CHAPTER IX 



SPECIES AND THEIR ORIGIN 



Meaning of Species. - - Throughout our discussion 

 of the various phases of organic phenomena we have 

 been compelled to use the word " species " without 

 defining it, although its meaning must have been 

 more or less evident from the context. Indeed, 

 there is no term in general use in Biology, the mean- 

 ing of which is so vague or so variously interpreted, 

 and the definition of which is so difficult. The 

 Latin word "species," which has been directly 

 incorporated into English, means, primarily, " form " 

 or " appearance," the visible structure by which 

 anything may be recognized ; hence, by inference, 

 the word came to mean " sort " or " kind." 



Until the early decades of the eighteenth century, 

 practically all serious scientific writing was in Latin, 

 and the word " species," when used in describing 

 different kinds of animals or plants, had no technical 

 connotation. The early naturalist, in naming an 

 unusual form, proceeded as any person would in 

 describing a friend; that is, he summarized its salient 

 characteristics in a brief sentence. The lion was the 

 " Cat with a tuft at the end of the tail." l The 



1 "Felis cauda in floccum definente." M. J. Brisson, " Regnum A Hi- 

 male: Quadrupedum," p. 194. 1756. 



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