196 PBOF. J. C. SCHIODTE ON LETTERS FROM 



Notes on the Letters from DanisL. and Norwegian Naturalists 

 contained in the Linnean Correspondence. By Professor J. C. 

 ScHioDTE, of Copenhagen. 



[Eead June 18, 1874.] 



Amongst the treasures preserved by the Linnean Society, one of 

 the most important is the correspondence of the King of Natu- 

 ralists. It is true that for the appreciation of his own works and 

 genius this vast collection is of minor value, because the letters 

 are those of his correspondents and not his own. But Linnaeus 

 was the centre of the scientific world at his time and in his own 

 department, such as no other man of science ever was to a similar 

 degree ; and this enormous mass of communications sent to him 

 by contemporary naturalists of every nation and every class, 

 through a series of years, give in their totality a most interesting 

 and unique picture of that whole period in the history of science, 

 and throw so much light on many points in it, that this history 

 certainly never can be properly written without a most ample use 

 of this correspondence, such as has not yet been made. 



It was therefore a great satisfaction to me to be enabled, by 

 the kind permission of the Linnean Society, to copy those letters 

 to Linnaeus, preserved in its library, which had been written by 

 naturalists in Denmark and Norway. As many of these letters as 

 seemed to have any interest have now been printed, exactly tran- 

 scribed (a few only in extracts) in the seventh volume of the ' Natur- 

 historisk Tidsskrift,' pp. 333-509 ; and their historical value has 

 been amply demonstrated by the quantity of new information which 

 Mr. Gosch has derived from them and embodied in his work on 

 the Zoological Literature of Denmark *. In order to explain 

 fully the importance of these documents for the history of natural 

 science in Denmark, I should have to trespass too far on the in- 

 dulgence of my readers ; but a few short observations on the 

 principal authors of them may perhaps not be unacceptable. 



The letters printed in the ' Naturhistorisk Tidsskrift ' are 130 

 in nuinber, including a very few to the younger Linne. The fol- 

 lowing are the principal writers. 



1. JBaltJi. Joh. de Buchwald, Professor of Medicine at Copen- 

 bagen (five letters). 



* ' Udsigt over Danmarks Zoologiske Literatur,' Pt. II. vol. i. pp. 293-302, 

 321, 335, 339, 355, 360, 414, 417, 438-440, 451, 461. 



