42 Introduction 



This very early attempt to classify animals lasted through a long 

 period of the development of biology ; but as soon as people started 

 visiting new lands in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it became 

 apparent that this system was totally inadequate. Soon many different 

 biologists were attacking this problem of classifying animals with re- 

 newed vigor. Ray, an Englishman who lived from 1627 to 1705, de- 

 veloped quite a modern concept of the species or kinds of animals, and 

 initiated a method of classifying and naming individual animals. Even 

 today our classification of animals is based to some extent upon Ray's 

 work. 



Ray's work along with that of Linnaeus (1707-1778), a Swede, 

 actually laid the foundations of our present-day science of taxonomy. 

 Linnaeus classified not only plants and animals, but also minerals 

 and diseases. His studies of the classification of plants and animals 

 appeared in a series of publications known as Systema Naturae which 

 appeared between the years 1735 and 1758. 



The usefulness of Linnaeus's system is due to several facts. The 

 chief of these was that he disposed of the long unwieldy descriptions 

 which former workers had used. Instead, he gave each kind or species 

 of animal or plant a specific name. This name consisted of two por- 

 tions : the generic and specific names. The generic name indicated 

 the general group to which the individual belonged while the specific 

 name indicated the particular kind of animal within the larger group. 

 This system, as now used, is known as binomial nomenclature, as two 

 names are involved for each kind of animal. Each name is valid for 

 but one kind of animal. 



The domestic cat may be used as a specific example to illustrate 

 this system of naming animals. Its complete name is Felis domestica. 

 The name domestica is specific for this particular animal; the name 

 Felis indicates that it is related to a large number of other cats, including 

 Felis leo, the lion. 



The Rules of Taxonomy.— The naming of animals, of necessity, 

 must follow certain definite rules or only confusion would result. 

 Thus as mentioned previously, each kind or species of animal has its 

 own name consisting of the generic and specific names. These are 

 always italicized, and often are followed by the name of the original 

 describer. The domestic cat's name should be fully written as Felis 

 domestica Linnaeus. 



