88 HISTORY AND SIGNIFICANCE OF SCIENCE 



to the dramatic discoveries attendant upon the advent of the 

 microscope, the study of natural history was distinguished, 

 during the seventeenth century, by the slow and laborious 

 collection of facts regarding the number and kinds of animals 



Fig. 10. Representative Illustration from Gesner. 

 Photographic reproduction of one of the orig- 

 inal woodcuts. (Reproduced from Brooks, 

 Popular Science Monthly, May, 1895.) 



and plants. Upon this foundation, John Ray (1628-1705) 

 established the first exact concept of a species; and Lin- 

 naBUs, in the succeeding century, set forth the first universal 

 classification. 



The numerous societies and academies, which arose first 

 in Italy and Southern France, are indicative of the intellec- 

 tual activity of the period. The older universities were 

 founded during the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries 

 and hence were a product of scholasticism. To the early 



