CHAPTER XXyill 



DEVELOPMENT OF ZOOLOGY 



512. Introduction. — Long before man discovered a way to 

 record his knowledge he must have learned much about plants 

 and animals. His well-being depended on it. Here he got his 

 food. His most dreaded enemies were the great mammals that 

 were on the earth when he appeared. His success in evading 

 his enemies and in capturing his food made it necessary that he 

 know something of their haunts and habits. As he learned to 

 domesticate some of these animals, both for protection and for 

 food supply, his knowledge was extended. As the animals were 

 slaughtered for food and clothing and for his primitive religious 

 rites, he learned something of their internal structure. This 

 early knowledge probably had little pure scientific interest back 

 of it. Most of it was incidental to the uses he made of the 

 animals, doubtless reinforced somewhat by the feeling of wonder 

 and the esthetic sense. In a similar way human accidents, pain, 

 diseases, and deaths doubtless led to some study of the human 

 body and its care and cure, as soon as human intelligence was 

 able to grasp the situation. 



It is not easy for us to whom the discoveries of the last 400 

 years are a well known story to realize how fragmentary and 

 unscientific were the ideas of the early times. 



513. The Greek and Roman Periods. — So far as we need con- 

 sider here, the foundations of modem zoology were laid by Aris- 

 totle (384-322 B.C.). It must not be imagined however that 

 his was the first effort to bring together the knowledge already 

 gained. For example, ancient Egyptian documents twelve 

 centuries older than Aristotle give elaborate discussions of 

 medical subjects. 



Aristotle is chiefly known as a philosopher and logician; but 

 he was a most prolific student in many realms. He made two 

 great contributions to natural history: (i) he brought together 



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