THE SEQUOIA 



Linnaeus recognized thai certain groups of animals were sub- 

 ordinate to other groups, and by his binomial nomenclature he 

 provided a place in Ins system for every species. T< • each sp 

 two Latin names were given; the first, always beginning with a 

 capital, was the name of the genus; the second, now usually 

 spelled with a small Letter, thai of the species. F< »r example, the 



titific name of our Big Tree is "Sequoia gigantea" that is, 

 is the name of the genus, and gigantea the name of tin- 

 To avoid confusion, it is customary now to add the 

 name of the scientist who first describes the species; thus, " 

 quota gi Decaisne," indicates that Decaisne was the natur- 



alist who first described and named the Big Tn 



The tirst edition ^i Linnaeus 1 "Systema Naturae" was pub- 

 lished in 1735. Linnaeus was a firm believer in the special crea- 

 tion of each Species, and in one of his books says, u We reckon as 

 many Species as issued in pairs from the hands of the Creator." 



Among the naturalists of the eighteenth century, ( k>ethe and 

 Cuvier are conspicuous. The former (1796), although a great 



poet, made valuable contributions to science. He introduced 

 tlte word "morphology" as a designation of the study of form 

 structure, and was the first t<» advance the vertebral ///■ 

 the skull, that is, that the skull represents modified vertebrae. 

 IK- recognized the significance of vestigial organs, for example, 

 ^ill slits in human embryos, appendages in whales, etc., and pre- 

 dicted the discovery of the premaxilla in man the supp 



nee of which was considered to be a character which dis- 

 tinguished man from the ap 



Et was, however, Georges Cuvier (born in 1769), the famous 



rich naturalist, who was the leader in science for more than 



half a century. He stands as a striking example of a man who 



markably correct in his observations of nature, but equally 



incorrect in his generalizations. His w< irk on tin .• mam- 



mals of Prance marked the beginning of palaeontology. He was 



point OUt the resemblance between " AnckiUk 

 and the modern horse, a fact which i evi- 



deno volution. H irmationist and believed in 



rth as it is at present is the 



