HISTORY OF ZOOLOGY 7 



the Middle Ages, notably in the writings of the Dominican, Albertus 

 Magnus and the Augustinian, Thomas Cantipratensis. In so far as he 

 had opportunity, Albertus Magnus, endeavored to support his statements 

 by personal observation. But that this beginning of the scientific method 

 raised hardly an echo only emphasizes the general spirit of the time. 



At the close of the Middle Ages, when the interest in science awoke 

 anew, Aristotle's conceptions were taken up and elaborated by the Eng- 

 lishman Wotton. In 1552 he published his work "De differentiis animal- 

 ium," in which he essentially copied the system of Aristotle, except that 

 he admitted the new group of plant-animals or zoophytes. However, the 

 title, 'On the Distinguishing Characters of Animals,' shows that of 

 Aristotelian knowledge the systematic side obtained the chief recognition, 

 and thus Wotton's work inaugurated the period of systematic zoology, 

 which in Ray, but even more in Linnasus, found its most brilliant 

 exponents. 



Linnaeus, the son of a Swedish clergman, was born in Rashult in 1707. 

 Pronounced by his teachers to be good for nothing at study, he was saved 

 from learning the cobbler's trade through the influence of a physician, 

 who recognized his fine abilities and turned him to medical studies. He 

 studied at Lund and L T psala; at the age of twenty-eight he made ex- 

 tended tours on the Continent, and at that time gained recognition from 

 the foremost men in his profession. In 1741 he became professor of 

 medicine in Upsala, some years later professor of natural history. He 

 died in 1778. 



Improvement of Zoological Nomenclature by Linnaeus. Linnaeus's 

 most important work is his "Systema Naturae," which, first appearing in 

 1735, up to 1766-68 passed through twelve editions. This has become 

 the foundation for systematic zoology, since it introduces for the first time 

 (i) sharper divisions, (2) a definite scientific terminology, the binomial 

 nomenclature, and (3) brief, comprehensive, clear diagnoses. Linnaeus 

 divided the entire Animal Kindom into Classes, the Classes into Orders; 

 these into Genera, the Genera into Species. The term Family was not 

 employed. Still more important was the binomial nomenclature. Hitherto 

 the common names were in use 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 was no generally accepted 

 principle. This inconvenience was entirely obviated by Linnaeus in the 

 tenth edition of his Systema by the introduction of a scientific nomenclature. 

 The first word, a noun, designates the genus to which the animal belongs, 

 the following word, usually an adjectve, the species within the genus. The 

 names Canis famttiaris, Canis lupus, Canis vulpes, indicate that the dog, 



