510 ZOOLOGY 



utterance. The first task was to throw off tradition and 

 authority. The names of Gallileo, Descartes, and Vesalius be- 

 long to this period of revival. Italy had a large part in the 

 renewal of scientific work, as in other fields. 



Starting with the general interest in natural history and 

 classification and in medicine and anatomy, which was seen in 

 the work of Aristotle and Galen, the modern period has de- 

 veloped a great many special departments, as the various 

 workers have followed particular studies. We may profitably 

 consider the progress in Biology under the following heads: 

 (i) Natural history and classification; (2) Anatomy and its 

 departments; (3) Physiology; (4) Embryology; (5) Philosophy 

 of Biology; and (6) Applications of Biology. Of course these 

 divisions of interest took shape only gradually, and a worker 

 often contributed to several departments, especially at the 

 outset. 



516. Natural History and Systematic Zoology. Naturally 

 enough until the more important animals had been recorded 

 and compared and classified, and their more striking habits and 

 modes of living studied this would present a most fruitful and 

 popular field of investigation. Gesner (1516-1565), a Swiss 

 physician, studied animals widely and wrote a "history of 

 animals" which was the best general zoology since Aristotle. 

 His work, which was profusely illustrated, largely influenced 

 later studies. 



Ray (1629-1705), an Englishman, was a student of both 

 plants and animals. In addition to his own original studies and 

 discoveries he introduced the idea of the species as a definite 

 group of organisms arising from similar parents. He was thus 

 the real founder of systematic biology, and the forerunner of 

 the great Swedish naturalist Linnaeus (1707-1778), who pub- 

 lished the Sy sterna Natures in an effort to describe all the known 

 species of plants and animals. Linnaeus combined Ray's species 

 with the genus, and first used the generic and specific names as 

 the name of the organism (binominal nomenclature). He in- 

 vented also the brief descriptions of genera and species. His 

 work greatly stimulated systematic studies and laid the founda- 

 tion for work in other fields of zoology. 



