. The Popular science monthly . haslong ago been done and most ably for a large part of the animals byLichtenstein (1814-15, 1816-17) and for the plants by von Martius(1853-55). It is in the book on fishes that the present writer is mostinterested, and it does not seem out of place to quote the estimates ofsome of the great ichthyologists. Cuvier and Valenciennes (1828) say:George Marcgrave . . the most learned, the most exact, and above all the 262 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY one who has most enriched the history of fishes. He made known 100 (105),all at that epoch new to science, and has giv
. The Popular science monthly . haslong ago been done and most ably for a large part of the animals byLichtenstein (1814-15, 1816-17) and for the plants by von Martius(1853-55). It is in the book on fishes that the present writer is mostinterested, and it does not seem out of place to quote the estimates ofsome of the great ichthyologists. Cuvier and Valenciennes (1828) say:George Marcgrave . . the most learned, the most exact, and above all the 262 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY one who has most enriched the history of fishes. He made known 100 (105),all at that epoch new to science, and has given descriptions very superior to allthe authors who had preceded him. Gunther (1880) writes: Markgrav especially studied the fauna of the country ... his fourth booktreats of fishes. He describes about 100 species, all of which had been previouslyunknown, in a manner far superior to that of his predecessors. The accom-panying figures are not good, but nearly always recognizable, and giving a fairidea of the form of the Fig. 1. Nar&nari, after Marcgrave, page 176. Jordan (1905) notes that Marcgraf described about 100 species, all new to science, under Portuguesenames and with a good deal of spirit and accuracy. . This is the first study GEORGE MARCGBAVE 263 of a local fish fauna outside of the Mediterranean region, and reflects greatcredit on Markgraf and the illustrious Prince, whose assistant he was. . Therewere no other similar attempts of importance for a hundred years. . Since copies of his figures are at hand for illustrating them, thepresent writer wishes to give here Marcgraves descriptions of tworather well-known fishes as illustrative of the accuracy of his observa-tions and the care with which he recorded them. The first, whose figure, number 1, is herewith reproduced from his Natural History of Brazil, 12 is the spotted sting ray which we knowas Aetobatus narinari. Marcgraves description is as follows: Of the several species of fish called Narinari by the Braz
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