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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXV. No. 651 



of invertebrates, or for an aggregate of 307 

 species of animals. Four years later, in 

 the tenth or 1758 edition of his 'Systema 

 Naturse, ' he adopted it for the whole animal 

 kingdom, which date is now generally taken 

 as the beginning of the binomial system for 

 zoology. The importance and utility of 

 this simple innovation in a matter of 

 nomenclature are beyond estimate, and if 

 Linnaaus had done nothing else for the ad- 

 vancement of biology he would be entitled 

 to a conspicuous niche in the temple of 

 fame and to the gratitude of all subsequent 

 workers in this field. He for the first time 

 gave technical standing to the systematic 

 names, both generic and specific, of all the 

 plants and animals known at the dates 

 when he introduced the nomen triviale into 

 the nomenclature of botany and zoology. 



It is of interest in this connection to note 

 the number of species of animals known to 

 Linnasus at the date of publication of the 

 last edition of the 'Systema Nature,' the 

 number known to him personally, and the 

 number recorded respectively from North 

 America and from South America. 



Of mammals, the whole number of spe- 

 cies recorded is 190, of which three fourths 

 are based on the descriptions of previous 

 authors. Only 48 were American— 12 from 

 North America and 36 from South Amer- 

 ica. The five North American mammals 

 known to Linnsus from specimens were 

 the raccoon, star-nosed mole, common mole, 

 fiying squirrel and chipmunk. The num- 

 ber of species at present known from North 

 America is 600, excluding subspecies. The 

 number for the world, including the extinct 

 as well as the living, is about 10,000, as 

 against less than 200 recorded by Linnsus. 



Of birds about 925 are recorded of the 

 15,000 known to-day. The 200 known from 

 America are divided about equally between 

 North America and South America, only 

 50 of which were described from specimens. 



The amphibia and reptiles number col- 



lectively about 250, of which about one 

 third are American, 40 per cent, of the 

 latter being North American and 60 per 

 cent. South American. The North Amer- 

 ican include three salamanders, the box- 

 turtle, the six-lined lizard, the blue-tailed 

 lizard and 14 snakes. The greater part of 

 the 20 North American species of reptiles 

 and amphibians known to him personally 

 were based on specimens transmitted by his 

 former student, Dr. C. D. Garden, from the 

 Carolinas, and on a few sent from Penn- 

 sylvania by Peter Kalm, also one of his 

 students. Thus the greater part of the 

 snakes of the eastern United States became 

 known to Linnasus prior to 1766. 



About 500 species of fishes are recorded, 

 of which 100 are American, divided about 

 equally between North and South America. 

 Forty of the nearly 60 North American 

 species described are based on specimens 

 sent from the Carolinas by Dr. Garden, the 

 others mainly on specimens in the museum 

 of King Frederic. 



There is not time to notice in detail the 

 various classes of Coelenterates. A few 

 words about insects will serve as a general 

 illustration for this phylum. Linnsus re- 

 corded about 2,400 species, the greater part 

 of which he was the first to describe. About 

 300,000 are now recognized. Of the insects 

 known to him, 65 per cent, are recorded in 

 the second (1761) edition of his 'Fauna 

 Sueccia,' and many of the remainder are 

 European, so that his knowledge of exotic 

 species was exceedingly restricted. Of 

 Coleoptera he recorded about 800 species; 

 the number now known is estimated at 12,- 

 000. Of Lepidoptera he recorded about 

 800; 7,000 are now known from North 

 America alone. Of Diptera he recorded 

 278 species, of which 200 were from Swe- 

 den; 12,000 are now known from North 

 America. 



Linnffius's system of classification was 

 based on a few external characters, and 



