PAGE View of Naples and Mt. Vesuvius _Frontispiece._ The Indian Elephant 43 African Elephant.—_Loxodonta Africana_ 66 Gambian Lion.—_Leo Gambianus_ 72 Wild Cat.—_Felis Catus_ 75 Margay.—_Leopardus Tigrinus_ 77 Jaguar.—_Leopardus Onca_ 78 Tiger.—_Tigris Regális_ 79 Camel.—_Camélus Arábicus_ 80 Giraffe.—_Giraffa Camelopárdalis_ 81 Indian Rhinoceros.—_Rhinóceros Unicornis_ 82 Keittoa, or Sloan’s Rhinoceros.—_Rhinoceros Keittoa_ 83 Viper, or Adder.—_Pelias Berus_ 87 Hippopotamus, or Zeekoe.—_Hippopotamus Amphibius_ 91 Common Mouse.—_Mus Músculus_ (White, Brown and Pied Varieties) 92 Caribou.—_Larandus Rangifer_ 95 Syrian Bear, or Dubb.—_Ursus Isabellinus_ 99 Hedgehog.—_Erinaceus Europæus_ 100 Wild Boar.—_Sus Scrofa_ 101 Silvery Gibbon.—_Hylóbates Leuciscus_ 102 The Orang-Outan.—_Simia Sátyrus_ 103 Maltese Dog.—_Canis Familiáris_ 105 Thibet Dog.—_Canis Familiáris_ 106 Mustang 109 Zebra.—_Ásinus Zebra_ 110 Ass.—_Ásinus Vulgaris_ 111 Merino, or Spanish Sheep 116 Musk Ox.—_Ovibos Moschátus_ 119 Sea-Elephant.—_Morunga proboscidea_ 122 Rorqual.—_Physalus Böops_ 126 Spermaceti Whale.—_Cátodon Macrocéphalus_ 126 Dolphin.—_Delphinus Delphis_ 130 Group of Seals 135 Long-Spined Chætodon.—_Heinochus Monoceros_ 141 Filamentous Gunard.—_Pelor filamentosum_ 143 Otter.—_Lutra Vulgaris_ 171 Bald, or White-Headed Eagle.—_Haliaëtus Leucocephalus_ 183 Martial Eagle.—_Spizáëtus bellicosus_ 186 Group of Falcons 189 Stork.—_Ciconia Alba_ 200 Spotted King Fisher.—_Céryle Guttáta_ 217 Rhinoceros Hornbill.—_Búceros Rhinoceros_ 218 King Penguin.—_Aptenodytes Pennantii_ 222 Gigantic Salamander.—_Sieboldia Maxima_ 226 Hemigale.—_Hemigale Hardwickii_ 227 Group of Rodent Animals 229 The Cat.—_Felis Domestica_ 230 Merian’s Opossum.—_Philander Dorsigerus_ 251 Panda, or Wah.—_Aiúlrus Fulgens_ 276 Colossus at Rhodes 279
In the little village of Como, in that province of Northern Italy called by the Romans “Gaul-this-side-the-Alps,” was born, twenty-three years after the coming of our Lord, Caius Plinius Secundus, known to us by the shorter name of “Pliny.” His boyhood was spent in his native province, but we find him in Rome in his sixteenth year attending the lectures of Apion, the grammarian. Like Herodotus he became a great traveller for those days, visiting Africa, Egypt and Greece, and in his twenty-third year he served in Germany under Pomponius Secundus, by whom he was greatly beloved, and was soon promoted to the command of a troop of cavalry. He appears to have remained in the army, journeying about extensively in Germany and Gaul, until he was twenty-eight years old, when he returned to Rome and devoted himself to the study of law. But his natural taste for literary work speedily developed itself, and, abandoning his forensic pursuits, he set to work upon a life of his friend Pomponius and an account of “The Wars in Germany,” which filled twenty books when completed, no part of which is now extant. In the reign of Nero, Pliny was appointed procurator, or comptroller of the revenue, in Nearer Spain. During his absence upon this mission his brother-in-law, Caius Cæcilius, died, leaving one son, a boy ten years of age, Caius Plinius Cæcilius Secundus—afterwards a famous lawyer and the author of the “Letters”—whom he adopted immediately upon his return from Spain, A.D. 70. To this nephew we are indebted for nearly all we know of Pliny’s personal character and mode of life, a very entertaining description of which he gives in a letter to his friend, Baebius Macer: