GESNER, KONRAD VON, a celebrated Swiss naturalist, was li. at Zurich in 1516, and died there of the plague Dec. 13, 1565. His father, who was a leather-seller, was too poor to pay for more than the first years of his educatio6 at the town-school; but John Jacob Ammianus, professor of Latin and oratory in the college, saw in the boy so much promise, that he took him intb his house, and instructed him gratuitously for 'three years in Latin, Greek, dialectics, and oratory. He subsequently studied for three or four years at Paris, whence he was summoned hack to Zurich, to become a teacher the school in which he had derived the elements of his own education. He devoted all his spare time to the study of medicine and botany, in the hope of ultimately rising from the office of a schoolmaster to that of a professor. The hope was gratified upon the opening of the university of Lausanne, when he was appointed professor of Greek. After holding the office three years, he went to Montpellier, where he attended medical lectures, and to Basel, where, after additional study, and the usual disputa tions, he was admitted to the degree of doctor of medicine. 'He then, at the age of 25 years, returned to his native town. In a very short time be received the appoint ment of professsor of philosophy, which he held until his death. He likewise practiced medicine, and published, from time to time, the fruit of his studies. As, in the course of his life, he published no less than 72 works, besides leaving at his death 18 that were in progress, it will be impossible for us to notice more than a few of the most impor tant. Ills first great work, the Baliotheca Universalis, appeared when he was only 29 vcars old. It contained the titles of all the books then known in Hebrew, Greek, and 'Latin, with criticisms and summaries of each; and, as an index to authors who wrote before the year 1545, it remainsto this day very valuable. Ten years later (in 1555). his
Afitkr;datm, de DIfferentlis Lin,quarum appeared, which contained histories of 130 ancient and modern languages. But by far the greatest of his literary works was his Historic dnimalium, which was planned in sOt.bonk, of which only7fottr were completed. The first treats of viviparous, and the second of oviparous quadrupeds (tortoises, lizards, etc.), the third of birds, the fourth of fishes and aquatic animals. The fifth book was to have contained the history of serpents, and the sixth that of insects. Each of the four published books is a folio of considerable thickness, and with closely printed pages. In this work, which will ever remain a monument of his untiring industry, he aimed at bringing together all that was known in his time concerning every animal. The information which he collected regarding each animal was arranged under eight heads, represented by the first eight letters of the alphabet. These four volutues con tain the complete history, up to the middle of the 16th c., of beasts, birds, and fishes, and well entitle their author to the designation which he often received of " the German Pliny." Botany was probably the section of natural history with 'Which he had the greatest practical acquaintance. He had collected more than 500 plants undescribed by the ancients, and was arranging the results of his labors in this. department at the time of his death. He appears to have been the first who made the great step towards a scien tific classification of distinguishing genera by a study of the fructification.