36 



in demanding of species-designations that they should 

 express the differences existing among the several spe- 

 cies, it was no longer possible for him to insist on unity 

 in a species-name which was to fulfil those conditions, 

 and still less possible as time went on and more and 

 more forms became known and had to be scientifically 

 treated. Consequently it was reserved for Linnaeus, 20 

 years later, to publish to the world the System of Bi- 

 nomenclature, and so to arrive at the final solution of 

 the problem of how successfully to name natural history 

 objects. The foundation laid by Artedi should not, how- 

 ever, on that account be forgotten or discredited. 



In several places in Artedi's "Philosophia" there 

 are to be found references to the "Fundamenta Botan- 

 ica" by Linnaeus. These references must of course be 

 due to the editor's hand, for Artedi had died before 

 Linnaeus' work appeared. Moreover, quite apart from 

 these references, there are some very marked points of 

 contact in the two works, for instance with regard to 

 the nomenclature rules laid down by each for his special 

 science. As Linn.eus edited both works, one might be 

 tempted to draw a conclusion to the effect that it was 

 he who inserted in Artedi's work the rules in question, 

 so as to bring it into harmony with his own. The er- 

 roneousness of any such conclusion can, however, be 

 clearly and incontestably demonstrated by definite state- 

 ments of both the authors concerned; those statements 

 fully deserve to be quoted here, since it is of the ut- 

 most interest to establish, if possible, to whom the honour 

 accrues of having done Science the inestimable service 

 of effecting the systematisation of its nomenclature. 

 When Linnaeus went to Amsterdam, shortly before Ar- 

 tedi's death, to see and consult with his friend, the 

 latter, as we saw above, read aloud to him the whole 

 of his a Philosophia Ichthyologise". From that fact, nar- 

 rated by Linnaeus, we may undoubtedly conclude that 

 the manuscript was then complete. Linnaeus also tells 

 us that among Artedi's effects he found the manuscript 

 of the u Philosophia" entire; that would seem to settle 



