He also inspired many students with a love for natural history and gave an impulse to the advance of that science which was long felt. We can not gainsay that a higher class of service has been rendered by those of philosophic mind devoted to the pursuit of comparative anatomy, but the step of Linnæus was a necessary one, and aided greatly in the progress of natural history. Without this step the discoveries and observations of others would not have been so readily understood, and had it not been for his organizing force all natural science would have been held back for want of a common language. A close scrutiny of the practice among naturalists in the time of Linnæus shows that he did not actually invent the binomial nomenclature, but by adopting the suggestions of others he elaborated the system of classification and brought the new language into common use. Personal History.--Leaving for the present the system of Linnæus, we shall give attention to the personal history of the man. The great Swedish naturalist was born in Rashult in 1707. His father was the pastor of the village, and intended his eldest son, Carl, for the same high calling. The original family name was Ignomarsen, but it had been changed to Lindelius, from a tall linden-tree growing in that part of the country. In 1761 a patent of nobility was granted by the crown to Linnæus, and thereafter he was styled Carl von Linné. His father's resources were very limited, but he managed to send his son to school, though it must be confessed that young Linnæus showed little liking for the ordinary branches of instruction. His time was spent in collecting natural-history specimens, and his mind was engaged in thinking about them. The reports of his low scholarship and the statement of one of his teachers that he showed no aptitude for learning were so disappointing to his father that, in 1726, he prepared to apprentice Carl to a shoemaker, but was prevented from doing so through the encouragement of a doctor who, being able to appreciate the quality of mind possessed by the young Linnæus, advised allowing him to study medicine instead of preparing for theology. Accordingly, with a sum amounting to about $40, all his father could spare, he set off for the University of Lund, to pursue the study of medicine. He soon transferred to the University of Upsala, where the advantages were greater. His poverty placed him under the greatest straits for the necessities of life, and he enjoyed no luxuries. While in the university he mended his shoes, and the shoes which were given to him by some of his companions, with paper and birch-bark, to keep his feet from the damp earth. But his means did not permit of his taking his degree at Upsala, and it was not until eight years later, in 1735, that he received his degree in Holland.