CHAPTER V 

 LINN^US AND HIS INFLUENCE 



THE service of Linnaeus to natural history was 

 unique. He introduced clarity and system. The 

 known animals and plants, ever increasing in number 

 through the collections of travelers and naturalists, 

 were in a confused state. They were known by local 

 names in different sections of the same country and 

 were differently designated in various languages. 

 By adopting Latin as a uniform medium he elabo- 

 rated a system of naming every production of nature 

 in two words, a generic and a specific name, as Felis 

 domesticata, for the domestic cat and Canis familiar is 

 for the domesticated dog. The other members of the 

 cat family as the lion, tiger, leopard, etc., were given 

 the generic name of Felis and the specific name, in 

 each case, distinguished the particular kind of Felis. 

 In a like manner, the members of the dog family as 

 the wolf, the fox, etc., are of the genus Canis but the 

 specific attached to the generic name indicates the 

 particular kind of anmal. The cat family as a whole 

 was designated Felidae and the dog family Canidae. 



Thus we have a simple and uniform system by 



