112 BIOLOGY AND ITS MAKERS” 
translation and recopying of the writers of classical antiquity 
was, therefore, an important step in the revival of learning. 
These writings were so much above the thought of the time 
that the belief was naturally created that the ancients had 
digested all learning, and they were pointed to as unfailing 
authorities in matters of science. us 
The Return to the Science of the Ancients.—The return to 
Aristotle was wholesome, and under its ipfluence men turned 
their attention once more to real animals. Comments upon 
Aristotle began to be made, and in course of time independent 
treatises upon animals began to appear.. One of the first to 
modify Aristotle to any purpose was Edward Wotton, the 
English physician, who published in 1552 a book on the dis- 
tinguishing characteristics of animals (De Differentiis Ani- 
malium). This was a complete treatise on the zodlogy of 
the period, including an account of the different races of 
mankind. It was beautifully printed in Paris, and was 
dedicated to Edward VI. Although embracing ten books, 
it was by no means so ponderous as were some of the treatises 
that followed it. The work was based upon Aristotle, but 
the author introduced new matter, and also added the group 
of zodphytes, or plant-like animals of the sea. 
Gesner.—The next to reach a distinctly higher plane was 
Conrad Gesner (1516-1565), the Swiss, who was a contem- 
porary of Vesalius. He was a practising physician who, in 
1553, was made professor of natural history in Zurich. A 
man of extraordinary talent and learning, he turned out an 
astonishing quantity of work. Besides accomplishing much 
in scientific lines, he translated from Greek, Arabic, and 
Hebrew, and published in twenty volumes a universal cat- 
alogue of all works known in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, 
either printed or in manuscript form. In the domain of 
natural history he began to look critically at animals with a 
view to describing them, and to collect with zealous care new 
