xxxii Trans. Acad, Sci. of St. Louis, 



close agreement and of the wide divergence of the Linnaean and 

 the modern conceptions in classification. Linnaeus's concep- 

 tions of animal ecology were in some respects strikingly similar 

 to those of the present day, but his firmly established teleo- 

 logical point of view prevented his going very far towards the 

 modern conception of evolution. 



The final paper of the evening was given by Professor A. 0. 

 Lovejoy, of Washington University, on '^ Linnaeus and the Evo- 

 lution of the Sciences." Professor Love joy stated that the 

 position of Linnaeus in the history of science is a pecuHar one. 

 His fame outshines that of most of his contemporary naturalists ; 

 yet, living in an age of important discoveries and pregnant 

 hypotheses, he was the author of no important generahzation 

 and no epoch-making theory. Even in botany the truly pio- 

 neer work had been done before his time. These facts do not 

 negate his eminence, but they define the nature of it. He was 

 the one man of science of first rank whose distinction lies almost 

 wholly within the field of descriptive and classificatory science. 

 He was an unsurpassed organizer, both of scientific materials 

 and of scientific research, at a time when organization and 

 systematization was a primary need in natural history. This 

 was his special service in the progress of science. When he 

 went beyond this field and attempted generalization and the 

 statement of explanatory laws, he usually showed a most un- 

 sound conception of scientific method, a disposition to lapse 

 into theological explanations, and a touch of theological obscuran- 

 tism. In botany, however, he should be credited with having 

 contributed to the formulation of one or two theories that, even 

 if not entirely true, were destined to fruitful development; in 

 particular, his Prolepsis Plantarum seems to have led to Goethe's 

 theory of metamorphoses and other attempts to reduce the con- 

 ception of the phenomena of plant growth to unity. 



Dr. William Trelease was called upon and gave a brief appre- 

 ciation of the service which Linnaeus did for science by making 

 it possible to use the materials of research with ease and without 

 danger of confusion. 



A medal, commemorating the two hundredth anniversary of 

 the birth of Benjamin Franldin, was received from the American 

 Philosophical Society. Upon motion by Dr. Trelease, the 

 thanks of the Academy were extended to the American Philo- 

 sophical Society for this gift. 



Mr. PhiHp Rau was elected a member of the Academ^y. 



