•?c)2 The History of Ichthyology 



In all 47 genera and 230 species of fishes were known from 

 the whole world in 1738, 



The cetaceans, or whales, constitute a fifth order, Plagiun, 

 inArtedi's scheme. 



As examples of the nomenclature of species I may quote: 



"Zens ventre acnleato, cauda in extremo circinata:' This 

 polynomial expression was shortened by Linnasus to Zens faber. 

 The species was called by Rondelet "Faber sive Gallns Mariniis " 

 and by other authors " Piscis Jovit." "Jovii" suggested Zens 

 to Artedi, and Rondelet's name faber became the specific name. 



" AnarJiiehas Lnpns niarinns nostras." This became with 

 Linna;us " Atiarln'clias lnpns." 



"Clupea, ma.xilla iiifcriore longiore, maculis nigris carens: 

 Harengus vcl Chalcis Anctornm, Herring vel Hering Anglis, 

 Gernianis Belgis." This became Clnpea Iiarejigns in the con- 

 venient binomial system of Linnseus. 



The great naturalist of the eighteenth century, Carl von 

 Linne, known academically as Carolus Linn^us, was the early 

 associate and close friend of i\rtedi, and from Artedi he ob- 

 tained practically all his knowledge of fishes. Linnaeus, profes- 

 sor in the University of Upsala and for a time its rector, prima- 

 rily a botanist, was a man of wonderful erudition, and his great 

 strength lay in his skill in the orderly arrangement of things. 

 In his lifetime, his greatest work, the " Systema Naturge," 

 passed through twelve editions. In the tenth edition, in 1758, 

 the binomial system of nomenclature was first consistently 

 applied to all animals. For this reason most naturalists use 

 the date of its publication as the beginning of zoological nomen- 

 clature, although the English naturalists have generally pre- 

 ferred the more complete twelfth edition, published in 1766. 

 This difference in the recognized starting-point has been often 

 a source of confusion, as in several cases the names of species 

 were needlessly changed by Linnaeus and given differently in 

 the twelfth edition. In taxonomy it is not nearly so important 

 that a name be pertinent or even well chosen as that it be 

 stable. In changing his own established names, the father 

 of classification set a bad example to his successors, one which 

 they did not fail to follow. 



In Linnaeus' system (tenth and twelfth editions) all of 



