BRIEF UIHTORY OF THE SCIENCE OF ZOOLOGY 459 



those who thought about and even dissected animals as early 

 as the sixth century before Christ, yet so relatively vast were 

 the observations and records make by Aristotle (334-322 B.C.) 

 that he is commonly accepted as the father of zoolog.y. Living 

 near the mild waters of the Mediterranean Sea, which swarm 

 with living beings, he was led to make studies on marine as 

 well as terrestrial organisms. He made observations on snails, 

 muscles, hermit crabs, sea-urchins, tunicates, and sea-anemones. 

 His studies on nesting habits, 

 care of young, and general eco- 

 nomics of bees and wasps are 

 extensive and valuable. While 

 his observations lacked the 

 thoroughness which is expected 

 in modern zoological work, and 

 his generalizations seem crude 

 in view of established facts, yet 

 we can only admire his ideal of 

 making independent observa- 

 tions and his aim of finding a 

 general law in nature, the law 

 of fitness or " adaptation." He clearly saw also the principles 

 of division of labor, and that the process of development in an 

 organism is a progress from the simple and general to the 

 complex and special. If Aristotle did not enter to any im- 

 portant extent into the speculations of the Greeks as to the 

 origin and evolution of the universe, it is clear that he conceived 

 a progressive development of the animal kingdom out of the 

 simplest beings. 



After Aristotle there was a decline in the intellectual life of 

 Greece, and with the spread of Roman influence and ideas in 



Fig. 412. — Aristotle. From Locy, 

 "Biolog3^ and its Malvers," New 

 York, Henry Holt and Company. 



