2 C. Lapworth — Life of Dr. J. G. Linnarsson. 



powerful to crush him. But although every single individual among 

 them seems to be working for himself alone, yet in actual effect and 

 reality, they are all moving forward in the same direction. They 

 form together an army of pioneers, which is opening out new paths 

 for the advance of scientific discovery, with a rapidity of concentrated 

 effect that is delightful to contemplate. 



Among these pioneers we now and again see one whose ardent 

 enthusiasm, restless activity, clearness of intellect, and dominant force 

 of mind make him a giant among his fellows. Such a one was 

 Linnarsson. In breadth of scientific attainments, in ability for con- 

 tinued and intense labour, and in the magnitude of the results he 

 achieved, Linnarsson stood head and shoulders above all his con- 

 temporaries. To one who had accomplished so much, it seemed to 

 the lookers-on that everything was possible. It was felt that all 

 obstacles vanished at his touch. The difficult became easy, the 

 obscure became clear, and the complex became simplicity itself. 

 And all this was performed with such rapidity, and with such quiet 

 ease, that few knew at what a dreadful cost of wear and tear of 

 body and mind it was accomplished. When at last the worn-out 

 frame gave way, and the glowing flame of intellect went out 

 suddenly in darkness and death, the consternation and sorrow were 

 hearty and universal. 



Jonas Gustaf Oskar Linnarsson was born on the 24th November, 

 1841. He was the son of the late "contract-provost" of the town of 

 Faldkoping, in Westrogothia, and his wife A. C. Salander, who still 

 survives. Like the majority of geniuses doomed to an early death, 

 Linnarsson, even in his extreme youth, displayed abilities far beyond 

 his fellows. Entering the seminary of Skara in the year 1850, he 

 gained the highest certificate of competency granted by his teachers, 

 before he was fifteen years of age. In 1857 he became a student in 

 the ancient University of Upsala. In 1866 he passed the usual 

 "Candidate-Examination," and in May of the same year handed in 

 a thesis on the "Silurian Formations in Central Westrogothia," and 

 received his degree as Doctor of Philosophy. Having been awarded 

 the Sederholmsk scholarship, he sjDent the summer of that year in 

 geological researches in Westrogothia. These investigations he 

 continued in the following year, his expenses being defrayed by a 

 special grant from the Swedish Academy of Sciences. In 1868 he 

 attended the Congress of Naturalists at Christiania, and subsequently 

 made a careful study of the classic geological sections of the Lower 

 PalEeozoic rocks in the neighbourhood of that city. In 1869 he was 

 commissioned by the Academy of Sciences to make a special 

 scientific investigation of the Eoj^hyton sandstone of Westrogothia.^ 

 During the same year he lectured upon geology and mineralogy in 

 the University of Upsala, in the absence of the ordinary professor 

 of these subjects. At that date, also, he was offered the post of 

 Palaeontologist to the Swedish Geological Survey. This he accepted, 

 fulfilling the duties with brilliant success until his untimely death. 

 Aided by a special grant of national money, he made a scientific tour 

 1 See Geol. Mag. 1869, Vol. VI. pp. 393-406, PI. XI. XII. and XIII. 



