Linnaeus, Carl

lin-ne'us, Carl (1707-1778), a noted Swedish botanist. His boyhood was passed in pleasant surroundings in southern Sweden in a district of fine meadows, valleys, lakes, and woods, all abounding in wild flowers. He inherited a love of flowers from his father, a village pastor. The elder Linnaeus designed Carl for the ministry and maintained him at school for twelve years, to no purpose, as he began to think. The young man showed the greatest distaste for theology, and lagged far behind in Greek, Hebrew, and ethics. In mathematics he did well; in physics he excelled. While neglecting his school work he contrived to collect quite a botanical library for that time.

The worthy clergyman, inquiring after his son's progress, was told that "the little botanist," as he was nicknamed, showed no proficiency, and might as well be apprenticed forthwith to some honest tailor or shoemaker. Fortunately a physician, a friend of the family, took a different view of the matter and, receiving Carl into his family, guided his reading and secured his admission into the University of Lund. A few years later Linnaeus completed a course in medicine at the University of Upsala, but never made much of his profession. Tramping and collecting were his passion, and he was made a sort of assistant to the professor of botany. From a five months' trip afoot in Lapland and adjacent parts of Norway he returned with a wealth of specimens and 100 plants new to science. A wealthy banker of Amsterdam employed Linnaeus to set his greenhouses and grounds in order, and gave him the means to visit Oxford and London, where he made the acquaintance of botanists and examined collections. Paris and Leyden were also visited to advantage.

In 1738 Linnaeus settled down, as he believed, at Stockholm to practice medicine. He was fortunate enough to effect a cure of some importance, and found himself a man of note. Honors were showered upon him, and, above all, his growing reputation was sufficient to secure the professorship of botany at Upsala, 1741. His work as a young man all told; his writings were received with acclaim. Contributions to the botanical garden of Upsala poured in. New plants were sent him to name, students flocked from other parts of Europe to be with so great a teacher, and Linnaeus became by accord the recognized head of the botanical world.

Linnaeus' value as a botanist lay in his zeal and accuracy. New plants were described in Latin so that botanists of all countries might understand each other. Whenever a capital "L" is attached to the scientific name of a plant, it indicates that the name was given by Linnaeus. Thus Lobelia Kalmii, L, indicates that Linnaeus named this lobelia, and in honor of his friend Kalm.

Linnaeus is chiefly known as the author of the Linnaean system of classification. His system is an easy one to follow. Flowering plants are divided into classes according to the number of stamens the flowers have, and classes are subdivided into orders according to the number of styles or stigmas. Thus a plant with six stamens and three stigmas, like the wild orange-red lily, is said to belong to the third order of the sixth class of flowering plants; and the bluebell with five stamens and three stigmas would be classified under class five, order three. The Linnaean system was artificial. It over-emphasized stamens and pistils and did not always group plants according to their natural affinity. Winter-greens, trailing arbutus, and the blueberries have ten stamens, while their natural relative, the bog cranberry, has but eight, and the pea, utterly unrelated, has the same number or ten. The Linnaean system was superseded about the middle of the nineteenth century.

The twin flower is a slender vine that creeps through the mosses of the moist shaded bogs of Northern Europe and of America from Maine to Alaska. On threadlike pedicles, forking at the top, a pair of delicate nodding purple and whitish bells of exquisite fragrance hang nodding half a hand's breadth above the moss. This tiny representative of the honeysuckle family is one of the most beautiful little plants that grows and, being hidden away in the shade, is particularly the botanist's delight. Linnaeus was passionately fond of this flower. After his death, his former associates changed its name to Linnaea, the most delicate honor that could be paid to the great botanist. By common consent of scientists and despite all rules in favor of the earliest name given a plant the name Linnaea has been retained. The name of Linnaeus is thus beautifully commemorated wherever the twin flower swings its tiny bells. Emerson, enumerating the delights of the botanist, says: