THE TEN FOREMOST MEN 177 



lifetime, a small volume on the general history of 

 insects was published, in 1669.) 



3. Linnaeus. From the standpoint of wide in- 

 fluence Linnaeus (1707-1778) should be included in 

 our list. He was the man who brought the present 

 method of naming animals and plants into use and 

 thereby gave to natural history a new language. He 

 also introduced greater precision in the whole field of 

 description and classification. The stimulus im- 

 parted to natural history by the work of Linnaeus was 

 immense. Collection and classification of animals 

 and plants was carried on with enthusiasm and the 

 knowledge of the animals of the globe rapidly ex- 

 tended. Linnaeus also directed attention to species, 

 and thereby served to lay the foundation for the 

 question of the Origin of Species, which had such 

 important connection in the work of Lamarck and 

 Darwin. 



4. Cuvier.--In the early years of the nineteenth 

 century this French legislator and zoologist gave 

 a new direction to zoological study. While Linnaeus 

 had given a great impulse to natural history and to 

 the study of the organism as a whole, Cuvier (1769- 

 1832) started a strong movement for structural 

 zoology. By extensive dissections he centered atten- 



