STATUS OF ARISTOTLE IN SYSTEMATIC ZOOLOGY. 459 
sideration the results of accumulation of data by various workers, 
which have culminated in the recognition of the valuation and sub- 
ordination of groups now prevalent, and limit ourselves to the in- 
quiry whether there was aught, either in the spirit or the method 
of inquiry exhibited in Aristotle’s works, or in any of his conclu- 
sions, far in advance of his own age and transcending (as has been 
urged) even the fruits of the researches of Linné and later writers. 
And inasmuch as the mammals are the best known, and most 
familiar to the naturalist as well as layman, the treatment of the 
members of that class may be examined, and it may be regarded 
as tolerably certain that if ill fortune has resulted in their case, it 
as, to even a greater degree, in others: and, as a matter of fact, 
such has resulted in other cases, but the reader will have to take 
for granted that the writer has satisfied himself of the fact. If the 
statement should be gainsaid, he is prepared to prove the truth of 
the assertion ; meanwhile, proof is only offered affecting the clas- 
sification of the mammals. The references to the book, chapter, 
and paragraph where are found the assertions commented upon, 
will enable verification (or correction) to be readily made. The 
principal claims in behalf of Aristotle affecting the mammals are 
the following :— 
lst. The complete and soene recognition of the class as now 
limited. 
2d. The recognition of relations based on scientific induction 
_ and knowledge of homologies. 
_ 8d. The recognition of natural groups (families, orders, etc.) as 
now understood. 
4th. The appreciation of the principles of classification ; or, in 
other words, the subordination of values of such ee 
These may be examined in the order enumerated 
1. Recoenition or THE cLass. It has been Bie that the full 
recognition of the class of mammals was attained by Aristotle ; 
that, in fact, “The Zootoka of Aristotle included the same out- 
: wardly diverse but organically eee beings which constitute the 
mmalia of modern naturalists 
It is quite true that all the Dani were recognized as Zo- 
otoka (or viviparous), but so were other animals, and the adjective 
Was not restricted to the mammals. In reference to reproduction, 
Aristotle has simply remarked, as matters of ordinary observation, 
*Owen (R.) On the classification. . . of the mammalia. . . 1859, p. 1. 
