ii8 OPPONENTS OF LINN^US. 



" considered himself as a second Adam, and gave names to all the 

 " animals after their distindive marks, without ever caring for his pre- 

 ss decessors. He can hardly forbear to make man a monkey, or the 

 *« monkey a man." 



At a later period he gave the following critical opinion and review. 



LiNN.«us always accuses those who find fault with him. But has 

 <« he not caused his merits to be depreciated, by suppressing all bo- 

 s' tanical names given by foreign authors except a few, nay, even 

 " those denominations which are palpably better than his own ? Has 



he not trampled upon the inventions of those, who would not be 

 " guided by his rules, omitted mentioning their new invented plants, 

 " and not pointed out their improvements ? Has he not judged very 

 " severely of many learned men, even in sciences which have never 

 « been his province ? Has he not refused to adopt, as long as possible, 

 " several species of plants which he reckoned among the bastard- 

 s' species, and at last adopted several of them ? We wish that Linn.^us, 

 " with his great industry and vivifying genius, may so far conquer his 

 " temper, as to place some confidence in men endowed with eyes and 

 s' genius like himself, though they live in more southern countries, and 

 s' remember in general, that all sciences like botany, are a republic." 



These two censures arfe fully characterised by a spirit of asperity and 

 resentment. Wounded self-love did not a little contribute to their 

 publicity, Haller was the panegyrist, but more frequently the censor 

 of LiNN^us in those works, which furnished him with an opportunity 

 of venting his spleen. He, however, vindicated himself from the re- 

 proach of jealousy against Linnaeus a few years previous to his death. 

 « It appears from the letters of Linnaeus," says he, " in the preface 



" prefixed 



