44 THE MAIN CURRENTS OF ZOOLOGY 



and naturalist Aristotle (384-322 B. C.) (Fig. n). 

 He was a man of vast intellect engaged in a variety of 

 intellectual occupations. In addition to writings on 

 metaphysics, rhetoric, etc., he wrote and lectured on 

 the natural history of animals (Historia Animalium) 

 as an independent subject. It is noteworthy that at 

 this early day, hi his scheme of zoology, he subor- 

 dinated the ideas of classification to his observations 

 on structure (De Partibus Animalium) and develop- 

 ment (De Generations Animalium). These are the 

 three books of Aristotle on zoology that have been 

 handed down to us. He made extensive studies of 

 life histories and recorded many facts that were re- 

 discovered only in the nineteenth century. 



The circumstance that made Aristotle eminent in 

 science (outside his superb natural talents and his 

 industry) was his method. He was the greatest in- 

 vestigator of antiquity! While we commonly think 

 of him as standing at the beginning of science, he 

 was, in fact, preceded by a large number of observers 

 whose writings and verbal utterances are lost. Al- 

 though living in the fourth century before Christ he 

 speaks of "the ancients" in his writings and says 

 that he took into account their observations in estab- 

 lishing his natural history, but he says, further, that 



