LINNZUS AND NATURAL HISTORY 117 
his two sons, and the editing of his manuscripts. Ray per- 
formed these duties as a faithful friend and in a generous 
spirit. He edited and published Willughby’s book on birds 
(1678) and fishes (1686) with important additions of his own, 
for which he sought no credit. 
After completing his tasks as the literary executor of Wil- 
lughby, he returned in 1678 to his birthplace and continued 
his studies in natural history. In 1691 he published “The 
Wisdom of God manifested in the Works of the Creation,” 
which was often reprinted, and became the forerunner of the 
works on natural theology like Paley’s, etc. This was an 
amplification of ideas he had embodied ina sermon thirty- 
one years earlier, and which at that time attracted much 
notice. He now devoted himself largely to the study of ani- 
mals, and in 1693 published a work on the quadrupeds and 
serpents, a work which gave him high rank in the history of 
the classification of animals. He died in 1705, but he had 
accomplished much good work, and was not forgotten. In 
1844 there was founded, in London, in his memory, the Ray 
Society for the publication of rare books on botany and 
zodlogy. 
Ray’s Idea of Species.—One of the features of Ray’s 
work, in the light of subsequent development, is of special 
interest, and that is his limiting of species. He was the first 
to introduce into natural history an exact conception of 
species. Before his time the word had been used in an 
indefinite sense to embrace groups of greater or less extent, 
but Ray applied it to individuals derived from similar par- 
ents, thus making the term species stand for a particular kind 
of animal or plant. He noted some variations among species, 
and did not assign to them that unvarying and constant char- 
acter ascribed to them by Linneeus and his followers. Ray 
also made use of anatomy as the foundation for zodlogical 
classification, and introduced great precision and clearness 
