y facts for
the great work of his life, that 'History of Fishes' which he dedicated,
naturally enough, to the cardinal. This book with its plates is, for the
time, a masterpiece of accuracy. Those who are best acquainted with the
subject say, that it is up to the present day a key to the whole
ichthyology of the Mediterranean. Two other men, Belon and Salviani,
were then at work on the same subject, and published their books almost
at the same time; a circumstance which caused, as was natural, a three-
cornered duel between the supporters of the three naturalists, each party
accusing the other of plagiarism. The simple fact seems to be that the
almost simultaneous appearance of the three books in 1554-5 is one of
those coincidences inevitable at moments when many minds are stirred in
the same direction by the same great thoughts--coincidences which have
happened in our own day on questions of geology, biology, and astronomy;
and which, when the facts have been carefully examined, and the first
flush of natural jealousy has cooled down, have proved only that there
were more wise men than one in the world at the same time.

And this sixteenth century was an age in which the minds of men were
suddenly and strangely turned to examine the wonders of nature with an
earnestness, with a reverence, and therefore with an accuracy, with which
they had never been investigated before. "Nature," says Professor
Planchon, "long veiled in mysticism and scholasticism, was opening up
infinite vistas. A new superstition, the exaggerated worship of the
ancients, was nearly hindering this movement of thought towards facts.
Nevertheless learning did her work. She rediscovered, reconstructed,
purified, commented on the texts of ancient authors. Then came in
observation, which showed that more was to be seen in one blade of grass
than in any page of Pliny. Rondelet was in the middle of this crisis a
man of transition, while he was one of progress. He reflected the past;
he opened and prepared the future. If he commented on Dioscorides, if he
remained faithful to the theories of Galen, he founded in his 'History of
Fishes' a monument which our century respects. He is above all an
inspirer, an initiator; and if he wants one mark of the leader of a
school, the foundation of certain scientific doctrines, there is in his
speech what is better than all systems, the communicative power which
urges a generation of disciples along the path of