MEMOIR OF LINN.EUSU 69 



beyond the grave; for if there be flowers in the 

 Elysian Fields, I would weave garlands for those 

 good men who deserved them while on earth." 



With regard to the peculiar characteristic of the 

 Liimaean system, viz. the sexual distinction of 

 plants, Linnaaus himself confessed, both in con- 

 versation and in his writings, that the merit of that 

 discovery did not belong to him ; it was known be- 

 fore the time of Theophrastus. Nor did he even 

 claim the discovery of the sexual organs, which 

 has been generally ascribed to him. Nevertheless, 

 from his application of that knowledge to the de- 

 velopement of science, he may be justly considered 

 their discoverer. In his Spacies Plantarum, he states 

 that he had analyzed more than ten thousand spe- 

 cies of flowers ; and although he long swayed the 

 botanical sceptre of Europe, he never expected that 

 the natural system would gain a speedy conquest 

 over the prejudices of the learned. Its adoption 

 he considered as a thing which posterity might 

 witness, but scarcely to be hoped for in his own 

 times. 



As a geologist, the opinions of Linnaeus, how- 

 ever interesting about the middle of last century, 

 are not now worthy of special analysis. At the 

 period when he formed his theory, there existed 

 no satisfactory data as to the structure of the globe- 

 All the systems then in fashion had the common 

 defect of being based on a few isolated facts, too 



