[44] De Ferussac severely denounces Molina’s lack of truthfulness, and administers a rebuke which may be useful to some writers of the present day. Whilst avoiding the imputation of wilful repetition and propagation of false-hood, he gravely censures the acceptance of error as truth. He says:—“This suggests sad reflections on the amplifications, reticences, and fantastic inventions of some _savants_, and on the absence of scrutiny apparent in some scientific works. It should serve to prove, more and more, the necessity of careful examination before accepting or rejecting doubtful species, although it is more convenient to accept statements as they are found, without taking the trouble to verify them by proper research. We know very well that the majority of naturalists, with the exception of a small number of especially pains-taking men, are unaware of the negligence, the double use of incidents, and the repetition of innumerable errors to which those who are content thus to work expose themselves.” [45] “British Conchology,” vol. v., p. 124. [46] In the illustration of this occurrence given in M. Louis Figuier’s book, “La Vie et les Mœurs des Animaux,” and the English translations of it, the size of the calamary is so exaggerated that undeserved discredit has been brought by it on the narrators of the incident. [47] This is the specimen described by Molina. TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and consultation of external sources. Some hyphens in words have been silently removed, some added, when a predominant preference was found in the original book. Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text, and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. Pg viii: ‘by De Ferrussac’ replaced by ‘by De Ferussac’. Pg 14: ‘all his villany’ replaced by ‘all his villainy’. Pg 52: ‘his hybernation’ replaced by ‘his hibernation’. Pg 99: ‘Cartœia, in Grenada’ replaced by ‘Carteia, in Grenada’. Footnote [44]: ‘some _savans_’ replaced by ‘some _savants_’.