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WE must now look backwards a few years, to consider our author in another part of his Profes∣sorial character. It has been observed, that after his establishment at Upsal, one of his departments, as a professor, was that of teaching the Diagnosis Morborum; and to this end he drew up a system,
in which, as in natural history, all diseases were disposed into classes, orders, and genera, founded on distinctions taken from the symptoms alone, no regard being had either to remote, or proximate causes. Before we proceed to a particular view of LINNAEUS'S method of classing diseases, it will be proper to premise, that a nosology on this plan, the great object of which is to fix pathognomonics to every disease, had been long wished for by some writers of the first character in the profession: such were Baglivi, Boerhaave, Gorter, Gaubius, and Syden∣ham; the latter of whom has thus expressed himself on this subject, in the preface to his works:
Expe∣dit ut morbi omnes ad definitas ac certas species revo∣centur, eadem prorsus diligentia ac 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, qua id factum videmus à botanicis scriptoribus in suis phytologiis.Yet, amidst that almost infinite variety and complication of appearances which are seen in diseases, the difficulty of obtaining suf∣ficient distinctions, by which the genus and species may be accurately discriminated, must be allowed to be very great; and possibly is in many instances unsurmountable. Hence, some of the most emi∣nent physicians have been led to reject all such arrangements as futile, and impracticable. This, however, hath not deterred others from paying attention to the subject, more especially some of those, who, from their province as professors, are led to teach the rudiments of the art; and to whom method, in some form, is absolutely neces∣sary. Systematic writers had used various me∣thods in the disposition of their subject. Some
had chosen the alphabetic; if that deserves the name of an arrangement: others, after the ex∣ample of Aretaeus, and Caelius Aurelianus, had di∣vided diseases, from their duration, into acute, and chronical. Some had preferred the anatomical order; which, as it presupposes a knowledge of the seat of the disease, must, not unfrequently, prove fallacious: Sennertus's is an instance of this kind. However, the äitiological arrangement has been most followed by the best writers among the moderns; such as Hoffmann, and Boerhaave; al∣though perhaps not much less fallacious than the anatomical, since it is in many instances founded on an hypothesis of the writer: and though Felix Platerus, in his Praxis Medica, published in 1602, had given an imperfect sketch of a nosology on the symptomatic plan, yet no writer ventured to pursue his idea, for more than a century after his time; discouraged as it should seem by the diffi∣culty of the attempt. At length the late profes∣sor M. SAUVAGES of Montpelier, after communi∣cating his scheme to Boerhaave, published in 1731, in 12mo. the outlines of such a work, under the title of Nouvelles Classes des Maladies, in which he professes to define diseases, from their constant and evident symptoms only. In the year 1763, the au∣thor augmented his work, by the addition of the species under each genus, into 5 volumes in 8vo. Sauvages may be considered as having spent his life in giving to this design a certain degree of perfec∣tion, having enlarged it into 2 quarto volumes, in which form it was published after his death in
1768: A work, it is to be presumed, now in the hands of most physicians.
It will easily be imagined, that an arrangement of this kind was too congenial to LINNAEUS to be neglected by him. In fact, it appears that he very early corresponded with Sauvages on this subject, that he soon adopted it, and framed a set of institutes, under the title of GENERA MOR∣BORUM, as a basis of his lectures in this depart∣ment. LINNAEUS'S scheme was first published in a thesis in 1759; but he had taught it in his class for ten years preceding that time. In 1763, he published it himself in a small quarto; though we do not find that he ever enlarged it by the addition of the species.
The symptomatic plan of arranging diseases has since been followed by some other professors of physic; Dr. Vogel of Gottingen having published, in 1764, his Definitiones Generum Morborum. Dr. Cullen also, who at this time fills the practical chair at Edinburgh with such deserved reputation, has published a Synopsis nosologiae methodicae, and has made it the basis of his First Lines of the Practice of Physic. In 1776, Dr. Sagar, a physician at Ig∣law in Moravia, published a Systema Morborum sym∣tomaticum. 8vo. Vien. pp. 756. His work, allow∣ing for some alterations and additions, may be ac∣counted an useful abridgement of Sauvages's: the author, all theory apart, has described the species under every genus, and subjoined the method of cure. Dr. Cullen, by omitting many genera, and reducing others to the rank of species only, has so
considerably abridged the whole, as not to have retained more than half the number of genera, that the foregoing writers enumerate; and in this form he has published it, annexed to those of the four abovementiond, by which display of each, their several merits may be compared, and a judg∣ment formed of the practicability, and use of the scheme in general, which, it must be confessed, af∣fords a very ample field for cultivation; yet, from that reform which Dr. Cullen has already made in various parts, it is not, perhaps, too much to hope, that it is capable of receiving a much higher degree of improvement, in the hands of those whose genius and industry may prompt them to extend the design of these writers.
Of LINNAEUS'S method we are led by our plan to exhibit a general view; to which end, although our prescribed brevity will not admit of giving his definitions at length, yet it will be necessary to enumerate the names of all his genera, since no∣thing short of a view of the whole collectively, could enable the reader to form a just idea of the author's scheme. Under each class we shall ob∣serve wherein LINNAEUS differs materially from Sauvages, and note the alterations which Dr. Cullen has made in the disposition of the same genera.
LINNAEUS, in the classification of diseases, has pretty nearly retained the arrangement of M. Sau∣vages, although he has altered his terms, and con∣stituted one more class, with which he begins his method; the Exanthematic, or eruptive fevers, which, in the systems of Sauvages and Dr. Cullen,
form only an order, or subdivision of a class. He has also changed the order of the classes, and re∣ferred the Vitia, or local external disorders, which are principally the objects of surgery, to the end of his system. In this he has been followed by the two succeeding nosologists, Dr. Vogel and Dr. Cullen. The classical distribution is, however, confessedly not the primary consideration; that of fixing the generical character, and determining what shall constitute the specifical, being the first object of every system. To this end a still farther reduction of the number of genera and species, will probably not a little contribute.
In this class, as the disease is complicated of fever and eruption, the genus is defined from the nature of each. To instance, the Variola, or Small pox, is defined,
A disease attended with pus∣tules of an erysipelatous, suppurating, escha∣rotic kind; at length drying off, and leaving a cicatrix; accompanied by a fever of the ardent, and malignant kind, with head-ach and pain of the loins.The term Pustula, and the others in this class, expressive of the different kinds of eruption, have their definition in another part of the system. Such as appear in the Morta, are called Phlyctenae; in the Pestis, Anthraces, or Bu∣bones; in the Variola, Pustulae; in the Rubeola, Papulae; in the Petechia, Sudamina.
This class constitutes the first order of Dr. Sau∣vages's PHLEGMASIAE, and the third of Dr. Cullen's PYREXIAE class. In both, these genera are preserved nearly alike, except that the Morta of LINNAEUS is the Pemphigus of those authors, and the Petechia is considered by Dr. Cullen as only a symptom.
Our author stands alone in bringing the Syphilis into the febrile exanthematic class. He thinks himself justified, by considering it as attended, in the advanced state at least, by fever and eruptions. It certainly however ranks better with the IM∣PETIGINES.
The Genera of the CONTINENTES are determin∣ed from the different duration of each simply.
Those of the INTERMITTENTES from the dura∣tion of the intermissions.
The EXACERBANTES, supposed to be compound∣ed of the two foregoing, have their characters acordingly.
Our author allows the Tertian to be the root of all the FEBRES CRITICI, although he has, in the foregoing division, kept pretty close to Dr.
Sauvages's method in retaining the distinctions. In this they are not followed by Dr. Cullen, who denies the existence of a continent fever, and has greatly simplified this division, having reduced all the CRITICAL fevers to six genera, and allowing the Hectic to be symptomatic only.
LINNAEUS defines the Phlegmon to be
a tense throbbing tumour, or enlargement of a part, accompanied by fever, and attended with heat and redness.This he considers as suggest∣ing also the idea of all the foregoing internal in∣flammations.
The generical character in the Phlogistic class of our author, does not arise wholly from the part affected supposed to be the seat of the disease, but from the genus of the attending fever also. Thus he defines
the Hepatitis to be the Amphi∣merina, attended with a difficult respiration, cough without expectoration, hiccup, and a sense of heat and tension in the right hypo∣chondre.
The Nephritis is a Synochus, attend∣ed with nausea, hiccup, eructation, urine vari∣ous, costiveness, burning lumbago, and numb∣ness down the thigh.
In this class LINNAEUS has followed Sauvages in dividing the diseases into MEMBRANACEI, and PARENCHYMATICI, a division neglected by Dr. Cullen, from the difficulty of determining the seat of the inflammation.
The Phlegmone, being external, is ranked by Sauvages among his VITIA. On the other hand, Dr. Cullen gives it the first place in his order PHLEG∣MASIAE; and has reduced thirteen genera of LIN∣NAEUS'S, and twelve of Sauvages's, to the rank of species, under the term Phlogosis; further, account∣ing Abscess, Pustule, Gangrene, and Sphacelus, as effects only of Phlogosis, and therefore not entitled
to the separate character of genera. Numerous instances of this kind afford a striking proof of the difficulties attending these arrangements, in de∣termining what distinctions shall take place be∣tween genus and species.
Our author does not take into the characters of these genera the idea of fever; and there are several of them used by him as auxiliary terms, in the de∣finition of other genera.
Dr. Sauvages has a class of five orders under the term DOLORES, disposed in the anatomical method; under which, most of the foregoing genera are comprehended.
Dr. Cullen having no such class as the DOLO∣ROSI, is necessarily led to arrange these genera in different parts of his system; but, with him, the greater number are either species only, or symptoms, he having admitted only three to the character of genera, in his PHLEGMASIA. These are the Oph∣thalmia, Arthritis or Podagra, and Rheumatismus.
In this class, which answers to the VESANIAE of Dr. Sauvages, the genera stand nearly the same as in that author's arrangement.
They constitute, after great reduction, the fourth order, under the term VESANIAE, of the class NEUROSES, in Dr. Cullen's system, com∣prehending four genera.
Of the IDEALES of LINNAEUS, Dr. Cullen only ranks the Amentia, the Mania, and the Melancholia, as genera; the Delirium and Paraphrosyne being symp∣tomatic. The Demonia, Vesania, and Panopho∣bia, rank with Melancholy; under which he has also brought the Erotomania and Nostalgia, from the PATHETICI. Of the remaining genera only the Hypochondriasis, and the Hydrophobia, are ad∣mitted as such; the former in the ADYNAMIAE, and the latter among the SPASMI. The Syrigmus, and Phantasma, are referred to the LOCALES class; and the Somnambulismus to the Oneirodynia, in the order VESANIAE. The Citta, or Pica, the Polydipsia, Satyriasis, and Bulimia, belong also to the LOCALES, in the order DYSOREXIAE. It is justly doubted whether the Tarantismus exists; and the Rabies can scarcely be separated from the Hydrophobia.
The diseases of this class very nearly correspond with the DEBILITATES of Sauvages; and the two first orders, the DEFECTIVI and SOPOROSI, with the COMATA and ADYNAMIAE, of the class NEUROSES, in Dr. Cullen's system.
The three first genera of the DEFECTIVI, Dr▪ Cullen takes no notice of; the three last he in∣cludes under his Syncope, as different degrees only of the same diminished power of the functions.
Among the SOPOROSI of our author, Dr. Cullen ranks the Carus and Cataphora under the Apo∣plexia; and also considers the Typhomania and Le∣thargus, as symptomatic of the same. For the like reasons he accounts the Paraplegia, and Hemiple∣gia, as different degrees of the same disease, in∣cluding them all under Paralysis.
The PRIVATIVI rank under the two first orders of Dr. Cullen's LOCALES, as far as he allows them to hold the character of genera. The Morosis and Oblivio he refers to his Amentia. The Scoto∣mia he does not notice. The Cophosis he calls Dysoecia; the Anorexia stands under his Dyspepsia
genus, among the ADYNAMIAE; the Atonia as a species of Palsy. The Amblyopia under Amaurosis; the Cataracta under his Caligo. The Anosmia, Ageustia, Aphonia, Anosexia, Adipsia, and Anaesthe∣sia, under their respective names separately; and the Atecnia under that of Anaphrodisia.
Most of the diseases of this class stand in the corrseponding one of Sauvages, called SPASMI, except the Borborygmus, and the Agrypnia, the lat∣ter of which is referred to the anomalous VESA∣NIAE. He also considers the Sardiasis and Stridor of LINNAEUS as species only of the Trismos; and the Subsultus he calls Carpologia.
In Dr. Cullen's system the MOTORII of LIN∣NAEUS make the third order of his NEUROSES, called SPASMI. Of the Spastici he has the Trismos, Hysteria, and Tetanos, only as distinct genera, un∣der their respective terms. The Catochus he refers to the Tetanos, and the Catalepsis is his Apoplexia Cataleptica. The others are not noticed by him.
Of the AGITATORII, the Tremor Dr. Cullen ac∣counts rather as a symptom of various disorders. The Beriberi, which he had heretofore ranked with
the Paralysis, he has omitted in the last edition of his Synopsis: the Chorea is admitted as a genus, and the Hieranosos stands under the idiopathic Convul∣sio. The Psellismus is removed to the LOCALES class; and of the remainder, the Palpitatio, Epi∣lepsia, and Raphania only, retain their place in his system, under their respective names.
Under the genera of the SUFFOCATORII our au∣thor has departed from his usual rule, in having subjoined to each a note expressive of the intention of Nature in exciting these affections. Thus, to instance, after defining Suspirium to be
a deep, slow, agitating inspiration,he adds, that the effect is, "that of expelling the blood from the lungs." Most of the SUFFOCATORII have a place in Sau∣vages's system among the ANHELATIONES, but the CONSTRICTORII are scattered in various parts of his system.
Dr. Cullen hath not introduced into his system the lighter affections under the SUFFOCATORII; which seem to have been defined and explained by LINNAEUS, principally to use them as auxili∣aries in other parts of the work.
In Dr. Cullen's system the Raucedo has a place, as symptomatic only, under the Catarrh; and again, in another part, as a species of Para∣phonia.
The Tussis is also received under the Ca∣tarrh; and the Empyema is considered as a conse∣quence of Pleurisy or Peripneumony. The Ortho∣pnoea, as a genus, is not noticed by Dr. Cullen. The Dyspnoea is admitted in the last edition, which, with the Asthma, are the only genera he receives from this order, as he has made the Ephialtes a species of his Oncirodynia, under the VESANIAE in the class NEUROSES.
In the CONSTRICTORII order, the Flatulentia of LINNAEUS comes under the Dyspepsia of Dr. Cullen; and the Obstipatio, Ischuria, and Dysmenor∣rhoea, enter into the fourth order of the LOCA∣LES, called EPISCHESES; the latter under the term Amenorrhaea.
This class stands nearly the same as our au∣thor found it in Sauvages's arrangement, under the term FLUXUS; except that LINNAEUS has introduced three or four genera not in that author; such are the Screatus; Vomica, which is a species of Sauvages's Anacatharsis; the Ructus; Glus, a spe∣cies of his Pyuria; Parturitio, and Mola. He has also taken his orders from the anatomical division of the parts; whereas Sauvages divides them accord∣ing to the nature of the discharge, whether bloody or serous, which must be allowed to be equivocal in many instances. It has been objected, that Par∣turition is not a disease; LINNAEUS however seems only to consider it as such when it proves labori∣ous, protracted, or unnatural.
Dr. Cullen does not admit more than about a third part of the diseases of this class into his sys∣tem. He has the Epiphora, Ptyalismus, Enuresis, and Gonorrhoea, under their respective names, in an order, called APOCENOSES, belonging to the class LOCALES. Haemorrhagia is synonymous to his Epistaxis; Coryza to his Catarrhus; under which he considers Expectoratio as only symptoma∣tic; and Vomica as the effect of Pleurisy, or Peri∣pneumony. Nausea, and Vomitus, come under Dys∣pepsia; the Iliaca, under Colica; the Cholerica, Coe∣liaca, and Lienteria, as different species of Diar∣rhoea;
Leucorrhoea, and Abortus, under Menor∣rhagia; Stomacace, Haematemesis, and Haematuria, as symptomatic only. Haemoptysis, Cholera, and Haemorrhois, form distinct genera in both systems.
This class answers to the CACHEXIAE of Sau∣vages, and Dr. Cullen; and most of the genera are admitted into the system of the latter under three corresponding orders also. The Marasmus is not distinguished by Dr. Cullen from the Atrophy. The Phthisis has been classed before as the consequence of Haemoptysis. The Chlorosis stands in the ADY∣NAMIAE order, in the class NEUROSES: The Graviditas, Cachexia, and Plethora, have no place in Dr. Cullen's system.
The class which corresponds to this in the Sau∣vagesian system, stands first under the same term,
and is there professedly intended to contain such disorders as are more immediately the objects of surgery. This character is not so strictly appli∣cable to that of LINNAEUS'S, or of Dr. Cullen's LOCALES, since both these contain genera which come under the province of the physician, inde∣pendent of manual operation or assistance. In all the systems it is the most comprehensive class. The congruity of the orders will be noted in our progress through the class.
In the genera of this order, the appearance of the external part, and that of the contained fluid, conjointly form the character.
In Sauvages the Aridura, Gangraena, and Sphace∣lus, or Necrosis, belong to his class of CA∣CHEXIAE. The Digitium is a species of his Pa∣ronychia, and stands with the remaining genera of this order among the VITIA.
Dr. Cullen neglects the Aridura and Digitium: the Emphysema is his Pneumatosis; the Sugillatio his Ecchymoma; and the four remaining genera of LINNAEUS come under his Phlogosis.
This order nearly constitutes the seventh of the VITIA class in Sauvages's system, called PLAGAE; and the seventh of the LOCALES class in Dr. Cullen's, under the name of DIALYSES. Under Vulnus are comprehended the three succeed∣ing genera also of LINNAEUS'S. The Fractura consti∣tutes a separate genus: the Luxatura belongs to the ECTOPIAE order of Dr. Cullen's; the Profusio
to the APOCENOSES; the Intertrigo and Combustura to the PHLOGOSIS genus: the remaining genera are not noticed in the Cullenian system.
Most of these genera rank with the PLAGAE of Dr. Sauvages's class. The Paronychia however comes in among the PHYMATA; and the Pressura and Arctura of LINNAEUS are species only of the Paro∣nychia, as the Pernio is of the Erythema in the same system.
The first six genera in this order are classed in Dr. Cullen's system under Ulcus; the Caries is a distinct genus; the Arthocace, Paronychia, and Pernio, rank under the Phlogosis; and the others are not noticed.
In Sauvages's system most of these genera stand in the corresponding class under the orders PHYMATA and EFFLORESCENTIAE; but the Lepra, Tinea, and Psora, are referred to the IMPETIGINES, in the class CACHEXIAE.
The following are distinct genera in Dr. Cullen's system: the Lepra under the IMPETIGINES; the Tinea, Psora, and Herpes, under the DIALYSES. The Bubo, Verruca, and Clavus, form distinct ge∣nera, in the same order with the Phlyctena or Hydatis,
being all referred to the TUMORES. Almost all the others rank under the Phlogosis, as different species of that genus. Lippitudo, Serpigo, Myrmecium, and Eschara, have no place in the Cullenian system.
The characters of the genera in this order are well adapted to distinguish the different kinds of Pustules; and are of great use as auxiliary terms, in defining other genera in different parts of the system.
The three first, and the last of these genera, stand in the corresponding class of the systems of Sauvages and Dr. Cullen under the same names. LINNAEUS'S Struma is their Scrofula, and his Spi∣nola the Hydrorachitis. The Atheroma is the Lupia of Dr. Cullen. The Ganglion is a Condyloma of Sau∣vages, but stands in the Cullenian system under LINNAEUS'S term. The Natta is neglected by Dr. Cullen, but belongs to the Sarcoma of our other nosologist.
The Hernia, Prolapsus, and Ectropium, called Blepharoptosis by Sauvages, stand among the ECTO∣PIAE of his system; the Phymosis with the Phymata; and the remaining genera among the EXCRESCEN∣TIAE.
Dr. Cullen receives into his ECTOPIAE only the Hernia, and Prolapsus. The Sarcoma he refers to the TUMORES, and the other genera are not admitted into his system as such.
These genera are placed in very different parts of his system by M. Sauvages: the Contractura, for instance, and the Strabismus, very improperly, as it should seem, among spasmodic diseases; the Gibber, or Gibbosites, and the Lordosis, among the EXCRESCENTIAE of the VITIA class; the Nyctalo∣pia, and the two genera succeeding it, as species of Amblyopia, in the class of DEBILITATES, as is the Lagostoma, as a species of Psellismus; the Plica under the name of Trichoma, with the CA∣CHEXIAE; and the Trichiasis, as a species of Op∣thalmia.
Dr. Cullen receives only five of these genera: the Contractura, Strabismus; the Presbytia, and My∣opia; the two latter as species of his Dysopia, all under the LOCALES class: the Plica under his genus Trichoma, among the IMPETIGINES in the CACHEXIAE class.
These lighter affections stand in Sauvages's sys∣tem either among the MACULAE or EFFLORESCEN∣TIAE, but he does not allow them all the rank of genera. The Cicatrix is a species of his Leucoma, as the Morphaea and Melasma are of his Vitiligo; and the Vibex, and Sudamen, of the Ecchymoma. The Naevus stands under the same generic name in both; but the Lentigo of LINNAEUS is a species of Sauvages's Ephelis.
Dr. Cullen has not given a place to these genera in his system.
Our author has subjoined to this distribution of diseases, a brief view of his Theory of Physic, de∣livered in that terse, concise, and methodic man∣ner, so peculiar to himself; and which, as it ap∣pears to have been intended entirely for the use of his pupils, nothing less than the author's own comment can do sufficient justice to. We should not therefore have taken notice of it, in our plan, had it not been necessary in order to explain several
papers hereafter to be mentioned in the Amoenitates Academicae. Briefly, therefore, the Linnaean prin∣ciples of physic suppose the human body to consist of a cerebrose medullary part, of which the nerves are so many processes, and which we call the ner∣vous system; and, a cortical or vital part, includ∣ing the vascular system and contained fluids: the former, being the animated part, or that in which the sentient, moving principle peculiarly resides, is considered as deriving its nourishment from the subtlest fluids of the vascular system, and its energy from an electrical principle inhaled by the lungs. Farther, this theory supposes the cir∣culating fluids to be capable of being vitiated, by principles which the author chuses to consider either as acescent, or putrid ferments; the former acting on the serum, and being the exciting cause of critical fevers; the latter, on the blood pro∣perly, or crassamentum, and exciting phlogistic dis∣eases. The exanthematic class is supposed to be excited by some external causes, which we call Contagion, and which hypothetically he proposes as being animalcula. From the incessant attrition of the cortical or vascular system, it requires perpe∣tual reparation; this is to be effected by an appro∣priate diet. From an impropriate diet, or regi∣men, spring the diseases of this part of the system, originally and more particularly; these are to be remedied by sapid medicines, as those of the medul∣lary system are by olids. Hence arises the author's general division of all medicines, as discoverable by their sensible qualities, to the taste, and smelling.
The Sapids, according to this theory, acting pecu∣liarly on the cortical part, as the Olids do immedi∣ately on the medullary, or nervous system. In or∣der however to obtain a more complete idea of the effects of each of these general classes of medicines, each must be viewed in its most simple state, by which Sapids will appear to be rather what we call Nutritives; and Olids, more strictly speaking, Me∣dicines. A table of of the several qualities of medi∣cines, acording to these two general divisions, closes the Genera Morborum.
In 1766, LINNAEUS published a small piece, un∣der the title of CLAVIS MEDICINAE duplex, exterior et interior. Holm. 8vo. pp. 29. This small tract may be considered as a syllabus of his lectures. It is an enlarged view of the theory just mentioned, connecting it with general Pathology, and the the∣rapeutic part of physic. In the latter part all simples are arranged in thirty orders, according to their sensible qualities, agreeably to the theory; which is displayed more at large in two papers printed in the Amoenitates Academicae, under the titles of Sapores, et Odores Medicamentorum.
It appears from several parts of the writings of LINNAEUS, that the dietetic part of physic had been an object to which he had paid much atten∣tion; and he has explained himself in the follow∣ing manner relating to it:—In his meae deliciae, in his plura collegi, quam quod novi alius ullus:—but, whether our author's observations on this sub∣ject may hereafter be published, we are yet to learn.
In 1771 was published LINNAEUS'S last work, being the continuation of the Mantissa, in which the work is carried on to 588 pages, under the title of MANTISSA ALTERA. Near one half of this volume comprehends additional new genera and species, and the remaining part a variety of emendations, with some considerable augmentation to the animal kingdom. These will greatly enrich a future edition of his works; and in the preface he has earnestly intreated succeeding editors to pay a pro∣per regard to them.
Besides his separate works, which we have now brought to a conclusion, LINNAEUS wrote a great number of papers on the subjects of physic and natural history, which were published in the Acta Literaria Upsaliensia, and in the Stockholm Acts. The first of these works was begun by Olaus Celsius in 1720, and continued to the year 1750, and is in Latin, in 5 volumes, quarto. The lat∣ter publication is in the Swedish language, in the octavo form, and has been continued ever since the establishment of the academy at Stockholm, in 1739, by king Adolphus. Many of these papers are superseded by the subsequent works of our author, neither would it be within our plan to give a particular detail of them: we are therefore only to subjoin a catalogue of these detached pieces, and regret that it is not in our power to make it more complete; or to add such, if there be any, as may have been given by LINNAEUS to foreign academies.
In the Acta Upsaliensia are the following papers, written by LINNAEUS.
Florula Lapponica, in 1732. This, as is before observed, was our author's first publication, and consists only of a bare catalogue of the Lapland plants, digested into the order of the sexual system, of which it is the first specimen. The second part of this list appears not till the year 1734.
Animalia Regni Sueciae, in 1736.
Orchides iisque affines, in 1740. This catalogue is accompanied by a copious collection of syno∣nyms to each species.
Genera Plantarum Nova, in 1741.
Euporista in Febribus intermittentibus. This pa∣per, as likewise several others, if we mistake not, was published, agreeably to a laudable custom of that country, in the yearly Kalendars, by which means useful intelligence finds its way into the most remote and obscure recesses of every king∣dom, in 1742.
Euporista in Dysenteria, in 1745.
Pini usus oeconomicus, in 1743.
Abietis usus oeconomicus, in 1744.
The manifold uses of these trees, some of which were not sufficiently known in divers parts of the kingdom of Sweden, induced our author to throw together all that his extensive journeys had enabled him to collect thereon, in these two papers.
Sexus Plantarum, in 1744.
Sexus Plantarum usus oeconomicus, in 1745. The practical use of this paper is more particularly an object of all who have the care of gardens, to
whom the sex of plants is no longer a matter of mere speculation.
Theae Potus, in 1746.
Scabiosae novae Speciei Descriptio, in 1744, after∣wards called by our author, in his Species Planta∣rum, Scabiosa Tatarica.
Penthorum, a new genus of plants, from Virgi∣nia, described and figured, in 1744.
Cyprini pinnae ani radiis xi. pinnis albentibus, de∣scriptio. (Cyprinus Grislagine, Syst. p. 529.) A fish of the lakes of West Bothnia.
After the institution of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Stockholm, of which LINNAEUS was the first president, his communications were chiefly made in the Acts of that body. In these the fol∣lowing papers occur.
Cultura Plantarum Naturalis. Vol. I. for the years 1739 and 1740. This is an attempt to re∣duce the art of gardening to scientific principles.
Gluten Lapponum e Perca. ib. p. 221.
Oestrus Rangiferinus, in 1740, p. 121. A de∣scription, accompanied with figures, of the Gad∣sly, (Oestrus Tarandi, Syst. Nat. p. 969.) which is bred under the skin on the backs of the rein∣deer, and from which a third of the fawns not un∣frequently perish.
The Glue of the Perch is made from the skins, which are scraped off, put into a bladder, and boiled to a proper consistence.
Picus pedibus trydactylis. ib. p. 222. A descrip∣tion of the three-toed Wood-pecker, before that time unnoticed, since figured by Edwards, tab.
114, and named by our author, in his System, Picus tridactylus, p. 177. It is found also in Hudson's Bay, and described by Mr. Forster, Phil. Trans. Vol. lxii. p. 388.
Mures Alpini Lemures. ib. p. 326. The Mus Lemmus of the System, p. 80, or Leming, the well∣known pest of the North.
Passer Nivalis. ib. p. 368. (Emberiza Nivalis, Syst. p. 308.) Greater Brambling, or Snow Bunt∣ing; since more fully known and described.
Piscis Aureus Chinensium. ib. 403. The Gold∣fish, or Cyprinus Auratus, Syst. 527.
Fundamenta Oeconomiae. ib. p. 411.
Formicarum Sexus. Vol. II. 1741, p. 37. This paper contains the description and history of five species of Ants found in Sweden, and throws much light on the oeconomy of those insects.
Officinales Suecicae Plantae. ib. p. 81. In this paper our author informs his countrymen of seve∣ral articles of the Materia Medica growing indi∣genously in Sweden, and which they had unneces∣sarily imported.
Centuria Plantarum in Suecia rariorum. ib. p. 179. These were all rare plants not observed in Sweden before.
Plantae Tinctoriae indigenae. Vol. III. 1742, p. 20. The discovery of plants adapted to the art of dye∣ing was one of LINNAEUS'S objects professedly, in his Iter Gothlandicum, of which we have spoken before.
Amaryllis Formosissima. ib. p. 93. The Jacobaea Lilly described and figured.
Gramen Saelting. ib. p. 146. A description of, and persuasive to, the culture of the Triglochin Maritimum, Spec. Plant. p. 483, or Sea spiked Grass, which is the delight of horned cattle.
Faenum Suecicum. ib. p. 191. A recommenda∣tion also of the culture of the Medicago falcata, Sp. Pl. p. 1096; or Yellow Medic, as a substitute for Lucern in Sweden.
Phaseoli Chinensis species. ib. p. 206.
Epilepsiae Vernensis causa. ib. p. 279.
Jackas Hapuch. Vol. IV. 1743, p. 291. (Ar∣butus Uva Ursi, Sp. Pl. p. 566.) Bear-berries. A plant of use in Sweden, both in dyeing and tan∣ning, and frequently smoked with tobacco; bet∣ter known since in other parts of Europe, by the reputation it acquired, for some time, in calculous cases.
Fagopyrum Sibiricum. Vol. V. 1744, p. 117. Polygonum tataricum, Sp. Pl. 521. A kind of Buck-wheat, which is cultivated, and supplies the want of other grain for bread, in divers parts of Tartary and Sibiria.
Petiveria. ib. p. 287. Petiveria alliacea, Sp. Pl. p. 486, described and figured. An acrid, and even caustic plant, of which the Guinea-hens, in the West Indies, are said to be extremely fond; thence called Guinea-henweed.
Passer procellarius. Vol. VI. 1745, p. 93. A description of the Procellaria pelagica, Syst. p. 212. The Little Peterel of Edwards, t. 90. or Storm∣finch.
Limnia. Vol. VII. 1746. p. 130. Claytonia Sibirica, Sp. Pl. 294. A curious plant, discover∣ed by Steller in the most eastern parts of Sibiria, and in the islands which lie scattered between that part of Asia and North America.
Coluber (Chersea) scutis abdominalibus 150 squamis subcaudalibus 34. Vol. X. 1749. p. 246, t. 6. A most venomous small Snake, found in ofieries and willow∣holts, the bite of which is frequently fatal, and much dreaded, particularly in Smoland. It is a small animal, not more than six inches long, and is called by the Smolanders, Asping.
Avis Sommar Guling appellata. Vol. XI. 1750, p. 127. The Oriolus Galbula, Syst. p. 160, or Golden Thrush; described and figured: singular in being a native both of northern Europe and of Bengal.
Insectum quod frumenti grana interius exedit; de∣scribed afterwards in the System, under the name of Musca Frit, No 994. ib. p. 179. Our author thinks that every tenth grain of barley is destroyed in Sweden by this insect; and that the damage occa∣sioned thereby, cannot amount to less than an hundred thousand ducats annually.
Emberiza Ciris, Syst. p. 313, or Painted Finch of Catesby. I. t. 44; described and figured. ib. p. 278.
De Characteribus anguium. Vol. XIII. 1752, p. 206. It has been observed before, that LINNAEUS first attempted to fix the characters of the Serpentes from the number of the shields and scales of the ab∣domen and tail. He here observes, that this cha∣racter
is not sufficiently permanent; but that what is wanting to complete the number in one, will usually be found in the other.
Novae duae Tabaci species. Vol. XIV. 1753, p. 37; described and figured. They stand in the Species Plant. p. 259, under the names of Nicotiana, paniculata and glutinosa.
De Plantis, quae Alpium Suecicarum indiginae fieri possint. Vol. XV. 1754, p. 182. An enumera∣tion of such plants, as the author thought might usefully be cultivated on the Lapland and Swedish Alps.
Simiae, ex Cercopithecorum genere, descriptio. ib. p. 210; called in the System, Simia Diana, p. 38.
Mirabilis longiflorae (Syst. p. 252.) descriptio. A Mexican plant, now well known in our English gardens. Vol. XVI. p. 176.
Lepidii (Cardamines, Syst. 899.) descriptio. A new plant, sent to our author from Spain, where it was found by M. Loefling. ib. p. 273.
Ayeniae (Pusillae, Spec. 1354.) descriptio. Vol. XVII. 1756, p. 23. An elegant plant, sent by Mr. Miller to our author. It is figured by Miller, tab. 118; and by Sloane, tab. 132.
Gaurae (biennis, Spec. Pl. 493.) descriptio. A new plant, from seeds sent by Mr. Collinson. ib. p. 222.
Loeflingia et Minuartia. Vol. XIX. p. 15. Two new genera of plants, sent by M. Loefling from Spain.
Entomolithus paradoxus (Syst. Natur. III. p. 160.) descriptus. Vol. XX. 1759. p. 19. accompanied
with figures. A curious fossil, from Count Tes∣sin's museum.
Gemma, Penna pavonis, dictum. ib. p. 23. Our author thinks this fossil is formed from the carti∣lage or hinge of the Pearl Muscle. He has called it in the System, Helmintholithus (Androdamas) Mytili margaritiferi cardinis, viridis, p. 165.
Coccus Uvae Ursi, (Syst. p. 742.) ib. p. 28. This cochineal-insect is very like the Polish kind, found at the roots of the Knawel, but is double the size, and yields a very fine red colour.
De Rubo arctico plantando. Vol. XXIII. 1762. p. 192. The Rubus arcticus, Sp. Pl. p. 708, much valued for the sake of the berries; is difficultly cultivated in the southern parts of Sweden. This paper contains the result of some trials made to inure it to a more southern clime: they are too operose to prove of general use.
Observationes ad Cerevisiam pertinentes. Vol. XXIV. 1763. p. 50.
Animalis Brasiliensis, (Muris Aguti, (Syst. p. 80.) descriptio. Vol. XXIX. 1768. p. 26. Long∣nosed Cavy of Pennant.
Viverrae naricae, (Syst. p. 64.) descriptio. ib. p. 140. An American animal, nearly allied to the Coati-mondi of Brasil.
Simia Oedipus. (Syst. p. 41.) The Little Lion∣monkey, described. ib. p. 146.
Gordius Medinensis, (Syst. p. 1075;) or Guinea∣worm. One of these animals, half an ell long, was discovered in a living state at Gottenburgh, and
communicated by the King of Sweden to our au∣thor. ib.
Calceolariae pinnatae (Syst. Nat. ed. 13. p. 60.) descriptio. Vol. XXXI. 1770. p. 286. A Peru∣vian plant, of the Diandrous class, with a labiated flower.
It has been before mentioned, that our author has interspersed, in the Flora Lapponica, a great variety of curious particulars, relating to the country, and its inhabitants, their manners, their economy, diseases, &c.: and in the preface he tells us, that he had it in meditation to give the remaining part of the natural history. This was to have appeared under the title of Lachesis Lappo∣nica; but it is with great regret that we must now give up the expectation of this work. Mr. Pen∣nant has informed us, that he once reminded him of it, and received for answer,—nunc nimis sera nciperem:
We know not of any other publication of LINNAEUS'S after the Mantissa altera, in 1771; and indeed, the preface to that work is sufficient to preclude the expectation of any new performance, if his advanced age had not, of itself, rendered it sufficiently improbable after that period.
In the spring of the year 1772, Dr. Murray, Professor of Physic and Botany at Gottingen, a Swede by birth, who had been educated under LINNAEUS, and had long enjoyed a great share of his confidence and esteem, paid his Preceptor a visit: he found his faculties unimpaired, and his ardor for the improvement of science as strong and vigorous as ever. He speaks with great de∣light of the satisfaction he received from his com∣pany, and in the contemplation and inspection of his museum at Hammarby; but regretted much to find, that LINNAEUS had no farther thoughts of publishing a new edition of his System of Nature; purposing only to give a supplement. However, before Dr. Murray left Upsal, he prevailed on him to promise that he would transmit to him his ad∣ditional observations to the Systema Vegetabilium, in order to enable him to give a complete edition of that work. This the Professor did; and Dr. Murray performed it in the year 1774, very much to the satisfaction of all who pursue the LINNAEAN method. The manuscript additions communica∣ted on this occasion by our author, together with those collected from the several Addenda, and from the Mantissae, enabled Dr. Murray to extend this volume to above one hundred pages beyond that of the 12th edition published in 1767.
It appears that LINNAEUS, upon the whole, en∣joyed a good constitution. At times, however, he had been severely afflicted with an hemicrania; and had not been exempted from the gout. How much he suffered from this latter distemper, we
have before mentioned, when treating on the Phi∣losophia Botanica. And notwithstanding the sound state in which Dr. Murray left him, we find, that very soon after, his memory became somewhat impaired. The consciousness of this defect was said to have induced him to decline all thoughts of further publications, and to transmit to Dr. Mur∣ray such materials as were in readiness to compleat future editions of his System.
In the summer of 1776, it was known here that his strength was declining apace, and his infirmi∣ties in general much increased, he being unable to take his usual walks in his garden without assistance. At the latter end of the year he was seized with an apoplexy, which left him paralytic; and at the be∣ginning of the year 1777 he suffered another stroke, which very much impaired his mental powers. These attacks, at his advanced stage of life, shew∣ed that dissolution was not far off. But the dis∣ease, which was said to have been the more imme∣diate cause of his death, was an ulceration of the urinary bladder. Nevertheless, he languished through the year, and died on the 11th of January, 1778, aged 70 years and 8 months.
To the lovers of science it will not appear strange, nor will it be unpleasant, to hear, that uncommon respect was shewn to the memory of this great man. We are told, that,
on his death, a general mourning took place at Upsal, and that his funeral procession was attended by the whole university, as well professors as stu∣dents, and the pall supported by sixteen doctors
of physic, all of whom had been his pupils.The King of Sweden, after the death of LINNAEUS, or∣dered a medal to be struck, of which
one side exhibits LINNAEUS'S bust and name, and the other Cybele, in a dejected attitude, holding in her left hand a key, and surrounded with ani∣mals and growing plants, with this legend—Deam luctus angit amissi;—and beneath,—post obitum Upsaliae, die x. Jan. M.DCC.LXXVIII. Rege jubente.—The same generous monarch not only honoured the Royal Academy of Sciences with his presence when LINNAEUS'S commemora∣tion was held at Stockholm, but, as a still higher tribute, in his speech from the throne to the assembly of the states, lamented Sweden's loss by his death. Nor was he honoured only in his own country. The present learned and worthy professor of botany at Edinburgh, not only pro∣nounced an eulogium in honour of LINNAEUS, before his students, at the opening of his lectures in the spring of 1778, but laid also the foundation-stone of a monument to be raised to his memory; which, while it perpetuates the name and merits of LINNAEUS, will do honour to the founder, and, it may be hoped, prove the means of raising an emulation favourable to that science which this illustrious Swede so highly dignified and improved. This monument consists of a vase, supported on a pedestal, with this inscription,
LINNAEO POSUIT J. HOPE.
The high reputation which this great man has long held among the naturalists throughout the world, might readily perhaps preclude any encomium from our pen; since, to all lovers of natural sci∣ence, his name itself is eulogy, and will doubtless very long be inseparable from the idea of his ex∣traordinary merit. Might we, nevertheless, be indulged so far, we hope the following brief esti∣mate of his talents will be thought just, and easily deduced from an impartial view of his writings.
Nature had, in an eminent manner, been liberal in the endowments of his mind. He seems to have been possessed of a lively imagination, corrected however by a strong judgment, and guided by the laws of system. Add to these, the most retentive memory, an unremitting industry, and the greatest perseverance in all his pursuits; as is evident from that continued vigour with which he prosecuted the design, that he appears to have formed so early in life, of totally reforming, and fabricating anew the whole science of natural history: and this fabric he raised, and gave to it a degree of perfection unknown before; and had moreover the un∣common felicity of living to see his own struc∣ture rise above all others, notwithstanding every discouragement its author at first laboured under, and the opposition it afterwards met with. Neither has any writer more cautiously avoided that com∣mon error of building his own fame on the ruin of another man's. He every where acknowledged the several merits of each author's system; and no man appears to have been more sensible of the par∣tial
defects of his own. Those anomalies which had principally been the objects of criticism, he well knew every artificial arrangement must abound with; and having laid it down as a firm maxim, that every system must finally rest on its in∣trinsic merit, he willingly commits his own to the judgment of posterity. Perhaps there is no cir∣cumstance of LINNAEUS'S life, which shews him in a more dignified light, than his conduct to∣wards his opponents. Disavowing controversy, and justly considering it as an unimportant and fruitless sacrifice of time, he never replied to any, numerous as they were at one season.
To all who see the aid this extraordinary man has brought to natural science, his talents must appear in a very illustrious point of view; but more especially to those who, from similarity of taste, are qualified to see more distinctly the vast extent of his original design, the greatness of his labour, and the elaborate execution he has given to the whole. He had a happy command of the Latin tongue, which is alone the language of science; and no man ever applied it more successfully to his purposes, or gave to description such copi∣ousness, united with that precision and conciseness, which so eminently characterize his writings.
In the mean time, we are not to learn, that it has been objected as derogatory to his learning in no small degree, that he has introduced a num∣ber of terms not authorized by classical authority. But, granting this, it ought to be recollected, that LINNAEUS, in the investigation of nature, has
discovered a multitude of relations which were entirely unknown to the antients; if therefore there be any force in the objection, it should first be shewn, that the terms which he has introduced to express these relations, are not fairly and analo∣gically deduced from the language; since it must surely be granted, that LINNAEUS could not have spoken the language of natural history, as it is known at this day, in that of Pliny, or of any clas∣sical writer whatever.
The ardor of LINNAEUS'S inclinations to the study of nature, from his earliest years, and that uncommon application which he bestowed upon it, gave him a most comprehensive view, both of its pleasures and usefulness, at the same time that it opened to him a wide field, hitherto but little cultivated, especially in his own country. Hence he was early led to regret, that the study of natural history, as a public institution, had not made its way into the universities; in many of which, logical dis∣putations, and metaphysical theories, had too long prevailed, to the exclusion of more useful sci∣ence. Availing himself therefore of the advan∣tages which he derived from a large share of elo∣quence, and an animated style, he never failed to display, in a lively and convincing manner, the relation this study hath to the public good; to incite the great to countenance and protect it; to encourage and allure youth into its pursuits, by opening its manifold sources of pleasure to their view, and shewing them how greatly this agreeable employment would add, in a variety of instances,
both to their comfort and emolument. His ex∣tensive view of natural history, as connected with almost all the arts of life, did not allow him to confine these motives and incitements to those only who were designed for the practice of physic. He also laboured to inspire the great and opulent with a taste for this study; and wished particularly that such as were devoted to an ecclesiastic life should share a portion of natural science, not only as a means of sweetening their rural situ∣ation, confined, as many are, perpetually to a country residence, but as what would almost in∣evitably lead, in a variety of instances, to disco∣veries which only such situations could give rise to, and which the learned in great cities could have no opportunities to make. Not to add, that the mutual communication and enlargement of this kind of knowledge among people of equal rank in a country situation, must prove one of the strongest bonds of union and friendship, and con∣tribute, in a much higher degree than the usual perishing amusements of the age, to the pleasures and advantages of society.
LINNAEUS lived to enjoy the fruit of his own labour in an uncommon degree. Natural his∣tory raised itself in Sweden, under his culture, to a state of perfection unknown elsewhere, and was from thence disseminated through all Europe. His pupils dispersed themselves all over the globe, and with their master's fame, ex∣tended both science and their own. More than this, he lived to see the sovereigns of Europe
establish several public institutions in favour of this study, and even professorships established in divers universities for the same purpose, which do honour to their founders and patrons, and which have excited a curiosity for the science, and a sense of its worth, that cannot fail to further its progress, and in time raise it to that rank, which it is entitled to hold among the pursuits of man∣kind.
Were it in our power minutely to describe the person of our author, in conformity to the custom of biographers, it would be a matter of small mo∣ment, as the endowments of his mind, and his great talents, have so superior a claim to atten∣tion. In the commemoration-speech, delivered by his friend Dr. Baeck, physician to the king of Sweden, LINNAEUS'S stature is described as being
diminutive; his head large; his look ardent, piercing, and apt to daunt the beholder. His ear not sensible to music; his temper quick; his memory good, though in the latter period of his life liable to fail him some∣times; his knowledge of languages confined, yet no interesting discovery escaped him. In summer he used to sleep from ten to three o'clock, in winter from nine to six, and instantly to cease from his labours when he found him∣self not well disposed for them. He was an agreeable companion, of quick sensibility, but easily appeased.Those who would be gra∣tified by forming an idea of his person, may be acquainted, that there are extant three half∣length
prints of LINNAEUS in his works. Two of these are in octavo, and the other in a half∣sheet, or rather large quarto. The first was pre∣fixed to the Leipsic edition of the Systema Naturae, printed in 1748, and represents LINNAEUS, as we apprehend, in about the fortieth year of his age; another, to the second edition of the Species Plan∣tarum, in 1762; and the larger one to the sixth edition of the Genera Plantarum, in 1764. In the first and the last of these, which are by much the better engravings, he is figured in an undress, resting upon a volume of the Systema, and holding in his hand a sprig of the LINNAEA, a plant so called by Dr. Gronovius, in honour of his name. In that of 1762, he is represented in a full dress, with the insignia of the Order of the Polar Star at his breast, and Aurivillius's inscription under∣neath:
"Hic ille est, cui regna volens natura reclusit, "Quamque ulli dederat plura videnda dedit."
The Academy of Sciences at Stockholm have, at their own expence, directed that an engraving of his portrait should be made at Paris, from an ori∣ginal picture by the famous Swedish painter Roslin. There is a striking likeness also exhibited on a large medallion, a'l'antique, of almost two feet in dia∣meter, by M. L'Archeveque. In England we have an elegant small medallion, fabricated by those excellent artists Mess. Wedgwood and Bently. It represents LINNAEUS in profile, when far advanced in years. The bust is white, upon a light-blue
ground, and the Linnaea placed at the breast. This is said, by all who knew the professor, to bear the greatest likeness. We regret that it is not in our power to describe the medals which were struck in honour of LINNAEUS by order of several noblemen of the first distinction in Sweden, parti∣cularly that by Count Tessin's direction, since that nobleman was among the first who discerned and patronized the merit of our author, and ever bore to it the most public and honourable testimony. This LINNAEUS hath acknowledged in the warmest effusions of gratitude.
It hath been observed before, that the professor married the daughter of Dr. More, the provincial physician of Dalekarlia, soon after he settled at Stockholm, in 1739. This lady survived him; and he has left a son, named Charles, and four daughters. The younger Linnaeus was demonstra∣tor in the botanical garden at Upsal, so early as the year 1762; having in that, and the succeeding year, published two Decads of rare Plants, lately raised there, accompanied with the figures. Not long after he was constituted joint professor in the botanical chair with his father; and of late years entirely occupied that department. Since the death of his father, we learn that he has obtained some of his employments, particularly the professorship of the theory of physic; and has resigned that of botany in favour of Dr. Thunberg. It has been said, that he intends to publish a MANTISSA TERTIA, which his father left nearly finished; also several collections of plants which had been sent to LIN∣NAEUS,
not long before his death, from the Cape of Good Hope, and from several other parts of the world.
Elizabeth Christina, one of the daughters of our author, made herself known to the learned world, in 1762, by a discovery which was published in the Swedish Acts of the same year. It re∣lated to a curious, and before quite unobserved appearance, in the flowers of the Indian Cresses, (Tropaeolum majus) which she had perceived to emit spontaneously, at certain intervals, sparks like those of electricity, or rather such as arise from a fulminating powder. This was only visible in the dusk of the evenings, and ceased when total darkness came on. She had shewn this singular appearance to her father, and other philosophers, particularly to Mr. Wilcke, a celebrated electrician, who was inclined to believe that it was an electri∣cal phenomenon.