LINN^US AND HIS INFLUENCE 53 



which all animals may be named. This system was 

 adopted throughout the world, and by a happy stroke 

 Linnaeus gave to natural science a common language 

 that remains in use to-day. The influence of this may 

 be realized when we remember that the naturalists 

 of all countries use identical names for the same 

 animals and plants. He also simplified the problem 

 of identification by giving terse descriptions, involv- 

 ing only the salient points by which animals and 

 plants may be recognized. 



His publication the Systema Natures which passed 

 through twelve editions (first edition in 1735) is by 

 no means a treatise on organization of annuals and 

 plants, but a methodically arranged catalogue with 

 brief descriptions and their new names. The Sys- 

 tema embraces also a consideration of minerals. 



Linnaeus did not invent the binomial nomenclature 

 but brought it into general use, and by common con- 

 sent, zoologists accept as the starting point for 

 zoological names the tenth edition of the Systema 

 Natures published in 1758. The botanists frequently 

 use as a base line for names his Species Plantarum of 



1753- 

 Although Linnaeus made a lasting impression, he 



gave to natural history a one-sided development. 



