The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-08-01


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, $50 years before
Christ. He says in his preface that he
had predecessors, but admits with sor-
row that they We're men who did not
know enough to ache when they got
hurt
Aristotle referred casually TO only 10
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, 600 years over 20 of the
40 birds cannot be recognized by his
description
Aristotle was not a great success as a
writer anyway, and, though his work
on ornithology was announced rs 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 ali 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, / 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, fiatte and whole footed as geese
and all the sort in manner of water
fouIe - A man who will spell hens that
way should have been reproached till
he couldn't sit down for a week.
Other authors followed Elder Plinv
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
the bane Of science, as it undoubtedly
was and stil1 Is. He therefore made his
work so terse that it often required a
clairvOyant 70 go into trance and find
out what he meant.
LinnRus was called the reformer be-
cause he made important changes IN the
classification of birds, dividing them
first. if l am not mistaken, into two
great clasSes-viz:
First-Those which swallow the cud.
Second-Those which do not.
In 1870 Button got out an excellent
book on ornithOlogy. with over 1000
beautiful colored plates. Button had his
critics, and modern writer says,
Strictly orthodox though he profeSsed
70 be. there We're those both among his
own countrymen and foreigners who
could not read his speculative indiCt-
mentS Of the workings of nature with
ont a shudder, and it Is easy for any one
IN these days 10 frame a reply pointed
with ridicule 10 such chapter Is he
wrote on the wretched fate OF the wood
pecker. =
Looking over the history Of science,
and ornithology especially, 1t would seem
that l am about the only scientist who
has not written on this subject
l shall divide birds into Two great
claSSeS-yiZ:
First-Those which sit up late at
night
Second-Those which do not
Each Of these classes. Of course. may
be again divided and subdivIded into
waders, scratchers, squawkers, etc.
The oruithology OF North Carolina
rsuges all the way from the gigantic
hat 1ntidy bUzzard 10 the piqUant but
no. headed hornet.
Professor Huxley claimed in sub
stance that the bird family sOclosely re-
sembled the reptile family IN all essen
tial features Of organization that they
might be said 10 De merely an extremely
modified and aberranr reptii.an type
This i true when we begin 70 look
into the osSeoOS structure especially.
and with little batter on 1t frog :
hind leg somewhat resembles q quail :
Take the toad too. de has no doubt IL.