56 THE MAIN CURRENTS OF ZOOLOGY 



work. He was impatient towards criticism and 

 adverse comment of his work often threw him into a 

 violent passion. 



In 1907 occurred the two hundredth anniversary 

 of his birth which was celebrated by the University of 

 Upsala with appropriate ceremonies. At this time 

 many articles were published about Linnaeus that 

 supply abundant reading matter regarding his life 

 and work. To mark this celebration there was pub- 

 lished a facsimile reproduction of the first edition of 

 the Systema Natures a folio of eight pages con- 

 taining the systematic arrangement of the "three 

 kingdoms " of nature embracing minerals, plants and 

 animals. This interesting document is readily ac- 

 cessible in the book market. 



A splendid offshoot of the natural history of 

 Linnaeus is Ecology the study of organisms in 

 relation to their surroundings. This has wider 

 affinities but is related to natural history. For con- 

 venience we may also place in this wide territory the 

 Geographical Distribution of Animals. 



The Linnaean system of classification had grave 

 defects. It was not founded on a knowledge of the 

 comparative structure of animals and plants, but in 

 many instances upon superficial features that were 



