2-704-373 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'La Chauve-Souris les Ailes entendues & La Chauve-Souris sur ses quatre Jambes', c1763. Bat shown with wings extended, and on all fours. The "Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière, avec la description du Cabinet du Roi", (Natural History, General and Particular, with a Description of the King's Cabinet) was written 1749-1804 by the Comte de Buffon, and was continued after his death. It was a monumental work in multiple volumes, and covered what was known of the 'natural sciences' at the time, including physics, chemistry and technology as well as the natural history of animals.