This essay is part of a description of the reactions to Darwinism in the learned societies of England and Scotland. originally published in 1972 in T. F. Glick (Ed.),The Comparative Reception of Darwinism, Austin&London: University of Texas Press. We are grateful to Dr Burkhardt and the Texas University Press for permission to reproduce the account of the Linnean Society's response. A note by Dr P. H. Greenwood, Past President of the Linnean Society, summarizing the reactions of other societies is included at the end of Dr Burkhardt's text.