520 ZOOLOGY 



Utterance. The first task was to throw off tradition and 

 authority. The names of GaUileo, Descartes, and Vesalius be- 

 long to this period of revival. Italy had a large part in the 

 renewal of scientific work, as in other fields such as art and 

 literature. 



Starting with the general interest in natural history and 

 classification and in medicine and anatomy, which was seen in 

 the work of Aristotle and Galen, the modern period has de- 

 veloped a great many special departments, as the various 

 workers have followed particular studies. We may profitably 

 consider the progress in Biology under the following heads: 

 (i) Natural history and classification; (2) Anatomy and its 

 departments; (3) Physiology; (4) Embryology; (s) Philosophy 

 of Biology; and (6) Applications of Biology. Of course these 

 divisions of interest took shape only gradually, and a worker 

 often contributed to several departments, especially at the 

 outset. 



516. Natural History and Systematic Zoology. — Naturally 

 enough, until the more important animals had been recorded 

 and compared and classified and their more striking habits and 

 modes of living studied, these general considerations would 

 present a most fruitful and enticing field of investigation. 

 Gesner (1516-1565), a Swiss physician, studied animals widely 

 and wrote a "history of animals" which was the best general 

 zoology since Aristotle. His work, which was profusely illus- 

 trated, largely influenced later studies. 



Ray (1629-1705), an Englishman, was a student of both 

 plants and animals. In addition to his own original studies and 

 discoveries he introduced the idea of the species as a definite 

 group of organisms arising from similar parents. He was thus 

 the real founder of modern systematic biology, and the fore- 

 runner of the great Swedish naturalist Linnaeus (1707-1778), who 

 published the Systema NaturcB in an effort to describe all the 

 known species of plants and animals. Linnaeus combined 

 Ray's species with the genus, and first used the generic and spe- 

 cific names as the name of the organism {binominal nomen- 

 clature). He invented also the brief descriptions of genera and 



