RAY AND WILLUGHBY. 45 



of the animal kingdom; and it will be noticed more 

 particularly immediately, in connection with the later 

 Linnean classification. The second ' Synopsis Methodica ' 

 appeared in 1713, after Ray's death, and consisted of 

 two parts, one dealing with birds, and the other with 

 fishes, thus completing the series of the Vertebrate 

 Animals. 



Lastly, Ray undertook, at the very close of his long 

 and laborious life, to complete a systematic treatise 

 on Insects, which Willughby had intended to write, 

 and had, in fact, sketched out. This work Ray did 

 not live to complete, but it was published after his 

 death, in 1710, at the expense of the Royal Society, 

 under the title, i Historia Insectorum.' It is unfortunate 

 that this treatise was not accompanied by illustrations, 

 which detracted considerably from the value which it 

 might otherwise have possessed. Under the name of 

 1 Insects,' Ray understood not only the animals now so 

 named, but also the Spiders and Scorpions, the Centipedes 

 and Millepedes, and the true Worms. The classification 

 of the Insects proper which Ray adopted is based 

 essentially upon their ' metamorphoses,' that is to say, 

 upon the changes which the insect undergoes in passing 

 from the egg to the adult condition; and .though, as 

 might be supposed, in many respects wholly out of accord 

 with modern knowledge, it nevertheless clearly recognises 

 various natural groups of insects. 



