Babylonians some inklings of a knowledge of classification. Thus,
according to Menant,[21] some of the tablets from Nineveh, which
are written, as usual, in both the Sumerian and Assyrian
languages, and which, therefore, like practically all Assyrian
books, draw upon the knowledge of old Babylonia, give lists of
animals, making an attempt at classification. The dog, lion, and
wolf are placed in one category; the ox, sheep, and goat in
another; the dog family itself is divided into various races, as
the domestic dog, the coursing dog, the small dog, the dog of
Elan, etc. Similar attempts at classification of birds are found.
Thus, birds of rapid flight, sea-birds, and marsh-birds are
differentiated. Insects are classified according to habit; those
that attack plants, animals, clothing, or wood. Vegetables seem
to be classified according to their usefulness. One tablet
enumerates the uses of wood according to its adaptability for
timber-work of palaces, or construction of vessels, the making of
implements of husbandry, or even furniture. Minerals occupy a
long series in these tablets. They are classed according to their
qualities, gold and silver occupying a division apart; precious
stones forming another series. Our Babylonians, then, must be
credited with the development of a rudimentary science of natural
history.


BABYLONIAN MEDICINE

We have just seen that medical practice in the Babylonian world
was strangely under the cloud of superstition. But it should be
understood that our estimate, through lack of correct data,
probably does much less than justice to the attainments of the