t 

 OUTLINE OF BIOLOGICAL PROGRESS 15 



He was early left an orphan with a considerable fortune; 

 and there are stories of early excesses after coming into his 

 property. These charges, however, lack trustworthy support, 

 and are usually regarded as due mainly to that under- 

 mining gossip which follows one holding prominent place 

 and enviable recognition. His habits seem to have been 

 those of a diligent student with a zest in his work; he was an 

 omnivorous reader, and Plato called him the mind of his 

 school. His large private library and his manner of liv- 

 ing bespeak the conserving of his property, rather than its 

 waste in selfish indulgences. 



His Influence. — The influence of Aristotle was in the 

 right direction. He made a direct appeal to nature for his 

 facts, and founded his Natural History only on observation 

 of the structure, physiology, and development of animals. 

 Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of his successors. 



Galen, who is mentioned above in connection with Aris- 

 totle, was a medical writer and the greatest anatomist of 

 antiquity. On account of the relation of his work to the 

 growth of anatomy, however, the consideration of it is re- 

 served for the chapter on Vesalius. 



Soon after the period of Aristotle the center of scientific 

 investigation was transferred to Alexandria, where Ptolemy 

 had erected a great museum and founded a large public 

 library. Here mathematics and geography flourished, but 

 natural history was little cultivated. 



In order to find the next famous naturalist of antiquity, 

 it is necessary to look to Rome. Rome, although great in 

 political power, never became a true culture center, char- 

 acterized by originality. All that remains of their thought 

 shows us that the Roman people were not creative. In the 

 capital of the empire, the center of its life, there arose no 

 great scientific investigator. 



Pliny. — The situation is represented by Pliny the Elder 



