52 CAROLUS LINNAEUS 



early books, the Fundamenta Botanica and 

 the Critica Botanica. It is one of his most 

 important and imperishable books. In 1753 

 appeared the largest and most comprehensive 

 of his works, the Species Plantarum. During 

 the remaining years of his life Linnaeus was 

 largely occupied with the preparation of new 

 editions of almost all his works, the public 

 demand for which was very great. 



INFLUENCE OF LINN^US UPON BOTANY 



It is not possible to convey an idea of what 

 Linnaeus accomplished for the advancement 

 of botany without presenting, in brief outline, 

 a view of what had been done before him. 

 That there was not much botany before Lin- 

 naeus is a fable that gained popular credence 

 in rural districts a half century ago. One 

 of the earliest books which our Linnseus pub- 

 lished was the Bibliotheca Botanica. It con- 

 tains the titles of 1000 volumes, by almost as 

 many different botanists, most of which books 

 he thought an indispensable part of a working 

 botanist's equipment; and his own works, 

 on almost every page, abound in citations 

 of those of his predecessors. The first foun- 



