16 LECTURES 



form had been since It came into existence Genera con- 

 sisted in groups of such species, defined by their 

 generic characters. A'ca impennis was one species 

 of auk, and Alca torda another, two species 

 of auks belonging to the genus Alca or, again, in mam- 

 mals, we find the order Cete, containing the whales; 

 within this order the genus Balcena, created for the 

 whales proper, of which he duly described four species. 

 Such simple and far-reaching innovations; such effective 

 machinery made itself felt in comparatively a very short 

 space of time in every biological laboratory and study, 

 either public or private, throughout the then learned 

 world. 



Linnseus's greatest achievement was his "Systema 

 Naturae," of which there have been numerous editions. 

 In it, in the manner I have described, he swept over and 

 passed in review in orderly classification all the depart- 

 ments of natural history as they were recognized in his 

 time. Its publication gave an enormous impulse to the 

 progress of science along the lines indicated. But this 

 great man was mortal, and he possessed the failing as has 

 every naturalist both before and since his time, of making 

 mistakes, and Linnaeus made a great many of them. Mis- 

 takes, however, have their uses, even in biology, and 

 from their correction by future laborers much addi- 

 tional information and research is apt to accrue. The 

 vast majority of the Linnsean errors have been rectified in 

 our day. Macgillivray, who has written a very good 

 biography of the immortal Swede, said: "All systems 

 flourish and fade. The mineralogy of Linnaeus has per- 

 ished; his zoology, cut down to the root, has sent forth a 

 profusion of luxuriant shoots; and although his botany 

 maintains as yet a strong claim upon the admiration of 

 the lovers of Nature, a fairer plant has sprung up beside 

 it which promises a richer harvest of golden fruits. But 

 should the period ever arrive when all that belonged to 

 him of mere system and technicology shall be obliterated, 

 he will not the less be remembered as a bright luminary 

 in the dark hemisphere of natural science, which served 

 for a time to throw a useful light around, and led ob- 

 servers to surer paths of information than had previously 

 been known." 



These words, from the pen of the Scotch naturalist, 

 from whom I have quoted them, were printed in 1834. 

 I give you the date simply to show the trend of thought 

 of some naturalists, and Macgillivray was a good one, 

 over fifty years ago, upon such subjects. 



