Species

42 Species

In Tract 2, he begins with the Quadrupeds, since these are the class of animals
from which the most signicant domesticated animals come. The internal order
is alphabetically arranged in Latin, beginning with “Alches” (Elk). His classica-
tions also include whether the animals are “wet” or “dry” in the Galenic scheme.
However, he allows for a higher genus than the biological species level itself, for
example where when discussing the “Cefusa” mentioned in Solinus’ Collecta rerum
memorabilium (one of his major sources, see above), possibly a gorilla, he assigns it
to “the genus of simians.”^46 This is not a precursor to Linnaean binomials, though.
Each species is briey described, except for the oddities (the elephant, for instance),
common animals (the hedgehog, the wolf), and domesticated animals. The entry on
horses runs for 41 manuscript pages, and includes details on care, diseases, and so
forth. In cases of hybrids, such as the Mule (Mulus^47 ), Albert notes that it is sterile
because it is “produced from male and females sperms that are quite dissimilar in
nature,” although he still regards it as a species. He correctly notes that female mules
may occasionally give birth to viable young, but ascribes the cause to the heat of the
country countering the internal cold of the animal. He says of apes (Symia) that the
animal “admits of many species.” He includes a monkey as an ape, not making a
distinction between tailed and non-tailed simians.
In Book 23, he describes bird species, which although they are animals, are dif-
ferent from the “general sense” of that term.^48 Again, the coverage he gives varies
according to their oddity, commonplace nature, or domestication, with Falcons and
Hawks given extensive coverage, following Frederick. He notes that different spe-
cies of falcon have different-colored feet and plumage.^49 He describes ten species of
“noble falcons” and three “inferior falcons,” and four species of hybrids,^50 noting
that while only four crossbred species are known, there are probably more, and also
in other groups of species such as goshawks, sparrow hawks, and eagles.^51 Oddly, he
includes bats (Verspertilio) among the birds, presumably because they y, although
he notes that they look like winged mice. That this is a purely arbitrary Aristotelian
system based on overall habitat is conrmed by the inclusion of crocodiles, hip-
popotamuses, seals, dolphins, and whales among the shes in the book on aquatic
animals.^52 It is clear that for Albert, species is a kind term that relates shared proper-
ties, but which is maintained by sexual reproduction. We may take this as the best of
late medieval opinion.
Albert also addressed the Barnacle Goose question, noting that he and his friends
had bred one with a domestic goose, and that the spontaneous generation account is
“altogether absurd as I and many of my friends have seen them pair and lay eggs and
hatch chicks.”^53 Raven documents many of his correct observations, and some of his
repeating falsehoods, and Stannard shows that of all the plant species Albert lists,

(^46) Albertus Magnus 1987, 93.
(^47) Albertus Magnus 1987, 160.
(^48) Albertus Magnus 1987, 188.
(^49) Albertus Magnus 1987, 224.
(^50) Albertus Magnus 1987, chapter 16.
(^51) Albertus Magnus 1987, 2 47.
(^52) Book XXIV.
(^53) Raven 1953, 67f, quoting Book 23, 19.