only the history of his own time, but also the natural history of Persia and of India, and that probably with more accuracy than has been usually attributed to him. India he had not visited personally, so that he could only describe it from the information of others; but this implies that he was not alone in the studies which he devoted to natural objects. With such predecessors and aided by his own acute observations, we need not wonder that Aristotle produced a work which has ever been admired by naturalists, and must continue to rise in their estimation the longer it is in their hands.

The Index to the present volume has been formed on the basis of that of Schneider, and considerable pains have been taken to add as many names as possible from other sources, especially the Index of Strack, and Külb's recent translation of the History of Animals, both of which contain identifications of a great many animals. A few identifications have also been added from Liddell and Scott's Lexicon, as well as from Professor Bell's Catalogue of Animals in Captain Spratt's work on Lycia; and the cephalopods are named from Professor Owen's article on that class, in the Cyclopædia of Anatomy. It is hoped, therefore, that the Index will be found to contain a greater number of suggestions for the identification of the animals mentioned by Aristotle than have been hitherto published collectively. It is also right to add, that it has been compiled after the translation was completed; and, therefore, in any differences which may be found between the identifications at the foot of the page and those given in the Index, the reader will rather prefer the latter, as the result of later research in works which were not accessible when the translation was made.

April 30, 1862.

R. C.

ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS.

BOOK I.-The work commences with a general review of
the animal kingdom, and several suggestions for a natural
arrangement of animals in groups, according to their
external form or their mode of life, a comparison of animals
among themselves, and a description of some of their habits.
Aristotle then introduces the human form, the best known
to man, as the standard of comparison to which he refers
the rest of the animal kingdom. The concluding chapters
of this book are occupied with a description of the several
parts of the human body, both internal and external.

BOOK II.-In the second book the different parts of ani-
mals are described. The animals are arranged in various
groups, viviparous and oviparous quadrupeds, fish, ser-
pents, birds. The only animals described are those with
red blood: the description of the rest being reserved for the
fourth book. Their internal organs are also described; and
in the course of the book a few animals, as the аре, ele-
phant, and chameleon, are especially noticed.

BOOK III.-The third book commences with a description
of the internal organs, beginning with the generative
system. A considerable portion of the book is devoted to
the course of the veins; and Aristotle quotes from other
writers, as well as states the result of his own observations.
He then describes the nature of other constituent parts of
the body, sinews, fibres, bone, marrow, cartilage, nails,
hoofs, claws, horns, and beaks of birds, hair, scales, mem-
branes, flesh, fat, blood, marrow, milk, and the spermatic fluid.
Book IV.-Animals without blood, and first, the cepha

lopods, are described; then the crustaceans, testacea, echinidæ, ascidians, actiniæ, hermit crabs, insects. In the eighth chapter the organs of sense are considered, and afterwards, the voice, sleep, age, and differences of the sexes in animals are described.

Book V.-In the former books animals are for the most part described with reference to their several parts. In the fifth book they are treated as entire, and especially with regard to their mode of reproduction. First of all, our author treats of spontaneous reproduction, and then of those animals which spring from a union of the sexes; and from this he proceeds to some detail with respect to different groups of animals, testacea, crustacea, insects. The book concludes with a long description of bees and their habits.

Book VI.—In this book the same subject is continued through the several classes of birds, fish, and quadrupeds. This account of the reproduction of animals includes also the consideration of the seasons, climates, and ages of animals, and how far these influence their reproduction.

BOOK VII.-The seventh book is almost entirely devoted to the consideration of the reproduction of man, and an account of man from his birth to his death. This book ends abruptly, and is probably imperfect.

BOOK VIII.-In the eighth book Aristotle passes on to the most interesting part of his work, the character and habits of the whole animal world, as it was known to him. The amount of detail which he has collected and arranged on this subject is most interesting. He treats, first of all, of the food of animals, of their migrations, their health and diseases, and the influence of climate upon them.

Book IX.-The subject of the eighth book is continued, with an account of the relations in which animals stand

to each other, and especially the friendship and hostility of different species; and these are for the most part referred to the nature of their food, and their mode of procuring it. The notices of fish are not so numerous as those of other groups: this would necessarily arise from the difficulty of observation. At the conclusion of the book, an essay on bees and their congeners is given at considerable length.

BOOK X.-This book, in all probability erroneously ascribed to Aristotle, is occupied with a treatise on the causes of barrenness in the human species. It appears to be rather a continuation of the seventh book, which ends abruptly; but it is well placed at the end, as no genuine work of our author.