Abstract
FOUNCED ten years after the death of the A celebrated Linnæus, the Linnean Society of London has for the past hundred and fifty years carried on the work he initiated in systematic botany and zoology. The anniversary was celebrated in London by appropriate meetings on May 24–27. Without any doubt the founding of the Society was due to the presence of the Linnaean Collections in England in 1784, in which year they had been received by purchase from Linnæus's widow by James Edward Smith, a medical student then twenty-four years of age. That close contact with the materials used by the great Swede resulted in the English naturalists adhering very closely to what may be called the Linnæan tradition ; and although the systems used by Linnæus have been greatly changed or superseded, it is significant that his authority and influence are still felt strongly to-day.
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The Linnæan Tradition. Nature 141, 959–960 (1938). https://doi.org/10.1038/141959a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/141959a0