Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 71.djvu/100

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94
POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY
Bridge Over the Bronx River, between the New York Botanical Garden and the New York Geological Park, dedicated to the Memory of Linnæus

THE CELEBRATION OF THE BICENTENARY OF THE BIRTH OF LINNÆUS BY THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

The two-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Carolus Linnæus has been celebrated throughout the world, notably by the Royal University of Upsala, where he was professor from 1741 to his death in 1774, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, of which he was the first president. Of the many local celebrations, we may select for mention that under the auspices of the New York Academy of Sciences, where the arrangements were more elaborate than elsewhere in America. The morning of May 23 was devoted to exercises in the American Museum of Natural History, the afternoon to exercises at the New York Botanical Garden and the New York Zoological Park, the evening to exercises in the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences and the New York Aquarium. At these different scientific institutions addresses were made by Dr. J. A. Allen, Dr. P. A. Rydberg, Mr. F. A. Lucas and others. The building of the New York Aquarium commemorated the centennial of its erection, and the collections were opened for the first time by night.

Of special interest was the dedication to the memory of Linnæus of a bridge over the Bronx River on Pelham Parkway between the New York Botanical Garden and the New York Zoological Park. The bronze tablet, presented by Dr. N. L. Britton for the New York Academy of Sciences, bears these words:

Linnæus, botanist and zoologist, born Rashult, Sweden, May 23, 1707; died Hammarby, Sweden, February 18, 1778. This bridge was dedicated by the New York Academy of Sciences, May 23, 1907.

A cable message addressed to the New York Academy of Sciences by the Swedish Academy reads as follows:

To every Swede, and especially to our society, whose honor it is to count Carl von Linné as the greatest ornament of in ranks, it is highly gratifying to see that the memory of the man whom all the world recognizes as Princeps Botanicorum is also held so sacred across the Atlantic that the two hundredth anniversary of his birth will be celebrated there with the same love and reverence as in his own country. And we fully appreciate the delicate courtesy which has led you to immor-