Praeludia Sponsaliorum Plantarum

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Linnés manuscript Praeludia Sponsaliorum Plantarum . (December 1729)

Praeludia Sponsaliorum Plantarum is the title of a manuscript by Carl von Linné in which he presented his thoughts on the sexuality of plants for the first time .

plant

The manuscript has the full title Praeludia Sponsaliorum Plantarum, in quibus Physiologia earum explicatur, Sexus demonstratur, modus Generationis detergitur, nec non summa Plantarum cum Animalibus analogia concluditur . The manuscript did not appear in print until 1908.

History of origin

After a year of study in Lund , Linné moved to Uppsala University in 1728 . In the spring of 1729 he met in the Botanical Garden of Uppsala on Olof Celsius the Elder . Celsius was impressed by Linnaeus' ability to immediately name all the plants in the garden, took him into his house and made his library available to him.

On December 23, 1729, the university students, chaired by Georg Wallin, discussed the thesis De Nuptiis Arborum (about: "From the wedding trees") by the student Petrus Ugla . In it, analogies that exist between plants and animals were dealt with in a traditional way and substantiated by means of literature citations.

Linnaeus, who did not take part in the dispute but had read the paper, wrote the twenty-six-page manuscript Praeludia Sponsaliorum Plantarum in response and presented it to his host Olof Celsius on New Year's Day 1730. He showed them to Olof Rudbeck , and transcripts were soon circulating among the students of the university and members of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala .

content

Linnaeus' argument is based on a fundamental analogy between plants and animals: the conservation of the individual and the species . The plants are always reproduced by means of their fruits . Using another analogy to the animal kingdom, "wherever a male would be needed to fertilize an egg ," he concluded that plants must also have reproductive organs . However, since there would be no fruit without a flower , the reproductive organs should be found there.

He analyzed calyx (calyx), petals (petal), stamens (stamen), sprout tip (apex), pistil (pestle) and fruit (fructus), which are components of the flower, for their constancy and found that stamens, pistil as well Fruit are always present. But he also found the following differences :

There are stamens and pistils
1. a) in one flower, b) in different flowers
2. a) Stamens, shoot tip without pistil (sterile), b) pistil (fertile)
3. a) Sprout tip without pistil (sterile), b) Piston without shoot tip (fertile)

This three-way division of the plant kingdom occupied Linnaeus with numerous plants, which he described according to the Tournefortschem classification system . He then compared the reproductive organs of plants and animals using the terminology used by Sébastien Vaillant . Finally, he dealt with the theses of Samuel Morland and Antoni van Leeuwenhoek on fertilization and demonstrated by means of seven experiments that the process of fertilization actually takes place, even if the "how" remains inexplicable.

Linnaeus finished his work with observations on the role of the cotyledons in plants and compared them with the function of the placenta in animals.

Quote

“The petals do not contribute to procreation, but only serve as the bridal bed, which the great Creator has so magnificently prepared. It is adorned with precious bed curtains and scented with many sweet fragrances so that the groom and bride can celebrate their wedding with the greatest festivity. When the bed is prepared in this way, the time has come for the groom to hug his beloved bride and give himself over to her. "

- Transfer to the Engl. Text in Blunt p. 33.

pads

Praeludia Sponsaliorum Plantarum . In: Skrifter af Carl von Linné. Utgifna af Kungl. Svenska Vetenskapsakademien . Volume 4, No. 1, 1908, pp. 1-26, edited by Thore Magnus Fries. The original manuscript is in the Uppsala University Library .

proof

  • Richard Pulteney : A General View of the Writings of Linnaeus . London, 1781, p. 57ff.
  • Wilfrid Blunt : The Art of Botanical Illustration: An Illustrated History. Dover Publications . 1994. ISBN 0-486-27265-6 .
  • James L. Larson: Linnaeus and the Natural Method . In: Isis . Volume 58, No. 3, Fall 1967, pp. 304-320

Notes and individual references

  1. ^ Praeludia Sponsaliorum Plantarum . In: Skrifter af Carl von Linné. Utgifna af Kungl. Svenska Vetenskapsakademien . Volume 4, No. 1, 1908, pp. 1-26
  2. ↑ Georg Wallin the Younger (born July 31, 1686 in Gävle, † May 16, 1760 in Gothenburg), was a Swedish bishop and antiquarian. He toured Germany, Holland and England from 1708-1710 and France from 1720-1723. He was a university librarian in Uppsala and later Bishop of Gothenburg
  3. ↑ The full title is: Deo Duce! ΓΑΜΟΣ ΦΥΤΟΝ sive Nuptiae Arborum: de quibus dissertationem philologico-criticam ...
  4. ↑ Petrus Ug (g) la (* January 17, 1709 in Sundborn; † 1785)
  5. ↑ According to the Swedish calendar
  6. ^ Sébastien Vaillant: Sermo de Structura Florum . Leiden, 1718

Web links

  • Letter with the dedication to Olaf Celsius (Swedish)