54 THE MAIN CURRENTS OF ZOOLOGY 



His followers were chiefly collectors and classifiers, 

 who by interminable species-making brought zoology 

 into disrepute from which it was rescued by Cuvier 

 and others who emphasized structure, development, 

 and physiology rather than mere classification. 



Linnaeus also defined species, which centered at- 

 tention on the distinguishing characters of animals, 

 and paved the way for the consideration of the origin 

 of species that became so significant, under Darwin 

 in the nineteenth century. In this particular Lin- 

 naeus was preceded by John Ray (1628-1705) who 

 was the first to introduce into natural history an 

 exact conception of what is species. 



Linnaeus (Fig. 12) was born in Rashult, Sweden, 

 1707, the son of a poor Lutheran pastor. He was 

 inattentive to ordinary studies, being engaged with 

 his own thoughts and taking delight in collecting 

 natural objects. He was regarded as dull and un- 

 fitted for an intellectual career. His father, in 

 dispair, was about to apprentice him to a shoemaker 

 when a doctor of the town recognized his unusual 

 type of mind and pursuaded his father to promote his 

 education. After many struggles with poverty, he 

 was graduated from the University of Hardewyk in 

 Holland in 1735 with the degree of Doctor of Med- 



