RAY AND WILLUGHBY. 39 



similar causes. Thus, he drew particular attention to 

 the * denuding' action of rain, rivers, and the sea, 

 and to the manner in which the dry land is at the 

 present day worn away by these agencies; and he 

 speculates upon the result in the future of the long 

 continuance of this action. The value of Ray's treatise 

 is now, of course, purely historical; but as a piece of 

 philosophical reasoning, it attains a much higher level 

 than its more celebrated contemporary, the ' Essay towards 

 a Natural History of the Earth and Terrestrial Bodies,' 

 by John Woodward (1695). 



The third group of the works which the world owes 

 to Ray comprises his zoological treatises. Ray's con- 

 tributions to the science of zoology are, however, so 

 largely, and in many respects so indissolubly linked 

 with those of his friend Willughby, that it is not 

 possible, even if it were desirable, to consider the two 

 separately. It may therefore be proper to preface 

 this subject by the following brief account of the life 

 of the latter. 



Francis Willughby was born at Middleton in War- 

 wickshire, in the year 1635, and was the only son of 

 Sir Francis Willughby. Little is known of his early 

 life, except that he was a most diligent student. In 

 1653, he entered at Trinity College, Cambridge, gradu- 

 ating as Bachelor of Arts in 1656, and as Master of 

 Arts in 1659. ^ was at Cambridge that he commenced 

 his lifelong friendship with John Ray, whose pupil he 

 is stated to have been; though on this point there 

 seems to be some doubt. Be this as it may, it is 

 certain that from this time forward Ray and Willughby 



