NATURAL HISTORY is a description of the earth and of the plants and animals that have inhabited the earth, or are still dwellers therein. Its branches are geology, mineralogy, and botany. It is the province of geology to trace and correlate in historical sequence the physical changes that the earth's crust has under gone under the influence of volcanic forces, and the strains resulting from the contraction of the globe, as well as of the not less potent agency of water in its various phases of rain and river, sea and ice. Mineralogy deals with the nature and characteristics of the materials that undergo these changes: It classifies the separate substances that are mingled and massed together to form a rock, or that may be met with in an isolated condition in cavities or veins, or as transported bodies. Substances of this kind, which, when isolated, are homogeneous and definite in their composition and character, are minerals, and when submitted to analysis are shown by the chemist to be composed of elements, not mingled as are the minerals in a rock, but united accord ing to the laws of chemical combination. The result of the study of rocks, and of their com ponent minerals, has been to show that the great mass of the earth's crust is formed of aggregations of minerals belonging to a very small number of the types that have been determined by the mineralogist.
The geological formations in Peninsular India are arranged as— Recent and post-tertiary. Ccenozoic Tertiary.
Mesozoic— • Dekhan trap series.
Marine cretaceous rocks. Marine Jurassic rocks. Gondwana system.
Pulteozoic.
Azoic Vindhyan series.
Transition or sub-metamorphic rocks. Metamorphic or gnoissic.
Minerals of the British Museum are arranged in five principal divisioni:— I. Native elements.
IL Compounds of metals, with (1.) Elements of the arsenic group (the arse noids, -viz. bismuth, antimony, and arsenic).
(ii.) of the sulphur group (the thionids, viz, tellurium, selenium, and sulphur).
(iii.) and (iv.) Elements of both the arsenic and sulphur groups.
III. Compounds of metals with elements of the chlo rine group (the halogen elements—iodine, bromine, chlorine, and fluorine).
IV. Compounds ofielements with oxygen.
V. Organic compounds.
The biological sciences deal with the forms of life that have existed or still exist on the globe. As a whole, they are designated the Animal King dom. Its primary divisions, according to Huxley (1869), Herr Carus and Gerstaeker (1868), and British Museum (1883), have been given as under :— Canis and Huxley. British Museum.
Gerstaeker, L Protozoa • 1. Protozoa. 1. Protozoa.
2. Infusoria.
3. Coelentemta. 2. Coelenterate. 2. Coelenterate.
4. Annuloida. 3. Echinodermate, 3. Echinodermata.
j4. Vermes. 4. Annulosa.
5. Arthropoda. 5. Arthropoda.
6. Molluscoida. C. Molluscoida.
16. Mollusca, 7. Molluscs,. 7. Mollusca.
S. Vertebrate. 8. Vertebrate. 7. Vertebrate.
The science of botany treats of everything relating to plants whether in a living or a fossil state. Since the 17th century, there have been several classifications proposed by eminent men, prominent among whom are Linnaeus, who died 8th January 1778, whose arrangement was based on the sexes of plants. Subsequently, Antoine Laurent de Jussieu put forward a system, which is known as the natural classification ; he died in 1836, but his son Adrian adopted his father's views. The next great botanist was De Candolle, whose system is a modification of that of Jussieu ; and at the present day, De Candolle's Prodromus and Lind ley's Vegetable Kingdom are largely accepted as guides in systematic botany, according to the natural system. The names of the classes, such as acrogen, endogen, exogen, are derived from Greek words.
Neither the Buddhist nor the Brahmanical nor the non-Aryan races of India have ever directed their attention to these sciences. The two known works of Arabia, Persia, and India are the Ajaib-ul-Makhln-qat wa Ghraib-ul-Maujudat, the Wonders of Creation and the Marvels of Things Existing, written in Arabic by Zakariya - bin Muhammad-bin-Mahmud, and which he completed A.D. 1363. In A.D. 1535-1557, in the reign of Ibrahim Adal Shah, it was translated into Persian, and in 1865 this was _Rrillted in lithograph. It was subsequently transIttted eito Urdu, and printed by Maulana Muhammad Husain, and again in Persian in 1869. All the editions are illustrated, but the figures of monsters are imaginary. It is, however, a work of great merit for the 14th century. The other work is the Jalian That . the Hindus have no work on natural history is remarkable, seeing that they have before their eyes much to excite their curiosity, their wonder, and their fear ; and while the strati fied rocks of their country contain the remains of many huge extinct creatures of bygone ages, the elephant yet roams wild in the forest tracts, crocodiles infest the river banks, the lion, tiger, panther, leopard, wolf, and wild dog destroy great numbers of other creatures, and many human beings fall victims to the bites of poisonous snakes.