CHAPTER IX 

 SPECIES AND THEIR ORIGIN 



Meaning of Species. Throughout our discussion 

 of the various phases of organic phenomena we have 

 been compelled to use the word " species " without 

 defining it, although its meaning must have been 

 more or less evident from the context. Indeed, 

 there is no term in general use in Biology, the mean- 

 ing of which is so vague or so variously interpreted, 

 and the definition of which is so difficult. The 

 Latin word " species," which has been directly 

 incorporated into English, means, primarily, " form " 

 or " appearance," the visible structure by which 

 anything may be recognized; hence, by inference, 

 the word came to mean " sort " or " kind." 



Until the early decades of the eighteenth century, 

 practically all serious scientific writing was in Latin, 

 and the word " species," when used in describing 

 different kinds of animals or plants, had no technical 

 connotation. The early naturalist, in naming an 

 unusual form, proceeded as any person would in 

 describing a friend; that is, he summarized its salient 

 characteristics in a brief sentence. The lion was the 

 " Cat with a tuft at the end of the tail." l The 



1 " Felis caitda in floccum definente." M. J. Brisson, " Regnum Ani- 

 mate: Quadrupedum" p. 194. 1756. 

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