of the reptiles are noticed in the oldest writings that have escaped the ravages of time, or the destructive ignorance of barbarians. Several are alluded to in the Sacred Scriptures ; and we are clearly of opinion with Scheuchzer (Natural History of the Book of Job*) and Dr Young, (Notes on his Paraphrase on Job,) that the sublime description of leviathan, given in the 41st chapter of the book of Job, applies to no other animal with which we are acquainted', if not to the crocodile. His ample jaws and dreadful teeth, his compact impenetrable scales, his large and fiery eyes, his strength, ferocity, and courage, agree exactly with our best descriptions of the crocodile; and though some passages might lead us to conclude that the poet was describing an inhabitant of the ocean, this objec tion is trivial, when we reflect that the large rivers and lakes, which form the ordinary habitation of crocodiles, might, in the glowing and figurative languages of the East, without too much hyperbolical exaggeration, be designated by the terms deep and ocean.
Of the ancient classic naturalists who have written on reptiles, we need mention only Aristotle and Pliny. The for:ner, in his Historia ?inimalium, has described the croco dile, the salamander, and borne other species ; but the lat ter, in his Historia Aaturalis, has furnished the fullest ac count of reptiles, especially in his second, eighth, nikth, tenth, and twenty-eighth books, in which he relates allMiat was then known, and all that was believed, respecting the crocodile, the sea and land tortoises, the chameleon, and the basilisk. In the second book, he shows himself ac quainted with the fact, that reptiles are not destroyed by cutting off their limbs or tail ; in the eighth, he mentions the spectacle of five living crocodiles exhibited by Scau rus-, the edile, to the people of Rome ; in the ninth, he de scribes the mode then practised in India for taking tur tles; in the tenth, speaking of the crocodile, he tells us very gravely, that the male and female sit alternately on the eggs laid by the latter ; and in the twenty-eighth. be sides mentioning the utility of the skink, and several parts of the crocodile, as medicines, he details at considerable length the fabulous history of the chameleon.
Among the modern writers on natural history, Gesner, in part of his Historia Animalium, treats of oviparous qua drupeds, though the number which he describes is by no means very considerable. As usual with the writers of his time, he imitates the ancient naturalists in mingling truth with fable, especially in his second book, in which he describes the chameleon. In some respects, however, he
is very judicious. He notices the wonderful tenacity of life in reptiles, and particularly exemplifies it in the heart of the salamander.
About the same time with Gesner, viz in the middle of the 16th century, lived Rondelet, a native of Languedoc in France; who, in his work on fishes, has described some species of turtles as having been seen by him upon the coast of France.
That laborious collector and compiler, Aldrovandi, in that portion of his works which is dedicated to quadrupeds, describes many reptiles, especially the tortoise, the cro codile, the chameleon, and the salamander ; but as his ac counts are derived almost entirely from preceding authors, and abound with marvellous fictions, they are now rarely consulted.
In that part of Johnston's Historia Anima/juin which s dedicated to quadrupeds, we have also an account of se veral reptiles, among others the crocodile and the chame leon.
In the latter end of the 17th century, Blasius published his Anatonzia Aninzalium figuris yards illustrata, which contains some useful observations on the structure of reptiles. He particularly remarks the imperfection of their secreting organs. He also describes the manners of a tame tortoise which he kept, and its remarkable ab stinence.
About the same time appeared Sibbald's Prodromus Historice naturais Scotia, in which he describes some species of turtles as being found on the western coast of Scotland.
In 1685, Francis Redi published his Experimenta circa Varias res and about the same time his Italian work on the same subject. The experiments which Redi made on various species of tortoise are sufficiently cruel ; but they illustrate, in an eminent degree, the surprising tenacity of life possessed by these animals. They will be particularly noticed hereafter.
Our learned and scientific countryman, Ray, was the first naturalist who gave any thing like a rational account of reptiles, in his Synopsis Animalium. He describes more species of tortoise than were known before ; and, besides the crocodile, enumerates several rare species of The immortal Swedish naturalist, in his Systema .Nature, divided the class of amphibia into four orders,—reptiles having feet, serpents without feet, gliding reptiles, (meantes,) and swimming reptiles, (nantes). As the last order was afterwards removed to the class of fishes, and some other important emendations were introduced into subsequent editions of that laborious work, we shall defer any observations on Linnmus's method till we notice his last and best editor, Gmelin.