The Redwood gazette., 1894-08-02

placed on war footing equal to that
of the other army. So that the goose
may well point with pride to his long
unbroken lineage and cheerfully place
it alongside that Of the Amsterdam and
Tinkersdam dudes of New York.
Aristotle was the first author to write
upon ornithology, 385 years before
Christ. He says in his preface that he
had predecessors, but admits with sor-
row that they were men who did not
know enough to ache when they got
hurt.
Aristotle referred casually to only ITO
varieties of birds and threw very little
light even on those. He found out that
they mostly laid eggs and by the warmth
of the body Matched these out, there
by reproducing their species and keep
ing the market supplied. Aristotle did
his work SO poorly that after the lapse
of more than 2, 900 years over 20 of the
ITO birds cannot be recognized by his
description.
Aristotle was not great success as 8
writer anyway, and, though his work
on ornithology was announced as for sale
only by subscription and hope to die if
anybody else ever sold one, yet inside of
80 days it could be had at 10 cents on
the counter of the leading dry goods
men all over town, so we see that he
was not exactly on the level.
Pliny followed about the beginning
Of the Christian era and issued work
on ornithology which was very popular
during Pilates term on the bench.
Pliny's full name was Caius Plinius
Secundus. He was commonly called
Pliny the Elder, having been, l pre-
sumo, presiding elder of that circuit.
Pliny was bright and clever man, but
poor speller. He says he has divided
the bird family into those which have
''hooked tallons as hawkes., or round
long claws as hennes, or else they be
broad, latte and whole footed as geese
and all the sort in manner of water
foule." A man who will spell hens that
way should have been reproached till
he couldn't sit down or week.
Other authors followed Elder Pliny
for 10 centuries, but their names have
been barely rescued from oblivion, and
not until the time of Linn8us, in 1885,
did any one begin to shed bird knowledge
Of some value abroad over benighted
land. He claimed that verbosity was
:he bane Of science, as it undoubtedly
was and still is. He therefore made his
work so terse that it often required a
clalrvoyant to go into trance and find
out what he meant
L.un9us was called the reformer be-
cause- he made important changes in the
classification of birds, dividing them
first, i; am not mistaken, into two
great csasses-viz:
Frst-Those which swallow the cud.
Second.-Those which do not.
In ITO Button got out an excellent
book on oyuithology, with over 1000
beautiful cosored plates. Button had his
critics. and modern writer says,
"Strictly orthodox though he professed
to be, there were those both among his
own countrymea and foreigners who
could not read cis speculative indict-
ments Of the workings of nature with
out shudder, and it is easy for any one
in these days to fralae a reply pointed
with ridicule to such chapter as he
wrote on the wretched fate of the wood
pecker."
Looking over the history Of science,
and ornithology especially, it would seem
that am about the only scientist who
has not written on this subject
I shall divide birds into two great
classes-viz:
First-Those which sit up late at
night
Second-Thoee which do not
Each Of these classes, Of course, may
be again divided and subdivided into
waders, soratchers, squawkers, ETC.
/ The ornithology Of North Carolina