MEMOIR OF REV. JOHN FLEMING, D.D. 667 
In the year 1554 two works on fishes appeared—one by RonpDLLETivs, Professor 
of Medicine at Montpellier, the other by SALvIANus, a physician at Rome. These 
were soon followed by two writers on general zoology—Conrap GrEsNER and 
UxyssEs ALDROVANDUS, the former a physician at Zurich, the latter a Professor of 
Philosophy and Natural History in the University of Bologna. Gursnmr, in his 
“History of Animals,” classifies them into two great divisions—those that reside 
on land, and those that live in water. The viviparous quadrupeds are subdivided 
into six orders, into which animals are disposed according to the accident of their 
being wild or tame. ALDROVANDUus adopts Piato’s division of the animal king- 
dom, corresponding to the four elements of the ancients, fire, air, earth, and 
water. He begins with birds, “that division,” as he says, “seeming to offer 
itself first in order; for as to those corresponding to fire,” he observes, “I consider 
none such exist.” There are many important anatomical and physiological 
details in the works of ALDRovaNDus. For example, he describes the process of 
incubation in the egg for each day, the “punctum saliens” having been seen on 
the third, with the “¢runcus venosus” arising from it. The first British Zoologi- 
cal work appeared in 1634, under the title of “Theatrum Insectorum,” by Dr 
Mourret, physician to the Earl of Pembroke. 
The next original work was published in the year 1667, entitled “ Pinax 
Rerum Naturalium Brittanicarum,” by Dr Christopher Merrett, and is deserving of 
notice as the first of our local faunas and floras, being entirely devoted to British 
plants and animals. It was at this period that the names of Listmr, Ray, . 
WiLLoucusy, and SIBBALD began to spread the fame of Great Britain. This has 
been called the physiological or golden age of natural history; and the impulse 
given to this study by the writings and discoveries of these eminent men has 
continued and increased to the present time. These men were the objects of 
Fleming’s greatest admiration. 
Ray’s system of classification, although based on that of his predecessors, was 
so far in advance of theirs that it received general acceptance among naturalists 
until it was superseded by the more simple and effective one of Linnazus. The 
primary divisions of Linnzus are founded upon the structure of the heart and 
nature of the blood, the characters of the teeth being chosen for his mammalian 
orders. By thus adopting exclusive characters, his system, although powerful in 
the discrimination of groups, is highly artificial. The fame of Linnzus rests 
on his invaluable nomenclature, commonly known as the Binomial system. For 
the system of Linnazus, FLEMING ever expressed his utmost admiration as a 
means to an end, but he roundly rated those who blindly accepted a table of 
contents as a book, or an index to names when the pages were awanting. To 
the earnest student of nature the illustrious Swede had pointed the way, though 
he had not traversed it himself. He had furnished sailing directions, yet no 
chart of the immense ocean of facts, which he had descried from afar, but had not 
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