114 



BIOLOGY AND ITS MAKERS 



cally arranged, for convenience of reference, and thus ani- 

 mals that were closely related are often widely separated. 



Gesner (Fig. 32) sacrificed his life to professional zeal 

 during the prevalence of the plague in Zurich in 1564. Hav- 

 ing greatly overworked in the care of the sick, he was seized 

 with the disease, and died at the age of forty-nine. 



Considered from the standpoint of descriptions and illus- 

 trations, Gesner 's Historia Animalium remained for a long 



FIG. 32. GESNER 1516-1565. 



time the best work in zoology. He was the best zoologist 

 between Aristotle and John Ray, the immediate predecessor 

 of Linnaeus. 



Jonston and Aldrovandi. At about the same period as 

 Gesner's work there appeared two other voluminous publica- 

 tions, which are well known those of Jonston, the Scot 



