LINNAEUS AND NATURAL HISTORY 1 19 



Spain, of all the world, in fact, as was just said, employ the 

 same Latin names in classifying organic forms. 



He also inspired many students with a love for natural 

 history and gave an impulse to the advance of that science 

 which was long felt. We can not gainsay that a higher class 

 of service has been rendered by those of philosophic mind 

 devoted to the pursuit of comparative anatomy, but the step 

 of Linnaeus was a necessary one, and aided greatly in the 

 progress of natural history. Without this step the discoveries 

 and observations of others would not have been so readily 

 understood, and had it not been for his organizing force all 

 natural science would have been held back for want of a 

 common language. A close scrutiny of the practice among 

 naturalists in the time of Linnaeus shows that he did not 

 actually invent the binomial nomenclature, but by adopting 

 the suggestions of others he elaborated the system of classifi- 

 cation and brought the new language into common use. 



Personal History. Leaving for the present the system of 

 Linnaeus, we shall give attention to the personal history of 

 the man. The great Swedish naturalist was born in Rashult 

 in 1 707. His father was the pastor of the village, and intended 

 his eldest son, Carl, for the same high calling. The original 

 family name was Ignomarsen, but it had been changed to Lin- 

 delius, from a tall linden-tree growing in that part of the coun- 

 try. In 1761 a patent of nobility was granted by the crown 

 to Linnaeus, and thereafter he was styled Carl von Linne. 



His father's resources were very limited, but he man- 

 aged to send his son to school, though it must be confessed 

 that young Linnaeus showed little liking for the ordinary 

 branches of instruction. His time was spent in collecting 

 natural-history specimens, and his mind was engaged in 

 thinking about them. The reports of his low scholarship 

 and the statement of one of his teachers that he showed no 

 aptitude for learning were so disappointing to his father that, 



