316 THE HISTORY AND SCOPE OF ZOOLOGY IX 



novel forms of animal life, and in the latter part of 

 the sixteenth century and the beginning of the seven- 

 teenth that careful study by " specialists " of the struc- 

 ture and life -history of particular groups of animals was 

 commenced which, directed at first to common and 

 familiar kinds, was gradually extended until it formed 

 a sufficient body of knowledge to serve as an anatomical 

 basis for classification. This minuter study had two 

 origins, one in the researches of the medical anatomists, 

 such as Fabricius (1537-1619), Severinus (1580-1656), 

 Harvey (1578-1657), and Tyson (1649-1708), the 

 other in the careful work of the entomologists and 

 first microscopists, such as Malpighi (1628-1694), 

 Swammerdam (1637-1680). and Hook (1635-1702). 

 The commencement of anatomical investigations de- 

 serves notice here as influencing the general accuracy 

 and minuteness with which zoological work was 

 prosecuted, but it was not until a late date that their 

 full influence was brought to bear upon systematic 

 Zoology by Georges Cuvier (1769-1832). 



The most prominent name between that of Gesner 

 and Linnaeus in the history of systematic Zoology is 

 that of John Eay. Though not so extensive as that 

 of Linnaeus, his work is of the highest importance, 

 and rendered the subsequent labours of the Swedish 

 naturalist far easier than they would otherwise have 

 been. A chief merit of Ray is to have limited the 

 term " species " and to have assigned to it the signifi- 

 cance which it has until the Darwinian era borne, 

 whereas previously it was loosely and vaguely applied. 

 He also made considerable use of anatomical characters 



