in Dr Derham's words:—"His example deserves the imitation of every person of great estate and honour. For he was a man whom God had blessed with a very plentiful estate, and with excellent parts, capable of making him useful to the world. And accordingly he neglected no opportunity of being so. He did not (as the fashion too much is) depend upon his riches, and spend his time in sloth or sports, idle company-keeping, and luxury; but practising what was laudable and good,—what might be of service to mankind. And among othervirtuous employments, one he much delighted in was the searching after, and describing of, animals (birds, beasts, fishes, and insects), which province he had taken for his task, as Mr Ray had that of plants. And in these matters he was a great master, as he was also in plants, fossils, and, in short, the whole history of nature; to which I may add that of coins, and most other curious parts of learning. And in the pursuit and acquest of this knowledge he stuck neither at any labour or cost. Noble monuments of which he left behind him in those posthumous pieces which Mr Ray afterwards published."
To render a separate article unnecessary, some particulars may here be given respecting that distinguished individual. He was born in Lincolnshire in 1635, and, as has already been mentioned, studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, under the tuition of Ray, whose most intimate friend he continued to be until the period of his premature and lamented death. Dr Derham states, from a conversation which he had with Ray a short time before his last illness, that "these two gentlemen, finding the history of nature very imperfect, had agreed between themselves, before their travels beyond sea, to reduce the several tribes of things to a method; and to give accurate descriptions of the several species, from a strict view of them." Both entered upon the task with an enthusiasm which could have been excited only by an intense love of nature, and although Ray was more successful in the event, Willughby was not less industrious during his short career. Ornithology and ichthyology seem to have been his favourite studies, and in prosecutingthem he formed an extensive museum, not, however, excluding other objects. In 1668, he married the daughter of Sir H. Bernard, and settled at Middleton Hall in Warwickshire, where he continued his researches under the eye of his former tutor. His untimely death prevented the publication of his several essays, which were left to the care of Mr Ray, who was also one of the executors of his will. As a special mark of his friendship, besides bequeathing an annuity of £60, he confided to him the education of his two sons, Francis and Thomas, the first of whom died before attaining his twentieth year. The younger was one of the twelve peers created on the same day by Queen Anne, on which occasion he received the title of Lord Middleton.
Mr Ray accordingly betook himself to the instruction of these two young gentlemen, the eldest of whom was only four years of age at the period of their father's decease. For their improvement he composed his Nomenclator Classicus, which was published in 1672, and which, with respect to the names of natural objects, was much more accurate than any that had previously appeared. Having resolved to discharge his duties with fidelity, he was obliged to give up the thoughts of another botanical excursion which he had meditated, as well as to refuse the invitation of Dr Lister, who wished him to live in his house at York.
This eminent physician and naturalist, who was one of Ray's most intimate friends, was born, in 1638, in the county of Buckingham. He was educated at St John's College, Cambridge, and having chosen the medical profession, settled at York as a practitioner. In the year 1683, he removed toLondon, when he took the degree of doctor at Oxford, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. Having, in 1698, attended the Earl of Portland on his embassy to France, he published, when he returned, an account of the journey, which was ridiculed by Dr William King in a parody, in consequence of the minute observations in natural history which it contained. In 1709, he was made physician in ordinary to Queen Anne; but he occupied this post only two years, as he died in February 1711. Omitting his medical writings, which are not of much importance, we may observe, that besides composing several papers which were printed in the Philosophical Transactions, he published the following works on shells, which are referred to by the naturalists of the present day as important productions:—
Historia Animalium Angliæ, with three tracts on spiders, land and fresh-water shells, and marine shells, together with fossils having the form of shells. 4to, London, 1678.
Exercitatio Anatomica de Cochleis. 8vo, 1694. Exercitatio Anatomica Altera, de Buccinis Fluviatilibus et Marinis. 8vo, 1695. Exercitatio Anatomica tertia Conchyliorum Bivalvium. 4to, 1696.
Historiæ sive Synopsis Conchyliorum libri iv., 2 vols. folio, 1685-1693. An edition was published, in 1770, by Mr Huddesford, keeper of the Ashmolean Library at Oxford. Of this work there is a new impression by Mr Dillwyn, with a scientific index. The plates of the Historia Conchyliorum were executed from drawings by his daughters, and are in general accurate.
As a specimen of the correspondence which naturalistshold with one another, we may present the following letter to Mr Ray:—
"Sir,—August 18, I passed through Marton Woods, under Pimco-Moore, in Craven. In these woods I then found very great plenty ofMushromes, and many of them then wither'd, and coal-black; but others new sprung and flourishing. They are some of them of a large size, and yet few much bigger than theChampignonorordinary red-grilled eatable Mushrome, and very much of the shape of that; that is an exactly round cap, or crown, which is thick in flesh, and open deep gills underneath; a fleshy, and not hollow, round foot-stalk, of about six fingers breadth above ground, and ordinarily as thick as my thumb. The foot-stalk, gills, and cap, all of a milk-white colour. If you cut any part of thismushrome, it willbleedexceeding freely and plentifully a pure white juice. Concerning which, note,"1. That the youngest did drop much more plentifully and freely than those that were at their full growth and expansion. That the dried and withered ones had no signs of milk in them that I then discern'd."2. That this milk tastes and smells like pepper, and is much hotter upon the tongue."3. That it is not clammy or roapy to the touch."4. That although I used the same knife to cut a hundred of them, yet I could not perceive all that time, that the milk changed colour (as is usual with most vegetable milks) upon the knife blade."5. That it became, in the glass viol I drew it into, suddenly concrete and stiff, and in some daysdried into a firm cake, or lump, without anyserumat all."6. That it then also, when dried, retained its keen biting taste, as it does at this day, yet not so fierce: Its colour is now of a yellowish green, yet very pale."7. This milk flows much faster from about the outmost rimm, or part equivalent to the bark of plants, than from the more inward parts, &c."8. I observed thesemushromeseven then, when they abounded with milk (not to be endured upon our tongues) to be exceeding full offly-maggots; and the youngest and tenderest of them were very much eaten by the small grey naked snail."You can tell me what author describes this mushrome, and what he titles it."I have revised the History of Spiders, and added this summer's notes. Also I have likewise brought into the same method the land and fresh water snails, having this year added many species found in these northern lakes. And by way of Appendix, I have describ'd all theshell-stonesthat I have anywhere found in England, having purposely viewed some places in Yorkshire where there are plenty. The tables of both I purpose to send you. I am not so throughly stocked with sea-shells as I wish and endeavour. I aim not at exoticks, but those of our own shores. ConcerningSt Cuthbert's Beads, I find 3 species of them in Craven: and this makes it plain, that they have not been the back-bone of any creature, because I find of them ramous and branched like trees."York, October 12, 1672."
"Sir,—August 18, I passed through Marton Woods, under Pimco-Moore, in Craven. In these woods I then found very great plenty ofMushromes, and many of them then wither'd, and coal-black; but others new sprung and flourishing. They are some of them of a large size, and yet few much bigger than theChampignonorordinary red-grilled eatable Mushrome, and very much of the shape of that; that is an exactly round cap, or crown, which is thick in flesh, and open deep gills underneath; a fleshy, and not hollow, round foot-stalk, of about six fingers breadth above ground, and ordinarily as thick as my thumb. The foot-stalk, gills, and cap, all of a milk-white colour. If you cut any part of thismushrome, it willbleedexceeding freely and plentifully a pure white juice. Concerning which, note,
"1. That the youngest did drop much more plentifully and freely than those that were at their full growth and expansion. That the dried and withered ones had no signs of milk in them that I then discern'd.
"2. That this milk tastes and smells like pepper, and is much hotter upon the tongue.
"3. That it is not clammy or roapy to the touch.
"4. That although I used the same knife to cut a hundred of them, yet I could not perceive all that time, that the milk changed colour (as is usual with most vegetable milks) upon the knife blade.
"5. That it became, in the glass viol I drew it into, suddenly concrete and stiff, and in some daysdried into a firm cake, or lump, without anyserumat all.
"6. That it then also, when dried, retained its keen biting taste, as it does at this day, yet not so fierce: Its colour is now of a yellowish green, yet very pale.
"7. This milk flows much faster from about the outmost rimm, or part equivalent to the bark of plants, than from the more inward parts, &c.
"8. I observed thesemushromeseven then, when they abounded with milk (not to be endured upon our tongues) to be exceeding full offly-maggots; and the youngest and tenderest of them were very much eaten by the small grey naked snail.
"You can tell me what author describes this mushrome, and what he titles it.
"I have revised the History of Spiders, and added this summer's notes. Also I have likewise brought into the same method the land and fresh water snails, having this year added many species found in these northern lakes. And by way of Appendix, I have describ'd all theshell-stonesthat I have anywhere found in England, having purposely viewed some places in Yorkshire where there are plenty. The tables of both I purpose to send you. I am not so throughly stocked with sea-shells as I wish and endeavour. I aim not at exoticks, but those of our own shores. ConcerningSt Cuthbert's Beads, I find 3 species of them in Craven: and this makes it plain, that they have not been the back-bone of any creature, because I find of them ramous and branched like trees.
"York, October 12, 1672."
Soon after Mr Willughby's death, Mr Ray lostanother of his best friends, Bishop Wilkins, who died on the 19th November 1672. Being thus deprived of some of those persons whose intercourse had afforded him the purest pleasure, he began to think of consoling himself by marriage; having formed an attachment to a young woman recommended by her personal and mental accomplishments. She was the daughter of Mr John Oakeley of Launton, in Oxfordshire. They were married in Middleton Church, on the 5th June 1673. This lady gave him important assistance in educating Mr Willughby's children; and afterwards, by her unremitting attentions and constant affection, contributed to enliven his mind, when he was labouring under the pressure of protracted disease.
In the year just named, he published an account of the observations which he had made in his travels on the Continent, to which was appended a catalogue of plants observed in foreign countries, and also, about the same time, his Collection of Unusual or Local English Words, adding to it a catalogue of English birds and fishes, and an account of the way of smelting and refining metals and minerals. Mr Oldenburgh, the secretary of the Royal Society, having solicited him by numerous letters to communicate any discoveries which he might have made, he sent several papers, some of which were printed in the Philosophical Transactions, as well as a discourse concerning seeds and the specific differences of plants, which was read to the members.
In 1674 and the following year, he was busily engaged in the task of preparing for the press Mr Willughby's observations on birds. These notices had been committed to paper without any method,and left in a very imperfect state, so that the trouble of revising and digesting was of no light kind. Without at all detracting from the merits of the author, whose labours, according to Dr Derham, were such, "that he allowed himself little or no time for those recreations and diversions which men of his estate and degree are apt to spend too much of their time in, but prosecuted his design with as great application, as if he had been to get his bread thereby," it may fairly be presumed, and indeed has been generally admitted, that the greater part of his works belong in fact to Mr Ray, who, however, claimed no merit in the performance. The book was published in 1676, in Latin, with engravings, which, in the titlepage, are designated asicones elegantissimi et vivarum avium simillimi, although few who inspect them will be disposed to concur in the opinion now stated. It was afterwards translated into English by his affectionate editor, and put forth with large additions in the year 1678. Derham apologizes for the inferior execution of the plates, which were done at the charge of the author's widow. "Considering," says the Doctor, "how well the engravers were paid for their labour, it is great pity they had not had some able person in London to have supervised them, that they might have given better likenesses to the birds than what most of them have. But this is what Mr Ray could only complain of, but not help, by reason of his being in Warwickshire, at a distance from London, where every thing was transacted by letters,—a method which could never afford sufficient directions in a matter of that nature." The descriptions, however, are in general excellent,regard being had to the state of science at the time when they were written. Some of them, indeed, are very imperfect, and there is, besides, a deficiency of method, which becomes more striking when they are compared with those of Temminck or Selby, or any other of our best modern ornithologists.
In this important work birds are divided intoTerrestrialandAquatic. The former are disposed in the following order:—
In the first place, land-birds are either furnished with hooked-bill and claws, or have these organs nearly straight.
Those with hooked-bill are carnivorous and predatory or frugivorous. The former are either diurnal, that is, hunt by day, or nocturnal, seeking their food by night.
The diurnal carnivorous birds are either large, as theeaglesandvultures, or small. Of the former there are two kinds, thegenerous, as the peregrine falcon, lanner, goshawk, &c.; and theignoble, as thebuzzard, kite, &c. The smaller predatory birds are theshrikes, and birds of paradise.
The nocturnal birds of prey are theowls.
Thefrugivorousbirds with hooked-bill are themacaws,parrots, andparrakeets.
Those having the bill and claws nearly straight, are divided into large, middle-sized, and small. The large are theostrich,emeu, anddodo; the middle-sized are thecrowsandwoodpeckers,peacock,pigeons, &c.; the small are such birds as theswallowandlark, which have the bill slender, and thesparrow,greenfinch, &c., in which it is thick.
Theaquaticbirds are of two kinds; some frequent watery places, without being capable ofswimming, while others betake themselves to the water.
Of the former some are large, as the crane; others of smaller size. The latter either live on fish, as theheron,spoonbill,stork,ibis, &c., or search for insects in the mud, as theoyster-catcher,plover,sandpiper, &c.
Of the swimming water-birds some have the toes separated, as thecootandwater-hen; while in others they are united by membranes. The web-footed birds are either long-legged, as theflamingoandavocet, or furnished with short legs. Of the latter some have three toes, as thepenguin,auk, &c.; others have four. The four-toed aquatic birds either have all the toes webbed, as thepelican,gannet,cormorant, &c., or have the hind toe loose. Of the latter some have a narrow bill, which is hooked at the tip in themerganserandalbatross, or acute and straight in thediversandgulls. Others have the bill broad, asgeeseandducks.
Of the figures which accompany the descriptions there certainly are not ten that bear a tolerably accurate resemblance to their originals; but, in criticizing ornithological plates, we are apt to forget that it was not until Audubon displayed his drawings that artists began to see how well nature might be imitated.
Mr Willughby's sons having been withdrawn from Mr Ray's inspection, in 1675, he left Middleton Hall where he had resided, and removed with his wife to Sutton Cofield, about four miles distant, where he continued till Michaelmas 1677, when he went to Falborne Hall in Essex, near his native place. In the course of his residence there hismother died, to whom he was affectionately attached, and of whom he says that she stuck constantly to her profession, and never "left the church in these times of giddiness and distraction." Immediately after this event he repaired to Black Notley, where he resolved to remain during the "short pittance of time he had yet to live in this world."
He now finished his Methodus Plantarum Nova, which was published in 1682; and laboured at his Historia Plantarum Generalis, of which the first volume appeared in 1686, the second in the following year, and the third in 1704. In compiling this great work, he received much valuable assistance from his friends, but more especially from Sir Hans Sloane and Dr Tancred Robinson. With respect to the former of these publications, it may be stated, that it was founded upon the labours of his predecessors, such as Cæsalpinus and Jungius, as well as on the writings of Morison, whose method he principally followed. He divided plants into woody and herbaceous. The woody kinds he again divided into trees and shrubs, distinguishing the trees by their possessing buds; which he showed to be, in fact, new plants annually springing from the old ones. The families were better defined, the classes characterized with more precision, and various terms introduced which were of great advantage as tending to render the language of botany more appropriate. The General History of Plants is his most celebrated work on the vegetable kingdom. In it he describes with considerable exactness and perspicuity all the species which his predecessors had made known, adding those that had been discovered in his own time. All botanists who have spoken of this work agree inconsidering it as one of immense labour, although, as the greater part was avowedly borrowed from other writers, it has not the advantage of ranking among those that have resulted from original observation.
About the same time he revised and arranged Mr Willughby's papers relative to fishes, which, being put in order for the press, and communicated by Dr Robinson to the Royal Society, were published at the charge of that learned body; the engravings having been executed at the expense of several of the members. This important treatise appeared in 1686.
Besides all the species of Belon, Rondelet, Gesner, Aldrovandi, Olina, and Margrave, says an eminent ichthyological writer, there are in these works a great number which Willughby and Ray had observed in Germany and Italy. The fishes of the Mediterranean in particular are described with great accuracy, and it is often easier to trace them in their volumes than in Linnæus. To these two works are appended numerous figures, most of which are only copies, although there are some very good original ones among them. Even such of them as are borrowed from Belon and Rondelet acquire an interest from the descriptions which accompany them, and which are much superior to those of the French writers.[I]
Dr Robinson appears, by his notices contained in the "Philosophical Letters between the late learned Mr Ray and several of his ingenious Correspondents," to have been of considerable use to our author in transmitting information on every subject that seemed interesting to the latter, and especiallyin procuring objects for description. In one of his communications from Geneva is a passage respecting the celebrated Malpighi, which exhibits the character of that great anatomist in a favourable light:—"I had several conferences with S. Malpighi at Bononia, who expressed a great respect for you, and is not a little proud of the character you give him in your Method. Plantar. Nov., which book I had presented him withal a day before. Just as I left Bononia I had a lamentable spectacle of Malpighi's house all in flames, occasioned by the negligence of his old wife. All his pictures, furniture, books, and manuscripts, were burnt. I saw him in the very heat of the calamity, and methought I never beheld so much Christian patience and philosophy in any man before; for he comforted his wife, and condol'd nothing but the loss of his papers, which are more lamented than the Alexandrian Library, or Bartholine's Bibliothece at Copenhagen."
Of the epistolary correspondence of this gentleman, and of Sir Hans Sloane, it may be interesting to some of our readers to peruse a specimen:—
Dr Robinson to Mr Ray."London, August 1, —84."Sir,—I have sent you twoMacreuses, male and female, and hope they will come safe to Black Notley. My ingenious and worthy friend Mr Charlton (now at London) procur'd them for me at Paris, who hath them both design'd to the life in proper colours by the most accurate hand in France. If you saw the pictures I believe they would give you a better insight than these skins, which are a little broke and chang'd; yet neverthelessyour most discerning faculties may discover that in the dark which few can distinguish at noon-day. This Parisian bird (very famous of late) may be no unwelcome subject, it being in Lent, and upon maigre days, the greatest dainty of convents. I have been told by several of the most learned priests beyond sea, that the macreuse was as much a fish as the barnacle (and indeed I am of the same opinion), that the blood was the same in every quality with that of fishes; as also the fat, which (as they falsely affirm) will not fix, dry, or grow hard, but always remains in an oily consistence. Upon these and other reasons the Sorbonists have ranked the macreuse in the class of fishes. For the rest I refer you to my paper from Paris, and impatiently wait for your judgment, for which I have a particular esteem."
Dr Robinson to Mr Ray.
"London, August 1, —84.
"Sir,—I have sent you twoMacreuses, male and female, and hope they will come safe to Black Notley. My ingenious and worthy friend Mr Charlton (now at London) procur'd them for me at Paris, who hath them both design'd to the life in proper colours by the most accurate hand in France. If you saw the pictures I believe they would give you a better insight than these skins, which are a little broke and chang'd; yet neverthelessyour most discerning faculties may discover that in the dark which few can distinguish at noon-day. This Parisian bird (very famous of late) may be no unwelcome subject, it being in Lent, and upon maigre days, the greatest dainty of convents. I have been told by several of the most learned priests beyond sea, that the macreuse was as much a fish as the barnacle (and indeed I am of the same opinion), that the blood was the same in every quality with that of fishes; as also the fat, which (as they falsely affirm) will not fix, dry, or grow hard, but always remains in an oily consistence. Upon these and other reasons the Sorbonists have ranked the macreuse in the class of fishes. For the rest I refer you to my paper from Paris, and impatiently wait for your judgment, for which I have a particular esteem."
The bird referred to in this letter, and concerning which Mr Ray had not previously been able to satisfy himself, is the scoter or black-duck (Anas nigraof Linnæus, Latham, and Temminck). "Why they of the Church of Rome should allow this bird to be eaten in Lent, and upon other fasting days, more than others of this kind," we see no reason, any more than Mr Ray did. Perhaps the story of the barnacle's originating from a shell of the same name, may have been invented for a similar purpose. On this head we have the following testimony from Hector Boëce:—"All trees that are cast into the seas, by process of time, appear first worm-eaten, and in the small holes and bores thereof grow small worms; first, they show their head and feet, and last of all they show their plumes and wings; finally,when they are coming to the just measure and quantity of geese, they fly in the air as other fowls do, as was notably proven in the year of God 1480, in sight of many people, beside the Castle of Pitsligo." The evidence of Gerard, the herbalist, on this subject is an excellent specimen of leasing:—"What our eyes have seen," saith the venerable man, "and our hands have touched, we shall declare. There is a small island in Lancashire, called the Pile of Soulders, wherein are found broken pieces of old and bruised ships, some whereof have been cast thither by shipwrecks; also the trunks and bodies, with the branches, of old and rotten trees, cast up there likewise, whereon is found a certain spume or froth, that in time breedeth into certain shells, in shape like those of the muscle, but sharper-pointed, and of a whitish colour, and the end whereof is fastened unto the inside of the shell, even as the fish of oysters and muscles are, and the other end is made fast unto the belly of a rude mass or lump, which, in time, cometh into the shape and form of a bird. When it is perfectly formed, the shell gapeth open, and then the first thing that appeareth is the aforesaid lace or string; next cometh the legs of the bird hanging out; and, as the bird groweth greater, it openeth the shell by degrees, till at length it has all come forth and hangeth only by the bill. In short space after it cometh to full maturity, and falleth into the sea, where it gathereth feathers, and groweth to a fowl, bigger than a mallard, and lesser than a goose, having black legs and bill or beak, and feathers black and white, spotted in such manner as our magpie, called in some places pie-annes, which the people of Lancashire call by no othername than tree-goose; which place aforesaid, and all those places adjoining, do so much abound therewith, that one of the best is bought for three-pence. For the truth hereof, if any doubt, may it please them to repair to me, and I will satisfy them by the testimonies of good witnesses."
Now the whole substance of this wondrous narrative is simply this:—There is a species of goose called barnacle, and there is a species of cirripedous animal or shell-fish bearing the same name. The latter animal is furnished with certain filamentary organs which may be imagined to bear a semblance to feathers; and hence the conclusion that it must be a bird in the progress of development, which is finally converted into a goose. A refutation of the inference here made does not require the acuteness of an Aristotle. Gerard saw the shells, no doubt, but the rest he dreamt; and the good people beside the Castle of Pitsligo may have seen a flock of geese, but what else they saw nobody cares. But let us now hear Sir Hans.
Sir Hans Sloane to Mr Ray."London, March 9, 169-8/9."Sir,—This day a large tyger was baited by three bear-dogs, one after another. The first dog he kill'd; the second was a match for him, and sometimes he had the better, sometimes the dog; but the battle was at last drawn, and neither car'd for engaging any farther. The third dog had likewise sometimes the better, and sometimes the worse of it; and it came also to a drawn battle. But the wisest dog of all was a fourth, that neither by fair means nor foul could be brought to go within reach of the tyger, who was chain'd in the middle of alarge cock-pit. The owner got about £300 for this show, the best seats being a guinea, and the worst five shillings. The tyger used his paws very much to cuff his adversaries with, and sometimes would exert his claws, but not often; using his jaws most, and aiming at under or upper sides of the neck, where wounds are dangerous. He had a fowl given him alive, which, by means of his feet and mouth, he very artfully first pluck'd, and then eat, the feathers, such as got into his mouth, being troublesome. The remainders of his drink, in which he has lapp'd, is said by his keeper to kill dogs and other animals that drink after him, being, by his fome, made poisonous and ropy. I hope you will pardon this tedious narration, because I am apt to think 'tis very rare that such a battle happens, or such a fine tyger is seen here."
Sir Hans Sloane to Mr Ray.
"London, March 9, 169-8/9.
"Sir,—This day a large tyger was baited by three bear-dogs, one after another. The first dog he kill'd; the second was a match for him, and sometimes he had the better, sometimes the dog; but the battle was at last drawn, and neither car'd for engaging any farther. The third dog had likewise sometimes the better, and sometimes the worse of it; and it came also to a drawn battle. But the wisest dog of all was a fourth, that neither by fair means nor foul could be brought to go within reach of the tyger, who was chain'd in the middle of alarge cock-pit. The owner got about £300 for this show, the best seats being a guinea, and the worst five shillings. The tyger used his paws very much to cuff his adversaries with, and sometimes would exert his claws, but not often; using his jaws most, and aiming at under or upper sides of the neck, where wounds are dangerous. He had a fowl given him alive, which, by means of his feet and mouth, he very artfully first pluck'd, and then eat, the feathers, such as got into his mouth, being troublesome. The remainders of his drink, in which he has lapp'd, is said by his keeper to kill dogs and other animals that drink after him, being, by his fome, made poisonous and ropy. I hope you will pardon this tedious narration, because I am apt to think 'tis very rare that such a battle happens, or such a fine tyger is seen here."
Ray had many other correspondents besides those of whom mention has been made. Their communications, however, seem neither very interesting in themselves, nor so closely connected with our narrative as to render it necessary to introduce any extracts. But, as we have given some samples of his friends' letters, it may be thought right to present one of his own.
Mr Ray to Dr Robinson."Black Notley, Dec. 15, —98."Sir,—The essay you propound concerning the ancient and modern learning were not difficult to make; but I think you are better qualified for such an undertaking than I, and therefore shall refer it to you. In summe the ancients excel themoderns in nothing but acuteness of wit and elegancy of language in all their writings, in their poetry and oratory. As for painting and sculpture, and musick and architecture, some of the moderns I think do equal, if not excel, the best of them, not in the theory only, but also in the practice of those arts: Neither do we give place to them in politicks or morality; but in natural history and experimental philosophy we far transcend them. In the purely mathematical sciences, abstracted from matter, as geometry and arithmetick, we may vie with them, as also in history; but in astronomy, geography, and chronology, we excel them much. No wonder they should outstrip us in those arts which are conversant in polishing and adorning their language, because they bestowed all their time and pains in cultivating of them, and had but one, and that their native tongue, to mind. But those arts are by wise men censured, as far inferior to the study of things, words being but the pictures of things; and to be wholly occupied about them, is to fall in love with a picture, and neglect the life; and oratory, which is the best of these arts, is but a kind of voluptuary one, like cookery, which sophisticates meats, and cheats the palate, spoiling wholsome viands, and helping unwholsome."
Mr Ray to Dr Robinson.
"Black Notley, Dec. 15, —98.
"Sir,—The essay you propound concerning the ancient and modern learning were not difficult to make; but I think you are better qualified for such an undertaking than I, and therefore shall refer it to you. In summe the ancients excel themoderns in nothing but acuteness of wit and elegancy of language in all their writings, in their poetry and oratory. As for painting and sculpture, and musick and architecture, some of the moderns I think do equal, if not excel, the best of them, not in the theory only, but also in the practice of those arts: Neither do we give place to them in politicks or morality; but in natural history and experimental philosophy we far transcend them. In the purely mathematical sciences, abstracted from matter, as geometry and arithmetick, we may vie with them, as also in history; but in astronomy, geography, and chronology, we excel them much. No wonder they should outstrip us in those arts which are conversant in polishing and adorning their language, because they bestowed all their time and pains in cultivating of them, and had but one, and that their native tongue, to mind. But those arts are by wise men censured, as far inferior to the study of things, words being but the pictures of things; and to be wholly occupied about them, is to fall in love with a picture, and neglect the life; and oratory, which is the best of these arts, is but a kind of voluptuary one, like cookery, which sophisticates meats, and cheats the palate, spoiling wholsome viands, and helping unwholsome."
Before resuming our narrative it may be proper to state some particulars respecting the celebrated founder of the British Museum, to whom there has been more than one occasion of alluding in the preceding pages. Sir Hans Sloane was born at Killileagh in Ireland on the 16th April 1660. His father was a Scotchman, who headed a colony which, in thereign of James I., was planted in the northern part of the sister isle. Having at an early age evinced a decided taste for natural history, he chose the profession of medicine, and after studying four years in London, where he became acquainted with Boyle and Ray, went to Paris, and afterwards to Montpellier, in which latter place he took his degree. At the age of twenty-four he settled in London, and became a Member of the Royal Society. In April 1687, he was made a Fellow of the College of Physicians, and in November following embarked for Jamaica as physician to the Duke of Albemarle, who was appointed governor of the island; but that nobleman having died soon after his arrival, Dr Sloane returned to England after an absence of only fifteen months. In 1693, he was made secretary to the Royal Society, and in the ensuing year named physician to Christ's Hospital; in 1701, he obtained a medical diploma from Oxford, and, in 1708, was elected an Associate of the Academy of Sciences at Paris. In 1716, he was created a baronet by George I., an honour which no medical man had previously obtained, and afterwards was raised to the rank of physician-general to the army. On the accession of George II. he was made physician in ordinary to his Majesty; and on the death of Sir Isaac Newton, in 1727, succeeded that illustrious philosopher in the chair of the Royal Society, which he occupied till 1740, when his advanced age induced him to resign it. He died at Chelsea on the 11th January 1752.
Sir Hans Sloane was a man of the most respectable character, being distinguished not less for his liberality and patriotic zeal, than by his attainments in science. The most important of his worksis the Natural History of Jamaica, of which the first volume appeared in 1707, the second not till 1725. He was a governor of most of the hospitals of the metropolis, to which he left considerable sums. He set on foot the scheme of a dispensary for the poor; gave the Apothecaries' Company a piece of ground for a botanic garden; and on many occasions exerted himself effectually for the public benefit. Such a man is undoubtedly worthy of more honour and admiration than the mere author, who, it may be from the most selfish motives, labours in solitude to enlighten the world and illustrate himself: "The good that men do too often dies with them," and as books are legacies of which the benefit is more extended than that of individual acts of generosity or patriotism, people are ever ready to laud an author, even although they may not clearly see wherein his merit lies; while the truly good, whose lives are a continued scene of beneficence, have but a slight hold on the admiration of posterity. The share which Sir Hans Sloane had in the establishment of the British Museum is the circumstance on which his reputation seems now chiefly to depend. Having made an extensive museum of natural history, medals, books, and manuscripts, he bequeathed it to the public, on condition that £20,000 should be paid to his executors,—a sum far from equal to the value of the collection. In 1753, an act was passed by the legislature for purchasing it and the Harleian manuscripts, as well as for procuring a general repository for their better reception and more convenient use, the Cottonian library included. In this manner commenced the British Museum, which,by the numerous and extensive additions made to it, has become worthy of the greatest empire of modern times; although, in the department of natural history, it is admitted to be still much inferior to the National Museum of France, and, in several branches of zoology, to be surpassed by many collections in Britain.
Mr Ray, who had now betaken himself to a more sedentary and studious mode of life, began to suffer severely in his health. His Catalogue of English Plants having become scarce, he was solicited by some friends to improve it for a third edition, which he accordingly did; but a difference arising between him and the booksellers, to whom the copyright belonged, he forthwith resolved to publish it in another form. In the mean time, however, to satisfy his friends, he printed his Fasciculus Stirpium Britannicarum, as a substitute for the Catalogue. In 1690, appeared the Synopsis Methodica Stirpium Britannicarum, which may be considered as the most important work on British plants that has been hitherto written, with the exception of Sir James Smith's English Botany, and its continuation by Dr Hooker. It was farther augmented by him, and reprinted in 1696, together with a description of the Cryptogamic plants, which had hitherto received little attention.
Having thus published many important works on natural history, he resolved to compose another in which he should unite that science with his proper profession of divinity, and accordingly commenced his Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of the Deity,—a performance on which his popular fame now principally rests. When finished he transmittedit, in March 1690, to his friend Dr Tancred Robinson, who disposed of it agreeably to his directions; so that it made its appearance in the following year. One of his reasons for writing this admirable treatise he expresses in the following words:—"By virtue of my function I suspect myself to be obliged to write something in divinity, having written so much on other subjects; for being not permitted to serve the church with my tongue in preaching, I know not but it may be my duty to serve it with my hand by writing; and I have made choice of this subject, as thinking myself best qualified to treat of it. If what I have now written," he continues, "shall find so favourable acceptance as to encourage me to proceed, God granting life and health, the reader may expect more; if otherwise, I must be content to be laid aside as useless, and satisfy myself in having made this experiment."
The objects of this work, which is entitled The Wisdom of God manifested in the Works of the Creation, were,1st, To demonstrate the existence of a Deity;2dly, To illustrate some of his principal attributes;3dly, "To stir up and increase in us the affections and habits of admiration, humility, and gratitude." Like many excellent theological treatises of former times, it is now less frequently read than it deserves to be. Happily, however, we have volumes of more recent date, which inculcate the same principles, with perhaps more accuracy of detail in all that relates to science. From a passage in it we learn what was his conception of the true character of a naturalist: "Let it not suffice us," says he, "to be book-learned, to read what others have written, and to take upon trust more falsehood thantruth. But let us ourselves examine things as we have opportunity, and converse with nature as well as books. Let us endeavour to promote and increase this knowledge, and make new discoveries, not so much distrusting our own parts, or despairing of our own abilities, as to think that our industry can add nothing to the invention of our ancestors, or correct any of their mistakes. Let us not think that the bounds of science are fixed like Hercules' pillars, and inscribed with ane plus ultra. Let us not think we have done when we have learnt what they have delivered to us. The treasures of nature are inexhaustible. Here is employment enough for the vastest parts, the most indefatigable industries, the happiest opportunities, the most prolix and undisturbed vacancies."
As a specimen of the author's manner and reasoning, we may present a passage in which he refutes the opinion of Descartes, that it were an absurd and childish thing, and a resembling of God to a proud man, to assert, that he had made the world, and all the creatures in it, for his own honour. "It is most reasonable that God Almighty should intend his own glory: For he being infinite in all excellencies and perfections, and independent upon any other being, nothing can be said or thought of him too great, and which he may not justly challenge as his due; nay, he cannot think too highly of himself, his other attributes being adequate to his understanding; so that, though his understanding be infinite, yet he understands no more than his power can effect, because that is infinite also. And, therefore, it is fit and reasonable, that he should own and accept the creatures' acknowledgments and celebrationsof those virtues and perfections, which he hath not received of any other, but possesseth eternally and originally of himself. And, indeed (with reverence be it spoken), what else can we imagine the ever-blessed Deity to delight and take complacency in for ever, but his own infinite excellencies and perfections, and the manifestations and effects of them, the works of the creation, and the sacrifices of praise and thanks offered up by such of his creatures as are capable of considering those works, and discerning the traces and footsteps of his power and wisdom appearing in the formation of them; and, moreover, whose bounden duty it is so to do. The reason why man ought not to admire himself, or seek his own glory, is, because he is a dependent creature, and hath nothing but what he hath received; and not only dependent, but imperfect; yea, weak and impotent: And yet I do not take humility in man to consist in disowning or denying any gift or ability that is in him, but in a just valuation of such gifts and endowments, yet rather thinking too meanly than too highly of them; because human nature is so apt to err in running into the other extreme, to flatter itself, and to accept those praises that are not due to it; pride being an elation of spirit upon false grounds, or a desire and acceptance of undue honour. Otherwise, I do not see why a man may not admit, and accept the testimonies of others, concerning any perfection, accomplishment, or skill, that he is really possessed of; yet can he not think of himself to deserve any praise or honour for it, because both the power and the habit are the gift of God: And considering that one virtue is counterbalanced by many vices, andone skill or perfection with much ignorance and infirmity."
This book obtaining general approbation, the impression, which consisted of 500 copies, was quickly sold off. A new edition was therefore published, and several others succeeded. Encouraged by this success, he prepared for the press his Three Physico-theological Discourses, concerning the Chaos, Deluge, and Dissolution of the World, the substance of which had been embodied in some sermons which he preached before the university. This work has also gone through several editions. In the opinion of the illustrious Cuvier, it affords "a system of geology as plausible as any of those which had appeared at this period, or for a long time afterwards;" and if it contain facts and arguments which are not now admitted as accurate or conclusive, this, with our experience of like defects in other theories, should teach us to moderate our zeal in defending any hypothesis elicited from the partial examination of that complex system, which, being the work of infinite power and wisdom, cannot be thoroughly understood by minds constituted like ours.
In one of these works is an estimate of the number of animals and plants known in Ray's time, to which it is of importance that we should advert, as it furnishes an interesting fact in the history of science. According to the author's classification, animate bodies are divided into four orders, "beasts, birds, fishes, and insects." The number ofbeasts, including alsoserpents, that had been accurately described, he estimates at not above 150, adding that, according to his belief, "not many, that are ofany considerable bigness, in the known regions of the world, have escaped the cognizance of the curious." At the present day, more than 1000 species have been described. The number ofbirds, he says, "may be near 500; and the number offishes, secluding shell-fish, as many: but, if theshell-fishbe taken in, more than six times the number." As to the species remaining undiscovered, he supposes "the whole sum of beasts and birds to exceed by a third part, and fishes by one-half, those known." The number ofinsects, that is, of animals not included in the above classes, he estimates at 2000 in Britain alone, and 20,000 in the whole world. The number ofplantsdescribed in Bauhin's Pinax was 6000, and our author supposes, that "there are in the world more than triple that number; there being in the vast continent of America as great a variety of species as with us, and yet but few common to Europe, or perhaps Africk and Asia. And if," says he, "on the other side the equator, there be much land still remaining undiscovered, as probably there may, we must suppose the number of plants to be far greater."—"What," he continues, "can we infer from all this? If the number of creatures be so exceeding great, how great, nay immense, must needs be the power and wisdom of Him who formed them all!"
Early in 1692, the Synopsis Methodica Animalium Quadrupedum et Serpentini Generis was finished, and published the year after. Important as were the botanical writings of Ray, his zoological works have had a more decided influence on the advancement of natural history. "Their peculiar character," says Cuvier, "consists in clearer and stricter methodsthan those of any of his predecessors, and applied with more constancy and precision. The divisions which he has introduced into the classes of quadrupeds and birds have been followed by the English naturalists almost to our own day; and we find very evident traces of his system of birds in Linnæus, Brisson, Buffon, and all the authors who have treated of that class of animals." In the Synopsis of Four-footed animals and Serpents, he commences with an interesting discussion respecting the nature and faculties of animals. The definition, however, on which he proceeds is scarcely correct, or at least sufficiently distinctive:—"An animal is an animated body, endowed with sense and spontaneous motion, or rather with the faculty of feeling and moving, although it may not change place." In treating of the generation of the lower species, he discusses the subject of spontaneous or equivocal origin, the idea of which he refutes, and endeavours to prove that all animals were created at one time. The division of them into viviparous and oviparous he rejects, alleging, that all are in one sense or other oviparous. The most suitable primary division, he says, is intobloodedandbloodless, or, as we should say, red-blooded and white-blooded. The former may be divided into those which respire bylungs, and those which respire bygills. The first of these are again divided into such as have two ventricles to the heart, and such as have only one. Animals with two ventricles are viviparous, asQuadrupedsandCetacea, or oviparous, asBirds. Those having a heart furnished with a single ventricle, are theOviparous Quadrupeds, and serpents. Animals that respire by gills are the trueFishes, not includingwhales. Thewhite-blooded animals are divided into the larger and the smaller. The former, he says, are suitably divided by Aristotle into three kinds or orders: 1.Mollusca; 2.Crustacea; 3.Testacea. The smaller white-blooded animals are theInsects. The following table exhibits a summary of this classification, which is essentially that of Aristotle:—