HISTORY OF ZOOLOGY, II 



be good for nothing at study, he was saved through the in- 

 fluence of a physician, who recognized the fine abilities of 

 the boy, from the fate of learning the cobbler's trade, and 

 won for medical studies. He studied at Lund and Upsala; 

 at the age of twenty-eight he made extended tours on the 

 Continent, and at that time gained recognition from the 

 foremost men in his profession. In 1741 he became Pro- 

 fessor of Medicine in Upsala, some years later Professor of 

 Natural History. He died in 1778. 



Improvements Introduced into Zoological Nomen- 

 clature by Linnaeus Linnaeus's most important work is 

 his " Systema Naturae," which, first appearing in 1735, up 

 to 176668 passed through twelve editions ; indeed after his 

 death there came out a thirteenth which was edited by Gme- 

 lin. This has become the foundation for systematic zoology, 

 since it introduces for the first time (i) a sharper division in- 

 to the system, (2) a definite scientific terminology, the bino- 

 mial nomenclature, and (3) brief, comprehensive, clear diag- 

 noses. In the division of the system Linnaeus employed 

 four categories; he divided the entire Animal Kingdom 

 into Classes, the Classes into Orders, these into Genera, the 

 Genera finally into Species. The term Family was not em- 

 ployed in the "Systema Naturae." Still more important 

 was the binomial nomenclature. Hitherto the common 

 names were in use in the scientific world, and led to much 

 confusion ; the same animals had different names, and 

 different animals had the same names; in the naming of 

 newly-discovered animals there , prevailed no generally 

 accepted principle. This inconvenience was entirely ob- 

 viated by Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema by 

 the introduction of a special scientific nomenclature. The 

 first word, a noun, designates the genus to which the 

 animal belongs, the following word, usually an adjective, 

 the species within the genus. The names Canis familiar is, 

 Cants lupus, Canis vulpes, indicate that the dog, wolf, and 

 fox are related to one another, since they belong to the 

 same genus, the genus of doglike animals, of which they are 

 different species. Linnaeus's method of naming was particu- 



