Methodus

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Linnaeus Methodus from 1736

The Methodus of Carl Linnaeus is a folio in which he explained his method of classification and description of any natural object. It was originally planned as part of his 1735 work Systema Naturae and was published shortly afterwards.

plant

The folio sheet appeared in 1736 under the title: Methodus Juxta Quam Physiologus Accurate & feliciter concinnare potest Historiam cujuscunque Naturalis Subjecti, sequentibus hisce Paragraphis comprehensa (“The method of Carl Linnaeus from Sweden, with the help of which every naturalist can accurately and successfully assemble the history of any object can "). It was printed in Leiden by Johan Wilhelm de Groot and distributed by Angelus Sylvius.

Numerous editions of the 1st edition of Systema Naturae are known in which the Folio sheet of the Methodus was bound together with the Folio sheets Systema Naturae . Later editions of Systema Naturae contained the method under a different title and with only very minor changes in content. In the 2nd, 4th and 5th edition it was called Methodus demonstrandi lapides, vegetabilia aut animalia . There was no method in the German-language 3rd edition , as it was based on the 1st edition. With the 6th edition, the minerals were placed at the end of the list of the three natural kingdoms: Methodus demonstrandi animalia, vegetabilia aut lapides . It was also available in the 7th and 9th edition under this title. The 8th edition of Systema Naturae did not contain a method because it only dealt with the plant kingdom. Starting with the 10th edition, the method was no longer part of Systema Naturae .

History of origin

In 1735 Linnaeus stayed in Holland, where he met Jan Frederik Gronovius , among others , who financed the publication of the first edition of Systema Naturae together with Isaac Lawson . The Methodus was originally to be printed according to the second table of the Regnum Animales . A pressure test was only ready at the end of November 1735. On December 9, 1735, Gronovius announced to Linnaeus that the printing of the 1st edition of Systema Naturae was finished and only the Methodus was left. In mid-January, the method was completed by the printer Johan Wilhelm de Groot.

content

The folio sheet contains 38 sub-items, which are structured as follows:

  • I. nouns (names), items 1–6
  • II. Theoria (theory), points 7-8
  • III. Genus (genus), items 9-14
  • IV. Species, items 15-21
  • V. Attributes, points 22-27
  • VI. Usus (use), points 28–34
  • VII. Literaria (literature), points 35-38

A natural object must have a selected name consisting of a genus and a species name by a selected author. The synonyms of other systematists are to be given as well as known trivial names and the etymology of the names. The theory should deal with classes and orders and discuss the genera into which the natural object in question has been classified by various systematists. The description of a genus must include the natural, essential and man-made characteristics and make it clear why genres by other authors have been rejected. The description of a species should be based on external characteristics, be as complete as possible, but only contain the essential differences to other species of the same genus. All of its variations are also to be discussed. The attributes describe the life cycle from creation to destruction, the habitat , the way of life and the anatomy of the natural object. The use should include the economic and dietetic benefits as well as the use in medicine and medicine . The literature to be quoted consists of the discoverer, the place and time of the discovery, historical traditions and outstanding poetry.

Application of the "method" by Linnaeus

In Musa Cliffortiana , his monograph on the banana worked out in 1736 , Linnaeus adhered almost exactly to the scheme worked out in the Methodus . The species descriptions in Hortus Cliffortianus published a year later , a description of all plants in the herbarium and garden by George Clifford in Hartekamp , followed a similar scheme. Some of the dissertations of his students published in the Amoenitates Academicae also followed the structure outlined in the Methodus , for example the monographs on the dwarf birch ( Betula nana ), the figs ( Ficus ) or the passion flowers ( Passiflora ).

proof

literature

  • AJ Cain: The Methodus of Linnaeus. In: Archives of Natural History. Volume 19, number 2, 1992, pp. 231-250, doi : 10.3366 / anh.1992.19.2.231 .
  • Staffan Müller-Wille: Eruditio Historica, Critica, Antiqua. Sources of natural history. In: Thomas Rathmann, Nikolaus Wegmann (ed.): “Source”: between origin and construct. A key concept in the discussion . Erich Schmidt, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-503-07920-3 , pp. 89-101.
  • Staffan Müller-Wille: History redoubled. The synthesis of facts in Linnaean natural history. In: Claus Zittel, Romano Nanni (Ed.) Philosophies of technology: Francis Bacon and his contemporaries . Volume 1. Brill, Leiden / Boston 2008, ISBN 978-90-04-17050-6 , pp. 515-538.
  • Karl P. Schmidt: The "Methodus" of Linnaeus, 1736. In: Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History. Volume 2, 1952, pp. 369-374, doi : 10.3366 / jsbnh.1952.2.Part_9.369 .
  • Basil Harrington Soulsby: A catalog of the works of Linnaeus (and publications more immediately.) Preserved in the libraries of the British Museum (Bloomsbury) and Museum (Natural History - Kensington). 2nd Edition. Printed by order of the Trustees of the British Museum, London 1933, p. 9.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl P. Schmidt: The "Methodus" of Linnaeus, 1736. P. 369.
  2. ^ Jan Frederik Gronovius to Carl Linnaeus, November 7, 1735, Letter L0054 in The Linnaean correspondence (accessed September 29, 2010).
  3. ↑ Jan Frederik Gronovius to Carl Linnaeus, November 25, 1735, letter L0051 in The Linnaean correspondence (accessed September 27, 2010).
  4. ^ Jan Frederik Gronovius to Carl Linnaeus, December 3, 1735, Letter L0058 in The Linnaean correspondence (accessed September 29, 2010).
  5. ^ Jan Frederik Gronovius to Carl Linnaeus, January 18, 1736, Letter L0062 in The Linnaean correspondence (accessed September 29, 2010).
  6. ^ AJ Cain: The Methodus of Linnaeus. Pp. 240-241.