I've been asked to give you a lecture on Carl von Linné

The task seems to me extremely hard to fulfill

As I'm

Of course

Not competent to talk about him

Even if I were

The personality and work of Carl von Linné

Are much too extensive to be treated in a lecture of this kind

Besides

The theme itself is of no interest

But the significance of Linné's work

And

At least

Its importance in connection with the naming of nature

Nomenclature

Is too important to be neglected

Nomenclature

In naming nature

Linné did not aim at finding new names

But at introducing some sort of system

Which was simple enough to allow everybody to use it

Therefore

He did not invent the names

But he selected those already existing

Which

In his opinion

Were the best ones

From the first

He had a predilection for short names

As he found them easy to remember

Therefore

He abandoned long names

In cases where he thought it possible

On this account

He came into opposition

With the powerful and respected professors of Holland

Particularly the famous van Royen and van Roy

Who were leading botanists at that time

And the fathers of scientific naming

These professors liked long and sonorous names

Which to their ears were of better sound than short ones

Thus

The flowers of the calceolaria family

Which Linné gave the name of "lips" were called by van Royen "antirrhina"

Which is a name still used

Nomenclature

The names invented by van Royen

Which still are retained in nomenclature

Are

On the whole

Rather difficult to understand

Which

Of course

Makes them easier to remember

Therefore

There is no reason for astonishment

That the simple system of Linné soon spread all over the world

Even the botanists of Holland and France

Where the names of Linné were met with a certain resistance

Soon adopted the Linnaean system of naming

But we must not forget that Linné was not the only scientist

Who tried to introduce some sort of system into nomenclature

In order to make it more easy to use