170 



ZOOLOGY 



The 



Linnsean 

 system of 

 naming 

 animals and 

 plants 



previously given attention to the structure of flowers 

 had interested themselves in the conspicuous parts, 

 the brightly colored petals. Linnaeus realized that the 

 essential organs were those which produced the ovules 

 and pollen, the means of reproduction. The new con- 

 ception justified itself in various ways ; it appeared to 

 bring together related but superficially dissimilar plants, 

 and to solve many puzzles. It was also very easy to 

 understand, and the merest beginner, with the Linnsean 

 system, could classify plants with fair success. Today 

 we classify plants on a different basis, not because we 

 deny the importance of the reproductive parts, but be- 

 cause we now see that all parts are more or less impor- 

 tant and must be considered. The idea of evolution 

 leads us to the conception that there is such a thing as 

 a natural classification, in which the arrangement is 

 expressive of actual degrees and kinds of relationship. 

 This natural classification is an ideal to which we con- 

 stantly approach, but which we never can expect fully 

 to realize ; hence botanical (and zoological) arrange- 

 ments are constantly subject to change, and no simple 

 method, however convenient, can be accepted. We 

 have abandoned the beautifully simple and intelligible 

 Linnsean method for one far more intricate and diffi- 

 cult, compelled to do so by the change in our scientific 

 ideals. 



9. The other great contribution to scientific reform 

 made by Linnaeus has to do with names. He was the 

 founder of modern zoological and botanical nomen- 

 clature. The language of science was Latin, the names 

 of animals and plants were Latin, and even those of 

 men who wrote on these subjects took a Latin form. 

 Previous authors had the conception of the genus, the 

 group of kinds or species, to which was given a distinc- 



