CHAPTER XXVITI 

 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE OF ZOOLOGY 



A SCIENCE is the recorded body of facts and general ideas on 

 some subject-matter, especially after they have been arranged 

 under general laws. Zoology as a science, therefore, had its 

 beginning when a man wrote out for puljlic use some observa- 

 tions he had made on animals, while unwritten observations 

 constitute personal knowledge or at best " folldore." The 

 development of the science is traced by l)ooks, by special re- 

 ports, and by the proceedings of scientific societies, which 

 have appeared in ever increasing volume since the invention 

 of printing. 



Who first definitely recorded observations on animals it 

 would be hard to say. Nascent man evolved in the company 

 of other animals, and the dog was doubtless one of his earliest 

 companions. Primiti^'e language, in so far as it contains the 

 names of animals, gives the first record of his oliservations, and 

 these names show his appreciation of the fact that there are 

 different kinds of animals. Later arise the oral trachtions or 

 folklore, wth their animal stories, fables, superstitions con- 

 nected with animals, and even a mass of fairly accurate obser- 

 vation. As time goc^s on, oljservation is sharpened, language 

 is enriched with a constantly increasing number of names of 

 animals and, eventually, as students and philosophers appear, 

 critical studies are made on animals. Such studies, we find, 

 were first made l_)y the Greeks. While there were not lacking 



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