AN ACCOUNT 
OF THE 
Festival held at Upsala, May, 1907, in 
Commemoration of the 200th 
Anniversary of the Birth of 
Carolus Linnaeus 
BY 
WILLIAM WILLIAMS KEEN, M.D., LL.D. 
PHILADELPHIA, PA. 
REPRINTED FROM 
THE /ESCULAPIAN, DECEMBER, 1908 
Vol. 1, No, 1 
Brooklyn-New York 
mcmix AN ACCOUNT OF THE FESTIVAL HELD AT UP- 
SALA, MAY, 1907, IN COMMEMORATION OF THE 
200TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF 
CAROLUS LINNAEUS.* 
By William Williams Keen, M.D., LL.D., 
Of Philadelphia, Pa. 
S your delegate to the Linnaeus Festival of the University 
of Upsala and of the Royal Academy of Sciences in 
Stockholm, held from May 23 to 26, 1907, in com- 
memoration of the 200th anniversary of his birth, I 
have the honor to make the following report: 
As the ceremonials-particularly that of the conferring of 
honorary degrees-differ in many respects from those usually 
seen in America, I have ventured to describe them in some detail. 
As I have pointed out in an address on the "Graduation Cere- 
monial,"! Upsala has preserved more of the medieval customs 
than any of the European universities except the University of 
Coimbra in Portugal, from which there was a delegate present 
wearing the peculiar robe and cap seen only there. 
Moreover the present is the first occasion on which honorary 
degrees have been conferred by Upsala on any foreign scholars. 
Even in 1877 when they celebrated the 400th anniversary of the 
foundation of the University in 1477 no degrees were given to 
foreigners. 
Never have I seen so well organized a fete. Before his 
arrival everyone had the number of his room, a number for his 
baggage, for his seat at every function, for his hat, etc. All 
baggage was taken in charge at the station; carriages were there 
for everybody. The delegates and their families were the guests 
of the University for the two days in Upsala, and all charges for 
rooms and meals were defrayed by the University. Moreover, 
the Stockholm Academy of Sciences presented each delegate with 
four volumes in octavo and one in folio of the works of Lin- 
naeus and a medal as delightful mementos of a remarkable 
festival. 
In front of the railroad station and in front of the "Uni- 
versity House" were planted a circle of standards with the flags 
A 
*Report made to the American Philosophical Society as its Delegate. 
tMedical Library and Historical Journal, 1906, iv., pp. 1-14- 2 
w. w. KEEN. 
of all the nations represented, while the town was profusely- 
decorated with flags and evergreens. As the students number 
i,800 in a population of only about 25,000 they practically are 
the town. 
When the special train arrived the students were there in 
procession to greet their guests. As all of them wear white 
caps (the one hundred women students wearing the same), as 
the marshals wore long effective, broad sashes of bright yellow 
and blue (the Swedish colors), and there were over a dozen 
banners and corps flags grouped in the centre, the scene was 
very picturesque. The singing by the students was the best I 
have ever heard. A brief Latin salutatory speech ended the 
proceedings at the station. 
As soon as we reached our rooms there appeared a young 
woman to measure our heads and our ring fingers for the hat 
or wreath and the ring for the following day's promotion. 
At noon on the 23d, the proceedings were held in the 
splendid aula of the University House. This hall resembles in 
general that at Yale. It is very nearly as large and even hand- 
somer. The king's health prevented him from taking part in 
any of the functions, but he was well represented by the Crown 
Prince,* who is also Prince Regent, a very affable man of about 
fifty. He and the other members of the royal family mingled 
with their guests most informally and agreeably. After a can- 
tata by a band and a chorus and an address by Rektor Schtick 
the various countries were called alphabetically and the addresses 
from various universities and scientific bodies were presented. 
Only one delegate from each country spoke-an excellent 
arrangement, as it shortened the time very acceptably. 
In the afternoon the students gave a delightful concert and 
garden party in the Botanical Garden. At 6.30 the Archbishop 
and the Rektor entertained one hundred and seventy guests at 
dinner. The three toasts were proposed by Dr. Schtick in French, 
Swedish, and faultless English, and I was told that he was 
equally at home in German, Italian, Spanish and Latin. A 
reception ended a delightful day. 
On May 24th the conferring of degrees took place in the 
cathedral. This is 360 feet long and a fine example of pure 
Gothic. It was founded in 1250 and contains the tombs of Gus- 
tavus Vasa and other famous Swedes. In the north aisle lie 
*The present King. CAROLUS LINN2EUS FESTIVAL. 
3 
the bones of Linnaeus and in a chapel near by a dignified simple 
monument records his birth and death. I was told that there 
were about 6,000 people present and I hardly think it an exag- 
geration. In the west gallery besides the large organ was a 
military band and in the choir an orchestra and an excellent 
chorus. The procession was led by about a dozen marshals in 
their white caps and Swedish sashes, and when the delegates 
in academic robes, uniform or evening dress were seated, the 
marshals and the bearers of the banners and flags lined each side 
of the middle aisle while the Prince Regent and the royal family 
entered. 
After singing a cantata composed in 1877 f°r the quarto- 
centenary, honorary degrees were conferred in Theology, Juris- 
prudence, Medicine and Philosophy. The Promoter in each 
Faculty first made a short Latin address. Each graduand then 
advanced into the choir by three steps of the "Parnassus," as the 
ascent was called in the program. In Theology, Law and Medi- 
cine the Promoter placed a top hat on the candidate's head, a 
ring on his left ring finger, and handed him three diplomas, one, 
the official one, sealed and stamped with a 100 Kroner Stamp 
($28; this tax was paid by the government), the two others 
being duplicates, but unsealed and unstamped. The hat was 
peculiar. In color it was black, but the vertical portion was 
plaited vertically in plaits about one inch wide; in the front 
of the band was a small gold shield. 
Each graduand in Philosophy instead of receiving a hat, 
had pinned on his breast beforehand a laurel wreath. This was 
unpinned by a marshal on the first step of the Parnassus and 
was handed to the Promoter, who thereupon crowned the recipi- 
ent, placed the ring on his finger, gave him his diplomas, and 
shook hands with him most cordially. The new laureates in 
descending the Parnassus bowed to the Archbishop, the Rektor 
and the Crown Prince. 
When the first candidate in each Faculty was capped or 
crowned a battery of artillery on the place in front of the cathe- 
dral began firing a salute and continued until the last degree in 
this Faculty had been conferred, only to break out anew for 
each succeeding Faculty. 
After all the degrees in each Faculty had been conferred 
the orchestra rendered a musical selection. They were all finely 
given, but the music chosen amused us. For the Theologs (I 
presumed they were Lutherans), they gave the "March of the 4 
W. W. KEEN. 
Priests of Baal"; for the lawyers, "See the Conquering Piero 
Comes"; the doctors were welcomed by Schubert's "Death and 
the Maiden"; (I concluded, charitably, that she had appendi- 
citis and was rescued from death by the doctor) ; while the new 
Doctors of Philosophy were honored by Mendelssohn's "Wed- 
ding March," which I interpreted as either a reminiscence, an 
exhortation or a prophecy. 
The rings differ for each Faculty, that for Philosophy being 
engraved outside with the laurel wreath and on the inside with 
the name of the owner, that of the University, the degree 
conferred, and the date. In Theology and Law, degrees 
were only conferred upon Scandinavians. In Medicine, 
Haeckel of Jena was the most notable among the thirteen 
foreigners. In Philosophy, Professor Hjelt of Helsingfors, 
who had received his doctorate in 1847, and eighteen Swedes 
who graduated in 1857, were made "Jubilee" Ph.D.'s. Four- 
teen foreigners received this honorary degree, among them 
two Americans, Professor Farlow of Harvard and your 
delegate. 
After the conferring of the degrees followed one of the 
prettiest and pleasantest features of the day. The newly made 
doctors all marched in their robes, hats and wreaths to the 
nearby University House and stood on the ample steps, while 
the whitecapped students, with songs, banners and flags, marched 
up and stood in foot of the steps. After some fine singing 
the leader greeted the new doctors, now their brethren, in an 
admirable Latin speech, to which a reply was made in Swedish 
by one of the honorary doctors, and the students, after the 
usual four Swedish "hurrahs," marched off singing, lifting 
their hats as they passed the steps. 
Another official dinner and a ball, ending in that latitude 
in broad daylight at 3 A. M., concluded the exercises in Upsala. 
On the 25th the Academy of Sciences met in Stockholm at 
2 P. M. in the Academy of Music. A cantata was sung, after 
which Count Morner, the President, delivered an oration and 
the institutions which had been invited presented addresses, 
in groups from each country, only the first delegate making 
a brief presentation speech. A dinner followed in the evening. 
On the 26th an excursion was made in the morning to Ham- 
marby, the home of Linnaeus, and from 4 to 5.30 P. M. the 
Prince Regent entertained the foreign delegates and a few official 
Swedes at a tea and garden party at the palace quite informally, 
and most delightfully. Ebe 
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