BICENTENARY OF LINNMUS 87 



The American Philosophical Society. 



The American Philosophical Society held at Philadelphia for Promoting 

 Useful Knowledge sends cordial greetings to the New York Academy of 

 Sciences on the occasion of the celebration of the two hundredth anniversary 

 of the birth of Carolus Linnaeus. 



Out of the mechanical and inorganic systems of ancient and mediaeval 

 times this great Swedish naturalist constructed an organized system, which, 

 assisted by the binomial nomenclature, established order and system in the 

 natural sciences. This system has guided clearly the mind of man in the 

 classification of natural objects, and has made the name of its author 

 immortal. 



In the year 1770 The American Philosophical Society, in recognition 

 of the valuable services Carolus Linnaeus rendered to science, elected him 

 to its membership, and now, a hundred and thirty-seven years later, this 

 Society takes pleasure in uniting with the New York Academy of Sciences 

 in doing honor to his memory. 



Signed and sealed on behalf of The American Philosophical Society 

 held at Philadelphia for Promoting Useful Knowledge. 



Edgar F. Smith, President. 

 J. Minis Hays, Secretary. 



The National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.O. 



I am directed by President Ira Remsen of the National Academy of 

 Sciences to convey the greetings and congratulations of the National Acad- 

 emy on this occasion of the celebration of the two hundredth anniversary 

 of the birth of Linnaeus. I desire to present a brief appreciation of Linnaeus 

 from the standpoint of comparative anatomy and classification of the 

 mammalia. 



The period of Linnaeus was that of his active scientific life, between 1730 

 and 1795. Linnaeus did not introduce the term "Mammalia" until the 

 tenth edition of the "Systema" (1758). In following the suggestions of 

 Ray, Bernard de Jussieu, and, it is also claimed, of Blumenbach, he sepa- 

 rated the hairy quadrupeds, the manatees and whales, as a single class, 

 noting among the distinctive characters the position of the mammae and the 

 hairy covering. His education as a physician qualified him to define the 

 class through the internal anatomical characters, — the heart, the lungs, 

 the sense organs, — as well as through external characters. In arranging 



