writer of antiquity. This man was Plinius Secundus, who, to
distinguish him from his nephew, a famous writer in another
field, is usually spoken of as Pliny the Elder. There is a famous
story to the effect that the great Roman historian Livy on one
occasion addressed a casual associate in the amphitheatre at
Rome, and on learning that the stranger hailed from the outlying
Spanish province of the empire, remarked to him, "Yet you have
doubtless heard of my writings even there." "Then," replied the
stranger, "you must be either Livy or Pliny."

The anecdote illustrates the wide fame which the Roman naturalist
achieved in his own day. And the records of the Middle Ages show
that this popularity did not abate in succeeding times. Indeed,
the Natural History of Pliny is one of the comparatively few
bulky writings of antiquity that the efforts of copyists have
preserved to us almost entire. It is, indeed, a remarkable work
and eminently typical of its time; but its author was an
industrious compiler, not a creative genius. As a monument of
industry it has seldom been equalled, and in this regard it seems
the more remarkable inasmuch as Pliny was a practical man of
affairs who occupied most of his life as a soldier fighting the
battles of the empire. He compiled his book in the leisure hours
stolen from sleep, often writing by the light of the camp-fire.
Yet he cites or quotes from about four thousand works, most of
which are known to us only by his references. Doubtless Pliny
added much through his own observations. We know how keen was his
desire to investigate, since he lost his life through attempting
to approach the crater of Vesuvius on the occasion of that
memorable eruption which buried the cities of Herculaneum and
Pompeii.

Doubtless the wandering life of the soldier had given Pliny
abundant opportunity for personal observation in his favorite
fields of botany and zoology. But the records of his own
observations are so intermingled with knowledge drawn from books
that it is difficult to distinguish the one from the other. Nor
does this greatly matter, for whether as closet-student or
field-naturalist, Pliny's trait of mind is essentially that of
the compiler. He was no philosophical thinker, no generalizer, no
path-maker in science. He lived at the close of a great
progressive epoch of thought; in one of those static periods when
numberless observers piled up an immense mass of details which
might advantageously be sorted into a kind of encyclopaedia. Such
an encyclopaedia is the so-called Natural History of Pliny. It is
a vast jumble of more or less uncritical statements regarding
almost every field of contemporary knowledge. The descriptions of
animals and plants predominate, but the work as a whole would
have been immensely improved had the compiler shown a more
critical spirit. As it is, he seems rather disposed to quote any
interesting citation that he comes across in his omnivorous
readings, shielding himself behind an equivocal "it is said," or
"so and so alleges." A single illustration will suffice to show
what manner of thing is thought worthy of repetition.

"It is asserted," he says, "that if the fish called a sea-star is
smeared with the fox's blood and then nailed to the upper lintel
of the door, or to the door itself, with a copper nail, no
noxious spell will be able to obtain admittance, or, at all
events, be productive of any ill effects."

It is easily comprehensible that a work fortified with such
practical details as this should have gained wide popularity.
Doubtless the natural histories of our own day would find readier
sale were they to pander to various superstitions not altogether
different from that here suggested. The man, for example, who
believes that to have a black cat cross his path is a lucky omen
would naturally find himself attracted by a book which took
account of this and similar important details of natural history.
Perhaps, therefore, it was its inclusion of absurdities, quite as
much as its legitimate value, that gave vogue to the celebrated
work of Pliny. But be that as it may, the most famous scientist
of Rome must be remembered as a popular writer rather than as an
experimental worker. In the history of the promulgation of
scientific knowledge his work is important; in the history of
scientific principles it may virtually be disregarded.


PTOLEMY, THE LAST GREAT ASTRONOMER OF ANTIQUITY

Almost the same thing may be said of Ptolemy, an even more
celebrated writer, who was born not very long after the death of
Pliny. The exact dates of Ptolemy's life are not known, but his
recorded observations extend to the year 151 A.D. He was a
working astronomer, and he made at least one original discovery
of some significance--namely, the observation of a hitherto
unrecorded irregularity of the moon's motion, which came to be
spoken of as the moon's evection. This consists of periodical
aberrations from the moon's regular motion in its orbit, which,
as we now know, are due to the gravitation pull of the sun, but
which remained unexplained until the time of Newton. Ptolemy also
made original observations as to the motions of the planets. He
is, therefore, entitled to a respectable place as an observing
astronomer; but his chief fame rests on his writings.

His great works have to do with geography and astronomy. In the
former field he makes an advance upon Strabo, citing the latitude
of no fewer than five thousand places. In the field of astronomy,
his great service was to have made known to the world the labors
of Hipparchus. Ptolemy has been accused of taking the star-chart
of his great predecessor without due credit, and indeed it seems


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