The History of Animals by Aristotle

Aristotle was the first to note that whales and dolphins are not kinds of fish. Aristotle didn't just look at animals, though, he actually dissected them. The history of animals can seem a barely organized miscellany of facts. In a single chapter it tells us that tortoises eat marjoram to avoid being poisoned after eating vipers. And mentions that the martin likes honey and has genital organs that can be turned into a powder for medicine.