2G8 ON THE STUDY OF BIOLOGY x 



who worked it out completely. The persons to 

 whom I refer were the eminent physiologist 

 Bichat, and the great naturalist Lamarck, in 

 France ; and a distinguished German, Treviranus. 

 Bichat 1 asssumed the existence of a special group 

 of " physiological " sciences. Lamarck, in a work 

 published in 1801, 2 for the first time made use of 

 the name " Biologie," from the two Greek words 

 which signify a discourse upon life and living 

 things. About the same time, it occurred to 

 Treviranus, that all those sciences which deal 

 with living matter are essentially and fundamen- 

 tally one, and ought to be treated as a whole ; 

 and, in the year 1802, he published the first 

 volume of what he also called " Biologie." Trevi- 

 ranus's great merit lies in this, that he worked out 

 his idea, and wrote the very remarkable book to 

 which I refer. It consists of six volumes, and 

 occupied its author for twenty years from 1802 

 to 1822. 



That is the origin of the term " Biology " ; and 

 that is how it has come about that all clear 

 thinkers and lovers of consistent nomenclature 

 have substituted for the old confusing name of 

 " Natural History," which has conveyed so many 

 meanings, the term " Biology " which denotes the 

 whole of the sciences which deal with living 



1 See the distinction between the " sciences physiques" and 

 the "sciences physiologiques " in the Anatomic Gtntrale, 1801. 

 a Hydrogtologie, an. x. (1801). 



