LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON. 2^ 



advance towards the modern conception of variation : but still 

 there is no hint of the suspicion that a variety may become a 

 species. It must, however, be conceded that, from his keen and 

 constant observation of animals and plants in a state of nature, 

 Linnaeus had not failed to recognise what is now termed " the 

 struggle for existence,"' of which he drew a vivid picture in 

 the dissertation 'Politia Xaturae ' (Amoen. Acad, vi.), without, 

 however, attaining to the idea of " the survival of the fittest" and 

 so to the theory of organic evolution. 



If so far the claims of Linnaeus to high distinction have been 

 scrutinised and disputed witl) some measure of success, further 

 attempt at objection becomes futile when his merits as an organiser 

 of knowledge are brought forward. The state of iS'atural History 

 early in the eighteenth century Avas indeed such as to call for 

 reorganisation. The active exploration of the world, and more 

 particularly of the New World, had brought to light such a wealth 

 of new forms that the existing resources of description, of nomen- 

 clature, and of classification were proving altogether inadequate to 

 deal with them. Some idea of the condition of Botany at this 

 period may be given in the words of Linnaeus himself. " I praise," 

 says he in the ' Critica Botanica,' " the names given by the old Greeks 

 and Romans, but I shudder at the sight of those given by many 

 recent authoi's ; since they are for the most part nothing but a 

 chaos of confusion, whose mother is barbarism, whose father 

 authority, whose nurse prejudice." In the ' Eeformatio Botauices ' 

 (Amoen. Acad, vi.) we read : " The genera are false and defective 



and are daily multiplied by ne\^" authors and new systems 



The generic names are for the most part erroneous, barbarous, and 

 Indian names have been given, and the names of other natural 

 objects have been accepted for plants, so that it is not clear whether 

 they indicate a plant or a fish .... The generic characters were 

 so expressed that they scarcely sufficed to distinguish the known 

 genera : consequently, when a new genus was discovered the 



characters of the allied genera had to be altered The 



descriptions of plants are written in so oratorical a style, and in 

 such pompous language, that they filled whole pages." 



It must be admitted that Linnaeus was singularly quahfied to 

 undertake the herculean task of reducing this chaos to order. 

 As he well says in the ' Systema Xaturae,' " the first step in know- 

 ledge is to know the things themselves " ; and this equipment he 

 certainly possessed. Xo man of his time has shown so compre- 

 hensive an acquaintance with animals and plants — to say nothing 

 of minerals — or was more deeply versed in the lore accumulated 

 by his predecessors in the study of Natural History. He combined 

 a wonderfully lucid and methodical mind \\ith indefatigable 

 industry and inexhaustible energy ; and the results that he achieved 

 were commensurate with these exceptional endowments. AVhat 

 these results were is so well known that I need not dwell upon 

 them at any length ; I will merely indicate the course that he 

 pursued. The first step was the publication, in 1735, of the 



