July 19, 1007] 



SCIENCE 



67 



Stenbrolmlt. In the fall of 1714 Carl Lin- 

 ni-eus entered the school of Wexio, and 

 graduated from the "gymnasium" in 1727. 

 His parents, especially his mother, wanted 

 him to study for the ministry, but he had 

 no love for theology, nor for metaphysics, 

 nor the classics. He learned Latin toler- 

 ably, however, because that language helped 

 him to study the natural sciences. He de- 

 cided to study medicine and entered with 

 that view the University of Lund, which 

 was nearest his home, but remained there 

 only one year, learning that there were 

 better facilities at Upsala. At the latter 

 place he soon became acquainted with Pro- 

 fessors Rudbeck and Celsius, two of the 

 most prominent scientists of that time, and 

 was allowed to use their libraries. The 

 former, who had many duties to perform, 

 soon a.sked Liunseus to give for him the 

 public lectures in botany. The income 

 from these gave Linnasus means to support 

 himself and linked him closer to his favorite 

 study. He became acquainted with prac- 

 tically all the plants of the gardens and 

 fields of the whole region around Upsala 

 and learned all the scientific names given 

 in the books at his disposal. 



The latter was not an easy matter, when 

 we take into consideration the form of sci- 

 entific names at that period. For example, 

 the most approved name of the common 

 blue-grass that adorns our lawns was: 

 "Gramen pratense paniculatum' ma jus, 

 latiore folio, Poa Theophrasti." Other 

 names of the same grass were: "Gramen 

 vulgo cogniium," "Gramen pratense majus 

 vulgatius" and "Gramen alterum et vul- 

 gare." In the first publication by Lin- 

 nseus it appears as "Poa spicuUs ovatis 

 compressis muticis." 1 think that Lin- 

 nseus and his contemporaries had much 

 more cause than we to exclaim: "Those 

 horrible Latin names ! " To us the same 

 plant is known as Poa pratensis L., the 



name adopted by Linnajus in his "Species 

 Plantarum. ' ' 



The lectures given by Linnaeus for Pro- 

 fessor Rudbeck became very popular. This 

 was especially the case after his return 

 from his Lapland journey. Some persons, 

 especially Dr. Nils Rosen, became jealous 

 of his success and induced the university 

 faculty to pass a resolution by which no 

 one who had not taken the corresponding 

 degree was permitted to give university 

 lectures. Linnseus had not yet received his 

 doctor's degree, and hence was debarred. 

 As Holland was offering at that time excel- 

 lent facilities both in medicine and in bot- 

 any, and as living expenses were lower than 

 elsewhere, Linnffius decided to visit that 

 country and take his examinations there. 

 He received his doctor's diploma at Har- 

 derwijk, and afterwards went to Leyden, 

 where he became acquainted with three of 

 the greatest botanists of the time, Boer- 

 haave, Burmann and Gronovius. George 

 Clifford, the wealthy burgomaster of Am- 

 sterdam and president of the Bast India 

 Company, was a great lover of plants and 

 had a splendid botanical garden at Harte- 

 eamp as well as a rich library and her- 

 barium. On the recommendation of Boer- 

 haave, Linna?us became Clifford 's physician 

 and curator of his collections and garden. 

 Here he lived in luxury, beloved as a son. 



Clifford furnished Linnceus with means 

 to publish five of his first books, "Systema 

 Naturte," "Fundamenta Botanica," "Bib- 

 liotheca Botanica," "Genera Plantarum" 

 and "Floja Lapponiea, " the manuscript 

 of which he had brought with him from 

 Sweden. In the first of these Linnseus 

 presents his system of classification. He 

 divides nature into three kingdoms, the min- 

 eral, vegetable and animal. In the vege- 

 table kingdom he brings out an altogether 

 new classification, based upon the sexual 

 organs of plants. He divides the kingdom 



