44 PERIOD II. 



and such a catalogue formed an essential part of his 

 plan. Perhaps he was a little deficient in that discern- 

 ment of hidden affinities which has been the gift of 

 great systematisers, but his industry, learning, and 

 candour accomplished much. Quadrupeds, birds, rep- 

 tiles, fishes, insects, and plants of every sort were 

 reviewed by him. British species naturally received 

 special attention, but Ray did not fail to make him- 

 self acquainted with the natural productions of foreign 

 countries, partly by his own travels, and partly by 

 comparing the descriptions of explorers. He seized 

 every opportunity of investigating the anatomy and 

 physiology of remarkable animals and plants, and 

 attended to the practical uses of natural history. 

 British naturalists owed to him the first serviceable 

 manuals for use in the field. 



Ray was the first botanist who formally divided 

 flowering plants into Monocotyledons and Dicotyledons. 

 It was only natural that he should now and then have 

 misplaced plants whose general appearance is deceptive 

 (lily of the valley, Paris, Ruscus, etc.). He was 

 perhaps the first to frame a definition of a species ; but 

 here his success, as might be expected, was not great. 

 A species was with him a particular sort of plant or 

 animal which exactly reproduces its peculiarities gener- 

 ation after generation. Any plant, for example, which 

 comes up true from seed, would according to Ray 

 constitute a species. By this definition many races of 

 plants which are known to have been produced in 

 nurseries would rank as true species. 



The Scale of Nature. 

 No one can closely examine a large number of plants 

 and animals without perceiving real or imaginary 



