JOHN JONSTON.
Of the three kingdoms of nature, the vegetable was that which, down to the time of Linnæus, had received most attention. Mineralogy could scarcely be said to have commenced. Zoology had indeed made considerable progress; but botany had advanced in a still greater degree, having been cultivated by a host of naturalists, chiefly belonging to the medical profession. One of these, Cæsalpinus, who flourished in the end of the 16th century, had already invented a system; whereas Ray, who belonged to the 17th, was the first zoologist who formed a methodical arrangement of animals. It might thus be supposed that the examination of plants is easier, while that of minerals is more difficult, than the study of zoology; but the cause of the preference given to the vegetable economy seems to be connected with the value of herbs as articles of the Materia Medica, while the animal kingdom attracted more attention than the mineral, as exciting greater curiosity, and tending more directly to supply the most urgent wants of man. However this may be, it is certain, that in the 17th century the botanists greatly exceeded the zoologists in number. One of the most remarkable of the latter was the subject of the present notice, who, although merely a compiler, and not possessed of much judgment or taste, continued to be a popular author on natural history until his works were superseded by those of Linnæus.
John Jonston, descended from a family originally Scottish, was born, in 1603, at Sambter, near Lissa, a city of the palatinate of Posen in Poland. After studying at Beuthen on the Oder, and at Thorn in the Prussian dominions, he prosecuted his education at the University of St Andrews; whence, in due time, he returned to his native country, and for three years acted as tutor to the sons of Count Kurtzbach. He then studied medicine and natural history in several of the more distinguished seminaries at home and abroad. In 1632, he took charge of two young noblemen, whom he accompanied to England, Holland, France, and Italy. At Leyden he obtained a medical degree, and was offered a professorship; which, however, he declined, preferring a private life. On completing his travels, he retired to a place in the neighbourhood of Lignitz, where he spent the rest of his days. He died on the 8th June 1675.
The most important of Jonston's works is his Historia Animalium, which was published at Frankfort on the Maine. The first part, containing five books on fishes and cetacea, and four on the white-blooded aquatic animals, appeared in 1649. The second part, which treats of birds, followed in 1650; the third, on quadrupeds, in 1652; and the fourth, on insects and serpents, in 1653. Several editions of this work have since come out; the latest being that of Heidelberg, in 1755. It is, however, a mere compilation from the writings of Gesner, Aldrovandi, and others. The plates, which are numerous, are also, for the most part, copied from these authors, a few only being original. They are not without merit, having been engraved by the famous Matthew Merian; but several of them, resting on no authority beyond that of simple description, represent objects which have no real existence. His first treatise, which is a collection of the most curious phenomena presented by the sky, the elements, meteors, fossils, plants, birds, quadrupeds, insects, and man, was printed at Amsterdam in 1632, under the title of Thaumatographia Naturalis in Decem Classes Distincta. He also produced a Dendrographia, or natural history of trees and shrubs; and two smaller tracts, the one entitled Notitia Regni Vegetabilis, the other Notitia Regni Mineralis; together with several others, on various subjects, which, as they have long since passed into oblivion, it is unnecessary to mention at greater length.