t 215 ] 



difcovered a multitude of relations which were 

 entirely unknown to the antients ; if therefore 

 there be any force in the objeflion, it fliould firft 

 be ihewn, that the terms which he has introduced 

 to exprefs thefe relations, are not fairly and analo- 

 gically deduced from the language ; fince it muft 

 furely be granted, that Linn^^ius could not have 

 fpoken the language of natural hiftory^ as it is 

 known at this day, in that of Pliny^ or of any claC- 

 fical writer whatever. 



The ardor of LiNNi^:us's inclinations to the 

 ftudy of nature, from his earlieft years, and that 

 uncommon application which he beftowed upon 

 it, gave him a moft comprehenfive view, both of 

 its pleafures and ufefulnefs, at the fame time that 

 it opened to him a wide field, hitherto but little 

 cultivated, efpecially in his own country. Hence 

 he was early led to regret, that the ftudy of natural 

 hiftory, as a public inftitution, had not made its way 

 into the univerfities \ in many of which, logical dif- 

 putations, and metaphyfical theories, had too long 

 prevailed, to the exclufion of more ufeful fci- 

 ence. Availing himfelf therefore of the advan- 

 tages which he derived from a large (hare of elo- 

 quence, and an animated ftyle, he never failed to 

 difplay, in a lively and convincing manner, the 

 relation this ftudy hath to the public good ; to 

 incite the great to countenance and protedl it ; to 

 encourage and allure youth into its purfuits, by 

 opening its manifold fources of pleafure to their 

 view, and fhewing them how greatly this agreeable 

 employment would add, in a variety of inftances, 



P 4 both 



