Lives of Eminent Zoologists, from Aristotle to Linnæus / with Introductory remarks on the Study of Natural History

by William MacGillivray

LINNÆUS.

SECTION I.

Birth and Education of Linnæus.

Birth and Parentage of Linnæus—He is destined for the Clerical Profession—His early Fondness for Plants—He is sent to School, where his Progress is so slow that his Father resolves to make him a Shoemaker—Is rescued from this Fate by Dr Rothmann, who receives him into his Family—He becomes decidedly attached to the Study of Nature, enters the University of Lund, and is patronised by Professor Stobæus—When on an Excursion is attacked by a dangerous Malady—Stobæus surprises him in his nocturnal Studies—He goes to Upsal—Is reduced to extreme Poverty, from which he is relieved by Professor Celsius, whom he assists—Is next patronised by Rudbeck, and delegated to read his Lectures—Forms a Friendship with Artedi.

Charles Linnæus was born on the 23d May 1707, at Rashult, in the province of Smaland. His father, Nils, whose ancestors were peasants, was pastor of the village, and being the first learned man of his house, had, agreeably to a custom prevalent in Sweden, changed his family-name with his profession, and borrowed that of Linné from a large linden-tree, which stood in the vicinity of his native place, between Tomsboda and Linnhult. His mother, Christina Broderson, was the daughter of his father's predecessor in office.

The pious parents had intended him likewise for the service of the church, either because they considered the clerical profession the best adapted to their son, or as calculated to ensure the means of a comfortable subsistence, and to render him the stay of their old age. But, whatever were their motives, the design, fortunately for the progress of natural science, was frustrated by the propensities which he soon displayed; for, inheriting a strong passion for flowers, he devoted a great part of his earlier years to the cultivation of a corner of the family-garden, which he profusely stocked with wild plants collected in the woods and fields. The excursions which he was thus induced to make, gradually led him to an acquaintance with the productions of the vegetable and animal kingdoms, and were at first rather encouraged than discountenanced by his parents, as affording innocent amusement, and being beneficial to health.

Charles was happy also in the affectionate care of his father, who taught him the elements of the Latin language, geography, and other departments of knowledge suited to his capacity. At the age of seven, however, he was committed to the care of a teacher ill qualified for the task; and three years after he was sent to a grammar-school in the neighbouring town of Wexio, where he continued several years. During this period he made little proficiency in the studies connected with his intended profession; for the love of nature prevailed in his mind to such a degree as to induce him to consider every other occupation as compulsory. He found much more pleasure in gathering plants and insects than in performing the tasks imposed by his teachers. Every hour of respite from his lessons was devoted to his favourite occupation, and all his holidays were spent in rambling over the country. His school-fellows considered him as an idle vagabond; but his master, whose name was Lanaerius, formed a proper judgment of his genius, which he was the better enabled to do, as he himself was fond of botany.

In 1724, young Linnæus entered the upper college or gymnasium at Wexio, where his deficiencies in classical attainments were looked upon with less indulgence. The admonitions of his teachers were contemned; the passion inspired by nature still prevailed; and complaints were made to his father, who, finding him averse to the study of divinity, and perhaps believing him incapable of acquiring literary knowledge, resolved to bind him apprentice to a shoemaker. Considering the circumstances of his parents, and the little prospect of their son's obtaining a comfortable livelihood by his botanical pursuits, we need not ascribe this determination to a less estimable motive than prudent affection. Fortunately, however, the design was not carried into effect.

A physician at Wexio, who was also professor of medicine in the college of that city, had taken notice of the genius and peculiar pursuits of the boy, and, hearing of his father's intentions, ventured to offer his assistance and advice. The encomiums of this benevolent person, Dr John Rothmann, inspired the parents with unexpected pleasure. The entreaties of their son himself were joined to the kind intercession of his protector, who had promised to take him into his own family for a year, and provide him with every thing necessary. Natural history was not then in Sweden, any more than it is now in our own country, a study which of itself could lead to wealth, or even to a moderate independence. It was therefore resolved that he should qualify himself for the practice of medicine; and to this proposal the pastor and his wife at length reluctantly assented.

Baffled in their views with respect to Charles, they resolved to transfer their cares to their second son, Samuel, whom they hoped to prevent from addicting himself to similar pursuits by prohibiting his entrance into the garden, and even the gathering of flowers in the fields. This restriction, however, had not the full effect; for Samuel also was a lover of botany, although his parents had the gratification of seeing him at length become a preacher.

In the house of Rothmann, the elder brother, who had hitherto studied botany without any regular method, found Tournefort's Institutiones Rei Herbariæ,—a work which opened new prospects to his view, and tended to increase his zeal. The more he became acquainted with nature, the more did his love of knowledge increase, and his frequent excursions into the country soon rendered his acquirements conspicuous. Having remained three years at the College of Wexio, he was prepared to become a pupil in a higher seminary of learning, and in 1727 set out for the University of Lund.

At an early stage of his progress he had studied several botanical works which are now little known, such as those of Manson, Tilland, Palmberg, Bromellius, and Rudbeck. But the benevolent Rothmann showed him that the guides whom he had followed were unworthy of confidence, and advised him to begin by examining the flower, as recommended by Tournefort, giving him at the same time Valentini's figures of plants. He accordingly copied these engravings, and commenced a rigorous examination of flowers and fruits. Towards the end of his twentieth year, he attempted to arrange in systematic order the various species growing in the neighbourhood of Wexio and Stenbrohult, many of which he found it difficult to determine, owing to the imperfect manner in which they had been described. Down to this period he had not distinguished himself in any other way than as a young man who was supposed to be foolishly addicted to the study of natural objects, while he ought to have been engaged in more important pursuits; although he says he had always been among the first in mathematics and natural philosophy.

On leaving the gymnasium at Wexio, the rector, Nicolas Krok, gave him a certificate expressed in the following terms:—"Students may be compared to the trees of a nursery. Often among the young plants are found some which, notwithstanding the care that has been bestowed upon them, resemble wild shoots; but, if transplanted at a later period, they change their nature, and sometimes bear delicious fruit. With this hope only I send this young man to the university, where another climate may perhaps prove favourable to his progress." This testimonial, however, he did not find it necessary to show; for he was introduced to the rector by one of his old teachers, Gabriel Hoek, whom he fortunately met at Lund.

Professor Humærus, who was his relative, had promised to support him at this university; but, on arriving, Linnæus was informed that the last duty had just been paid to his remains. He became a pupil of Kilian Stobæus, professor of medicine and botany, whose notice he soon attracted by his diligence and attention, and who, learning his indigent condition, received him into his family. Here he found a small collection of natural objects, which he studied with great delight. At the same time he began to form an herbarium for himself; to add to which he made excursions into the neighbouring districts.

On one of these expeditions he was, or imagined himself to have been, stung by a venomous worm, said to be not uncommon in some parts of Sweden. However this may be, he was seized with a violent disorder, which threatened the extinction of life, more especially as he had removed far into the country, where medical assistance could not be readily procured. This accident, instead of diminishing his zeal, tended to increase his desire of becoming more acquainted with the lower orders of animals. In a work which he subsequently published, this singular worm, the existence of which, however, is still doubtful, is thus described by him:—"It occurs in the extensive turfy marshes of Bothnia, in the northern parts of Sweden. Falling from the atmosphere, frequently upon the bodies of men and animals, it instantly penetrates them with the most intense pain, so as to produce death from agony within a quarter of an hour. I myself was smitten by it at Lund, in 1728. I have not seen the animal unless in a dried state. It seems in its properties to be allied to the chaotic animals. By what means it rises into the air, whence it falls during the interval between the summer and winter solstice, no one has explained."

Stobæus's library was well stored with works on botany, which Linnæus procured secretly from a young man who also lodged in the house, and in perusing which he often spent a great part of the night. His patron was informed of his vigils, and as he was of a merry, convivial disposition, suspected him of sitting up for the purpose of amusing himself with the servants. He resolved, therefore, to watch his proceedings, and, if his suspicions proved just, to reprimand him for his unbecoming conduct. But on entering Linnæus's room unexpectedly, what was his surprise to find him intrenched among the tomes of Cæsalpinus, Bauhin, Tournefort, and other eminent botanists! The result of this visit, as might have been expected, was free permission to make use of the library, and an increased attachment to the student. The same benevolent person embraced every opportunity of aiding him in his pursuits; gave him lessons on petrifactions and molluscous animals; taught him various branches of medicine; admitted him to his table; sent him occasionally to visit his patients; and went so far as to talk of making him his heir.

In 1728, after he had recovered from the effects of the severe malady with which he had been attacked, he visited his parents. His mother was extremely grieved at seeing him occupy his whole time in collecting plants and glueing them upon paper, as she plainly perceived that there was now no hope of his ever becoming a preacher. Dr Rothmann, who frequently saw him, pointed out the superior advantages which students possessed at Upsal, where there were "the learned Roberg, the great Rudbeck," a splendid library, and a fine botanic garden. He also named many poor students who had received assistance from the government, and had become able practitioners. The young naturalist readily believed the representations of one who had taken so much interest in him, and resolved to follow his advice. At setting out, his father gave him a sum of money equivalent to about £8 sterling; informing him at the same time that he could do no more for him.

With this slender provision Charles proceeded to the University of Upsal, where, although he had no reason to expect a kind reception, he hoped at least to obtain more ample means of scientific research. The professors, however, were not such as they had been represented, nor did any of them show the smallest attention to the poor student. Before he had been a year there his pecuniary resources failed; so that he was in a manner cast upon the charity of his companions, among whom he was glad to accept an occasional meal, and even a worn-out article of clothing. The old shoes which they gave him, he was often obliged to mend with pasteboard and birch-bark before he could render them tolerably efficient. He now found reason to sigh for the comfortable home which he had left at Lund; but to it he could not return, for as he had quitted his benefactor Stobæus abruptly, and without so much as apprizing him of his intentions, he justly dreaded his displeasure. Aware that he could not obtain aid from his father, destitute of friends, and even of the hope of procuring a livelihood by the exertion of his talents, he was reduced to the extremity of indigence: yet he despaired not; nature had at all times charms to support his spirits; he struggled with his fate and conquered. On an important occasion which occurred many years after, he publicly returned thanks to Providence for having supported him amid these privations:—"I thank thee, Almighty God," said he, "that in the course of my life, amidst the heavy pressure of poverty, and in all my other trials, thou hast been always present to me with thine omnipotent aid."

At this period, Olaus Celsius, first professor of divinity, whom Linnæus afterwards, in a letter to Haller, describes as the only botanist in Sweden, returned from Stockholm, where he had been on official business, and happening to visit the college-garden, met a young man, who attracted his notice by the accurate knowledge of plants which he displayed. On inquiring after him, and receiving a satisfactory account of his character and conduct, he gave him an apartment in his house, and supplied him with every thing of which he stood in need. Thus was he on many occasions obliged, if not to solicit, at least to accept pecuniary assistance. He, however, repaid in some measure the kindness of the venerable Celsius, by assisting him in preparing his Hierobotanicon, in which the vegetable productions mentioned in Scripture are described. To enable him to perform his task, he was allowed the free use of a library rich in botanical works.

Hitherto Tournefort was the only author to whose works Linnæus was indebted for the more solid parts of his knowledge; but a small book of Vaillant on the structure of flowers now coming into his hands, he perceived many defects in the system he had embraced; and from the ingenious observations made by the latter writer on the sexes of plants, he conceived the idea of founding a system of botany on the stamens and pistils. With this object in view, he recommenced his studies on a new plan; the sexual distinction continually occupied his thoughts, and the knowledge which he acquired in this path became the basis of his future eminence. A small treatise which he composed on the subject of an academical disputation attracted the notice of Rudbeck, the second of the name, then professor of botany, who, being advanced in years, was looking out for an assistant. He received the ardent student into his house, and delegated to him the office of reading his lectures, and demonstrating the plants in the botanic garden. Rudbeck was also a zoologist, and had made a collection of all the Swedish birds; the examination of which failed not to add to Linnæus's knowledge in this department of natural history. Botany, however, continued to be his favourite study; and about this period he wrote several treatises, which were afterwards published in Holland.

During his residence at Upsal, he had the happiness to enjoy the friendship of a young man, not less fervently devoted than himself to the study of nature. This was Peter Artedi, so well known for his work on fishes. The name of Linnæus is usually mentioned as that of a distinguished botanist; but it ought to be observed, however great his merits were in that capacity, they were scarcely less in the department of zoology, and that from the commencement of his career he manifested nearly as strong a liking to the one as to the other. Speaking of his friendship for Artedi, he says, "He excelled me in chemistry, and I outdid him in the knowledge of birds and insects, and in botany."

At this period, a new prospect opened to his ambition. A society had been instituted at Upsal, chiefly for the purpose of examining the natural productions of the kingdom. The remote and desert regions of Lapland were less known than any other of the Swedish provinces, although Rudbeck the elder had been sent by Charles XI. to explore them. The curiosities which he brought home had been destroyed by the great fire in 1702; and it was now proposed to repair the loss by sending out another scientific traveller. The choice fell on Linnæus, who was recommended by Celsius and the younger Rudbeck.

SECTION II.

Journey to Lapland.

Linnæus, chosen by the Royal Society of Upsal to travel in Lapland, sets out in May 1732—Enters Lycksele Lapland—A Lapland Beauty—Beds made of Hair-moss—Conversation of a Curate and a Schoolmaster—The Lapland Alps—Their Vegetation—Brief Account of the Rein-deer—Passing over the alpine Region, he enters Norway—Again visits the mountainous Region—Difficulties of the Journey—Pearl-fishery—Forests set on Fire by Lightning—At Lulea he discovers the Cause of an epidemic Distemper among the Cattle—Returns through East Bothland—Concluding Remarks.

Having received this appointment, he visited his friend Stobæus at Lund, as also his parents, who were now reconciled to him, and returned to Upsal to prepare for his perilous enterprise.

On the 12th May 1732, he set out alone, equipped as follows:—"My clothes," says he, in his Lachesis Lapponica, "consisted of a light coat of West Gothland linsey-woolsey cloth without folds, lined with red shalloon, having small cuffs and collar of shag; leather breeches; a round wig; a green leather cap, and a pair of half-boots. I carried a small leather bag, half an ell in length, but somewhat less in breadth, furnished on one side with hooks and eyes, so that it could be opened and shut at pleasure. This bag contained one shirt; two pair of false sleeves; two half-shirts; an ink-stand, pencase, microscope, and spying-glass; a gauze cap to protect me occasionally from the gnats; a comb; my journal, and a parcel of paper stitched together for drying plants, both in folio; my manuscript Ornithology, Flora Uplandica, and Characteres Generici. I wore a hanger at my side, and carried a small fowling-piece, as well as an octangular stick, graduated for the purpose of measuring. My pocket-book contained a passport from the Governor of Upsal, and a recommendation from the Academy."

Nature wore her most delightful aspect; the dandelion, the violet, and the primrose, unfolded their blossoms to the sun; the skylark chanted its lively song as it soared aloft in the clear sky; and the redwing warbled its love-notes from the lofty pines. How delightful must have been the feelings of the young naturalist, as he advanced toward the scene of those anticipated discoveries, which were to immortalize his name, or at least to increase the sphere of his ideas, and perhaps form the basis of his fortune! As he advanced, "the redwing, the cuckoo, the black-grous, and the mountain-finch, with their various notes, made a concert in the forest, to which the lowing herds of cattle under the shade of the trees formed a bass."

He proceeded through Helsingland, Angermanland, and West Bothland, to Lycksele Lapland, where he embarked on a large river, during his voyage on which he was gratified by the sight of numerous birds. But a succession of cataracts occurring soon after, the owner of the boat, inverting its position, placed it on his head, and "scampered away over hills and valleys, so that the devil himself could not have overtaken him."

By the beginning of June he found himself among swamps, torrents, and woods, occasionally accompanied by a Laplander as guide, and now and then incurring dangers which would have damped the ardour of a less enthusiastic traveller. On one of these occasions, after wandering a long time in a labyrinth of marshes, he was met by a woman, whom he describes as presenting a very extraordinary appearance: "Her stature was very diminutive; her face of the darkest brown, from the effects of smoke; her eyes dark and sparkling; her eyebrows black; her pitchy-coloured hair hung loose about her head, and on it she wore a flat red cap. 'O thou poor man!' quoth she, 'what hard destiny can have brought thee hither, to a place never visited by any one before? This is the first time I ever beheld a stranger. Thou miserable creature! how didst thou come, and whither wilt thou go?'" Linnæus entreated her to point out some way by which he might continue his journey. "'Nay, man,' said she, 'thou hast only to go the same way back again; for the river overflows so much, it is not possible for thee to proceed further in this direction. From us thou hast no assistance to expect in the prosecution of thy journey, as my husband, who might have helped thee, is ill.'" The traveller begged of her something to eat, and after much difficulty procured a small cheese. He was obliged to retrace his steps through the marshes; and, when almost exhausted by hunger and fatigue, at length reached the house of a poor curate, where his wants were supplied.

The bountiful provision of nature, he remarks, is evinced in providing mankind with bed and bedding, even in this savage wilderness. The great hair-moss (Polytrichum commune), called by the Laplanders romsi, grows copiously in their damp forests, and is used for this purpose. They choose the starry-headed plants, out of the tufts of which they cut a surface as large as they please for a bed or bolster, separating it from the earth beneath; and, although the shoots are scarcely branched, they are, nevertheless, so entangled at the roots as not to be separable from each other. This mossy cushion is very soft and elastic, not growing hard by pressure; and if a similar portion of it be made to serve as a coverlet, nothing can be more warm and comfortable. They fold this bed together, tying it up into a roll that may be grasped by a man's arms, which, if necessary, they carry with them to the place where they mean to sleep the following night. If it becomes too dry and compressed, its former elasticity is restored by a little moisture.

Leaving the town of Lulen, on the 25th June, he embarked on the river, which he continued to navigate for several days and nights in a comfortable boat. At a place called Quickjock he was presented by the "famous wife of the curate, Mr Grot," with provisions sufficient to last a week. At Jockmock, the schoolmaster and the priest tormented him "with their consummate and most pertinacious ignorance." The latter began his conversation with remarks on the clouds, showing how they strike the mountains in their passage over the country, carrying off stones, trees, and cattle. "I ventured," says Linnæus, "to suggest that such accidents were rather to be attributed to the force of the wind, for that the clouds could not of themselves lift or carry away any thing. He laughed at me, saying, surely I had never seen any clouds. I replied, that whenever the weather is foggy I walk in clouds, and when the fog is condensed, and no longer supported in the air, it immediately rains. To all such reasoning, being above his comprehension, he only returned a sardonic smile. Still less was he satisfied with my explanation how watery bubbles may be lifted up into the air, as he told me the clouds were solid bodies. On my denying this, he reinforced his assertion with a text of Scripture, silencing me by authority, and then laughing at my ignorance. He next condescended to inform me, that after rain a phlegm is always to be found on the mountains, where the clouds have touched them. Upon my replying that this phlegm is a vegetable called nostoc, I was, like St Paul, judged to be mad, and that too much learning had turned my brain.

"The other, the pedagogue, lamented that people should bestow so much attention upon temporal vanities, and consequently, alas! neglect their spiritual good; and he remarked that many a one had been ruined by too great application to study. Both these wise men concurred in one thing: They could not conceal their wonder that the Royal Academy should have expressly appointed a mere student for the purposes on which I was sent, without considering that there were already as competent individuals resident in the country, who would have undertaken the business. They declared they would either of them have been ready to accept the charge. In my opinion, however, they would but have exhibited a fresh illustration of the proverb of the ass and the lyre."

On the 1st July, the traveller obtained a glimpse of the Lapland Alps, which resembled a range of white clouds rising from the horizon. Arriving in the evening at a place named Riomitis, he saw the sun set apparently on the summit of a high mountain,—a spectacle which, although common enough in hilly countries, was so new to him as to excite his utmost surprise, and to induce him to exclaim, "O Lord, how wonderful are thy works!"

Towards the close of day, July 6, accompanied by a native, who acted as his servant and interpreter, he ascended the heights of Wallavari, the first of the range. Here he found himself as in a new world. The forests had disappeared; mountains upon mountains, covered with snow, presented themselves on all sides; no traces of human habitations were to be seen; the plants of the lower districts had ceased, and a vegetation of a peculiar kind occupied their place, presenting such a profusion of new forms to the delighted eye of the naturalist, that he was overcome with astonishment. He observed the silken-leaved alpine lady's-mantle, the deep-green sibbaldia, the little purple-flowered azalea, the diapensia lapponica, the beautiful saxifraga stellaris, rivularis, and oppositifolia, the succulent rose-root, the red lychnis, several ranunculi, and a variety of other species, most of which are found towards the summits of our own Grampians. The more elevated parts were composed of slaty rocks; and from the snow with which they were covered the water was running in copious streams. He caught a young ptarmigan, upon which the parent bird ran so close to him that he might have taken her also. "She kept continually jumping round and round me," says he; "but I thought it a pity to deprive the tender brood of their mother, neither would my compassion for the mother allow me long to detain her offspring, which I restored to her in safety."

About the evening of the following day, they reached a secluded spot where a Laplander had pitched his tent. Immediately after their arrival, the herd of reindeer, consisting of seven or eight hundred, came home to be milked. Some of the milk was boiled for the stranger, but it proved rather rich for his stomach. His host furnished him with his own spoon, usually carried in his tobacco-bag, and which he washed by squirting a mouthful of water upon it.

He was here joined by another guide, and after refreshing themselves by sleep they proceeded on their journey. On the sides of the hills were observed in abundance the holes of the lemming-rat; and the alpine hare occasionally presented itself. Scarcely any other fish occurs in the lakes than the char, a beautiful species of trout, with the belly of a bright-red colour. In the evening they sought in vain for one of the native dwellings. Linnæus had walked so much that he could hardly stand; and, being ready to faint with fatigue, lay down, resolving rather to endure the cold and boisterous wind than proceed any farther. But his companions at length found some reindeer-dung, which by smelling they discovered to be fresh; and, perceiving a track in the snow, they advanced till they came to a hut, where they remained all next day, it being Sunday.

It is mentioned that the reindeer of those mountains are innumerable. The herds are brought home night and morning to be milked, and are so tractable as to be easily conducted by a single driver and a dog. The head is of a grayish colour, black about the eyes; the mouth whitish; the tail short and white; the feet encompassed with the same colour above the hoofs. The whole body is gray, darker when the new pile comes on, and lighter before it falls. The hair, like that of some other species of deer, is brittle and easily broken. The horns of the female are upright, or slightly bent backward, furnished with one or two branches in front near the base, the summit sometimes undivided, sometimes cleft. Those of the male are often two feet and a half long, and their points are as far distant from each other. They are variously branched. These animals cast their horns every year; the males about the end of November, the females in May; at first they are hairy, but the pile disappears before Michaelmas.

As the reindeer walks, a crackling noise proceeds from its feet, which is produced by the hooflets striking against each other. When these animals are driven to the place where they are accustomed to be milked, they all lie down, panting violently, and chewing the cud all the while. One of the attendants takes a small rope, and, making a noose, throws it over their heads in succession. The cord is then twisted round the horns, and the other end fastened to a stick thrust into the ground. If the milk does not come readily the udder is beaten sharply with the hand. The nipples are four, very rarely six, and all yield the fluid. After the process was finished, he observed the maid-servant taking up some of the dung, which she kneaded with her hands and put into a vessel. This was for the purpose of smearing the teats, to prevent the fawns from sucking too much.

He remained a few days among the Laplanders, who were occupied in feeding their flocks along the valleys, during which time he had an opportunity of observing their manners. He then proceeded over the range westward.

At length the mountains began to present rocks uncovered by snow, a glimpse of the ocean was obtained, and soon after the scene entirely changed. Arriving upon the abrupt edge of this elevated region, he beheld a vast expanse of forest stretching towards the sea, and presenting the semblance of cultivated fields. As he descended, the alpine plants gradually disappeared, the climate improved, and on reaching the margin of the plain, he sat down to regale himself with wild strawberries. He was struck with the circumstance, that the two natives who accompanied him showed no symptoms of fatigue. He attributes their superiority as walkers to their wearing no heels on their boots, to their being accustomed to running from their infancy, to their exemption from hard labour, to the habitual exercise of their muscles, to their chiefly using animal food, to their not overloading their stomachs, and to their being of small stature. Their continued health he imagines to be owing to the extreme purity of the air, to their eating their meat cold, to the excellence of the water, to their tranquillity of mind, to the absence of spirituous liquors, and to their being inured to cold from their earliest days.

Nothing could be more delightful to the feelings of our traveller than this transition from the severity of winter to the warmth of summer. He now approached the coast, and next day proceeded by sea, examining the various objects that presented themselves. In the evening he arrived at the house of Mr Rask, the pastor of Torfjorden, who received him with much kindness. When day dawned he proceeded on his voyage, but was obliged by a contrary wind to put about and return to the place from which he had sailed. On the following morning, having climbed one of the neighbouring heights, he was resting on its side, when he heard the report of a gun, the ball from which struck a stone quite near him. It was fired by a native, whose intention, it would appear, had been to murder him, although, as he presently took to flight, no information could be obtained respecting his motives.

On the 15th of July he set out on his return from the low grounds of Norway, and began to ascend the snowy mountains, accompanied by an interpreter. He directed his course towards the Alps of Tornea, which were described as about forty miles distant; but having for several days endured the greatest fatigue and privation, he doubted the expediency of advancing farther, especially as he made few discoveries in natural history. He therefore, on the 23d, took leave of the mountainous part of Lapland, and returned by water towards Lulea. In this tract he had abundant opportunities of observing the peculiar characters and manners of the inhabitants, which he cursorily details in his journal. On the 26th he reached a place called Purkijaur, where he in vain attempted to procure a boat to descend the river. His attendants and he were therefore obliged to make a raft, on which they embarked; but they had not proceeded half a mile when the force of the current separated the timbers, and with great difficulty they reached a house situated on an island.

Here he hired a man to show him the manner of fishing for pearls. This person made a raft of five logs, two fathoms in length, which he furnished with a stone anchor, a cable of birch-rope, a pole, and a pair of wooden pincers. When he reached a part which he wished to examine, he dropped the anchor, lay down at full length, looked over the edge of the raft, and on perceiving a pearl-mussel laid hold of it with the instrument. This shell is common in many of our own rivers, such as the Tay, the Ythan, the Dee, and the Don; but the pearls which it yields, although frequently large, are inferior in brilliancy to those of the true pearl-oyster, which is a marine, not a fresh-water production.

The forests having been set on fire by lightning, the flames raged with great violence, owing to the drought of the season; hence he and his guide, in crossing a part of the woods, experienced no small danger. The wind beginning to blow, a sudden noise arose, and the travellers, imagining it best to hasten forward, ran with all their might to reach the open ground. Sometimes the fall of a huge tree was so sudden that they looked aghast, not knowing which way to turn; and in one instance a large trunk fell between them, while the space by which they were separated did not exceed six feet. However, they at length effected their escape.

Visiting the Laxholms, or Salmon Islands, in this vicinity, he made observations on the fish, for the taking of which an establishment had been formed. He remarked, that the individuals of which the lower jaw was bent inwards and attenuated, were invariably males. On the 30th July he reached the old town of Lulea, where he was detained a day by a violent storm of thunder and rain; and on the 3d of August arrived at Tornea, which stands on a small island, or rather peninsula, with a swamp for its isthmus. At this place every body was talking of a distemper to which the cattle were subject, and which attacked them principally in spring. On walking to examine the meadows to which they are first turned out, he found them covered with a profusion of the water-hemlock (Cicuta virosa), to which he attributed the malady. "The slightest observation," he says, "teaches us that brute animals distinguish, by natural instinct, such plants as are wholesome to them from such as are poisonous. The cattle, therefore, do not eat this hemlock in summer or autumn, whence few of them perish at those seasons, and such only as devour the herb in question incautiously, or from an inordinate appetite. But when they are first let out in the spring, partly from their eagerness for fresh herbage, partly from their long fasting and starvation, they seize with avidity whatever comes within their reach. The grass is then but short, and insufficient to satisfy them," and they eat up whatever comes in the way. The proper remedy was pointed out by the visiter; and, as from 50 to 100 of their cattle perished annually, the matter was of great importance to the inhabitants.

In the church he saw a memorial of King Charles the Eleventh's zeal for astronomical science. That prince having visited Tornea, on the 14th June 1694 saw from the belfry the solar orb at midnight, and the following year sent Professors Bilberg and Spole to repeat the observation.

Leaving that town on the 9th August, Linnæus proceeded to Kimi, where there was a great salmon-fishery, and continued his journey through East Bothland; but finding that the Finlanders did not, or would not, understand him, he was obliged to return. He next directed his steps to Calix, and made several excursions in the neighbourhood, noting the Finnish names of articles which he might want at the inns, and again ventured to enter East Bothland. He then pursued his way along the east coast, through that district and Finland, visiting Ulea, Brabestadt, Carleby, Christina, and Abo. In the latter place he found one of his class-fellows, Mennander, who was afterwards archbishop of Upsal, and who furnished him with some money as a recompense for instructions in natural history. He then went by the post-yacht to Aland, crossed the sea of that name, and on the 10th October reached Upsal.

The whole extent of the journey was about 3800 English miles. It is quite unnecessary for us to expatiate on the dangers of such an expedition, to extol the courage and perseverance of him who accomplished it, or even to dilate on the important results. "My journey through Lapland," he says in a subsequent notice, "was the most toilsome; and I confess, that I was obliged to sustain more hardship and danger in wandering through this single tract of our northern world, than in all the travels which I undertook in other parts, though these were certainly not without fatigue. But when my journeys were over, I quickly forgot all their dangers and difficulties, which were compensated by the invaluable fruits obtained on these excursions."

If he turned to such advantage the observations which he had made in a region but scantily supplied with the forms of animal and vegetable life, how much more profitable, it may be thought, would it have been for himself and for the world, had it been his lot to travel in some equinoctial country, teeming with the wonders of creation! Yet, perhaps the multiplicity of objects which would have forced themselves upon his notice in that richer scene, in an age when natural history was only beginning to emerge from its pristine chaos, would have bewildered the most comprehensive mind; whereas the less abundant stores of Lapland and Sweden presented themselves to him in such a way as to afford time to examine each individually, and to note the common and distinctive characters. It seems indeed more than probable, that if he had been a native of one of the warmer regions of the globe, he would not have attained such distinguished merit as a reformer of science.

SECTION III.

Studies, Adventures, and Travels of Linnæus, from 1733 to 1738.

Linnæus returns to Upsal—Is prevented from lecturing by Rosen, whom he attempts to assassinate—Accompanies some young Men on an Excursion to Fahlun, where he is introduced to the Governor of the Province, with whose Sons he travels to Norway—Returning to Fahlun, he delivers Lectures, falls in Love, is furnished with Money by his Mistress, and prepares to go Abroad for his Degree—He visits Hamburg, detects an Imposture there, and is obliged to make his Escape—Obtains his Degree at Harderwyk—Proceeds to Leyden, where he publishes his Systema Naturæ, and waits upon Boerhaave—Goes to Amsterdam, is kindly received by Burmann, and lodges with him—Is employed by Cliffort, publishes various Botanical Works—Goes to England, visits Sir Hans Sloane, Miller, and Dillenius—Returns to Holland, publishes several Works—Goes to Leyden, and resides with Van Royen—Publishes the Ichthyologia of Artedi, who was drowned in Amsterdam—Becomes melancholy, and falls into a violent Fever—On his Recovery goes to Paris, where he is kindly received by the Jussieus—Returns to Sweden after an Absence of Three Years and a Half.

On returning to Upsal, Linnæus was elected a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences; but this distinction was the only reward which he obtained for having undergone so many fatigues, excepting a small bursary, of which he was soon deprived. Now, however, he expected a more favourable reception in society, and in 1733 began to give public lectures on botany, chemistry, and mineralogy. Unfortunately for his success, he had not yet taken his degree,—a circumstance which legally disqualified him for such an office; and a rival, Dr Nicholas Rosen, professor of anatomy, instigated, it would appear, by motives of envy, denounced him to the senate of the university. He was summoned to appear before that august body; and, although several of its members were disposed to favour him, he was prohibited from continuing his course.

Fortune then seemed bent upon thwarting him in all his projects. Stimulated by revenge, he laid wait for Rosen, and, assailing him with the utmost fury, attempted to run him through with his sword, when the bystanders interfering, wrested the weapon from his hand. For this offence he would have been expelled, had not Celsius interposed, and got him off with no other punishment than a reprimand. Men of quick tempers seldom cherish hatred; but Linnæus was of a peculiar disposition,—ambitious, confident of superiority, irritable, and obstinate. Moreover, he was in desperate circumstances, utterly destitute of all means of subsistence, and the world seemed to have conspired against him. He was still determined to stab his enemy to the heart, should he ever meet him in the streets. The conflict of his mind, under such excitement, must have been truly painful. He awoke one night from a dream of horror, seriously considered what he was about, and resolved, instead of assassinating Rosen, to expel the demon from his own breast.

An assistant-professorship being vacant in the University of Lund, he endeavoured to procure it, but, although his claims were supported by Stobæus and others, was unsuccessful. Prohibited from lecturing, he was only prevented from falling into despair by the consciousness of superior intellect, by cherishing a plan of botanical reform, and by still fixing his eyes on the prospect, however distant, of future independence. In the mean time, some of his former pupils, resolving to make an excursion to Norberg, Bipsberg, Afwestadt, Garpesberg, and Fahlun, solicited the benefit of his knowledge and experience in conducting their researches.

At the last-named town, where he occupied himself assiduously in exploring the mines, he was introduced to Baron Reuterholm, governor of the province of Dalecarlia, who was fond of natural history, and especially of mineralogy. Having two sons whom he was desirous of sending upon a journey, for the purpose of improving themselves in that department of science, he resolved to place them under the guidance of Linnæus. They set out in the spring of 1734, and extended their travels as far as the mines of Roraas in Norway.

Returning to Fahlun, he commenced lecturing on mineralogy, under the patronage of the governor, and found himself in all respects more comfortably situated than he had ever been at Upsal. He also obtained some employment in the medical line, and contracted an intimacy with John Browall, the tutor of the baron's children, who afterwards became bishop of Abo. Although he was now in comparatively easy circumstances, his friend advised him to procure a degree, and settle as a regular practitioner. This, however, being impracticable, on account of his want of funds, he turned his thoughts to matrimony, in the hope of being able to accomplish a suitable establishment.

There was a physician at Fahlun named More, or Moræus, who was reputed rich, and in fact was one of the wealthiest individuals in the district. He had two daughters, of whom the elder, Sarah Elizabeth, was in all respects to the mind of Linnæus, who became a frequent visitor, and soon ingratiated himself with the family. Finding that the object of his choice was not less pleased with his person and manners, he determined to ask her in marriage; and, summoning all his resolution, made known his views to her father, who, although he had no objection to the character of the suitor, was little satisfied either with his fortune or his prospects. However, he promised that, should he succeed in obtaining his diploma, the young lady should be consigned to him after a period of three years.

It was customary at this time for Swedish students to take their degree at some foreign university, where it could be procured at the least expense. Hitherto Linnæus had been unable to qualify himself in this respect for the practice of his profession; but love now came to the aid of ambition. Miss Moræus, who was thrifty as well as handsome, had saved about 100 dollars of the pocket-money which she had received at various times, and offered them to her lover. To this sum he succeeded in adding a little by his own exertions, though the whole did not amount to more than thirty-six Swedish ducats.

After visiting his friends, weeping over the grave of his mother, who had died some months before, preparing his academical dissertations, and arranging his papers, he set out from Fahlun, in April 1735, accompanied by a young man named Sholberg. Travelling through the southern provinces of Sweden, Jutland, and Holstein, he arrived at Hamburg, where he remained for some time, inspecting the collections and curiosities which that celebrated city contained. In the museum of John von Spreckelsen was a preparation of great value, presenting the appearance of a serpent with seven heads. It had even been pledged for a loan of 10,000 merks, and was in fact considered one of the most remarkable objects in the cabinets of the curious. Linnæus, however, on minutely inspecting the monster, discovered that the heads consisted of the jaws of a small quadruped covered over with the skin of a serpent. The wonder ceased, Spreckelsen nearly became bankrupt, and the stranger was obliged to leave Hamburg in order to avoid the enmities in which his sagacity had involved him.

Continuing his journey to Holland, he arrived at Harderwyk at the end of May, and made application for his degree, which he received on the 24th June. His thesis was on intermittent fevers, one of the principal causes of which he maintained to be water impregnated with argillaceous substances. Though he had now accomplished his chief object, he resolved, before returning to Sweden, to make himself known to some of the Dutch literati; and for this purpose proceeded to Leyden, where he hired a lodging. Here he made the acquaintance of Professor Royen, Dr Van Swieten, Lieberkuhn, Gronovius, and several others.

By the advice and assistance of the last of these scholars, he published his Systema Naturæ, in fourteen folio pages. This little work, containing a compendious classification of the three kingdoms of nature, was very favourably received. Boerhaave, one of the most illustrious physicians that the world has ever seen, was at the same time the most eminent individual in the University of Leyden. Linnæus was therefore anxious to see him; but finding an interview impracticable in the ordinary way, on account of the great man's constant occupation, he resolved to send him a copy of his treatise, accompanied with a letter. The consequence was an invitation to meet him at his villa near the city, where he had a botanical garden. On entering into conversation with the young foreigner, the venerable professor, astonished at his knowledge, strongly advised him to remain in Holland, where he might be sure of making a fortune; but the other, prevented by poverty from adopting this counsel, was obliged to set out on the following day.

Arriving at Amsterdam with a recommendation to Professor Burmann, he was kindly received by that gentleman, who was then occupied with his description of the plants of Ceylon. Linnæus himself relates the occurrences which took place during this interview: "'Do you wish to see my plants?' asked Burmann, 'which of them would you inspect?' He held out one, and observed, 'It is very rare.' I begged a single flower, which I examined after softening it in my mouth, and pronounced it to be a species of laurus. 'It is not a laurus,' said Burmann. 'But it is,' said I; 'it is the cinnamon-tree.'—'It certainly is the cinnamon,' rejoined Burmann. I then convinced him that this tree was a species of laurus, and so of other plants. At length he said, 'Will you help me with my work on Ceylon, and you shall lodge with myself?'" To this proposal the other assented, delighted with the prospect of at once adding to his reputation and his knowledge.

In Burmann's house he found a collection of natural objects and an extensive library, both of which were of great use to him. The time passed pleasantly enough, and he deferred his return to Sweden till the following spring; about which period, a circumstance occurred that proved of great advantage to him. Dr George Cliffort, burgomaster at Amsterdam and one of the directors of the Dutch East India Company, who was a zealous lover of natural science, was in need of a domestic physician to take daily care of his health. Boerhaave, who was his medical attendant, recommended Linnæus, whom he represented as being also an excellent botanist, and capable of arranging his botanic garden. Cliffort accordingly invited Burmann and Linnæus to Hartecamp, his villa, where they found many new plants from the Cape of Good Hope. The young Swede pointed out those which had not been described, and evinced so accurate a knowledge of botany, that the burgomaster made him a proposal of free board and lodging, with a salary of 1000 florins. The terms were accepted with no small satisfaction.

This year he published a tract which he had commenced at Upsal,—his Fundamenta Botanica,—in which he exhibited the basis of his new system in 365 aphorisms. About the same time he printed his Bibliotheca Botanica, another small work, the materials of which he had found in the libraries of Spreckelsen, Burmann, Gronovius, and Cliffort. A description of the banana-tree (Musa paradisiaca), which had flowered in the garden of his patron, formed the subject of a third treatise. The Imperial Academy of Naturalists at Vienna admitted him as a member, under the honourable appellation of Dioscorides the Second, and his name began to be known throughout Germany.

Cliffort being desirous of extending his collection by obtaining new species from England, resolved to send Linnæus to that country, which he did in the latter part of July, limiting the period of his absence to twelve days. The passage from Rotterdam to Harwich occupied eight; and the stranger, finding himself surrounded by attractions, was in no haste to return, even to the elysium of Hartecamp. He arrived in London, with a letter of introduction from Boerhaave to the celebrated Sir Hans Sloane. Whether the venerable physician meant to make merry at the expense of the naturalists, or whether he really thought they both deserved the compliment which he paid to them in his note, let the reader determine:—"Linnæus, who will give you this letter, is alone worthy of seeing you, alone worthy of being seen by you. He who shall see you both together shall see a pair, whose like will scarcely be found in the world."

Notwithstanding this high encomium, Sir Hans exhibited no kindliness of feeling towards him. He was in fact a person who had grown old in self-esteem. Cliffort was desirous of procuring some plants from the garden at Chelsea, and his agent accordingly waited upon Mr Miller, who listened to his request with very little respect. At a subsequent visit, however, the Englishman became in some degree sensible of the merits of the young foreigner, and furnished him with the specimens which he had solicited. Proceeding to Oxford, he presented himself before the celebrated Dillenius, professor of botany, who received him much in the same way as the others had done. "See," quoth Dillenius to his patron Sherard, who happened to be present at the interview, "this is the young man who confounds all botany." Although the Swede was ignorant of the language spoken by these islanders, he readily guessed at the meaning of "confounds," but thought it prudent to take no notice of the accusation. They then went to the garden, but the professor still treated the presumptuous youth with undisguised contempt. Next day, he waited upon Dillenius previous to his departure. "Before I go," said he, "I have one favour to request; tell me why you lately used those words about confounding botany." He refused to explain; but when Linnæus insisted that he should, "Come this way," said he; so the sheets of half of the Genera Plantarum were referred to. On almost every page were the letters N. B. When he asked what they meant, Dillenius said they marked the false genera. He maintained that the genera were not false, and the Oxonian referred to a plant in the garden, which he and other botanists considered as having three stamens. It was found to have only one, as his opponent had alleged. "O!" quoth Dillenius, "it may be so accidentally in a single flower;" but behold, all the flowers were the same; for when they examined a number, all turned out as the Swedish youth had described them. The professor had been slow of belief, it is true; but he now gave due honour to his visiter, detained him several days, and supplied him with all the plants which Cliffort required.

In a letter to his friend Dr Richardson, dated August 25, 1736, Dillenius expresses the following opinion of him:—"A botanist is arisen in the North, who has founded a new method on the stamens and pistils, whose name is Linnæus. He has published Fundamenta Botanica, Bibliotheca Botanica, Systema Naturæ; and is now printing in Holland his Characteres, and his Flora Lapponica. He is a Swede, and has travelled over Lapland. He has a thorough insight and knowledge of botany, though I am afraid his method will not hold. He came hither, and stayed about eight days, but is now gone back to Sweden."

On his return to Holland, which took place in September, Linnæus continued his researches with increased diligence. In the course of the year 1737, he laid before the scientific world about two hundred printed sheets, not of compilation, nor of fiction, but for the most part completely original. The Genera Plantarum, containing the characters of all the genera of plants according to the number, form, situation, and proportion of their organs of generation, was the first work published by him after his return from England. This treatise exhibited 935 genera, to which were added during the same year sixty others, in a supplement, to which he also appended a concise view of his system. A full account of the plants observed by him in Lapland, arranged according to the method invented by himself, formed his next undertaking. It was dedicated to the Royal Society of Upsal, and contained a brief physico-geographical description of the country. At the solicitation of Gronovius, he permitted one of the productions of that northern region to be named after himself, Linnæa borealis. The great object of his residence at Hartecamp was now completed by the publication of his Hortus Cliffortianus, in which were described all the species of plants cultivated in the burgomaster's garden. The Critica Botanica, in which he attempted to reform the absurd nomenclature that then prevailed, and the Viridarium Cliffortianum, describing the greenhouse-plants of Cliffort's establishment, were the other books published by him during this year.

Boerhaave, who had been in a great measure the author of his good fortune in Holland, now procured for him the appointment of physician in ordinary to the Dutch colony of Surinam, which, however, he declined, both on account of the insalubrity of the climate, and because he could now entertain the prospect of a more eminent station. He therefore recommended a young friend named Bartsch, who died in six months after his arrival in South America.

When about to depart from Leyden, Linnæus went to take leave of Boerhaave. The interview, which, however melancholy, was very flattering, is thus related by him: "That great man, who was affected with a dropsy of the chest which forced him to keep himself always sitting in his bed to prevent suffocation, would not receive visiters, but admitted me to bid him farewell. Summoning the little strength that remained in him, he raised my hand to his lips, and said: 'I have finished my career, and all that I have been permitted to do I have done; may God preserve you, who have yet a greater task to perform! What the learned world expected from me it has obtained; but it expects much more from you, my dear son. Farewell, farewell, my dear Linnæus!'"

Having gone with Cliffort to Amsterdam, and afterwards to Leyden, he visited among others his friend Van Royen, professor of botany, who having made proposals of marriage to Miss Boerhaave, the sole heiress of the great physician, had been rejected, and therefore vowed hostility to the family. The botanic garden there had been arranged and described agreeably to Boerhaave's method; but the other now resolved to alter the disposition, and adopt the system of Linnæus. He accordingly offered him a salary of eight hundred florins, if he would live with him, and assist in the execution of this scheme. Influenced by respect for his deceased friend, he would not countenance the alteration, although he devised a plan by which neither his benefactor nor himself should receive the honour. He remained with Van Royen, classed the plants after a principle of his own invention, and drew up a catalogue of them, which was published in the name of that teacher.

The next work which he printed was produced by the genius and industry of Artedi. When he resided at Leyden, previous to his going to Hartecamp, he had the pleasure of meeting this friend of his youth, who had left Sweden in 1734, and gone to England to prosecute his scientific labours. From thence he went to Holland for the purpose of obtaining his degree, which he was unable to accomplish on account of his extreme poverty. Linnæus recommended him to Seba, an apothecary at Amsterdam, and author of a large work on natural history, who received him as his assistant. But soon after, returning home in a dark night, he fell into a canal and was drowned. His countryman had the melancholy satisfaction of depositing his remains in the grave; and having induced Cliffort to purchase his manuscripts, which were detained for debt, he arranged and committed them to the press. This tract, in his opinion, was the best that had appeared on the subject of fishes. He also published his own Classes Plantarum, in which he presented a general view of all the botanical systems that had been previously proposed.

His ambition was now on the point of being attained. Not only were his works received with approbation, but his principles had been adopted by several teachers. He had also formed connexions in Holland which promised to be of the greatest advantage to him; and the Dutch, desirous of securing his services, proposed that he should make a botanical voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, with the promise of a professorship on his return.

But Linnæus about this time was seized with an ardent desire to revisit his native country, and fell into a state of extreme depression of spirits, succeeded by a violent fever, which lasted upwards of six weeks. His excessive application to study may be considered as the source of his complaints; and perhaps to this may be added his disquietude concerning the daughter of Moræus. But it does not, however, appear that his love for Elizabeth was equal to that for botany or even for his own renown; for though the stated period had elapsed, he still resolved to make a journey to Paris before returning to the place of his birth.

He reached that capital in the beginning of May 1738, and was kindly received by the two Jussieus, one of whom was the successor of Tournefort.—It is related by M. Fée, that on his arrival he went first to the Garden of Plants, where Bernard de Jussieu was describing some exotics in Latin. There was one which the demonstrator had not yet determined, and which seemed to puzzle him. The Swede looked on in silence, but, observing the hesitation of the learned professor, cried out,—"Hæc planta faciem Americanam habet,—It has the appearance of an American plant." Jussieu, surprised, turned about quickly and exclaimed,—"You are Linnæus."—"I am, sir," was the reply. The lecture was stopped, and Bernard gave the learned stranger an affectionate welcome. Through the kind offices of these amiable men and excellent botanists, he was introduced to many of the literati of Paris, and obtained access to the libraries, collections of natural objects, and public institutions. The French, however, were by no means disposed to adopt his views: "He is a young enthusiast," they said, "who confounds all, and whose only merit consists in having reduced botany to a state of anarchy." He was, notwithstanding, admitted a corresponding member of the Académie des Sciences. He then visited Versailles, accompanied by his two friends, who defrayed all his expenses, and showed him the public libraries, the museums, and the most celebrated private collections, especially that of Reaumur. "Linnæus," says he, in his autograph memoirs, "was now desirous of returning to Sweden without further delay, for time seemed to him too valuable to allow him to engage in studying the manners and language of the French. He never had a genius for languages, nor could he ever render himself familiar with the English, French, German, or even the Lapland tongues. He felt the same difficulties with respect to Dutch, although he had resided three years in Holland. This, however, fortunately did not prevent him from making himself sufficiently understood. After seeing all the curiosities at Paris, he went to Rouen in the dog-days. There he embarked for the Cattegat, with a favourable wind, and after crossing the Sound landed at Helsingburg. He immediately visited his old father at Stenbrohult, rested there a few days, and set out for Fahlun. After being formally betrothed to his bride, he proceeded to Stockholm, where he arrived in September."

He had left his native country in April 1734, and returned in the autumn of 1738, having been absent three years and a half. In the course of this period, he visited Holland, England, and France, formed acquaintance with many eminent naturalists, obtained his medical degree, published numerous works on botany, and extended his fame over all Europe.

With respect to the improvements which he made in that branch of natural history, it is unnecessary here to enter into any detail, as it is proposed to speak particularly of them in a subsequent volume. It may be sufficient to remark, that there had not previously been any good arrangement of plants; that the principles of the science had not been laid down in a satisfactory manner; that the nomenclature was barbarous and unsuitable; the mode of distinguishing species rude and inefficient; and that, in short, the works on this subject were little better than a chaos of names and unintelligible descriptions. Some writers maintain, indeed, that he did more harm than good, when he became the legislator of botany. But their opinion can deceive those only who, too idle or too weak to judge for themselves, adopt the sentiments of their teachers with a deference unworthy of the student of nature.

SECTION IV.

Principal Events in the Life of Linnæus from 1738 to 1741.

Linnæus is treated with Neglect at Stockholm—Is offered a Botanical Professorship at Gottingen, but prefers remaining in Sweden—His medical Practice is at length extended—He prescribes for the Queen, and becomes acquainted with Count Tessin, who procures for him the Offices of Lecturer to the School of Mines and Physician to the Admiralty—He marries Miss Moræus, delivers Lectures on Botany, and becomes a Candidate for the Botanical Chair at Upsal, which, however, is given to Rosen—Is sent to examine the Islands of Oeland and Gothland—Being appointed to succeed Roberg in the Chair of Medicine and Anatomy, he goes to Upsal, is reconciled to Rosen, and delivers his Introductory Discourse—Linnæus and Rosen exchange Professorships—The Botanic Garden is restored, and a House erected for the Professor, who enters upon his Duties with Ardour.

Linnæus had naturally expected, on returning to his native land, to enjoy the fruits of his labours, and if not to step at once into a lucrative office, to receive, at least, the honours which he imagined to be due to him. This hope, however, was more the result of a strong confidence in his own powers, and of the high sense which he entertained of his merits, than of sound judgment, which might have taught him that time was yet required to render him known to his countrymen, and address or accident to bring him into the notice of those who might interest themselves in his behalf. He had forgotten that a prophet is usually less esteemed at home than any where else. At Stockholm he was treated with neglect, and even with contempt. Science in the North had few gifts to bestow; and, in order to obtain the means of subsistence, he found himself once more obliged to attempt the practice of medicine. In this, however, he had very little success, public opinion being opposed to the professional qualifications of one who had merely the reputation of being an aspiring botanist; and in the capital he seemed destined to undergo hardships similar to those which he had experienced at Upsal. In this, perhaps, the inhabitants judged rightly; for the important office of a physician certainly ought not to be assumed by one who has resolved to devote the greater part of his time to studies unconnected with the healing art. The only favour, he says, which was at this time conferred upon him was his being elected a member of the Academy of Sciences of Upsal; and he would have again left Sweden had not his Elizabeth prevented him.

In this perplexed condition he remained until the summer of 1739, when the tide of misfortune began to ebb. At this time he received from his friend, the illustrious Haller, an offer of the botanical professorship at Gottingen, which, however, the prospect of success in his own country induced him to reject. The first turn in his affairs was caused by his having cured two young men of debility brought on by long excesses; and in less than a month he had under treatment most of the profligates in the capital. Soon afterwards a catarrhal fever or influenza became prevalent. He happened to be called to visit, among others, the lady of an Aulic councillor, for whom he prescribed a remedy which she was directed to carry about her for occasional use. This lady being one day at court, and engaged in a card-party, was following his direction, when the queen, Ulrica Eleonora, asked her what it was she from time to time put into her mouth. Upon being informed, her majesty, who was herself troubled with a cough, immediately sent for Linnæus, who recommended the same medicine, by which the complaint was removed.

This fortunate accident completely established his popularity, and he now became the fashionable doctor of the place. About the same period he was elected president of a society instituted by Captain Triewald for the improvement of the national language,—a circumstance which also tended to promote his reputation. He had, moreover, the good luck to become acquainted with the celebrated Count Charles Gustavus Tessin, who being himself fond of natural history, could not fail to take an interest in one who had undeservedly suffered so much obloquy for his devotion to it. The nobleman asked him if there were any office for which he wished to petition, as the Diet was then sitting. He replied that he wanted nothing; but his patron having allowed him a day to consider, he consulted his friend Triewald, who advised him to ask the office of lecturer to the School of Mines, which brought about a hundred ducats a year. The count soon after invited him to dinner, when he informed him that the request had been granted. In a short time the more important office of physician to the Admiralty became vacant, and was procured for him by his Mæcenas, who, besides, offered him apartments in his house, and frequently admitted him to his table. There he had an opportunity of making the acquaintance of many persons of influence, by whose means his credit was greatly extended.

Being now in prosperous circumstances, he resolved to complete the contract into which he had entered with the daughter of old Moræus, and proceeding to Fahlun, received her in due form. After spending a month of merrymaking, he returned to Stockholm. In September he resigned the presidency of the Academy, and, agreeably to the rules of the institution, delivered on that occasion a discourse on insects (De Memorabilibus in Insectis), which was afterwards printed.

In the summer of 1740, he delivered a course of lectures on botany, and published a new edition of his Fundamenta Botanica, which he dedicated to Dillenius, Haller, Van Royen, Gronovius, Jussieu, Burmann, and Ammann; showing, in this classification, his opinion of the comparative merits of the most eminent botanists of that time. His medical practice continued to increase; and with his lectures, his private studies, and his duty as physician to the Admiralty, his time was fully and satisfactorily occupied. His former protector, Olaus Rudbeck the younger, professor of botany, having died in the spring of this year, Linnæus, Rosen, and Wallerius offered themselves as candidates for the vacant office. Count Tessin supported the first mentioned; but the chancellor, Count Gyllenborg, gave Rosen the preference, as he had taken his degrees before the other, and had acquired stronger claims on the public by a longer residence at Upsal. The king, however, was desirous of bestowing the office on the great botanist, who was consoled for the loss by the promise of succeeding Roberg, who held the chair of medicine and anatomy. That gentleman, being advanced in years, requested permission to resign, which was granted; but although the appointment had been promised to Linnæus, it was not without difficulty that he obtained it. In the mean time, Wallerius, his rival, took every opportunity of impugning his botanical doctrines, with the view of lessening the estimation of his merits; though the effort tended only to bring himself into contempt.

The affair was brought before the Diet in 1741, when it was decided that Linnæus should be preferred to the vacant place. War having broken out between Sweden and Russia, he was apprehensive of being obliged to officiate as physician to the fleet; and finding that the government had resolved upon sending persons to explore the least-known parts of the Swedish provinces, for the purpose of promoting domestic manufactures, he made application for this office also, which was granted to him. Accompanied by six of his friends, to each of whom was assigned a separate department, he accordingly examined the islands of Oeland and Gothland, with the view of discovering any earth that might answer for the making of porcelain, and of bringing to light such ingredients, mineral or vegetable, as might be useful in medicine, dyeing, and domestic economy. The expenses of the journey were defrayed by the Board of Manufactures. In the course of this expedition, he narrowly escaped breaking his leg while descending into an alum-pit; was nearly suffocated among the snow in the vicinity of Blakulla; and experienced great danger from a violent storm while crossing from Gothland to Upsal. Although he was unable to accomplish the chief object of his mission, he made numerous observations on the antiquities of those islands, their natural productions, fisheries, and the manners of their inhabitants. The States gave him a public acknowledgment of their satisfaction, and the narrative of his tour was published four years afterwards.

On arriving at Upsal in September, he made a sincere peace with his old antagonist Rosen, proposing to him a mutual oblivion of the past. In October, he assumed his professional duty as successor to Roberg; on which occasion he delivered a discourse on the advantages of examining the interior of the country,—De Peregrinationum intra Patriam Necessitate. Towards the end of the year, Rosen and he entered into an amicable negotiation, the result of which was an interchange of offices; the former taking the chair of anatomy and physiology, and resigning to the latter that of materia medica, botany, dietetics, and natural history.

No man of eminence, in any department of science or literature, has been without enemies. Linnæus could not, therefore, expect to become an exception to the general rule. It is doubtful whether Haller manifested more kindness or enmity towards him; or it may be said that though he remained his friend, he yet took many opportunities of uttering censure. A more violent opponent appeared in Heister, professor at Helmstadt, who, imagining himself a great botanist, was offended by the pretensions of the Swedish naturalist, and stirred up one of his pupils, Dr Siegesbeck, a man of even less knowledge than his master, to fight his battle for him. The representations of this last had, for a time, considerable influence over the fortunes of Linnæus, and Heister secretly rejoiced at his success; while he excited partisans every where to wage war against the sexual system. Other adversaries started up in Germany, France, and various parts of Europe. The only open antagonist whom he had in his own country was the celebrated Wallerius, the mineralogist; in order to counteract whose unfair criticisms he published a pamphlet entitled Orbis Eruditi Judicium de Car. Linnæi, M.D. Scriptis,—The Judgment of the Learned World on the Writings of Charles Linnæus, M.D. This is the only defence that he ever made of himself, and the only work which he published anonymously. It contained merely a short sketch of his life, a list of the books published by him, and testimonials and opinions of celebrated individuals respecting his merits. Whatever vexation these attacks may have given him, they had no permanent influence, and he had the happiness of triumphing over all opposition. With reference to the attacks of Siegesbeck, he thus writes from Hartecamp to Haller:—

"I have received from a friend Professor Siegesbeck's Verioris Botanosophiæ Specimen, with his Epicrisis on my writings. This author has been very hard upon me. I wish he had written these things when I was first about publishing. I might have learned when young, what I am forced to learn at a more advanced age, to abstain from writing, to observe others, and to hold my tongue. What a fool have I been, to waste so much time, to spend my days and nights in a study which yields no better fruit, and makes me the laughing-stock of all the world! His arguments are nothing; but his book is filled with exclamations, such as I never before met with. Whether I answer him or keep silence, my reputation must suffer. He cannot understand argument. He denies the sexes of plants. He charges my system with indelicacy; and yet I have not written more about the polygamy of plants than Swammerdam has about bees. He laughs at my characters, and calls upon all the world to say if any body understands them. I am said to be ignorant of scientific terms. He judges me by the principles of Rivinus, and hundreds of the vilest scribblers. Inasmuch as the man humbles me, so do you, whose learning and sense have been made sufficiently evident, exalt me. It distresses me to read the commendations you are pleased to heap upon so unworthy an object. I wish there might ever be any reason to expect that I could evince my gratitude and regard for you. I hope life will be granted me, to give some proof of my not being quite unworthy."

Linnæus was now, however, in his proper element, and commenced his academical career with great ardour. The botanical garden, founded by the celebrated Olaus Rudbeck about fifty years before, was entirely destroyed by the dreadful fire which, as already mentioned, had, in 1702, converted the greater part of Upsal into a heap of ruins, and now served no more important purpose than that of pasturing a few cows. His first efforts were directed towards its renovation, which he soon succeeded in accomplishing. Count Gyllenborg, who was then chancellor of the university, was a man of considerable scientific attainments, and had a special love for botany. This circumstance, as well as his interest in the prosperity of the institution, induced him to lend a ready ear to the solicitations of the professor, and to give his important aid to the undertaking. Baron Harlemann, the king's architect, furnished the plan. Hothouses were erected, walks formed, ponds dug, plots furnished with plants; in short, the garden soon assumed a most promising appearance. A house was also built for the accommodation of the teacher, who had no longer any cause to complain of the neglect of his countrymen. In the early part of this year his wife presented him with a son; so that in all respects he was a happy man.

At this point ends the more romantic portion of this illustrious individual's life. His continued struggles for subsistence, for the acquisition of knowledge, for fame, for an honourable independence, were now crowned with success. His rivals had shrunk from the contest, his calumniators had fallen into deserved obscurity, his merits had been acknowledged at home and abroad, his perseverance, his ardour, and his acuteness of observation, were duly estimated. While yet in the vigour of manhood, he had attained the honour and emolument that are often deferred to cheer only the declining years of the votary of science. On the other hand, how many individuals have toiled through a life of continued misery, without ever reaching that haven into which the gentle breezes of prosperity had already wafted our ardent adventurer.

SECTION V.

Commencement of Linnæus's Academical Career.

Linnæus restores the Botanic Garden at Upsal—Takes Possession of his new Residence—Founds a Natural History Museum—Publishes Catalogues of the Plants and Animals of Sweden—In 1746, makes a Journey to West Gothland—Medal struck to his Honour—He publishes a Flora of Ceylon from the Herbarium of Hermann—His alleged Discovery of a Method of producing Pearls—Success as a Professor—Malice of his Enemies—Journey to Scania—Is appointed Rector of the University—Attacked by Gout—Sends several of his Pupils to travel in foreign Countries.

Under the fostering care of Linnæus, the botanical garden of Upsal was gradually enriched by donations from numerous friends. In the year 1742, he introduced into it more than two hundred indigenous species, while he sent a student to Norway to collect rarities. An experienced gardener, whom he had formerly known with Mr Cliffort, was engaged to take charge of it. Some idea may be formed of his zeal, from the circumstance of his having the first year sown seeds of 567 different species, the next year of 600, and the third of more than 1000. Plants and seeds were liberally transmitted from Berlin by Haller and Gleditsch, from Leipsic by Ludwig, from Yevern by Dr Mochren, from Stutgard by Gesner, from Paris by Jussieu, from Montpellier by Sauvages, from Oxford by Dillenius, from London by Collinson, Miller, and Catesby, from Leyden by Gronovius, from Amsterdam by Burmann, and from Petersburg by Gmelin and Ammann. He even received seeds from Louis XV.; and the Baron Bjilke brought him from Russia a great number of plants, collected in Siberia by Messerschmidt, Gerber, Heller, Heinzelman, and others, most of them not previously described. From Holland he also obtained the Musa, a tree which he considered himself extremely fortunate in possessing.

Six years after the restoration of the garden, he published a description of it under the title of the Hortus Upsaliensis. At this time, the number of exotic plants which it contained amounted to 1100. A learned traveller, who visited it in 1771, writes as follows:—"An iron gate of excellent workmanship leads to it from the road. At the top of the gate are displayed the Swedish arms, and those of Count Gyllenborg, who so zealously promoted its restitution. Within, a large court presents itself to view; on the right stands the house of Linnæus, who is the director of the garden, and on the left are some other buildings. A straight avenue leads by another gate to the garden, which is separated from the court by a neat wooden railing. The garden itself is laid out in a superb style. The greater part consists of two large tracts of ground, one of them containing the perennial, the other the annual plants. Each of these tracts is divided into forty-four beds, surrounded with a low hedge and small doors. The plant-house is divided into the greenhouse, the hothouse, and the thriving-house, which form the northern side; the gardener's cottage, which is on the southern; the thriving-bank on the west; and the grass-bank on the east. The sun-house faces the ponds, into which fresh water is conveyed by pipes."

The professor took possession of his beautiful residence in 1743, and delivered a course of lectures on dietetics, which was numerously attended. The same year he was elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Montpellier. In 1744, Prince Frederick visited the university for the first time, when the professors were presented to him. Celsius and Linnæus were complimented with the title of lumina academiæ, on account of their great learning and reputation. Some months after this occurrence, the same prince was received at Upsal by the rector and professors; on which occasion Linnæus alone was invited to follow him to Ekhelsund, where he had a private interview. In October, he was appointed secretary to the university, in the place of Andrew Celsius, professor of astronomy, who had died in the preceding spring, and in November was made medical inspector of Smaland, an office which had also been possessed by the same individual.

In the following year, he founded a museum of natural history at the botanic garden; the prince-royal and Count Gyllenborg furnishing the first collection of animals. In autumn, he published two important works, the Flora Suecica and the Fauna Suecica, in the composition of which he had laboured occasionally during fifteen years. The former contained descriptions of 1140 species of plants indigenous to Sweden, with their medical and economical uses, their stations, and other useful information; the latter exhibited the characters of 1350 animals occurring in the same country. In a subsequent edition this number was increased to 2266.

In the summer of 1746, he made a journey to West Gothland, accompanied by several of his students, and, on returning, devoted himself to the completion of his work on the species of plants. To favour his views, and contribute to the extension of science, Count Tessin obliged the East India Company, who at this time had their charter renewed, to send out every year to China, at their own expense, a young naturalist, to be selected by Linnæus. The same year he received a very flattering testimony of respect from four patriotic noblemen, the Barons Harlemann, Hopken, Palmstjerna, and Count Ekeblad, who caused a medal to be struck in honour of him as well as of his patron, the Count Tessin. One side represented the bust of Linnæus, with these words:—

Carol. Linnæus, M. D., Bot. Prof. Ups. Ætat. XXXIX.

On the other were the following:—

Carolo Gustavo Tessin et immortalitati effigiem Caroli Linnæi Cl. Ekeblad, Andr. Hoepken, N. Palmstierna, et Car. Harlemann. Dic. MDCCXLVI.

This mark of respect to the distinguished naturalist and his illustrious friend proved so agreeable to the latter, that it induced him to order a piece to be stamped, representing on the one side a likeness of the professor, and on the other three crowns, indicative of his dominion over the three kingdoms of nature, with the sun casting his beams on them, as emblematic of the genius of the North illuminating the mundane system. Illustrat,—He illumines,—was the appropriate motto. It is not in infancy only that men are "pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw;" nor are flattery and presumption peculiar to any age.

In January 1747, the King of Sweden conferred on Linnæus and his issue the title of First Physician, or Dean of the College of Physicians; and soon after he was elected a member of the Royal Academy of Berlin.

Professor Hermann of Leyden, who, towards the end of the preceding century, had been sent to Ceylon and other parts of India, for the purpose of examining the spice-plants, died soon after his return, and his collections fell into the hands of Mr Gunther, apothecary at Copenhagen. This person, desirous of knowing what they contained, sent them to Holland; but receiving from thence information that Linnæus was the only person who could satisfy him, he finally addressed them to Upsal. Delighted with this oriental treasure, which had been lost half a century, the botanist examined it with the greatest attention, and, on completing his laborious task, published the result under the name of Flora Zeylanica. At the same time he gave to the world an account of his journey to West Gothland.

It is stated, that about this period he made an important discovery relative to the formation of pearls in the river-mussel (Unio margaritifera), a shell of common occurrence in the northern parts of Europe as well as in our own country, and from which are obtained all our indigenous pearls, which not many years ago were held in considerable estimation. By injuring the shell, probably by means of puncture or perforation, it is supposed that he succeeded in causing a deposition of the pearly matter, so that one might procure a certain quantity at pleasure. The precise method, however, is still uncertain, nor is it believed to have been generally successful; at all events the secret has been entirely lost.

At this period, says Linnæus, botany was cultivated at Upsal with unparalleled ardour. Frequent excursions were made for the purpose of collecting plants, insects, and birds. Every Wednesday and Saturday herbarizations took place, which continued from dawn to night. The pupils, having their hats covered with flowers, returned to the town, and preceded by musical instruments accompanied their professor to the garden.

But amid all this success he was harassed by the malice of his enemies. A decree of the senate appeared, which prevented any native of Sweden from publishing a work in a foreign country. This was evidently directed against him alone, for, as he says, it could apply to no other person. In a fit of bad humour he flung his pen from him, and swore that he would never write another book. At this period also a person named Fick endeavoured, by disgraceful calumnies, to injure him in the esteem of his fellow-citizens. This conduct he felt so much the more severely, because the slanderer was one of his familiar friends, which was also the case with respect to Halenius, who openly censured one of his dissertations, although he had approved of it before it was sent to press. About the same time he received a letter from Haerlem, which he says nearly cost him his life, and prevented him from sleeping for two months. The purport of this communication has not been disclosed; but, surely, if he had not placed too much value on the opinion of the world, he would have allowed the malice of his enemies to vent itself in impotent rage.

His self-love, however, was soon gratified by the arrival of a pupil from Paris, the first who had come to him from a foreign country, and by the presence of several persons of distinction at his excursions. This year he had a hundred and forty students at his lectures.

The following year, after publishing a work on Materia Medica, he was directed by the Diet to make a journey to Scania or Schonen, the most northern of the Swedish provinces, for the purpose of examining its natural productions. This was the sixth and last tour which he made in his native land. On returning he visited his brother Samuel at Stenbrohult. During his absence he was appointed rector of the university, and towards the end of the year entered upon the duties of his new office.

In 1750, he continued his lectures with his wonted energy and success. The king and queen had commenced a collection of objects belonging to natural history, which were kept at Ulrichsdahl or Drottningholm, about eight Swedish miles from Upsal. Thither he used to repair during the summer and winter vacations, for the purpose of arranging and describing the various specimens. But a violent attack of gout obliged him to relinquish for a time all his occupations.

On his recovery he laboured at his Philosophia Botanica, which appeared in the following season, together with an account of his journey to Scania. During this and the preceding year, he sent out several of his most distinguished pupils to travel in various parts of the world.

SECTION VI.

Travelling Pupils of Linnæus.

Enthusiasm excited by the Lectures of Linnæus—Ternstroem dies on his Voyage to China—Hasselquist, after travelling in Egypt, Arabia, and Palestine, dies at Smyrna—Forskal perishes in Arabia; Lœfling in South America; Falk in Tartary—Kalm sent to Canada; Rolander to Surinam; Toren to Malabar; Osbeck to China—Sparrmann travels in the Cape, and accompanies Cook on his second Voyage—Thunberg visits Japan, Ceylon, and other Countries—Various parts of Europe visited by Pupils of Linnæus—Remarks on the Accumulation of Facts produced by their Exertions.

The enthusiasm excited by the lectures and demonstrations of Linnæus, seems to have exceeded that produced by the efforts of any other professor. The fervour of the teacher, his ardent love of nature, his eloquence, and the kindliness of his disposition, made an indelible impression upon his pupils, many of whom were anxious to devote their lives to the extension of their favourite science. Upsal became the centre of botanical, if not of zoological knowledge; and while students flocked to it from all parts of Europe, there were proceeding from it those whom we may call the devoted heroes of science, and who were resolved to enlarge its boundaries, by exploring regions previously unknown to the natural historian. An account of these men belongs in some measure to the life of their master, in which it will form an interesting episode.

The first of his pupils that embraced the opportunity presented by the Swedish East India Company, was a young man named Ternstroem, who in 1745 embarked for China. He died, however, at Pulicandor, before reaching the place of which he had intended to describe the productions, and thereby to secure for himself a scientific immortality.

In the summer of 1749, Frederick Hasselquist, another of his students, was induced by his representations to undertake a voyage to Smyrna, for the purpose of examining the natural treasures of Palestine. Private contributions were made to defray the expense of his journey, and a free passage was given in an East Indiaman. Next year he continued his course to Egypt, where he remained nine months, surveying the pyramids and other remarkable objects, and collecting all the information that he could obtain respecting minerals, plants, and animals. He communicated the result of his labours to his friends at home, and was admitted a member of the Royal Society of Upsal, and of the Stockholm Academy of Sciences. In March 1751, he left Cairo, and taking the route of Jaffa, travelled with a caravan of pilgrims to Jerusalem, where he remained some time. He then visited the river Jordan, Mount Tabor, Jericho, Bethlehem, Tyre, and Sidon, and embarked for Smyrna, where he arrived with a great variety of specimens illustrative of natural history, as also with a valuable selection of Arabic manuscripts, coins, and mummies. He was preparing to return to his native country, to enjoy the fruit of his toils, when he was seized with a violent affection of the lungs, the predisposition to which existed before he left Sweden, and of which the symptoms had been aggravated by the fatigues and privations he endured in crossing the sandy deserts. The disease quickly assumed an alarming character, and he finally sunk under it on the 9th February 1752, in the thirtieth year of his age.

Hasselquist having contracted debts at Smyrna, his creditors seized his collections, and would have exposed them to sale, had they not been prevented by the Swedish consul, who sent home an account of the circumstances under which the youth had died. The queen, Louisa Ulrica, gave orders to redeem his property, which was accordingly transmitted to her, and deposited in the palace of Drottningholm, where she usually resided. Duplicates of the various articles were given to Linnæus, together with all the manuscripts, which were published in the Swedish language under the title of Iter Palæstinum. This work was afterwards translated into German, English, and French. It consists of two parts, the first of which contains the journal of the traveller and his correspondence; while the second is devoted to observations on mineralogy, botany, and zoology, as well as to many interesting subjects relating to the diseases, commerce, and arts, of the countries which had been visited. A Flora of Palestine, made up from the papers and specimens of Hasselquist, was afterwards published in the fourth volume of the Amænitates Academicæ.

Professor Michaelis of Gottingen, so well known for his proficiency in the languages of the East, having strongly enforced the propriety of obtaining a more extensive knowledge of those countries in which most of the events recorded in the Scriptures took place, a society was instituted for that purpose; and through the influence of the Danish ministers, Counts Bernstorff and Moltke, an expedition was fitted out for Arabia. In 1761, five persons were chosen for conducting this enterprise, viz. Counsellor Niebuhr, Professor Forskal, a native of Sweden, Von Haven, Cramer, and Baurnfeind the painter. In June 1763, Forskal wrote to Count Bernstorff, communicating some information respecting the balsam of Mecca; but in about a month afterwards he fell a sacrifice to science, and died at Jerim. His companions suffered a similar fate, with the exception of Niebuhr, who on returning published an account of the journey. The observations of the naturalist were arranged by the same author, and appeared in 1775, accompanied with illustrative engravings. In a letter to Ellis, several years earlier, Linnæus mentions him thus:—"Mr Forskal, an excellent pupil of mine, just appointed professor at Copenhagen, is to be sent next year, at the expense of the King of Denmark, to the Cape of Good Hope and Arabia Felix. If God preserve him to us, we may expect a multitude of interesting discoveries. He excels more particularly in the knowledge of insects, although very well versed in the other branches of natural history." Niebuhr, who sent to him a copy of the posthumous work as soon as it was printed, was elected a member of the Stockholm Academy of Sciences, out of gratitude for the pains which he had taken to preserve the name of his unfortunate friend.

Application having been made to Linnæus, from Madrid, for an able botanist, he chose Peter Lœfling, one of the most distinguished of his pupils, who proceeded to Spain in 1751. During two years he continued to collect and describe the plants of that country. At the end of this period, he was sent by the government to travel through the different Spanish settlements in South America. He had explored the districts of Cumana, New Barcelona, and St Thomas of Guyana, and was preparing to extend his journey, when he was attacked by fever, and died in the twenty-seventh year of his age. The professor, who was much affected by the death of this zealous and enterprising youth, published an account of his travels, under the name of Petri Lœflingii Iter Hispanicum.

The next victim to the eager pursuit of knowledge was Falk, a native of West Gothland, who, coming to Upsal in 1751 to study natural history, was received by Linnæus into his house, and appointed to take charge of the education of his son. In 1759, he made a journey to Gothland, and afterwards went to Copenhagen, in the hope of being sent to Arabia along with Niebuhr and Forskal; but not finding his wishes gratified returned to college. In 1763, through the recommendation of his master, he was engaged by M. Kruse, first physician to the Emperor of Russia, to take charge of his cabinet of natural curiosities, and was proceeding to Petersburg when he suffered shipwreck at Narva. In 1765, he was appointed keeper of the botanic garden and professor of the medical college; but the assiduity with which he pursued his studies rendered him subject to a disease of the bowels, causing accessions of melancholy. In one of these fits of hypochondriasis he shot himself, at Casan in Tartary, on the night of the 20th March 1774.

Thus perished, in the midst of their career, five of the most promising pupils of Linnæus; but, not deterred by their fate, others pressed forward with the desire of distinguishing themselves.

The professor, knowing that a species of mulberry-tree grew in Canada, proposed to the Royal Society of Stockholm a voyage to that country, for the purpose of learning whether the plant in question could be naturalized in Sweden. The proposal being acceded to, he made choice of Peter Kalm, one of the most promising of his students. In 1747, he departed for America, where he remained three years. In 1751, he returned to Abo, in Finland, where his patron had obtained a professorship for him, and published an account of his voyage. The Canadian mulberry-tree (Morus rubra) was in fact introduced by him into Sweden, and seems in some degree to have answered the purpose intended; but, although the government offered a premium for its cultivation, the silk-manufacture of that country has never succeeded. Kalm, after travelling in various parts of Russia, died at his own residence in 1790. His travels in America were translated into English by John Reinhold Forster, who accompanied Captain Cook on his second voyage.

Rolander embarked for Surinam in 1755; Toren, in 1750, for the coast of Malabar and Surat; and Osbeck for China in 1751. The journal of the latter was also translated by Forster. But the most distinguished among the more fortunate travelling-pupils of Linnæus were Sparrmann and Thunberg, the latter of whom became his successor in the university.

Andrew Sparrmann studied medicine at Upsal, where, by his attention to natural history, he attracted the notice of the celebrated professor of that science. In 1765, he made a voyage to China with his cousin, Captain Ekeberg, who commanded a ship belonging to the East India Company, and who was also fond of similar studies. On his return, he described, in an academic thesis, the plants and animals which he had collected on this voyage. Having now formed a strong attachment to botany and zoology, he again became desirous of travelling; but his poverty would have prevented him had not his friend Ekeberg procured for him the office of tutor to the children of a person residing at the Cape of Good Hope, where he arrived in 1772. Soon after, he had the pleasure of meeting his countryman Thunberg, from whom, however, he was soon forced to separate; and in October made a journey to Paarl, on his return from which he occupied himself with a description of the plants indigenous to the district in which he resided. Captain Cook, on his second voyage, having arrived at the Cape, the two Forsters, who accompanied him as naturalists, went to see Sparrmann, and persuaded him to go along with them. This he was not loath to do, and, accordingly, had the pleasure of circumnavigating the globe. On revisiting the Cape, in July 1775, he subsisted by practising medicine, and in a short time acquired sufficient funds to enable him to undertake an excursion into the interior. He penetrated 350 leagues in a north-easterly direction, and returned with a large stock of plants and animals. The same year he revisited his native country, where he found that in his absence he had been promoted to the degree of Doctor in Medicine. He was now elected a member of the Royal Society of Stockholm, and, after the death of Baron de Geer, was appointed conservator of his collection of natural history, which had been bequeathed to that body. Some time after, he was made president of the same learned institution,—an office which he resigned in three months. In 1787, he accompanied his friend Wadstroem on an expedition into the interior of Western Africa; but the project failed, and in the following year he returned to the Swedish capital, where he continued till his death in July 1820. The principal works which he published are, 1. A Voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, to the South Polar Circle, and round the Globe, with a Journey into the Country of the Hottentots and Caffres. This book has been translated into English. 2. The Musæum Carlsonianum, containing Descriptions of the rarer Animals in the Collection of Baron Carlson. 3. A Discourse on the Advantages of Expeditions to the Pacific Ocean, with Descriptions of Animals and Plants.

Charles Peter Thunberg was born in Sweden in 1743, and died at Upsal in 1828. In 1770, after finishing his education, he went to France, and from thence to Holland, where, on being recommended by Burmann, he was engaged by the Dutch East India Company to go to Japan in a medical capacity. After remaining some time at the Cape, he proceeded to his destination, and afterwards to Java and Ceylon, whence he returned first to England, and subsequently to Germany. His travels occupied nine years. Fourteen months after the death of Linnæus, he was appointed director of the botanic garden of Upsal during the absence of the son of that renowned professor. He acquired the honours usually bestowed on fortunate cultivators of science, and finally succeeded the younger Linnæus.

Besides these celebrated individuals, who explored the most remote regions of the globe, many of the students trained in the garden and lecture-rooms of Upsal traversed various parts of Europe. Koehler visited Italy; Alstroemer the same country, as well as France and Spain; Von Troil made a voyage to Iceland; Fabricius travelled in Norway, England, and France; and Solander examined the Lapland Alps. In short, an astonishing impulse was given to the study of natural history in general, and of botany in particular. Facts and observations were accumulated to such a degree, that had Linnæus lived ten years longer he would have been utterly unable to continue the legislator of the science in all its departments.

To him, however, remains the glory of having been the only individual who described all the minerals, plants, and animals, known in his time. Before him no one had attempted the task.

SECTION VII.

Linnæus's Occupations from 1750 to 1770.

Publication of the Philosophia Botanica—General Account of that Work—Linnæus engaged in arranging the Collections of the Queen and Count Tessin—The Species Plantarum—Sir J. E. Smith's Remarks on it—Quotation from the Preface, with Remarks—Linnæus publishes improved Editions of his Works—Obtains Prizes for Essays from the Royal Societies of Stockholm and Petersburg—Is elected a Member of the Academy of Sciences of Paris—Receives Plants and Seeds from various Quarters—Purchases two Estates—Delivers private Lectures at his Museum—His Emoluments—His Son appointed his Assistant and Successor—He receives Letters of Nobility; and is rewarded for his Discovery of the Art of producing Pearls—His domestic Troubles, Infirmities, and sincere Reconciliation to his old Antagonist Rosen, who attends him in his Sickness.

It has been already mentioned that Linnæus, when residing in Holland, printed a short treatise containing his theoretical views respecting the classification of plants. This work, to which he gave the title of Fundamenta Botanica, consisted of a series of aphorisms or propositions, which his friends afterwards repeatedly urged him to demonstrate at length, so as to constitute them into a body of doctrine which might be considered as the code of botanical science. Accordingly, in 1751, he published the Philosophia Botanica, one of the most remarkable performances that any age or country can boast of. It consists of 12 chapters, 52 sections, 365 aphorisms, in imitation of the different divisions of the year,—a puerile conceit, with which his enemies have not failed to taunt the illustrious author. Had there been a hundred days more he might have found aphorisms for them all; and any one conversant with zoology might engage to construct a classification of animals on the very same principle. Since he was so attached to numerical analogies, it is surprising that he did not form 12 classes of plants, 52 orders, 365 families, and a number of genera corresponding to that of the hours in a year. On such an arrangement might, with due calculation, have been founded a system of botany as perfect as any that had appeared before his time. The distribution of his materials, however is the only childish part of the book; for in other respects it must be acknowledged to be a model of perspicuity, precision, and force.

The first chapter gives an account of the principal writers on botany; the second, of systems of classification; the third, of the roots, stems, and leaves of plants; the fourth, of the parts of fructification. In the remaining chapters are discussed the doctrine of sexes, the characters of the classes and subdivisions, the names of the genera, the specific differences, varieties, synonymes, the descriptions of the species, and the virtues or uses. At the end of the volume are several curious fragments, containing directions to students of botany, the method of forming herbariums, a plan to be followed by naturalists in travelling, and other matters of a like nature.

"The Genera Plantarum," says Linnæus in his private memoirs, "the most important of all the works on botany, and which was intended for facilitating the study of that science, being completed, he laboured at the species. He was at this period the only person who had at his disposal the materials necessary for the composition of that great work. His herbarium was immense, and no one had seen so great a number of gardens and collections. With the assistance of this methodical book, any person can make out the plants already described by authors, and those which have become known only of late, or which are entirely new. He laboured, two successive years at the species; and it was at this period that he felt the first attacks of calculus, the usual consequence of too sedentary a life, and of long-continued pressure on the lower abdominal viscera."

In 1753, being again called to Drottningholm, he was desired to describe the natural productions contained in the museums of his majesty and the Count Tessin. The former rewarded him with a valuable ring, the latter with a gold watch and a copy of Rumphius's splendid Herbarium Amboinense. But what delighted him most was the assurance given by the queen, that should his son evince a liking to natural history, she would send him to travel over Europe at her own expense.

This year appeared the Species Plantarum, which was published at Stockholm in two volumes, and contained the characters of 7000 species. Haller denominates this production "maximum opus et æternum." It is unnecessary here to offer any detailed account of it, as it is well known to every botanist. Sir James E. Smith, in his Life of Linnæus, observes, that "it is ever memorable for the adaptation of specific, or, as they were at first called, trivial names. This contrivance, which he first used in his Pan Suecicus, a dissertation printed in 1749, extended to minerals in his Museum Tessinianum, and subsequently to all the departments of zoology, has perhaps rendered his works more popular than any one of their merits besides. His specific differences were intended to be used as names; but their unavoidable length rendering this impracticable, and the application of numeral figures to each species, in Haller's manner, being still more burthensome to the memory, all natural science would have been ruined for want of a common language, were it not for this simple and happy invention. By this means we speak of every natural production in two words, its generic and its specific name. No ambiguous comparisons or references are wanted, no presupposition of any thing already known. The distinguishing character of each object is mostly stamped in its name; and if this perfection of the art cannot always be attained, the memory is assisted, often very ingeniously, with collateral information, indicating the colour, the habit, or the qualities of the object of our examination. The philosophical tribe of naturalists, for so they are called by themselves and their admirers, do not therefore depreciate Linnæus when they call him a nomenclator. On the contrary, they celebrate him for a merit which no other person has attained, and without which their own discoveries and remarks, of whatever value, would not be understood."

In the preface to this work, which he dedicated to the king and queen, we find the following passage, which will enable the reader to form an estimate of that kind of forbearance which he showed towards his critics:—"I have never sent back upon my enemies the shafts which they have hurled at me. The grins of the malicious, the ironies and attacks of the envious, I have quietly borne. They have always been the reward of the labours of great men; but nothing of all this can hurt a hair of my head. Why should I not tolerate the wretches, when I have been loaded with the praises of the most celebrated botanists, before whom they must bend in the dust. My age, my profession, and my character, prevent me from waging war with my opponents. I will employ the few years I have to live in making useful observations. In natural history, errors cannot be defended nor truths concealed. I appeal to posterity." The decision of posterity, however, may be as unjust as that of our contemporaries, and the former is in all cases of less importance to us than the latter, for it can in no degree benefit the author who relies upon it. And to show that Linnæus severely felt the censure of his opponents, we have only to refer to his private memoirs. His treatment of them seems to have been the effect of pride more than of magnanimity, although it appeared to belong to the latter. Rousseau, who greatly admired it, was heard to exclaim, "Would that I had imitated the Upsal professor! I should have gained some days of happiness and years of peace."

About this time also was published his description of the museum of Count Tessin, already alluded to, under the name of Musæum Tessinianum. Lœfling sent him plants from Spain, and similar accessions poured in from other quarters; but he occasionally experienced a return of his complaints, which were relieved by the plentiful use of wild strawberries. His account of the king's museum appeared the following year.

Besides his ordinary occupations of lecturing and accompanying his pupils on their excursions into the country, he sent forth successively improved editions of several of his works, which he endeavoured to bring up to the level of his expanding knowledge. The Stockholm Academy having offered a prize, consisting of two gold medals, for the best essay on the means of improving Lapland, he composed a treatise on the subject, which received the approbation of that learned body. Although no regular cultivation could be applied to so dreary a region, he showed that considerable improvements might be made by introducing plants which grow in the mountainous districts of similar latitudes, and especially by planting trees suited to the climate. In 1759, the Imperial Academy of Sciences at Petersburg announced a premium for the best work on the confirmation or refutation of the doctrine of sexes in the vegetable kingdom. He wrote on this topic also, in which he established the fact by new and irrefragable arguments, and the reward was of course adjudged to him. The motto which he affixed to this tract was indicative of his prevailing passion: "Famam extendere factis."

The celebrity of his name now attracted pupils from many parts of Europe; obtained him admission into most of the distinguished learned societies; and rendered him an object of attraction to travellers. In 1762, he was elected a foreign member of the Academy of Sciences of Paris,—a circumstance of which he was not a little proud. "It was," says he, "the greatest honour that could be conferred on a man of science, and hitherto no Swede had enjoyed it. The number of foreign members is limited to eight. The following are the names of the persons who were then invested with that dignity:—Morgagni, Bernouilli, Euler, Macclesfield, Poleni, Haller, Van Swieten, and Linnæus."

The botanic garden at Upsal received accessions corresponding to the increasing fame of its restorer, and was enriched by specimens or seeds transmitted from many remote regions; from Kamtschatka and Siberia, by Demidoff and Gmelin; from China, by several of his pupils; from Egypt, Palestine, Java, and the Cape of Good Hope, by Thunberg, Sparrmann, and others; from Canada, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, by Kalm and Gronovius; from Jamaica, by Dr Browne; and from South America, by Miller. A great quantity of African seeds came into his possession in the following singular manner:—Donati, a young Italian naturalist, had been sent to Egypt and the Levant, at the expense of the King of Sardinia. At Alexandria he fell in love with a young lady, the daughter of a Frenchman, and in order to forward his suit, allowed her brother to accompany him on his travels. The intended relative, however, robbed him of all his money and collections, and carried them to France. Not finding himself safe there, he embarked again for Constantinople; but being still unable to turn his stolen seeds to any account, he sent them to Linnæus, whose name he had often heard mentioned by Donati. Among the rare exotics which he procured was the tea-plant, which his friend Ekeberg brought from China in 1763, and which had not been previously seen in Europe.

In 1758, he purchased for 80,000 dollars (above £2330 sterling) two estates, situated at the distance of about three miles from Upsal, to which he retired during the vacations, and where he spent the last ten years of his life. On an eminence, near the mansion at Hammarby, he erected a museum, in which he deposited all his collections. It was of an oblong form, and had a magnificent prospect over an extensive plain sprinkled with villages, the city of Upsal and the river Sala appearing at a distance, and the lofty mountains of Dalecarlia lining the horizon. Here he occasionally gave lessons to foreigners, and improved his various works.

These private instructions seem to have been a source of great emolument to him. They were confined chiefly to strangers, who used to lodge in the neighbouring villages of Honby and Edeby, and to whom he pronounced his lectures, not in the grave and solemn habit of a professor, but as a companion, frequently wearing his dressing-gown and a red fur cap, with a tobacco-pipe in his mouth. Lord Baltimore, governor of Maryland, having gone from Stockholm for the purpose of seeing him, was entertained with a discourse on natural history; for which he presented him with a splendid gold snuff-box, 100 ducats, and a superb piece of silver plate.

A pleasing picture of his manners and amusements is given by his pupil Fabricius, although, in one circumstance at least, his example may not be considered as commendable: "We were three, Kuhn, Zoega, and I, all foreigners. In summer we followed him into the country. In winter we lived facing his house, and he came to us almost every day in his short red robe-de-chambre, with a green fur cap on his head, and a pipe in his hand. He came for half an hour, but stopped a whole one, and many times two. His conversation on these occasions was extremely sprightly and pleasant. It consisted either of anecdotes relative to the learned in his profession with whom he got acquainted in foreign countries, or in clearing up our doubts, or giving us other kinds of instruction. He used to laugh then most heartily, and displayed a serenity and an openness of countenance, which proved how much his soul was susceptible of amity and good fellowship.

"Our life was much happier when we resided in the country. Our habitation was about half a quarter of a league distant from his house at Hammarby, in a farm-house, where we kept our own furniture and other requisites for housekeeping. He rose very early in summer, and mostly about four o'clock. At six he came to us, because his house was then building, breakfasted with us, and gave lectures upon the natural orders of plants as long as he pleased, and generally till about ten o'clock. We then wandered about till twelve upon the adjacent rocks, the productions of which afforded us plenty of entertainment. In the afternoon we repaired to his garden, and in the evening we usually played at the Swedish game of trisset in company with his wife.

"On Sundays the whole family usually came to spend the day with us. We sent for a peasant who played on an instrument resembling a violin, to the sound of which we danced in the barn of our farm-house. Our balls certainly were not very splendid,—the company was but small, the music superlatively rustic, and no change in the dances, which were constantly either minuets or Polish; but, regardless of these defects, we passed our time very merrily. While we were dancing, the old man, who smoked his pipe with Zoega, who was deformed and emaciated, became a spectator of our amusement, and sometimes, though very rarely, danced a Polish dance, in which he excelled every one of us young men. He was extremely delighted whenever he saw us in high glee, nay, if we even became very noisy. Had he not always found us so, he would have manifested his apprehension that we were not sufficiently entertained."

The presents which he received from his admirers, the fees of his pupils, his salary, and the property which he had acquired by marriage, rendered him one of the richest of the Upsal professors; and, during the latter period of his life, his stated income was doubled by order of the king. The emoluments which he derived from his works were not great, as he got only for each printed sheet the small sum of one ducat, or about nine shillings and sixpence sterling.

To add to his happiness, his son, at the age of twenty-one, was appointed his assistant and successor, shortly after he himself had received letters of nobility, which were antedated four years. In 1748, Frederick I. had founded the order of the Polar Star for men of merit in the civil line, and Linnæus was the first who was admitted into it by his successor, Frederick Adolphus. He proposed for his arms the three fields of nature, black, green, and red, surmounted by an egg, with the Linnæa for a crest; but the keeper of the great seal adopted a different arrangement. The Diet at the same time bestowed on him a reward of upwards of £520 sterling, for his discovery relative to the production of pearls; and it is even asserted that his elevation to the rank of nobility was not given on account of his botanical labours, or his general merits, but for this alleged discovery, which, however, has turned to no account.

But the interest which we have felt in the progress of this great man now begins to be less intense. He seems to us to have accomplished his destiny, and we prepare to trace his steps to the grave. In his domestic life he is supposed to have been subjected to many mortifications, arising from the parsimony and domineering temper of his wife. Long before this period, too, he had become subject to attacks of rheumatism, gravel, and gout; while his too-sensitive mind was harassed by the open as well as more insidious attacks of his opponents. It is pleasing to witness the reconciliation of enemies, and we have already remarked that Linnæus and his old antagonist Rosen were ultimately on the most friendly terms. "In 1764," says the private manuscript, "he was attacked by a violent pleurisy. He was anxiously attended by Dr Rosen, who saved him from certain death. From this time he conceived the most sincere affection for his brother-professor."

Before proceeding to convey the prince of naturalists to the tomb, it seems expedient to examine the most important of his numerous works,—that, namely, in which he arranges all the known objects of nature, and of which the last edition, brought out under his own inspection, appeared about this epoch of his life.

SECTION VIII.

Account of the Systema Naturæ of Linnæus.

Linnæus's Classification of the Animal Kingdom—Remarks on the Gradations employed, and on Nomenclature—Classification of the Animal Kingdom—General Remarks—Method of Tournefort—Method of Linnæus—Classification of the Vegetable Kingdom—Theory of the Formation of Minerals and Rocks.

The work just mentioned bears the title of Systema Naturæ per Regna tria Naturæ, secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis,—A System of Nature, in which are arranged the objects constituting the three kingdoms of nature, in classes, orders, genera, and species, with their characters, differences, synonymes, and places of occurrence.

The first volume contains the animal kingdom. The introduction presents a brief view of the constitution of the world, in the usually laconic style of the author. In it the three kingdoms of nature are thus defined:—Minerals are concrete bodies, possessing neither life nor sensibility; vegetables are organized bodies, possessed of life, but without sensibility; animals are organized bodies, possessing life and sensibility, together with voluntary motion. Objections may be made to these definitions; but it is not our object at present to criticise his views and arrangements, our intention being simply to offer a brief account of them, omitting all that is not absolutely essential. It ought to be understood, that the entire work is merely an index or catalogue of the productions of nature; that it was obviously intended as such by its author; and that they who object to the Systema Naturæ, because it contains nothing more than characteristic notes methodically arranged, forget that Linnæus never professed to give descriptions in it.

The natural division of animals, he says, is indicated by their internal structure. This principle his modern adversaries have chosen to overlook, asserting that his classification is founded on external form. In some species the heart has two distinct cavities, and the blood is warm and red; of these some are viviparous,—the mammalia,—others oviparous,—the class of birds. In certain species the heart has only a single cavity, with a single auricle, the blood red but cold; of these the amphibia have a voluntary respiration, while fishes respire by gills. In other animals the heart has also a single cavity, but without an auricle, while the blood is cold and of a white colour; of these the insects are characterized by their antennæ, the vermes or worms by their tentacula.

The Mammalia, which constitute the first class, are the only animals furnished with teats. Their clothing, hoofs, claws, horns, teeth, and other organs, are briefly described, in such a manner as to enable the student to comprehend the meaning of the terms to be subsequently employed. The characters of the orders are derived principally from the teeth.

I. Primates or Nobles: Mammalia furnished with fore teeth, of which there are four in the upper jaw, and two pectoral mammæ.

II. Bruta: No fore teeth in either jaw.

III. Feræ, Beasts of Prey: The fore teeth conical, usually six in each jaw.

IV. Glires or Gnawers: Two chissel-shaped fore teeth in each jaw.

V. Pecora, Cattle: No fore teeth in the upper jaw, several in the lower.

VI. Belluæ: Fore teeth obtuse; feet furnished with hoofs.

VII. Cete, Whales: Pectoral fins in the place of feet, and in place of a tail the hind feet united so as to form a flat fin; no claws; the teeth cartilaginous.

The order Primates contains four genera:—

1. Homo, Man, of which (strange to say) he makes two species, viz. Homo Sapiens, including all the descendants of Adam, and Homo Troglodytes, the orang-outang! The varieties of the human race are the American, the European, the Asiatic, the African or Negro, and those called monstrous, such as the Patagonians, characterized by their great size, the flat-headed Indians of Canada, &c. His description of the human figure is amusing; and as it may afford an idea of his mode of viewing objects, we shall translate it in part:—

"The Body erect, bare, sprinkled over with a few distant hairs, and about six feet high. The Head inversely egg-shaped: scalp covered with longer hairs: the fore part obtuse, crown very obtuse, hind-head bulging. The Face bare: Forehead flattish, square, compressed at the temples, ascending at the corners among the hair. Eyebrows somewhat prominent, with hairs closely set and directed outwards, separated by the flattish glabella. Upper eyelid moveable, lower fixed, both pectinated with projecting somewhat recurved hairs. Eyes round: pupil round, without nictitant membrane. Cheeks bulging, softish, coloured, their lower part somewhat compressed, the buccal portion looser. Nose prominent, shorter than the lip, compressed, higher and more bulging at the tip; nostrils ovate, hairy within, with a thickish margin. Upper lip nearly perpendicular, grooved in the middle; lower lip nearly erect, more prominent. Chin protruded, obtuse, bulging. Mouth in the male bearded with bristles, which on the chin especially form a bundle. Fore teeth in both jaws sharp edged, erect, parallel, close; canine teeth solitary, a little longer, close to the rest on both sides; grinders five, bluntish. Ears lateral; auricles roundish-semilunar, pressed in some measure towards the head, bare, vaulted above the margin; bulging and soft below." He then proceeds to state more particularly, that there is no tail, and that the thumb is shorter and thicker than the fingers. Man, therefore, differs from other animals, as he says, in having the body erect and bare, although the head and eyebrows are covered with hair, two pectoral mammæ, a brain larger than that of any other creature, a uvula, the face bare and parallel to the abdomen, the nose prominent and compressed, the chin projecting, no tail, feet resting on the heels, the males bearded on the chin, the females smooth.

As to the orang-outang, which forms his second species of man, he might have known that having four hands, and being incapable of carrying its body erect, it had no right to stand beside the lord of the creation.

The second genus, Simia, includes the baboons and monkeys, of which, with and without tails, he enumerates thirty-three species.

3. Lemur, the macaucos: 5 species.

4. Vespertilio, the bats: 6 species.

These are the Nobles of the animal kingdom: men, monkeys, lemurs, and bats. There could hardly be a more unnatural association; but all artificial systems, founded upon the consideration of a single organ or set of organs, are chargeable with similar absurdities.

The second order, Bruta, is composed of the following genera:—

5. Elephas, the elephant, of which there is only one species.

6. Trichechus, the walrus: 2 species, the morse and manati.

7. Bradypus, the sloth: 2 species.

8. Myrmecophaga, the anteater: 4 species.

9. Manis: 2 species.

10. Dasypus, the armadillo: 6 species.

The third order, Feræ, or Beasts of Prey:—

11. Phoca, the seal: 3 species.

12. Canis, the dog, wolf, hyena, fox, jackal, &c.: 9 species.

13. Felis, the cat kind, including the lion, the tiger, &c.: 7 species.

14. Viverra, the civet: 6 species.

15. Mustela, the martin, including otters, weasels, ermines, polecats, &c.: 11 species.

16. Ursus, the bear: 4 species.

17. Didelphis, the opossum: 5 species.

18. Talpa, the mole: 2 species.

19. Sorex, the shrew: 5 species.

20. Erinaceus, the hedgehog: 3 species.

The fourth order, Glires, Gnawing Animals:—

21. Hystrix, the porcupine: 4 species.

22. Lepus, the hare: 4 species.

23. Castor, the beaver: 3 species.

24. Mus, rats and mice: 21 species.

25. Sciurus, the squirrel: 11 species.

26. Noctilio: 1 species.

The fifth order, Pecora, the Ruminating Animals:—

27. Camelus, the camel, dromedary, lama, and alpaca: 4 species.

28. Moschus, the musk: 3 species.

29. Cervus, the deer: 7 species.

30. Capra, the goat: 12 species.

31. Ovis, the sheep: 3 species.

32. Bos, the ox tribe: 6 species.

The sixth order, Belluæ, contains,—

33. Equus, the horse, ass, and zebra: 3 species.

34. Hippopotamus: 1 species.

35. Sus, the hog tribe: 5 species.

36. Rhinoceros: 1 species.

The seventh order, Cete, the Whales, consists of four genera:—

37. Monodon, the narwhal, or sea-unicorn: 1 species.

38. Balæna, the whale, properly so called: 4 species.

39. Physeter, the cachalot: 4 species.

40. Delphinus, the dolphin: 3 species.

Including a few additional species mentioned in the appendix to the third volume, and the Mantissa of 1771, the number of Mammalia known to Linnæus was about 230. At the present day, more than 1000 species are described.

The second class, that of Birds, is divided by him into six orders, the essential characters of which are derived from the bill and feet, as follows:—

I. Accipitres: Birds of Prey. The bill more or less curved, the upper mandible dilated or armed with a tooth-like process near the tip; the feet short, robust, with acute hooked claws.

II. Picæ. The bill cultriform, with the back convex; the feet short, rather strong.

III. Anseres: Web-footed Birds. The bill smooth, covered with epidermis, enlarged at the tip; the toes united by a web, the legs compressed and short.

IV. Grallæ: Waders. The bill somewhat cylindrical; the feet long, bare above the knee, and formed for wading.

V. Gallinæ: Gallinaceous Birds. Bill convex, the upper mandible arched over the lower, the nostrils arched with a cartilaginous membrane. Feet with the toes separated, and rough beneath.

VI. Passeres: Small Birds. Bill conical, sharp pointed; feet slender, the toes separated.

It may here be remarked, that this arrangement is liable to many objections, and especially because the characters given to the orders are totally inapplicable to many species contained in them. Thus, the vultures, which belong to the first order, have no projecting processes on the upper mandible; the parrots, which are referred to the second, have the bill hooked, not cultriform, and bear no resemblance to the other species; among the Anseres, which are characterized as having the bill smooth, covered with epidermis, and enlarged at the tip, are the gannet with a bare pointed bill, the divers, the terns, and the gulls, with bills not at all answering to the description given; among the Grallæ with a cylindrical bill, are the ostrich with a short depressed one, the boatbill with one resembling a boat, the spoonbill, the heron, the flamingo, and others, whose bills differ from each other as much as from that of the snipes and curlews; the character given to the bill of the Gallinæ agrees with that of many Passeres; and, lastly, the wagtail, the swallow, the tit, the robin, and a multitude of other small birds, have bills extremely unlike those of the goldfinch, bunting, and crossbill, which are referred to the same order. We mention these circumstances, not for the purpose of detracting from the merit of Linnæus, but simply because we are persuaded that many of his generalizations are extremely incorrect, as are in many respects those of all his predecessors, and even of the ablest philosophers of the present age. It is absurd to attempt to thrust the objects of nature into squares or circles, or enclosures of any other form. Every system that has been invented has failed in presenting even a tolerably accurate view of the discrepancies and accordances of the endlessly-diversified forms that have resulted from the creation of an Infinite Power.

The following table presents the Linnæan arrangement of Birds in outline:—

Order I. Accipitres.

41. Vultur, vultures. Beak hooked; head bare: 8 species.

42. Falco, eagles and hawks. Beak hooked; head feathered: 32 species.

43. Strix, owl. Beak hooked, feathers at its base directed forwards: 12 species.

44. Lanius, shrike. Beak straightish, notched: 26 species.

Order II. Picæ.

45. Psittacus, parrots. Beak hooked; upper mandible furnished with a cere: 47 species.

46. Ramphastos, toucan. Beak very large, hollow, convex, serrated; both mandibles incurved at the tip: 8 species.

47. Buceros, hornbill. Beak convex, curved, cultrate, large, serrated; forehead covered with a horny plate: 4 species.

46. Buphaga, beef-eater. Beak straight, somewhat quadrangular; the mandibles bulging: 1 species.

49. Crotophaga, plantain-eater. Beak compressed, half-eggshaped, arched, keeled on the back: 2 species.

50. Corvus, crows. Beak convex, cultrate; nostrils covered by recumbent bristly feathers: 19 species.

51. Coracias, roller. Beak cultrate, the tip incurved, not covered with feathers at the base: 6 species.

52. Oriolus, oriole. Beak conical, convex, straight, very acute; upper mandible slightly longer, and indistinctly notched: 20 species.

53. Gracula, grakle. Beak cultrate, convex, bareish at the base: 8 species.

54. Paradisea, birds of Paradise. Beak covered with the downy feathers of the forehead; feathers of the sides long: 3 species.

55. Trogon, curucui. Beak shorter than the head, cultrate, hooked, serrated: 3 species.

56. Bucco, barbet. Beak cultrate, laterally compressed, notched at the tip, incurved, opening to beneath the eyes: 1 species.

57. Cuculus, cuckoo. Beak roundish; nostrils with a prominent margin: 22 species.

58. Yunx, wryneck. Beak roundish, sharp pointed; nostrils concave: 1 species.

59. Picus, woodpecker. Beak angular, straight, the tip wedgeshaped; the nostrils covered with recumbent bristly feathers: 21 species.

60. Sitta, nuthatch. Beak awlshaped, roundish, straight: 3 species.

61. Todus, tody. Beak awlshaped, a little flattened, obtuse, straight, with spreading bristles at the base: 2 species.

62. Alcedo, kingsfisher. Beak three cornered, thick, straight, long: 15 species.

63. Merops, bee-eater. Beak curved, compressed, keeled: 7 species.

64. Upupa, hoopoe. Beak arcuate, convex, a little compressed, rather obtuse: 3 species.

65. Certhia, creeper. Beak arcuate, slender, acute: 25 species.

66. Trochilus, humming-bird. Beak slender, longer than the head, its tip tubular: 22 species.

Order III. Anseres.

67. Anas, swans, geese, and ducks. Beak lamellated at the margin, convex, obtuse: 45 species.

68. Mergus, merganser. Beak denticulate, cylindrical, the tip hooked: 6 species.

69. Alca, auk. Beak short, compressed, convex, furrowed; the lower mandible with a prominent angle: 5 species.

70. Procellaria, petrel. Beak a little compressed; the upper mandible hooked, the lower channelled and compressed at the tip: 6 species.

71. Diomedea, albatross. Beak straight; upper mandible hooked at the tip, lower abrupt: 2 species.

72. Pelecanus, pelican, gannet, shag. Beak straight, the tip hooked, unguiculate: 8 species.

73. Plotus, darter. Beak straight, sharp pointed, denticulate: 1 species.

74. Phaeton. Beak cultrate, straight, acuminate: 2 species.

75. Colymbus, diver. Beak slender, straight, sharp pointed: 11 species.

76. Larus, gull. Beak straight, cultrate, the tip a little hooked; the lower mandible with an angular prominence: 11 species.

77. Sterna, tern. Beak slender, nearly straight, acute, compressed: 7 species.

78. Rynchops, skimmer. Beak straight; upper mandible much shorter, lower abruptly terminated: 2 species.

Order IV. Grallæ, Waders.

79. Phœnicopterus, flamingo. Beak incurvated as if broken, denticulate; feet webbed: 1 species.

80. Platalea, spoonbill. Beak flattish, the tip dilated, rounded, and flat: 3 species.

81. Palamedea, screamer. Beak conical; the upper mandible hooked: 2 species.

82. Mycteria, jabiru. Beak acute; lower mandible trigonal, ascending; upper three cornered, straight: 1 species.

83. Cancroma, boatbill. Beak bulging; the upper mandible resembling a boat with the keel uppermost: 2 species.

84. Ardea, cranes and herons. Beak straight, acute, long, a little compressed, with a furrow from the nostrils to the tip: 26 species.

85. Tantalus, ibis. Beak long, slender, arcuate; face bare: 7 species.

86. Scolopax, snipes, curlews. Beak long, slender, obtuse; face feathered: 18 species.

87. Tringa, sandpiper. Beak roundish, as long as the head; nostrils linear; feet with four toes: 23 species.

88. Charadrius, plover. Beak roundish, obtuse; feet with three toes: 12 species.

89. Recurvirostra, avoset. Beak slender, recurved, pointed, the tip flexible: 1 species.

90. Hæmatopus, oyster-catcher. Beak compressed, the tip wedgeshaped: 1 species.

91. Fulica, coot. Beak convex; upper mandible arched over the lower, which has a prominent angle: 7 species.

92. Parra, jacana. Beak roundish, bluntish; forehead wattled; wings spurred: 5 species.

93. Rallus, rail. Beak thicker at the base, compressed, acute: 10 species.

94. Psophia, trumpeter. Beak conical, convex, rather sharp; the upper mandible longer: 1 species.

95. Otis, bustard. Beak with the upper mandible arched: 4 species.

96. Struthio, ostrich and cassowary. Beak somewhat conical; wings unfit for flying: 3 species.

Order V. Gallinæ, Gallinaceous Birds.

97. Didus, dodo. Beak contracted in the middle, with two transverse rugæ; the tip of both mandibles bent inwards: 1 species, now extinct.

98. Pavo, pea-fowl. Head covered with feathers; feathers of the rump elongated, with eyelike spots: 3 species.

99. Meleagris, turkey-fowl. Head covered with spongy caruncles; the throat with a longitudinal membranous wattle: 3 species.

100. Crax, curassow-bird. Beak with a cere at the base; head covered with recurved feathers: 5 species.

101. Phasianus, pheasant. Sides of the head bare: 6 species.

102. Numida, Guinea-fowl. Carunculated wattles on each side of the face; head with a horny crest: 1 species.

103. Tetrao, grouse and partridge. A bare papillar spot near the eyes: 20 species.

Order VI. Passeres.

104. Columba, pigeon. Beak straight; nostrils with a tumid membrane: 40 species.

105. Alauda, lark. Beak slender, pointed; tongue slit; hind claw very long: 11 species.

106. Sturnus, starling. Beak slender, flattened towards the point: 5 species.

107. Turdus, thrush. Beak tubulate, compressed, notched: 28 species.

108. Ampelis, chatterer. Beak awlshaped, depressed at the base, notched: 7 species.

109. Loxia, grossbeak. Beak conical, bulging at the base: 48 species.

110. Emberiza, bunting. Beak somewhat conical; lower mandible broader: 24 species.

111. Tanagra, tanager. Beak notched, awlshaped, conical at the base: 24 species.

112. Fringilla, finch. Beak conical, acute: 39 species.

113. Muscicapa, flycatcher. Beak notched, awlshaped, with large bristles at the base: 21 species.

114. Motacilla, wagtails, warblers. Beak awlshaped, tongue jagged; claw of the hind toe of moderate length: 49 species.

115. Pipra, manakin. Beak awlshaped, incurved: 13 species.

116. Parus, tit. Beak awlshaped, feathers at its base directed forwards; tongue abrupt: 14 species.

117. Hirundo, swallow. Beak very small, depressed at the base, incurved; the mouth wider than the head: 12 species.

118. Caprimulgus, goatsucker. Beak very small, incurved, depressed at the base; large bristles; the mouth very wide: 2 species.

The class of Birds comprehends 930 species, which are characterized by the colours of the plumage, the forms of the feathers, the existence of wattles, spurs, and various other circumstances.

The third class, Amphibia, is composed of animals not, strictly speaking, capable of living both in air and in water, but having the power of suspending their respiration in a more arbitrary manner than others. They are arranged under four orders:—

I. Reptiles. Amphibious animals respiring through the mouth by means of lungs; and furnished with four feet.

To this order belong the tortoises, dragons, crocodiles, lizards, toads, and frogs, which are disposed into four genera, containing 83 species.

II. Serpentes, Serpents. Respiring through the mouth by means of lungs; destitute of feet, fins, and ears.

There are six genera, and 132 species.

III. Meantes, Gliders. Respiring by means of gills and lungs; furnished with feet and claws.

There is only one species, the lizard-syren of Carolina.

IV. Nantes, Swimming Amphibia. Respiring at will by means of gills and lungs: the rays of the fins cartilaginous.

These animals, of which 76 species are enumerated, are referred to fourteen genera,—the lamprey, ray or skate, shark, chimæra, frog-fish, sturgeon, lump-fish, oldwife-fish, bonyskin-fish, sun-fish, porcupine-fish, trumpet-fish, pipe-fish, and dragon-fish.

The number of species described as belonging to this class is 292. The specific characters are derived from various circumstances connected with the external conformation; in the tortoises, from the shell and feet; in the snakes, from the number of the abdominal and caudal plates; in the swimming amphibia, or, as they are now more properly called, the cartilaginous fishes, from the form of the body, the differences of the fins, and other circumstances.

The fourth class, that of Fishes, contains four orders, founded upon the relative position of the fins, which are compared to the feet of other animals. Thus, the ventral fins may be placed before, beneath, or behind the pectoral, or they may be wanting.

I. Apodes, Apodal or Footless. Fishes destitute of ventral fins; such as the eel, the wolf-fish, and the sword-fish.

II. Jugulares, Jugular. Fishes having the ventral fins placed before the pectoral; as the dragonet, weever, cod, haddock, and coal-fish.

III. Thoracici, Thoracic. Fishes having the ventral fins placed under the pectoral; as the goby, bull-head, holibut, gilt-head, perch, mackerel, &c.

IV. Abdominales, Abdominal. Fishes having the ventral fins placed on the abdomen behind the pectoral fins; as in the salmon, trout, pike, mullet, and herring.

In this class there are 47 genera, and 400 species. The specific characters are taken from the number of rays in the fins, the form of the tail, the cirri or filaments at the mouth, the colouring of the body, the form of the scales, and other circumstances.

The fifth class, that in which the Insects are included, comprehends 86 genera, disposed into seven orders, which are founded on the number and texture of the wings.

I. Coleoptera, or Hard-winged Insects. Insects having the wings covered by two crustaceous cases. This order is the most extensive, including 30 genera, and 893 species. It includes all the insects commonly known by the name of beetles.

II. Hemiptera, or Half-winged Insects, having the shells or cases semicrustaceous, not divided by a straight line as in the coleoptera, but overlapping each other at the margin; the beak curved inwards; 12 genera, 353 species. The cockroach, cricket, locust, and cochineal-insect, are examples.

III. Lepidoptera, or Scaly-winged Insects, having four wings, which are covered with imbricated scales; the tongue spiral and coiled up, the body hairy. In this order there are only 3 genera, Papilio, Sphinx, and Phalæna, the butterflies and moths; but the species are 780.

IV. Neuroptera, or Net-winged Insects, with four naked, transparent, or reticulated wings; the tail generally destitute of a sting. There are 7 genera, and 83 species, among which are the dragon-fly, the may-fly, and the scorpion-fly.

V. Hymenoptera, or Thin-winged Insects, with four naked membranous wings; some species, however, being wingless. The females have the tail armed with a sting. This order contains 10 genera, and 313 species, of which may be mentioned as examples, the wasp, bee, ichneumon-fly, and ant.

VI. Diptera, or Two-winged Insects, having only two wings, and being furnished with a balance or club behind each wing. There are 10 genera, and 262 species, among which are the common house-fly, the flesh-fly, and the gnat.

VII. Aptera, Wingless. Insects destitute of wings in both sexes. They are arranged under 14 genera, and consist of 300 species. In this order there are three divisions: some have six feet, as the flea, the louse, and the white ant; others have from 8 to 14 feet, as the spider, scorpion, crab, and lobster; while others have a still greater number, as the centipede.

The generic characters are derived from the antennæ, the jaws, the head, the thorax, the wings, the elytra or wing-covers; and the specific, from the colours and other circumstances. The number of species is 2984.

The sixth class, that of Vermes or Worms, is a very heterogeneous one, and to later authors has supplied materials for several classes. Linnæus divides it into five orders:

I. Intestina, Intestinal Animals: simple, naked, and destitute of limbs: for example, the earth-worm, the guinea-worm, the leech, and the ascaris: 7 genera, 24 species.

II. Mollusca. Simple, naked animals, furnished with limbs: the slug, the sea-mouse, the sea-anemone, the cuttlefish, the sea-nettle, the star-fish, and the sea-urchin: 18 genera, 110 species.

III. Testacea, Shell-fish. Soft, simple animals, covered with a shell which is usually calcareous. This order includes 36 genera, and 814 species. It is divided into three groups, the multivalve shells, or those which consist of several pieces; the bivalve, of two pieces; and the univalve, or those of one piece only.

IV. Lithophyta. Compound animals, affixed to, and fabricating a fixed calcareous base, called coral. There are 59 species, which are referred to 4 genera, the tubipores, madrepores, millepores, and cellepores.

V. Zoophyta. Compound animals, sending forth processes resembling flowers, and springing from a vegetating stem. This order contains 15 genera, among which are the red coral, the sea-fan, the sponge, coralline, &c. The number of species is 156.

The characters of the genera and species of these orders are derived from so many various circumstances, that it would be tedious to recapitulate them. The number of objects defined in this part of the Systema Naturæ, is as follows:—

Mammalia,	219
Birds,	930
Amphibia,	292
Fishes,	400
Insects,	2984
Vermes,	1163
Species from the Appendices,	140
In all, 6128 species of animals.

It may be observed with respect to the method followed by Linnæus in his arrangements, that he has generally chosen the most simple and perspicuous that he could devise. The whole creation he disposes into three kingdoms, the animal, the vegetable, and the mineral. The animal kingdom is divided into six great classes, characterized by various circumstances of their organization. Each of these six classes is divided into several orders and numerous genera; and the genera are composed of species. Sometimes the species exhibits varieties, or variations of form, colour, and other qualities, dependent upon climate, food, domestication, and other circumstances. There are thus in his arrangement of animals five gradations: kingdom, class, order, genus, and species. We shall find that the same series is adopted in his classification of the vegetable kingdom. It must be remarked, however, that in nature none of these gradations actually exist. Individuals alone form the subjects of observation; but a number of individuals closely resembling each other are considered in the mind as forming a species; and several species agreeing in certain respects with each other form a genus; while genera united by particular characters compose an order; and the orders constitute a class. Thus all the individual birds called goldfinches form the species Goldfinch, which with the species Chaffinch and others constitute the genus Finch. This genus, and those known by the names of Grossbeak, Bunting, Lark, &c. constitute the order Passerine Birds. Natural objects may thus be arranged in a definite series, so that the place of any given species may be determined; hence, if the student should be desirous of finding the name and history of a particular object, he can readily discover it, or he can satisfy himself that it has not yet been described. At the same time, it must be remembered, that the classification in question is entirely artificial, and does not necessarily place together genera that are the most closely allied. It is a kind of systematic index to the works of nature, and is useful in many respects, although it may not lead to the disclosure of all the peculiarities or all the affinities and relations of the object to be examined. The Linnæan arrangement of animals cannot be considered in any other light; for, if we view it as a natural classification, we meet with false positions and erroneous views at almost every step. His disciples mistook it for a perfect system, and viewed the various species with reference to it, rather than with respect to their mutual relations. Still, they who look upon the artificial classifications of our great master as having done more harm than good, judge erroneously; for although they are certainly imperfect, without them or others of a similar kind it would have been impossible to retain any distinct remembrance of the numerous objects which have successively been introduced to notice. It were more reasonable to admire the ingenuity displayed in the construction of so simple a system, than to blame the unsuccessful attempt to classify, according to their essential peculiarities, objects whose multiplied relations have, to the present day, defied the most accomplished naturalists.

With respect to the nomenclature, it is sufficient to remark, that the classes and orders bear appropriate names, derived from various circumstances. Thus in the class Mammalia, so denominated because the animals composing it bear mammæ and suckle their young, are the orders Primates or Nobles, Bruta, Feræ, &c. The generic names are always substantives, as Phoca, Canis, Lepus, &c.; and the specific names are either adjectives, as Phoca barbata, Canis familiaris, Lepus timidus, or, in certain rarer cases, substantives, as Canis Lupus, Ursus Arctos, &c. We now proceed to the examination of another kingdom.

The second volume of the Systema Naturæ contains an arrangement of all the species of vegetables known to Linnæus. It is in this department that our author has been generally allowed to excel, and his system, after undergoing some modifications, remains in use at the present day; nor is it likely ever to be superseded by any other merely artificial arrangement.

Before proceeding to a general account of this celebrated scheme, it may be useful to take a brief view of those by which it was preceded. It is obvious, that without a methodical disposition of plants, and a fixed nomenclature, it would be impossible for an individual to retain the knowledge of the numerous and diversified forms which these present. Descriptions, moreover, would be unintelligible, and we should find it difficult or impracticable to ascertain the species of which authors might write.

The alphabetical arrangement of plants, the most artificial, or at least the most unnatural of all, was at one time much followed by botanists, especially in local catalogues. The time of flowering, the place of growth, the general habit or appearance, and various other circumstances, formed a basis to other arrangements. In the sixteenth century, Conrad Gesner showed that the flower and fruit were the only parts capable of affording determinate characters. Cæsalpinus, physician to Pope Clement VIII., presented the first model of a botanical system, in his Libri de Plantis, published in 1583. The characters are derived principally from the fruit, though likewise from the flowers, and the duration of plants. The two Bauhins, Ray, and Morison, published systems constructed on similar principles. Others, as Rivinus and Ludwig, derived their characters from the corolla. All these methods, however, successively passed into neglect, and were superseded by that of Tournefort, who was professor of botany at the Garden of Plants in Paris, in the reign of Louis XIV. This eminent writer was the first who defined the species and genera with any degree of precision. He arranged plants according to the various forms of the corolla, dividing them primarily, according to the consistence of the stem, into Herbs and Trees. The former were subdivided into three orders; those with simple flowers, those with compound flowers, and those destitute of flowers. The following is an outline of his system:—

Division I. Herbs.

* With simple flowers.

Corolla of one piece, regular.

Class I. Campaniformes, with a regular corolla, of one piece, and resembling a bell; as the convolvulus.

II. Infundibuliformes, with a regular corolla, of one piece, and resembling a funnel; as the tobacco.

Corolla of one piece, irregular.

III. Personatæ, with an irregular corolla, of one piece, resembling an antique mask; as the foxglove.

IV. Labiatæ, with an irregular corolla, of one piece, divided into two lips; as the sage.

Corolla of several pieces, regular.

V. Cruciformes, with a regular corolla, composed of four petals, placed crosswise; as the wallflower.

VI. Rosaceæ, with a regular corolla, composed of several petals, arranged in the form of a rose; as the wild rose and apple.

VII. Umbelliferæ, with a regular corolla, composed of five petals, the flowers arranged on stalks resembling the spokes of an umbrella; as in the carrot.

VIII. Caryophylleæ, with a regular corolla, composed of five petals, having long claws; as the pink.

IX. Liliaceæ, with a regular corolla, composed of six or three petals, or sometimes of one piece with six divisions; as the tulip.

Corolla of several pieces, irregular.

X. Papilionaceæ, with an irregular corolla, composed of five petals; as the pea.

XI. Anomalæ, with an irregular corolla, composed of five petals, but differing from the papilionaceous form; as the violet.

* * With compound flowers.

XII. Flosculosæ, with flowers composed of small funnel-shaped, regular corollas, divided into five segments; as the thistle.

XIII. Semiflosculosæ, with flowers composed of small irregular corollas, of an elongated flat shape; as the dandelion.

XIV. Radiatæ, with flowers composed of funnel-shaped florets at the centre, and flat ones at the circumference; as the daisy.

* * * Destitute of flowers.

XV. Apetalæ, whose flowers have no true corolla; as the grasses.

XVI. Apetalæ, entirely destitute of flowers, but having leaves; as the ferns.

XVII. Apetalæ, without apparent flowers or fruit; as mosses.

Division II. Trees.

Without petals.

XVIII. Apetalous Trees or Shrubs, having their flowers destitute of corolla; as the box.

XIX. Amentaceæ, with the flowers disposed in catkins; as the oak.

With flowers of one petal.

XX. Trees with a regular or irregular corolla of one piece; as the lilac.

With regular flowers of several petals.

XXI. Trees or Shrubs with rosaceous corolla; as the apple-tree.

With irregular flowers of several petals.

XXII. Trees or Shrubs with papilionaceous corolla; as the laburnum.

Each of these classes is subdivided into various sections or orders, founded upon modifications in the form of the corolla, the nature of the fruit, the figure of the leaves, &c. The sections contain a greater or less number of genera, under which are disposed all the species known to the author.

This classification was of the greatest service to botanists; though it was, like every other method that had been proposed, defective in many respects. A great objection to it is, that it separates the herbaceous from the woody plants, thus tearing asunder the most natural connexions; nor is the form of the corolla always so determinate, that one can say whether it be bell-shaped, funnel-shaped, or salver-shaped,—a point which it is necessary to decide before the species can be made out. Various changes were soon proposed, and new methods planned, so that the science was again falling into confusion, when Linnæus published his system, which was presently adopted by many teachers, and long before his death was in general use.

He made the stamina and pistils the basis of his arrangement, which he was induced to do from the consideration of their great importance, as the parts most essential to fructification. These organs being analogous to those distinguishing the sexes of animals, the Linnæan method is sometimes called the sexual system. It consists of twenty-four classes. The first ten are determined by the number of the stamina.

Class I. Monandria, containing all plants of which the flowers have only one stamen; as the mare's tail.

II. Diandria: two stamens; as the jasmine.

III. Triandria: three stamens; as wheat, oats, and grasses in general.

IV. Tetrandria: four stamens; as woodruff.

V. Pentandria: five stamens; as the primrose.

VI. Hexandria: six stamens; as the lily and tulip.

VII. Heptandria: seven stamens; as the horse-chestnut.

VIII. Octandria: eight stamens; as the heaths.

IX. Enneandria: nine stamens; as rhubarb.

X. Decandria: ten stamens; as the pink.

In the next three classes, the stamens exceed ten in number, but differ from each other in certain circumstances.

XI. Dodecandria: stamens from twelve to twenty; as in agrimony.

XII. Icosandria: twenty or more stamens, inserted upon the inner side of the calyx; as in the rose and apple.

XIII. Polyandria: twenty or more stamens, inserted upon the receptacle or point of union of all the parts of the flower; as in the crowfoot and anemone.

The relative length of the stamens determines the next two classes.

XIV. Didynamia: four-stamens, of which two are shorter; as in thyme and foxglove.

XV. Tetradynamia: six stamens, of which two are shorter; as in cabbage and wallflower.

Three classes are indicated by having the stamina connected by their filaments.

XVI. Monadelphia: stamens united by their filaments into a single body or set; as in mallows.

XVII. Diadelphia: stamens united into two distinct sets; as in fumitory.

XVIII. Polyadelphia: stamens united into three or more bundles; as in hypericum and cistus.

In the next class, the stamens are united by their anthers.

XIX. Syngenesia: five stamens united by the anthers; as in the dandelion and violet.

In the twentieth, the pistil and stamen are united.

XX. Gynandria: stamens united to the pistil; as in orchis.

The plants of all the above classes have flowers furnished with both stamens and pistils; but in the next three the flowers are unisexual.

XXI. Monœcia: Flowers bearing stamens only, and flowers bearing pistils only, occurring on the same plant; as in the oak.

XXII. Diœcia: stameniferous flowers on one, and pistilliferous flowers on another individual of the same species; as in willows.

XXIII. Polygamia: Flowers bearing stamens and pistils, flowers bearing stamens only, and flowers bearing pistils only, all on the same individual, or on different individuals of the same species; as in the ash and pellitory.

The above classes contain all the plants that are Phœnogamous, or have distinctly perceptible organs of reproduction; the next and last class is composed of the cryptogamous, or those of which the flowers either do not exist, or have not been demonstrated.

XXIV. Cryptogamia: Ferns, mosses, lichens, sea-weeds, mushrooms, &c.

The orders or subdivisions of the classes are founded on the number of the pistils in the first thirteen. Thus, in any of these classes, the first order is Monogynia, or one pistil; the second Digynia, two pistils, &c. But in the fourteenth class, Didynamia, there are only two orders, Gymnospermia and Angiospermia, the former having four naked seeds, the latter having the seeds enclosed in a seed-vessel. In the fifteenth class, Tetradynamia, there are also two orders, Siliculosa, in which the pod is short, and Siliquosa, in which it is long. The orders of Monadelphia, Diadelphia, and Polyadelphia, are formed from the number of the stamina, and bear the names of Hexandria when there are six, Decandria when there are ten, &c. The orders of the nineteenth class, Syngenesia, are six. In the first, Polygamia æqualis, all the flowers (or florets, as they are here called on account of their small size, and because they are viewed as components of a compound flower) have stamens and pistils, and are equally fertile; in the second, Polygamia superflua, the flowers of the centre have stamens and pistils, those of the circumference pistils only, but both kinds produce seeds; in the third, Polygamia frustranea, the flowers of the centre have stamens and a pistil, and are fertile, those of the circumference neutral, or furnished with a pistil, but steril; in the fourth, Polygamia necessaria, the flowers of the centre have stamens and a pistil, but are steril, in consequence of an imperfection in the stigma, those of the circumference have a pistil, and are fertile; in the fifth, Polygamia segregata, all the flowers are perfect, but each has a small calyx, and the whole are contained within a common involucre; and in the last order, Monogamia, the flowers are separated from each other. In Gynandria, the orders are determined by the number of the stamens. In Monœcia and Diœcia, the characters distinctive of the classes are employed for the orders. Polygamia has three orders, Monœcia, Diœcia, Triœcia; and the last class, Cryptogamia, is divided into four orders, consisting of the Filices or Ferns, the Musci or Mosses, the Algæ, and the Fungi.

The genera are established upon characters derived from all the parts of fructification compared together, according to their number, figure, proportion, and situation; but as this volume was intended to contain all the plants known to the author, the natural characters thus formed could not be employed on account of their length, and he has used the essential character, which is shorter, and consists of those marks that serve to distinguish the genera from each other in the natural orders; while at the head of each class, the genera are synoptically disposed, being defined by their factitious characters, or those by which one is distinguished from another in the artificial order only.

The remarks which we have already made respecting the generic and specific names, apply equally to this department. These last, in the systems of former botanists, were lengthened descriptions, taken from various circumstances, and seldom in any degree distinctive; but Linnæus reduced them to twelve words at most, and derived them from some remarkable difference in the leaves, roots, stems, or other unvarying properties. These short phrases he continued to call the specific name, but they are now properly considered as the specific character; while he invented what he called the trivial name, consisting of a single word added to the generic, and which we now use as the specific. The number of species mentioned in the Systema Naturæ amounts to upwards of 7800.

We come now to the third and last volume, containing his arrangement of the objects forming the mineral kingdom. This department has received less elucidation from him than the others. In 1736, he first digested a mineralogical system, in which he attempted to found the genera on definite characters; but he seems to have lost sight of the subject until obliged to attend to it when editing the twelfth edition of his work. There he prefixes to his arrangement a brief account of his theory on the origin of fossil bodies in general, and of their several combinations. His views, however, are extremely fanciful, and cannot be said to have produced any beneficial effect on the study of this science. As they have long ago passed into oblivion, it may afford amusement, if not instruction, to present an outline of them.

The earth originated from water, agreeably to the testimony of Moses, Thales, and Seneca! The sea becoming pregnant gradually produced the dry land, from which the dew rose by evaporation, was elevated into clouds, and again descended in showers. No certain indications of a universal deluge have yet been found, but we every where perceive that land has been formed from the sea.

The water of the ocean, being impregnated by the air, produces a twin birth; the saline principle, which is masculine, soluble, acrid, transparent, and crystalline; the earthy, which is feminine, fixed, viscid, opaque, and attractive. It also nourishes the animal and the vegetable beings, which in course of time are reduced to earth.

The salts, which are sapid, polyhedral, transparent, multiplicative, soluble into infinitely minute particles, although always retaining the same form, and again becoming concrete so as to form larger particles of the same figure, generate various minerals by crystallizing.

Nitrum, which is aërial, by covering over increases sand.

Muria, which is marine, by corroding attracts clay.

Natrum, which is of animal origin, by deliquescing coagulates lime.

Alumen, which is of vegetable origin, by ramifying produces earthy soil.

These are the Fathers of minerals.

The Earths, which are powdery, drying, soluble, fixed, primitive, are generated or reproduced by crystallizing, precipitating, fermenting, or putrefying. From them, by crystallization or attraction, minerals are reformed, and these again are resolved into earths and regenerated.

Clay is the precipitation of the viscid water of the sea; and is opaque, plastic, friable, capable of hardening, and fireless.

Sand is the crystallization of turbid rain-water; and is transparent, juiceless, giving sparks, durable, and capable of being vitrified.

Mould is the decomposition of fermenting vegetables; and is black, bibulous, powdery, and combustible.

Lime is the decomposition of putrescent animal substances; and is whitish, absorbent, mealy, penetrable, and effervescent.

Clay, the earth of sea-water, is hardened into talc, when redissolved is regenerated in the form of asbestus, and when more intimately dissolved resumes the form of mica. Sand, the earth of rain-water, when thrown on the land and dried, forms drift-sand, which finally becomes gravel. Both substances, when under ground, are converted into sandstone, and when mixed with other matters form pebbles, which grow into stones. When redissolved and crystallized, it produces quartz. Mould, the earth of vegetables, is hardened into fissile slate, which being impregnated with bitumen becomes coal. It is dissolved into ochre, and regenerated into tophus. Lime, the wife of natron, produces marble, dissolved and saturated with acid is crystallized into gypsum. Both are decomposed by the elements into chalk, which, acted upon by rain-water, becomes flint; and when dissolved, is crystallized into spar (or calcedony).

Such are the Mothers of minerals.

It is unnecessary to follow our author, while he states the principles of his sexual system of minerals, through the forms and modifications of crystals, metals, rocks, and petrifactions. His scheme of geology may be described as follows:—The strata of the earth are generally parallel to each other, although not always so, nor always of marine origin. The lowest is of sandstone (cos), the second of slate, the third of marble filled with marine petrifactions, the fourth of slate, the uppermost of the saxose kind, which includes granite, porphyry, trap, conglomerate, and puddingstone. It is obvious that the ocean has produced the land. It is rendered turbid by nitrous showers, precipitates, and is crystallized into sand, which covers the bottom of the sea. The surface of it is here and there covered over to a great extent with floating fuci, the mould derived from which gradually descends, while the lighter particles help to form a floating meadow. Marine vermes, the mollusca, testacea, lithophytes, and zoophytes, together with fishes and sea-birds, feed beneath this floating meadow. An argillaceous sediment falls down in the quiet water, and this, together with the calcareous shells of the marine vermes, gradually forms a heap, which rises to the surface, while the pressure agitating the water drives out the marine animals. On the rock thus formed, the sea casts up great quantities of fuci, which are converted into mould, until at length the sandy earth rises above the surface, dries, is driven about, and concresces into gravel and sandstone. In the course of ages, the sand is hardened into sandstone, the mould into bituminous shale and coal, the clay into marble, other layers of mould into other beds of shale or slate, and other masses of sand into gravel and conglomerate. This again is converted into pebbles, these into stones, the stones into rocks. At length, the water subsiding, the mass becomes a mountain. Had Linnæus been as unfortunate in his other theories as in this, his name would have been long ago forgotten.

However fanciful his theoretical views may be, his classification is not unworthy of praise, and his specific definitions are generally intelligible to a modern mineralogist; but this is nearly all, however, that can be said in their favour. He divides the mineral kingdom into three classes, under the names of Petræ, Mineræ, and Fossilia. These are again subdivided into several orders, and the number of genera amounts to fifty-four.

Class I. Petræ or Stones, or, as modern geologists would say, Rocks.

Steril stones, originating from an earthy principle by cohesion; simple, as being destitute of salt, sulphur, or mercury; fixed, as not being intimately soluble; similar, as consisting of particles united at random.

Order I. Humosæ. Deposited from vegetable earth, combustible and burning to cinders, their powder harsh and light; as roofing-slate.

Order II. Calcariæ. Originating from animal earth; penetrable by fire, and becoming more porous, their powder mealy; and when burnt, they fall into a fine powder; as limestone, marble, gypsum.

Order III. Argillaceæ. Originating from the viscid sediment of the sea, becoming harder and stiffer in the fire, their powder unctuous before exposure to fire; as serpentine, asbestus, mica.

Order IV. Arenatæ. Originating from precipitation caused by rain-water, when struck with steel emitting sparks, very hard, their powder rough and angular like bits of glass; as quartz, jasper, flint.

Order V. Aggregatæ. Originating from a mixture of the foregoing, and therefore participating their constituent particles; their powder differing accordingly; as granite, puddingstone.

Class II. Mineræ, Minerals.

Fertile stones, originating from a saline principle by crystallization; compound, as produced from a stony substance (of the preceding class), impregnated by salt, sulphur, or mercury, intimately soluble in an appropriate menstruum, and crystalline.

Order I. Salia, Salts. To be distinguished by the taste, soluble in water; as rock-salt, alum, borax.

Order II. Sulphura, Sulphureous Minerals. Distinguishable by smell, emitting an odour and flaming under the action of fire, soluble in oil; as amber, naphtha, pyrites.

Order III. Metalla, Metallic Minerals. Distinguishable by good eyes! very heavy, fusible, soluble in appropriate acid menstrua; as molybdæna, lead, gold, and copper.

Class III. Fossilia, Fossils.

Ambiguous stones, originating from modifications of the substances included in the preceding classes.

Order I. Petrificata, Petrifactions. Impressed with the form of some natural object, as,—

Zoolithus, the petrifaction of an animal of the class Mammalia.

Ornitholithus, a petrified bird.

Amphibiolithus, a petrified frog, snake, &c.

Ichthyolithus, a petrified fish.

Entomolithus, a petrified insect or crab.

Helmintholithus, of the class vermes, including shells.

Phytolithus, vegetable petrifactions.

Graptolithus, resembling figures produced by painting; as florentine and landscape marble.

Order II. Concreta, coagulated from particles agglutinated at random; as urinary and salivary calculi; tartar of wine; pumice, formed by fire; stalactite, formed by air; tophus, produced under water, as oolite.

Order III. Terræ, Earths. Pulverized, their particles loose; as ochre, sand, clay, and chalk.

The first edition of the Systema Naturæ, which consisted of fourteen folio pages, was, as has been already related, printed at Leyden in 1735. That which the author reckoned the twelfth, but which was in reality the fifteenth, is the one that ought to be referred to by naturalists, it being the last that was published under his own care and inspection. It appeared at Stockholm in 1766.

An edition, greatly enlarged, was published at Leipsic by Gmelin in 1788, and contains numerous species not included in any of the preceding. "No nation," says Dr Stoever, "can produce so complete a repertory of natural history as the above. With infinite labour, exertion, and judgment, all the recent discoveries and observations in all the branches of natural science have been united in it." It is, however, as every one who has had occasion to consult it must be aware, a most injudicious compilation, in which a single species is often described under two, three, or even four different names, and in which no improvement corresponding to the advanced state of the science was made in the grouping of the species or genera.

There is an English edition of the same work, translated by William Turton, M.D. London, 1806, 7 vols 8vo.

"We may venture to predict," says Sir J. E. Smith, in his account of the Life of Linnæus, "that as the Systema Naturæ was the first performance of the kind, it will certainly be the last; the science of natural history is now become so vast, that no man can ever take the lead again as an universal naturalist."

SECTION IX.

Decline and Death of Linnæus.

Review of the Medical Writings of Linnæus—His Materia Medical System of Nosology, Theory of Medicine—His last Work, a Continuation of the Mantissa, published in 1771—Declining State of his Health—In 1774, has an Attack of Apoplexy, followed by Prostration of his Intellectual Powers—Another Attack in 1776, from the Effects of which, and Tertian Fever, he never recovers—His Death in 1778—Honours paid to his Memory.

Hitherto we have considered Linnæus principally as a naturalist; but his merits in another department of science were such as to entitle him to rank among its more eminent cultivators. It will be recollected, that he practised medicine with success at Stockholm; that he was appointed physician to the Admiralty; that on the resignation of Roberg he obtained the professorship of anatomy, which in the following year he exchanged with Rosen, and became, with the consent of the chancellor of the university, professor of botany. As the latter chair, however, was essentially a medical one, he was bound to direct his attention to the sanative powers of plants, as well as to their uses as articles of food, and was moreover obliged to deliver lectures on materia medica and dietetics. He may even be said to have been the founder of the first-mentioned of these branches of medical science. As a text-book for his lectures, he published an account of the medicinal substances derived from the vegetable kingdom. This treatise, which appeared at Stockholm in 1749, bears the title of Materia Medica, Liber I. de Plantis digestis secundum Genera, Loca, Nomina, Qualitates, Vires, &c. The author seems to have regarded it as one of his most successful performances; for in his private memoirs he remarks of it, that "it is undoubtedly the best work that has appeared in this department of medical science."

In treating of each plant, he first gives its specific character, then a synonyme from Caspar Bauhin, or its discoverer,—thirdly, the country of which it is a native,—fourthly, the Swedish officinal name, the part used, the preparations made of it, and the doses. Its qualities and uses, its effects, the diseases in which it is employed, and the compound medicines of which it forms an ingredient, are then mentioned. At the end of the volume is an index of diseases, with the plants proper for each. Haller's opinion of this work confirms that of Linnæus himself; for, in his Bibliotheca Botanica, he says of it,—"He has referred to their proper genera very many plants which were highly celebrated for their use in medicine, although their true genus was unknown. He also praises various plants, unknown in the shops, for their healing powers. But it is necessary to read the whole work, which is among the best that its author has produced." Two other parts were published afterwards, one on the animal, the other on the mineral kingdom.

The subject of dietetics also engaged his attention in an eminent degree. In this department, however, he did not write any specific volume, but confined himself to his lectures, which were copious and highly interesting.

In pathology, or rather in nosology, by which latter term is meant the systematic arrangement and precise definition of diseases, his merits are very considerable. His practice was no doubt too limited, and of too short duration, to enable him to form, from his own experience, correct ideas of all the ailments to which man is liable; but it was sufficient to render him capable of methodizing the observations of others; and it requires little penetration to perceive, that one man may learn more in three years than another in fifty. The several classifications of diseases which have been given to the world, possess various degrees of accuracy. Dr Cullen of Edinburgh, whose Synopsis Nosologiæ Methodicæ has been almost universally acknowledged as one of the most successful attempts to reduce to order the complicated phenomena of morbid action, considers the Genera Morborum of Linnæus as the most important work on the subject, next to that of Sauvages. It was first published in 1759 as an academical dissertation, and afterwards as a separate work.

In the system now mentioned he arranges the genera of diseases under eleven classes, as follows:—

I. Exanthematici. Fevers attended with eruptions on the akin.

II. Critici. Critical fevers.

III. Phlogistici. Fevers from local inflammation.

IV. Dolorosi. Painful diseases without fever.

V. Mentales. Diseases in which the functions of the mind are disturbed.

VI. Quietales. Diseases in which the voluntary and involuntary motions and the senses are impaired.

VII. Motorii. Diseases attended with involuntary motion of parts whose action is ordinarily under the influence of the will.

VIII. Suppressorii. Diseases characterized by oppression of the organs, or impeded excretions.

IX. Evacuatorii. Diseases attended with increased excretion.

X. Deformes. Diseases causing deformity of the body, or change of colour in the skin.

XI. Vitia. Cutaneous, external, or palpable diseases.

Systems of nosology are no doubt useful or convenient, in the same manner as systems of zoology and botany; but so complicated are the phenomena of Nature, and so diversified her productions, that no arrangement, made according to any principles hitherto assumed, can possibly discriminate objects in conformity with all their connexions. If this remark required illustration, it might readily be afforded by the mere inspection of any one of the Linnæan classes or orders. Thus, in the class Vitia there are eight orders.

1. Humoralia. Diseases attended with vitiated or extravasated fluids; as emphysema, œdema, inflammation, abscess, and gangrene.

2. Dialytica. Solutions of continuity; as fracture, dislocation, contusion, wound, laceration, burn, excoriation, chapped skin.

3. Exulcerationes. Purulent solutions of continuity; as ulcer, cancer, caries, fistula, whitlow.

4. Scabies. Cutaneous diseases; as lepra, itch, pimples, warts, pustule, eschar.

5. Tumores. Tumours or swellings; as aneurism, varix, scirrhus, anchylosis, ganglion, exostosis.

6. Procidentiæ. Swellings arising from dislocation of soft parts; as rupture, prolapsus, phymosis.

7. Deformationes. Distortions; as rigidity of joints, humpback, curved bones, squinting, harelip, plica polonica.

8. Maculæ. Spots; as mole, scar, freckle, sunburn.

Now it is obvious that, in a pathological point of view, aneurism, anchylosis, and scirrhus, have no affinity to each other, nor to spina binda or scrofula, which are all genera of the same order. Nor have the different orders, deformationes, procidentiæ, humoralia, &c. any very perceptible bond of affinity. But the nosological, like the botanical system of Linnæus, without being natural, may be useful; and it were absurd to reject all attempts to classify diseases, because no scheme has been or can be invented, capable of giving each state of the body, or its various parts, its precise position in the mind. However, we have no reason to join the outcry of his biographers against the criticism of M. Vicq d'Azyr, who says, "he should have been the last to write on objects that were foreign to him, because he had recourse to that spirit of detail, and that aphoristic and figurative style, which have been considered as defects even in the works which established his reputation."

"The whole class of envious persons at Upsal," says Dr Stoever, "and in other parts of Sweden, found it strange and inconsistent at first to see the botanist Linnæus appear on the scene as a pathologist. They made very merry at his expense; but the goodness of his cause soon became triumphant." That his nosology was contemptible can hardly be admitted; but that it ever was triumphant, excepting in his own university, no one who is desirous of adhering to truth can assert.

His theory of medicine is amusing, if not instructive. He supposes the human body to consist of a cerebroso-medullary part, of which the nerves are processes; and a cortical part, including the vascular system and its fluids. The nervous system, which is the animated part, derives its nourishment from the finer fluids of the vascular system, and its energy from an electrical principle inhaled by the lungs. The circulating fluids are capable of being vitiated by acescent or putrid ferments, the former acting on the serum, and causing critical fevers; the latter on the crassamentum, and exciting phlogistic diseases. Eruptive ailments are excited by external causes, which he supposes to be animalcula. The cortical or vascular system undergoing continual waste, requires continual reparation, which is effected by means of suitable diet. Its diseases arise from improper food, and are to be remedied by sapid medicines; while those of the medullary system are cured by olid substances.

Systems of nosology, theories of medicine, and classifications of natural objects and phenomena, agree in this one respect, that they are all eagerly embraced, strenuously defended, fall into disuse, and become subjects of ridicule. Such must be the fate of the Linnæan system of botany, as it has been of the other fancies of its author; and such must be the fate of every system not founded on organic structure and its modifications, or upon external form as connected with internal disposition.

In 1766, he published a small work extending to only twenty-nine pages, entitled Clavis Medicinæ duplex, Exterior et Interior, which may be considered as a syllabus of his lectures. It contains a view of his theory of medicine, and an arrangement of drugs in thirty orders, according to their sensible qualities.

The last book which he produced was a continuation of his Mantissa, containing new species and genera, with a variety of emendations. Such of his writings as have not been already mentioned, will be noticed in a subsequent section; and in the mean time we resume our narrative, remarking, that few individuals had a longer scientific career than he; forty-four years having elapsed between the appearance of his first tract, the Hortus Uplandicus (in 1731) and the Mantissa (in 1771).

It would appear that Linnæus possessed a good constitution, although we have seen him suffering under attacks of rheumatism, nephritis, and gout. In 1764, as already mentioned, he had a violent attack of pleurisy; after which he passed the period of his convalescence at his villa of Hammarby, where, on the 9th July, he celebrated the 25th anniversary of his marriage. The same year he had the pleasure of marrying his eldest daughter to Lieutenant Bergencrantz.

It does not seem very easy to determine the precise nature of the disease under which he laboured, although it is probable that it was rheumatism and not gout. In the Latin diary of Dr Gieseke, as quoted by Stoever, is the following passage relative to this subject:—"In 1750, I (Linnæus) had such a violent attack of rheumatism (malum ischiadicum), that I had great difficulty in getting home. For a whole week the pain, which was insupportable, prevented me from sleeping; for which reason I would have taken opium, but was prevented by a friend who came in on the seventh evening. My wife asked me if I would eat some strawberries. I will try, said I. It was about the beginning of the strawberry-season, and they were in good condition. Half an hour after, I fell asleep, and continued so till two in the morning. When I awoke, I wondered that the pain had abated, and asked whether I had been asleep, which the persons who were watching assured me had been the case. I asked if they had more of the strawberries, and ate up the remainder. I then slept till daylight, when the pain was about my ankles. Next day I ate as many strawberries as I could, and on the second morning was free of pain. I thought that mortification had taken place; but the part was entire, and I was able to get up, although I felt weak. Next year, about the same time, I had an attack, and another the following year, but milder, and it was always alleviated by the strawberries; and from that time I have been free of the disease." This conversation took place in 1771.

In the spring of 1772, he was visited by Dr Murray, professor of medicine and botany at Gottingen, who had been one of his pupils, and had long enjoyed his confidence and esteem. At this period he possessed good health, and was as ardent as ever in his endeavours for the improvement of science. He was appointed rector of the university for the third time, and, during the six months in which he discharged the duties of that office, the conduct of the young men was highly exemplary. When he retired, deputations from all the nations of the students came to present their warmest thanks, and to beg his permission to print the address which he delivered on resigning.

In 1773, he had another attack of lumbago, and was moreover affected with an epidemic sore throat; but on the whole his health did not suffer materially. This year, a committee of six bishops, six doctors of divinity, and eight literary and scientific individuals, was appointed by the government to undertake a better translation of the Bible into the Swedish language. Linnæus was among the number, having been chosen on account of his knowledge of the animals and plants mentioned in the Scriptures; but it does not appear that he ever engaged seriously in the undertaking, although he made two journeys to Stockholm for the purpose.

While delivering one of his lectures in the botanic garden, in the beginning of May 1774, he had a slight attack of apoplexy, from which he did not recover for some time; and from this period his health rapidly declined. It is said, that the vexation produced by the publication of a letter in which he had confidentially disclosed to a friend the history of his youth, and especially the progress of his courtship, was the exciting cause of this fatal affection. The illustrious Haller, with whom he had corresponded from 1737 to 1766, published a volume of letters, written in Latin by men of literary eminence, and addressed to himself; and, having been always extremely jealous of Linnæus, thought proper to print all his epistles, in order to defend his own character against the accusations of envy which had been but too justly preferred. When he read these communications he was violently agitated, and from that moment his health became perceptibly worse. The apoplectic attack followed soon after; and from a comparison of testimonies on the subject, it seems to us extremely probable that it was occasioned by the causes now assigned.

He did not, however, despair, nor give himself up to inactivity under these distressing circumstances. A Swedish gentleman returning from Surinam, where he had been residing on his estates, brought with him a collection of plants preserved in spirits of wine, which he presented to the king. The latter sent them to Linnæus, whose health was much benefited by the pleasure which the possession of these treasures inspired. He immediately commenced a description of them, which was published in the Amænitates Academicæ,—a work respecting which we shall have occasion to speak in another section.

After this period, however, little remained of his former vigour. His body feeble and emaciated, his mind stripped of its distinguishing faculties, he rapidly sunk into decrepitude. In 1775, he thus describes his state in his diary:—"Linnæus limps, can hardly walk, speaks unintelligibly, and can scarcely write." Even in this condition he received pleasure from occasional visits to his museum, and more especially from the regard of his sovereign, who did him the honour of going from Ekhelsund to Upsal for the purpose of seeing him, and continued in conversation with him a whole afternoon. The following year, finding his infirmities greatly increased, he requested permission to retire from his offices; but the king would not grant it. On the contrary, his majesty doubled his salary, and gave him two farms, which his children were to inherit. The last words inscribed in his diary are the following:—"Horrebow and Berger, both Danes, and Gruno from Hamburg, came to Upsal as pupils; but Linnæus is so ill that he can with difficulty speak to them; for the tertian fever is added to paralysis, and his weakness is extreme."

In the winter of 1776, he was reduced to the most deplorable condition; and as in the day of his mental vigour he had presented a brilliant example of the human intellect, so now in that of his prostration did he afford an instance of the utter feebleness of our nature. Another attack of apoplexy caused paralysis of his right side, in which he had most frequently suffered pain; his memory failed him to such a degree that he could not remember the names of the most familiar objects; his incoherent and unconnected words indicated a total decay of the powers of his understanding; he could no longer feed, dress, or clean himself; he could not even move from one place to another. The fever continued, and he became extremely emaciated. Yet even in this state he contrived to write a few scarcely-legible letters, one of which was to his friend Baek. It was dated the 9th December 1776, and contained the following sentence:—"God has determined to break all the bonds that attach me to terrestrial objects." Yet to the last he clung to these with a pertinacity as deplorable as it is surprising in a man who had manifested in his writings, if not in his actions, no small degree of piety. For several years previous to his death, his diary contains little else than an enumeration of the incidents most calculated to gratify his vanity; such as a visit or letter from the king, the adoption of his system in the botanic garden of Paris, the Pope's approval of his works, and similar occurrences.

At the beginning of 1777, he was still at Upsal, and continued in the same lamentable state, although he occasionally enjoyed intervals of intellectual vigour. In general, however, his powers had so much failed, that he ceased to recognise his own works when they were placed before him; and, it is said, even forgot his name. When the season advanced, he was carried to his country-house at Hammarby, where he remained during the summer. In fine weather he was occasionally taken into the garden or museum, that he might see his collections and books, which always gave him pleasure. In autumn his health improved a little, and he returned to Upsal; but, although he had intimated that he was still desirous of rendering himself useful to the university, so far as his decayed faculties might permit, he was unequal to the delivery of his introductory lecture, which was therefore read by his son.

He was still able to go out, however, although the coachman had orders not to take him beyond the limits of the town. In December, he got upon a sledge, and forced his servant to drive him to Safja, about a league distant. The family, finding that he did not return as usual, became extremely uneasy, and sent in search of him. He was found stretched on the covering of his vehicle, and quietly smoking his pipe by the farmer's fire; nor was it without difficulty that he was induced to go home. This is the last remarkable act of his life that has been recorded; and we have nothing more to add, but that his sufferings daily increased, until, worn out with disease, he expired on the 10th January 1778, in the 71st year of his age. According to the report of his son, in a letter to Mutis, he died of a gouty suppression of urine, terminating in gangrene.

The honours paid to the memory of this great naturalist were correspondent to the high estimation in which he was held. His death was regarded as an irreparable loss to science; and he is said to have "carried to the grave, with the grief of his fellow-citizens, the admiration of the learned of all countries. Upsal was in deep sorrow on the day of his funeral." His body was conveyed to the cathedral, where it was committed to the tomb. Eighteen doctors, who had been of the number of his pupils, supported the pall, and all the professors, officers, and students of the university, followed in procession.

The king, Gustavus III., ordered a medal to be struck in commemoration of him who had contributed so essentially to elevate the Swedish character in the scientific world; and in 1778, at a convention of the Diet, expressed himself in the following terms:—"The University of Upsal has also attracted my attention. I shall always remember with pleasure that the chancellorship of that university was intrusted to me before I ascended the throne. I have instituted in it a new professorship; but, alas! I have lost a man whose renown filled the world, and whom his country will ever be proud to reckon among her children. Long will Upsal remember the celebrity which it acquired by the name of Linnæus." The Academy of Belles Lettres, History, and Antiquities of Stockholm, offered a prize for the best panegyric in Latin, French, or Italian. One written in French was received in 1786, but the Academy judging it unsuitable, offered a second prize, which in 1792 was conferred on Mr Gunnar Baekmann, a Swede. The late Dr Hope of Edinburgh erected to his memory, in the botanic garden there, a monument bearing the simple inscription, "Linnæo posuit, J. Hope;" and the Duc d'Ayen-Noailles placed in his garden a cenotaph, with the bust of the naturalist in a medallion, surrounded by the Linnæa and Ayenia,—the latter plant having been dedicated to himself. Three éloges or panegyrics were pronounced; the first by his friend Dean Baek, at a meeting of the Royal Society of Stockholm; the second by M. Condorcet, in the Parisian Academy of Sciences; the third by M. Vicq d'Azyr, in the Medical Society of Paris. In 1787, an association was formed in that city, under the name of La Société Linnéenne, which subsequently changed its designation into that of Société d'Histoire Naturelle. In 1788, the Linnæan Society of London was established by Dr Smith and other admirers of the Swedish sage; and in 1790, another, bearing the same appellation, was constituted at Leipsic. It is unnecessary to mention all the honours that have been paid to this illustrious professor, as his name has been distinguished in all civilized countries beyond that of any cultivator of natural history, and in our own is as familiar as that of Newton or Herschel. We shall therefore conclude with stating, that in 1822 the students of the university of which he had so long been the chief ornament, resolved to erect a statue as a token of their admiration of his character. It was executed by a native artist, and in 1829 was erected upon a pedestal of porphyry.

Besides the three medals which were struck in Sweden to perpetuate his memory, his portrait has been repeatedly engraved. It appears, for example, in the edition of the Systema Naturæ, published at Leipsic in 1798; in the second edition of the Species Plantarum, published at Stockholm in 1762; and in the sixth edition of the Genera Plantarum, which appeared in 1748. In Trapp's translation of his life by Stoever is another likeness engraved by Heath, which, being the most characteristic that we could find, has been selected for the purpose of adorning the present volume. In the biography of Linnæus by M. Fée, are two lithographic portraits, one taken at the age of 20, the other at that of 60.

On inspecting our engraving, the physiognomist will readily detect several of the more prominent traits of his character. The person represented is evidently an active, lively little man, possessed of much acuteness, great judgment, love of order, a self-estimation not susceptible of being diminished by opposition, and a love of approbation, prompting his benevolent mind to generous labours.

SECTION X.

Correspondence of Linnæus.

Linnæus's first Letter, addressed to Rudbeck in 1731—His last, to Dr Cusson in 1777—Correspondence with Haller—With Dillenius, Ellis, and other English Naturalists.

The correspondence of Linnæus was so extensive, that he declared to a friend that ten hands like his were insufficient to return answers to all the letters which were sent to him. Some time before his death, he drew up a list of 150 persons with whom he had maintained a communication of his ideas in writing. Among the earliest of his epistles was one directed to his benefactor, Olaus Rudbeck, professor in the University of Upsal, and is dated the 29th July 1731. The last is addressed to Peter Cusson, M.D. of Montpellier, and was written in 1777.

The first of his correspondents of whom we shall make mention is the celebrated Albert Haller, who was born in October 1708, and died on the 12th December 1777, aged 69. He was eminently distinguished for his knowledge of the physical sciences, as well as by his poetical talents, and his general acquaintance with literature. In fact, he aimed at universal dominion; and the renown of Rousseau, Voltaire, Linnæus, and Buffon, excited his envy of some and his contempt of others of these celebrated men. After the death of his father, who was an advocate and citizen of Berne, he chose the medical profession; and in 1723, went to Tubingen, where he studied comparative anatomy under Duvernoi. In 1725, he removed to Leyden, then the first medical school in Europe. After taking his degree at the former seminary, he visited England, whence he went to Paris, and dissected under Le Dran. He then proceeded to Basil, to study mathematics under Bernouilli. There he imbibed also a taste for botany,—a science in which he subsequently made great progress. In 1729, he returned to Berne, and commenced his professional career as a lecturer on anatomy. In 1736, he was appointed by George II. to the professorship of surgery and botany in the University of Gottingen. Here he resided seventeen years, in the course of which he distinguished himself by his numerous and important discoveries. But, in 1753, having taken a journey to Berne, where his countrymen received him with the honour due to his talents, he settled there, and, having been elected a magistrate, entered with zeal on the duties of a citizen. The correspondence of Linnæus with this eminent naturalist and physician commenced when the latter was at Gottingen, and originated in a report that he was hostile to the proposed system of the young Swede, who thus supplicates his forbearance:—

"From Mr Cliffort's Museum, April 3, 1737.

"... 1. I must declare, that I am anxious to avoid, if possible, all anger or controversy with you; my wish is rather to act in conjunction with you. I should detest being your adversary, and, as far as possible, I will avoid it. May there be peace in our days!

"2. I have always, from the time I first heard your name, held you in the highest estimation; nor am I conscious of ever having shown a contrary disposition. Why then should you provoke me to a dispute? Let me know if I have unwillingly offended, and I will omit nothing to satisfy you. I ask but for peace.

"3. If my harmless sexual system be the only cause of offence, I cannot but protest against so much injustice. I have never spoken of that as a natural method; on the contrary, in my Systema, p. 8, sect. 12, I have said, 'No natural botanical system has yet been constructed, though one or two may be more so than others; nor do I contend that this system is by any means natural. Probably I may, on a future occasion, propose some fragments of such an one, &c. Meanwhile, till that is discovered, artificial systems are indispensable.' And in the preface to my Genera Plantarum, sect. 9,—'I do not deny that a natural method is preferable, not only to my system, but to all that have been invented.... But, in the mean time, artificial classification must serve as a succedaneum.' Therefore, if you establish a natural method, I shall admit it.

"4. If you detect any mistakes of mine, I rely on your superior knowledge to excuse them; for who has ever avoided errors in the wide-extended field of Nature? Who is furnished with a sufficient stock of observations? I shall be thankful for your friendly corrections. I have done what I could of myself; but a lofty tree does not attain its full stature by the first storm that bursts forth.

"5. I have been acquainted with most botanists of distinction, who have all given me their encouragement; nor has any one of them thwarted my insatiable desire of natural knowledge. Will you be more severe than any body else? You appear, by your dissertation, too noble to triumph over the ignorance of others.

"6. You may, with great advantage, and without injury to me, display your profound learning and intimate knowledge of the works of Nature, so as to acquire the thanks of all the learned world. Do but turn over the writings of botanists in general, and you will see, by their earlier performances, how they are puffed up at first with their own consequence, and scarcely able to keep from assaulting others; of which I myself have perhaps been guilty, which I deeply regret, having now learned better. But when these same people have passed a few years in the field of battle, they become so mild, candid, modest, and civil to every body, that not a word of offence escapes them. This chiefly leads me to doubt the truth of the report in question; for I know your reputation has already been long established.

"7. It seems wonderful to me that I should have excited so much of your displeasure; for I cannot but think there is no work of any author more in unison with my ideas than this essay of yours.

"8. I, and perhaps I alone, have acquired what I know entirely by the rules you have laid down, of studying without a master. I am still but a learner; and you must pardon me if I am not yet become learned. If knowledge is to be acquired by your mode, the hope of it, at least, still serves to illuminate my path.

"9. I doubt, indeed, whether you, or any other lecturer, can enter into controversy with propriety. Professors and teachers should, above all things, acquire the confidence and respect of their hearers. If they appear in the light of students, how much of human imperfection must appear, and what a depreciation of their dignity! What man was ever so learned and wise, who, in correcting others, did not now and then show he wanted correction himself? Something always sticks to him. We have lately seen an instance of this in a most distinguished professor, the ornament of his university, who, having long indulged himself in attacks upon schoolmasters, has at last got so severe a castigation from one of this tribe, that it is doubtful whether he can ever recover his ground at all, and certain that he cannot recover it entirely. A very wise physician has declared, that he would rather give up physic, and the practice of it altogether, than enter into public controversy.

"10. Look over the whole body of controversial writers, and point out one of them who has received any thanks for what he has done in this way. Matthiolus would have been the greatest man of his day if he had not meddled with such matters. Who is gratified by 'the mad Cornarus,' or 'the flayed fox,' (titles bestowed on each other by Fuchsius and Cornarus)? What good have Ray and Rivinus done with their quarrels? Dillenius still laments that he took up arms against Rivinus; nor has the victory he gained added any thing to his fame. Did not Threlkeld give him much more just cause of offence? But he was now grown wiser, and would not take up the gauntlet. Vaillant, at one time a most excellent observer, attempted to cut his way with authority through the armies of Tournefort; has he not met with his deserts? and would he not have risen much higher had he left him unmolested?

"11. I dread all controversies, as, whether conqueror or conquered, I can never escape disgrace. Who ever fought without some wound, or some injurious consequence? Time is too precious, and can be far better employed by me as well as by you. I am too young to take up arms, which, if once taken, cannot be laid aside till the war is concluded, which may last our lives. And, after all, the serious contentions of our time may, fifty years hence, seem to our successors no better than a puppet-show. I should be less ashamed to receive admonition from you than you must be to take it from me.

"Behold, then, your enemy, submissively seeking your friendship; which, if you grant him, you will be more certain of securing a friend than of stirring up an adversary. I know you to be of a more generous nature than to level your attacks at one who has not offended, unless any enemies of mine have raised doubts in your mind against me. If, after all, I cannot obtain that peace which, by every argument and supplication, I seek of you, I hope you will at least be so generous as to send me whatever you may print on the subject, and I will take care to convey my answers to you.

"If the news I have heard be without foundation, I earnestly beg of you to forgive me for the trouble I now give you."

Linnæus is here exhibited under the influence of fear, with much flattery and humiliation soliciting the forbearance of a powerful rival; but the report which had reached him was false, and Haller hastened to dispel from the mind of the young botanist the apprehensions under which he laboured. The correspondence thus commenced continued with great regularity, the letters of Linnæus manifesting entire confidence in Haller; who, however, from a feeling of envy, or, as he alleges, in his own defence, thought proper to publish what had obviously been intended to remain private. The publication of these epistles, as we have seen, was productive of great distress to their author; and more especially of the following one, which gives an account of his earlier years. The Swiss professor concludes one of his notes in the following generous terms:—"Farewell, my dear Linnæus! may you enjoy your health and your botanical pursuits, with every advantage for the prosecution of your labours! My studies and engagements, of a different kind, draw me unavoidably aside; but my inclination always leads me to the charms of Flora. To botany I wish to devote my leisure and my old age; and my fortune to the collecting of drawings, plants, and books. May you, from whom Flora expects more than from any other mortal, make the most of your advantages, and one day or other return to a more genial climate! If at any time my native country should invite me, or I can ever, as I hope, return to it, I have fixed upon you, if the situation be worth your having, to inherit my garden and my honours, such as they are. I have spoken on this subject to those in whose hands all these concerns are placed. As soon as I hear from you, I will tell you all the news I can, for I shall be happy to resume our agreeable correspondence."

The following is Linnæus's answer:—

"Stockholm, Sept. 12th, finished the 15th, 1739.

"Your letter, of which the value to me is beyond estimation, though dated Nov. 14, 1738, did not reach me till the 12th of August of the present year, when I received it from the minister of the German church at this place. Of the cause of its delay I am ignorant.

"A thousand times have I invoked the honoured shade of Hermann! How well did he deserve the compliment of having all the fountains in the royal gardens play on his arrival, if we consider his liberal conduct towards Tournefort! Hermann had previously offered to resign the botanical professorship (at Leyden) in his favour, intending himself to seek some other situation during Tournefort's life. But what shall I say of you, who have conceived so strong an affection for a stranger, as to invite him to accept your professorial appointment, your honours, and your garden! A man could scarcely do this for his brother, or a father for an only son. I can only say, in one word, I have had a numerous acquaintance among my fellow-creatures, and many have been kindly attached to me; but no one has ever made me so bountiful an offer as yourself. I would express my thanks, if possible, but cannot find words for the purpose. Your memory shall be engraved on my heart whilst I live, and shall be cherished by those who come after me.

"I cannot give an answer; but as you have placed yourself in the light of a father, and me of a son, I will lay before you a sort of history of my life, down to the present time.

"In the year 1730, I taught botany in the garden at Upsal. Our common friend, Dr Rosen, returned thither the same year. I, then a student of medicine, was Professor Rudbeck's deputy in botany, as Rosen was in anatomy; he being likewise the adjunctus or coadjutor in medicine. In 1732, I went to Lapland, and returned; after which, I read lectures on botany and metallurgy for a whole year. I then quitted Upsal, and, as Providence ordained, went into Dalecarlia. Having accomplished my journey, I returned to Fahlun, the principal town of that province. Here I lectured on mineralogy, and followed the practice of physic. I stayed a month at Fahlun, where I was received with universal kindness. A physician named Moræus resided there, who was esteemed rich by the common people. Indeed he was one of the richest persons in that very poor country. With regard to learning, he might undoubtedly claim the first rank among the medical men of Sweden. I have heard him say, a thousand times, that there was no line of life less eligible than the practice of physic. Nevertheless, he was much attached to me. I found myself frequently a welcome visiter under his roof. He had a handsome daughter, besides a younger one, the former of whom was courted, but in vain, by a gentleman of rank and title. I was struck when I first saw her, and felt my heart assailed by new sensations and anxieties. I loved her, and she at length, won by my attentions, listened to my proposals, and returned my passion. I became an accepted lover. I addressed myself to her father, avowing, not without much confusion, my total want of fortune. He was favourable on some accounts, but had many objections. He approved of me, but not of my circumstances; and desired that things might remain as they were for three years, after which he would tell me his determination. Having arranged my affairs, and made the necessary preparations for a journey, I quitted my native country with thirty-six gold ducats in my pocket. I immediately took my medical degree (at Harderwyk in Holland), but was not in circumstances to return home with much comfort. I remained, as you know, in Holland. In the mean time, my most intimate friend B—— regularly forwarded the letters of my mistress by the post. She continued faithful. In the course of last year, 1738, which I passed at Dr Van Royen's with the approbation of the young lady, though it was the fourth year of my absence, and her father had required but three, B—— thought he had himself made considerable progress in her favour. By my recommendation he was made a professor; and he took upon him to persuade my betrothed that I should never return to my own country. He courted her assiduously, and was very near obtaining her, had it not been for another friend, who laid open his treachery. He has since paid dearly for his conduct, by innumerable misfortunes.

"At last I came back, but still destitute of a maintenance. The young lady was partial to me, and not to him. I settled at Stockholm, the laughing-stock of every body on account of my botany. No one cared how many sleepless nights and toilsome hours I had passed, as all, with one voice, declared that Siegesbeck had annihilated me. There was nobody who would put even a servant under my care. I was obliged to live as I could, in virtuous poverty. By very slow degrees I began to acquire some practice. But now my adverse fate took a sudden turn, and after so long a succession of cloudy prospects the sun broke out upon me. I emerged from my obscurity, obtained access to the great, and every unfavourable presage vanished. No invalid could now recover without my assistance. I began to get money, and was busy in attendance on the sick, from four in the morning till late in the evening; nor were my nights uninterrupted by the calls of my patients. Aha! said I, Esculapius is the giver of all good things; Flora bestows nothing upon me but Siegesbecks! I took my leave of Flora; condemned my too-numerous observations a thousand times over to eternal oblivion; and swore never to give any answer to Siegesbeck.

"Soon afterwards, I was appointed first physician to the navy. The magistracy immediately conferred upon me the regius professorship, that I might teach botany in the seat of government at Stockholm, with the addition of an annual stipend. Then my fondness for plants revived. I was also enabled to present myself to the bride to whom I had been for five years engaged, and was honourably received as her husband. My father-in-law, rather fond of his money, proved not very liberal to me; but I can do without it, and those who come after me will enjoy it.

"Just now, both the medical professorships are likely to become vacant. Professors Rudbeck and Roberg, both advanced in age, are about offering their resignation. If this takes place, probably Mr Rosen may succeed Roberg, and I may obtain Rudbeck's appointment. But if I do not, I am content to live and die at Stockholm; nor shall I oppose the pretensions of any competitor. If, therefore, I should not obtain the botanical professorship at Upsal, and you, at the end of three months, should invite me, I would come, if I may bring my little wife with me. Otherwise, if there be any chance of my ever seeing you at Hamburg, for that reason alone I would go thither, though I live here at a great distance. My regard for you makes me wish to know you personally, to see and talk to you, before I die. Farewell! may you long continue to be the load-star of our science!"

Linnæus and Haller, notwithstanding the frequent disputes that took place between them, continued upon the whole on friendly terms, and wrote to each other occasionally, until 1749. The last letter from the Swiss naturalist is dated Berne, April 10, 1766. The correspondence, which is full of interest, more especially with respect to botany, is given by Sir J. E. Smith, from whose "Selection" the above translations have been copied.

"It is to be lamented," says he, "that Haller published so many confidential letters, unjustly reflecting, here and there, on Linnæus; and that he betrays, in his prefaces and notes, so much petulance towards this old and distinguished friend. He pretends, indeed, to have excluded from all the letters he published every thing personal or confidential. But there are few more disgraceful chronicles of ill humour than this collection of letters of various persons to Haller. He leaves chasms, truly, in many places, which, like Madame Dacier's asterisks, is 'hanging out lights;' for they serve to aggravate the force of what remains. Above all, he is censurable for printing letters from this very son of his, after his death, reflecting severely on persons who had, as the young man says, shown him the greatest favour at Paris; and abusing the Academy of Sciences, which had just elected him into its body as a corresponding member."

Linnæus, in one of his letters to Haller, says, "There is nobody in England who understands or thinks about genera except Dillenius." We may therefore mention, as next in order among his correspondents, this celebrated professor of botany. Born at Darmstadt in 1685, and educated as a physician at Giessen, he was brought to England by Sherard in 1721; and, when the latter, who had been English consul at Smyrna, founded his botanical professorship at Oxford, he appointed him to it.

Dillenius was a plain blunt man, and used great freedom of speech in writing to Linnæus. Thus, in one of his letters, he says,—"I feel as much displeased with your Critica Botanica as I am pleased with your Lapland Flora, especially as you have, without my deserving such a compliment or knowing of your intention, dedicated the book to me. You must have known my dislike to all ceremonies and compliments. I hope that you have burthened but few copies with this dedication,—perhaps only the copy which you have sent me. If there be more, I beg of you to strip them of this vain parade, or I shall take it much amiss. At least I cannot offer you my thanks for what you have done, though I gratefully acknowledge the favour of the copies you have sent me of the Critica as well as the Flora. We all know the nomenclature of botany to be an Augean stable, which C. Hoffmann, and even Gesner, were not able to cleanse. The task requires much reading, and extensive as well as various erudition; nor is it to be given up to hasty or careless hands. You rush upon it, and overturn every thing. I do not object to Greek words, especially in compound names; but I think the names of the ancients ought not rashly and promiscuously to be transferred to our new genera, or those of the New World. The day may possibly come when the plants of Theophrastus and Dioscorides may be ascertained; and, till this happens, we had better leave their names as we find them. That desirable end might even now be attained, if any one would visit the countries of these old botanists, and make a sufficient stay there; for the inhabitants of those regions are very retentive of names and customs, and know plants at this moment by their ancient appellations, very little altered, as any person who reads Belonius may perceive. I remember your being told, by the late Mr G. Gherard, that the modern Greeks give the name of amanita ([Greek: amanita]) to the eatable field-mushroom; and yet, in Critica Botanica, p. 50, you suppose that word to be French. Who will ever believe the Thya of Theophrastus to be our arbor vitæ? Why do you give the name of cactus to the tuna? Do you believe the tuna, or melocactus (pardon the word), and the arbor vitæ, were known to Theophrastus? An attentive reader of the description he gives of his sida, will probably agree with me that it belongs to our nymphæa, and indeed to the white-flowered kind. You, without any reason, give that name to the malvinda; and so in various other instances concerning ancient names; in which I do not, like Burmann, blame you for introducing new names, but for the bad application of old ones. If there were, in these cases, any resemblance between your plants and those of the ancients, you might be excused; but there is not. Why do you, p. 68, derive the word medica from the virtues of the plant, when Pliny, book xviii. chap. 16, declares it to have been brought from Media, &c.?

"I fear I have angered you by saying, as you observe in your last, so much against your system of arrangement. Nevertheless, I could say a great deal more, and should be able to prove to you that you separate and tear asunder several genera nearly related to each other. But this is not my aim, as I value your friendship too much."

In another letter, dated May 16, 1737, he writes as follows:—"I must say a word concerning stamens and styles, as being unfit to found a system of arrangement upon; not only because they vary as much as flowers and seed-vessels, but because they are hardly to be discerned, except by yourself, and such lynx-eyed people;[K] and in my judgment, every scheme of classification offers violence to nature. Notwithstanding all this, I applaud and congratulate you, in the highest degree, for having brought your premature birth to such perfection. You have accomplished great things, and, that you may go on and prosper still more, let me exhort you to examine more and more species. I do not doubt that you yourself will one day overthrow your own system. You see, my dearest Linnæus, how plainly I speak my sentiments, depending on your candour to receive them favourably."

One of the most respectable of his English correspondents was Peter Collinson, with whom he became acquainted when he visited London in 1736. He belonged to the Society of Friends, possessed a most amiable disposition, evinced the strictest probity and the purest benevolence, was blessed with a genuine and ardent love of nature, enjoyed a long life of active virtue, and died in the glorious hope of a happiness unappreciable. The gentle though rather romantic character of the quaker shines forth in all his letters, but in none more than in the last he wrote, which is as follows:—

"Ridgeway-house, on Mill-hill, ten miles north of London,—
March 16, 1767.

"I am here retired to a delightful little villa, to contemplate and admire, with my dear Linnæus, the unalterable laws of vegetation. How ravishing to see the swelling buds disclose the tender leaves! By the public newspapers we were told that with you in Sweden the winter was very severe, the Sound being frozen over. I have no conception of the power of that cold which could fetter the rolling ocean in icy chains. The cold was what we call severe, but not so sharp as in the year 1740. It lasted about a month, to the 21st of January, and then the thaw began and continued. February the 1st and 2d were soft, warm, sunny days, as in April, and so continued, mild and warm, with southerly winds, all the month. This brought on the spring flowers. Feb. 8th, the Helleborus niger made a fine show; the Galanthus and winter aconite by the 15th covered the garden with beauty, among some crocuses and violets, and Primula veris, &c. How delightful to see the order of nature! Oh, how obedient the vegetable tribes are to their great Lawgiver! He has given this race of flowers a constitution and fibres to resist the cold. They bloom in frost and snow, like the good men of Sweden. These flowers have some time made their exit; and now, March 7th, a tenderer tribe succeeds. Such, my dear friend, is the order of nature. Now the garden is covered with more than twenty different species of crocuses, produced from sowing seeds, and the Iris Persica, Cyclamen vernale, and polyanthos. The 16th March, plenty of Hyacinthus cæruleus and albus in the open borders, with anemones; and now my favourites, the great tribe of narcissuses, show all over the garden and fields. We have two species wild in the woods that now begin to flower. Next, the Tulipa præcox is near flowering; and so Flora decks the garden with endless variety, ever charming.

"The progress of our spring, to the middle of March, I persuade myself will be acceptable to my dear baron. Now I come to thank him for his most acceptable letter of the 8th of October last. I am extremely obliged for your kind intentions to send me the work of works, your Systema Naturæ. I hope it will please God to bless my eyes with the sight of it. I feel the distress you must be under with the fire. I am glad, next to your own and family's safety, that you saved your papers and books. By this time I hope all is settled and in order; so pray now, at your leisure, employ some expert pupil to search into the origin of the nectarine; who are the first authors that mention how and when it was first introduced into the European gardens. It is strange and marvellous, that a peach should naturally produce or bear nectarines, a fruit so different, as well in its exterior coat as flavour, from a peach; and yet this nectarine will produce a nectarine from the stone, and not a peach. This remarkable instance is from a tree of a nectarine raised from a stone in my own garden, which last autumn had several dozen of fruit on it, finely ripened. For more particulars I refer to my last letter. Pray tell me who Perses was, what countryman, and who is the author that relates his introducing peaches into the European gardens?

"That bats as well as flies lie as dead all winter is true; but they do not change elements, and go and live all that time under water. Swallows cannot do it without a provision and contrivance for that end, which it becomes your great abilities to find out; for it is not sufficient to assert, but to demonstrate the internal apparatus God Almighty has wonderfully contrived for a flying animal, bred on the land and in the air, to go voluntarily under water, and live there for so many months. Besides, we are not informed which species lives under water, as there are four species. You, my dear friend, have raised my admiration, and that of all my curious acquaintance; for we never heard before that mushrooms were of an animal nature, and that their eggs are hatched in water. We must suspend gratifying our curiosity until this phenomenon is more particularly explained to us here. Dr Solander is also a stranger to it. Very probably some account has been published in the Swedish tongue; if that is sent to Solander, then we shall be made acquainted with the discovery.

"I herewith send you a print of the Andrachne, which flowered, for the first time I presume in Europe, in Dr Fothergill's garden in May last year. It was raised from seed from Aleppo, sent to him by Dr Russell in the year 1756. Yon see its manner of flowering is very different from the arbutus. I have a large tree raised from the same seed, that stands abroad in the garden, but never blossomed. It is now beginning to shed its bark, as Belon or Belonius well describes; which is a peculiar difference from the Arbutus, and nearly agrees with the Platanus.

"I am, my dear friend, with my sincere wishes for your health and preservation, your affectionate friend,

"P. Collinson,

"Now entered into my 73d year, in perfect health and strength in body and mind. God Almighty be praised and adored for the multitude of his mercies!—March 16th, 1767."

A great part of the correspondence which Collinson had with Linnæus bore a reference to the alleged hibernation of swallows, which the latter, following the authority of certain writers, supposed to retire on the approach of winter to the bottom of lakes and rivers, among reeds and other aquatic plants, where they remain in a torpid state till the beginning of summer. This preposterous idea the Englishman labours to convince his friend ought either to be given up, or established by accurate observation; but, if the great botanist was not too proud to renounce an error, he at least manifested no desire to satisfy his correspondent, nor does it appear that he ever afterwards alluded to the subject in any of his letters.

The other individuals with whom he carried on an epistolary intercourse in England were, Dr Solander, his pupil; Mr Ellis, the first who proved the animal nature of corals and corallines; Mr George Edwards, librarian of the Royal College of Physicians, who produced a work on birds; Mr Pennant, the celebrated author of the British Zoology and other treatises; Mr Catesby, who wrote the Natural History of Carolina; Dr Mitchell, and a few more. Of these Mr Ellis appears to have been his most assiduous correspondent.

Mr Ellis to Linnæus.
"London, December 5, 1766.

"Sir,—I am obliged to you for sending me Dr Garden's account of the Siren. I am sorry I could not get the rest of the things he sent you, before the ship sailed, when I sent you the specimens of plants. I have only got the insects, which are of little value, and the skin of a Siren. The things in spirits are not yet brought on shore; but I hope to get them; and as soon as I have an opportunity, will send them to you. Peter Collinson spent the evening with me, and shewed me a letter you wrote to him about funguses being alive in the seeds, and swimming about like fish. You mention something of it to me in your last letter. If you have examined the seeds of them yourself, and found them to be little animals, I should believe it. Pray, what time of the year, and what kinds? I suppose they must be taken while growing, and in a vigorous state. I intend to try; I think my glass will discover them, if they have animal life in them. The seeds of the Equisetum palustre appear to be alive by their twisting motion, when viewed through the microscope; but that is not animal life.

"I have just finished a collection of the Corallinæ. I think there are thirty-six species; but I believe some of them will prove varieties. I have most of the copperplates that represent them finished. They are the most difficult to examine of all the zoophytes; their pores are so small, and their manner of growing so singular....

"Pray let me know how your Tea-tree grows. It is very odd that, notwithstanding we have had fifteen ships from China this year, we have not had one Tea-tree brought home alive. I have sent a boy to China, whose dependence is on me, to try to bring over several sorts of seeds in wax. I expect him home next summer.

"The English are much obliged to you for your good wishes. We every day see a superiority in the Swedes over the other European nations. All your people that appear among us are polite, well-bred, and learned; without the vanity of the French, the heaviness of the Dutch, or the impudence of the Germans. This last nation has intruded on us swarms of their miserable, half-starved people, from the connexion that our royal family have had with them."

The first voyage of Captain Cook, in which he was accompanied by Sir Joseph Banks and Dr Solander, interested Linnæus in a high degree, as he expected from it great accessions to science. On being apprized by Ellis of the return of the expedition in 1771, he thus writes in reply:—

"I received, about an hour ago, my ever valued friend, yours of the 16th of July, nor did I ever receive a more welcome letter, as it conveys the agreeable news of my dear Solander's safe return. Thanks and glory to God, who has protected him through the dangers of such a voyage! If I were not bound fast here by sixty-four years of age, and a worn-out body, I would this very day set out for London, to see this great hero of botany. Moses was not permitted to enter Palestine, but only to view it from a distance; so I conceive an idea in my mind of the acquisitions and treasures of those who have visited every part of the globe."

The following letter, principally on the same subject, is selected as one of the best specimens of Linnæus's epistolary style:—

Linnæus to Mr Ellis.
"Upsal, October 22, 1771.

"My dear Friend,—I have just read in some foreign newspapers, that our friend Solander intends to revisit those new countries, discovered by Mr Banks and himself, in the ensuing spring. This report has affected me so much, as almost entirely to deprive me of sleep. How vain are the hopes of man! Whilst the whole botanical world, like myself, has been looking for the most transcendent benefits to our science, from the unrivalled exertions of your countrymen, all their matchless and truly astonishing collection, such as has never been seen before, nor may ever be seen again, is to be put aside untouched, to be thrust into some corner, to become perhaps the prey of insects and of destruction.

"I have every day been figuring to myself the occupations of my pupil Solander, now putting his collection in order, having first arranged and numbered his plants in parcels, according to the places where they were gathered, and then written upon each specimen its native country and appropriate number. I then fancied him throwing the whole into classes; putting aside, and naming, such as were already known; ranging others under known genera, with specific differences; and distinguishing by new names and definitions such as formed new genera, with their species. Thus, thought I, the world will be delighted and benefited by all these discoveries; and the foundations of true science will be strengthened, so as to endure through all generations.

"I am under great apprehension, that if this collection should remain untouched till Solander's return, it might share the same lot as Forskal's Arabian specimens at Copenhagen. Thus shall I be only more and more confirmed in my opinion, that the Fates are ever adverse to the greatest undertakings of mankind.

"Solander promised long ago, while detained off the coast of Brazil, in the early part of his voyage, that he would visit me after his return; of which I have been in expectation. If he had brought some of his specimens with him, I could at once have told him what were new; and we might have turned over books together, and he might have been informed or satisfied upon many subjects, which after my death will not be so easily explained.

"I have no answer from him to the letter I enclosed to you, which I cannot but wonder at. You yourself know how much I have esteemed him, and how strongly I recommended him to you.

"By all that is great and good, I entreat you, who know so well the value of science, to do all that in you lies for the publication of these new acquisitions, that the learned world may not be deprived of them. They will afford a fresh proof, that the English nation promote science more than the French, or any other people whatsoever. At the same time, let me earnestly beg of you to publish, as soon as possible, your own work, explaining those elegant plates of rare zoophytes, &c. which you last sent me. I can no longer restrain my impatience. Allow me to remind you, that 'nothing is so uncertain, nothing so deceitful, as human life; nothing so frail, or surrounded with so many diseases and dangers, as man.'

"Again the plants of Solander and Banks recur to my imagination. When I turn over Feuillée's figures, I meet with more extraordinary things among them than anywhere else. I cannot but presume, therefore, as Peru and Chili are so rich, that in the South Sea Islands as great an abundance of rarities have remained in concealment, from the beginning of the world, to reward the labours of our illustrious voyagers. I see these things now but afar off. If our travellers should take another trip, I shall have seen them as Moses saw Canaan.

"When I ponder upon the insects they have brought, I am overwhelmed at the reported number of new species. Are there many new genera? Amongst all the insects sent from the Cape, I have met with no new genus; which is remarkable. And yet, except four European ones, they are all new species.

"Pray make use of your interest with Solander, to inform me to what class and order the nutmeg belongs. I shall not take advantage of this information without making honourable mention of my authority.

"When I think of their Mollusca, I conceive the new ones must be very numerous. These animals cannot be investigated after death, as they contract in dying. Without doubt, as there were draughtsmen on board, they would not fail to afford ample materials for drawings.

"Do but consider, my friend, if these treasures are kept back, what may happen to them. They may be devoured by vermin of all kinds. The house where they are lodged may be burnt. Those destined to describe them may die. Even you, the promoter of every scientific undertaking in your country, may be taken from us. All sublunary things are uncertain, nor ought any thing to be trusted to treacherous futurity. I therefore once more beg, nay I earnestly beseech you, to urge the publication of these new discoveries. I confess it to be my most ardent wish to see this done before I die. To whom can I urge my anxious wishes but to you, who are so devoted to me and to science?

"Remember me to the immortal Banks and Solander.

"P.S.—I can never sufficiently thank you and Mr Gordon for the beautiful and precious trees of Magnolia, both the Gardeniæ, both the Kalmiæ, and the Rhododendrum; all now in excellent health. But the Calycanthus, and a tree of a new genus allied to Hamamelis, I am sorry to say, are no more. They were very sickly when they came, nor did they put forth any new roots. Dionæa died, as might be expected, in the voyage.

"My Lord Baltimore passed a day with me about a year ago, at my country-house. I read over to him whatever he desired. After his departure, he sent me a most elegant vase of silver gilt, certainly worth more than 150 guineas. I never received so splendid a present before. No Frenchman, nor perhaps any other person, was ever so bountiful. The English are, doubtless, the most generous of all men.

"My second Mantissa is at length published. After it was finished, I received from Surinam what I call Hypericum Lasianthus, so similar to your Gordonia that at first I thought them the same. The flower is, in like manner, internally hairy; the stem is shrubby, and the leaves similar. But the stamens are in five sets, separated by five hairy nectaries. On a careful examination, I conclude your Gordonia Lasianthus to be really a different plant, agreeing with that of Plukenet, in having winged seeds, as you rightly describe it. The synonym of Plukenet, therefore, does not belong to my Lasianthus, which, however like it, is truly a species of Hypericum; but that synonym must be referred to your plant."

Mr Ellis was a native of Ireland, but had settled in London, where he died in 1776. In the early part of his life he engaged in merchandise, and subsequently was employed as agent for West Florida and Dominica. His foreign connexions were the means of furnishing him with rich supplies of curious specimens: and hence both botany and zoology were enriched by him with many discoveries, the most remarkable of which, as we have already mentioned, was that of the animal nature of corals and corallines.

It was to this gentleman that Linnæus recommended his favourite pupil Solander, who came to England in 1759, and who was held in great estimation on account of his politeness and extensive knowledge in natural history. Being engaged by Sir Joseph Banks he accompanied him on his voyage round the world, and on his return was domesticated under his roof as his secretary and librarian. He undertook to describe the objects which had been collected on the voyage; but the dissipation of London society, his other avocations, and the indolence which soon gained upon him, rendered his progress too slow for the expectations of the learned, and in 1782 he was carried off by apoplexy. He seems to have almost forgotten his venerable master, to whom he was under so many obligations, and even his aged mother, several of whose letters to him were found unopened after his death. He was, notwithstanding, a man of considerable merit, and more especially in that he proved the means of establishing the Linnæan doctrines in this country.

Mr Ellis, in return, had the satisfaction of introducing to the correspondence of Linnæus the celebrated Dr Garden, who had settled at Charleston in South Carolina, where he practised medicine for nearly thirty years. He was a native of Scotland, and received his education at Aberdeen and Edinburgh. During the intervals of leisure which occasionally occurred in the practice of his profession, he directed his attention to the study of botany and zoology. When the differences between Great Britain and her American colonies arose, he took part with the former, and returned to Europe about the end of the war, with his wife and two daughters, leaving, however, a son, who submitted to the new government. He died of pulmonary consumption in 1791, in the sixty-second year of his age.

Dr Garden to Linnæus.
"Charleston, Nov. 30, 1758.

"Sir,—Three years ago I troubled you with a letter by way of Holland, of which I sent also a duplicate; but I fear they have both accidentally miscarried. From that period I have often thought of soliciting afresh your friendship and correspondence, but shame has deterred me. I am well aware that your time must be fully occupied with more valuable correspondents, and that I am likely to be more troublesome than useful, having nothing worthy to repay such an indulgence. I do, however, stand in great need of your advice and assistance in the prosecution of the most delightful of studies; and such is my conviction of the benevolence of your character, that I cannot refrain from writing you another letter. I earnestly beseech you to take this in good part, and not to refuse me the favour of your friendship. Mr Ellis, in a recent letter, encourages me to believe that my correspondence may not be unwelcome to you, which, you may well suppose, has greatly delighted me; and it has induced me to hope you will pardon this intrusion. I learn from him that you have already written to me; and it has given me no small concern that your letter has never come to hand. I flattered myself, as long as I possibly could, with the prospect of its arrival; but I have now given up all hopes, and am only sensible of my loss and mortification.

"Had it not been for the repeated encouragement of Mr Ellis, I should scarcely ever have ventured to expect that my friendship and correspondence could engage your attention; nor can I now attribute your favour and kindness towards me to any other cause than, probably, to the too partial representations of this friend. I fear that his usual indulgence for me, of which I have had repeated instances, may have prompted him to say more in my recommendation than my abilities deserve, or than truth can justify.

"Of this I am very certain, that if you do deign to correspond with me, I can never repay such a favour as it deserves. Nevertheless, I am ready to receive and to obey your wishes and directions; and if this country should afford any thing worthy of your notice, I will, if you please, make descriptions, or send specimens, with all possible care. Your commands will indeed prove most welcome to me. I have only to request that you will inform me of every thing you want, and of the best methods of preserving and forwarding specimens. Every opportunity that you may be so good as to afford me of serving you, I shall esteem an honour; and if at the same time you favour me with your advice, and allow me to drink at the fountain of pure botanical science from your abundant stores, I shall esteem it the highest honour, as well as gratification, that I can enjoy.

"Almost every one of your works is already in my hands, and I trust I have thence greatly improved my knowledge of botany. Mr Ellis informs me of your being about printing a new edition of your Systema Naturæ and Genera Plantarum, both which I have ordered to be sent me as soon as they appear. From the riches and erudition of what you have already published, your whole mind being devoted to this one pursuit, I am at no loss to anticipate the still greater degree of information, elegance, and perfection, of your future performances. Nothing, indeed, more excites my wishes, as a certain source of pleasure and improvement, than to be more deeply conversant with your writings; that I may not only profit by your genius, but, at the same time, have the information of the most eminent and approved writers in botany always ready at hand.

"I am disgusted with the coarse and malicious style in which some carping and slanderous critics have attacked these works of yours, the delight and ornament of botanical science. But such men are objects of pity rather than anger. Their blind inclination to find fault leads them so far into the mazes of absurdity, that they censure what ought to afford them nothing but instruction. Their futile reasonings, indeed, fall harmless to the ground, like the dart of Priam from the shield of Pyrrhus. The works they abuse shine brighter the more strictly they are scrutinized, and will certainly be read with delight by men in every age who are best qualified to appreciate their value. Your censors, when duly weighed themselves, seem to have acquired what they know by application rather than by any great powers of mind; and they make but a poor figure, with all that they can find to say, when they enter into a controversy with a man whose learning has received its last polish from genius. Nor are you, my excellent friend, unsupported in the contest; for you are surrounded by all who have entered on the same studies at the impulse of genius, or under the auspices of Minerva, and whose industry has gradually improved, sharpened, and given the last finish to the powers of their understanding. These stand ready armed for the battle in your defence. They will easily put to flight the herd of plodding labourers; for nature can certainly do much more without learning, than learning without nature.

"If your adversaries and detractors had candidly pointed out the disputable, inconvenient, or faulty parts of your system, for your better consideration and revision, I have no doubt that they would now have found in you a friend and patron, instead of an enemy and conqueror. But they were excited by an envious malignity, and a depraved appetite for controversy, to write without judgment or genius, and to blame without candour or liberality. Not that I pretend to say, that your system is already brought to the supreme point of perfection. That would indeed be a foolish assertion, which your better judgment would at once reject as mere flattery. But to give due praise to supreme merit in botanical science, and to recommend, as they deserve, your most ingenious and most useful writings, is a duty incumbent on me, as well as on all who are not destitute of every spark of gratitude, for the immense services which your labour and ingenuity have rendered to the whole world. Nor are you, sir, so little able to appreciate your own merits, as not to be perfectly conscious that the attacks alluded to originate in envy, rather than the commendations you receive, in flattery. Compliments out of the question, we certainly ought to give every one his due.

"But it is time to conclude. I venture to enclose for your opinion the characters of a very handsome plant, which seems to me a new genus. I am very anxious that it should bear the name of my much-valued friend, Mr Ellis; and if, upon mature examination, you should judge it to be new, I wish you would correct my description wherever it may be necessary, and publish it in the new edition of your Genera Plantarum, under the name of Ellisia. This plant grows about the bases of the Apalachian Mountains, rising annually from its old roots to the height of about twelve feet, ornamented with whorls of leaves, at the distance of eighteen inches from each other.

"It only remains for me, sir, to beg your pardon for this intrusion. I am well aware how many important labours you have on your hands, and you probably have many more in prospect. Grant me only your friendly assistance in my ardent prosecution of the study of nature; and may you at the same time go on advancing in reputation and success! and after you have given your works to the public, may you long enjoy the honours which your abilities have acquired!

"May God grant you a long life, to investigate the secrets of nature, as well as to improve the powers of your mind in their contemplation! and may your valuable exertions benefit the literary world as long as you live!—Such is my sincere prayer. Farewell!"

In France, the correspondents of Linnæus were Messrs Angerville, Barrere, De Bomare, Duchesne, Carrere, Chardon, Cusson, Guan, Guettard, the two Jussieus, Le Monnier, Maynard, F. de Sauvages, and the Abbé de Sauvages.

Antoine de Jussieu, Professor of Botany at Paris, to Linnæus at Hartecamp.
"Paris, July 1, 1736.

"Sir,—I received with much pleasure your work on the Musa, which I immediately read through with avidity, and no less satisfaction; not only because of the singularity of the plant itself, but for the sake of your remarks. I never suspected that this plant, which I had seen bearing flowers and fruit in Spain, could produce any in Holland, as we have never had an instance of the kind in the royal garden at Paris, where it has not even flowered. None of the other works mentioned as having been published by you have ever reached me, and I shall be greatly obliged by your ordering them to be sent hither at my expense. I long very much to see your Hortus Cliffortianus and Flora Lapponica; especially the latter, as the king has recently sent some of our academicians towards the most northern parts of Europe, to whom, in their search after plants in those countries, your book would be a guide, instructing them what seeds or dried specimens to send us. If, therefore, you are likely soon to complete this work, I request the favour of two copies, which shall be paid for with the above-mentioned publications. If you know of any thing issuing from our Parisian press likely to be worthy of your notice, nothing will give me more pleasure than to procure it for you. Be pleased, sir, to accept the respects of my brother and myself."

The writer of the above letter was elder brother to the author of the following, who was also Regius Professor of Botany at Paris, and the reputed inventor of what is called the Natural System of Plants, which was subsequently improved by his nephew, Antoine de Jussieu.

Bernard de Jussieu to Linnæus.
"Paris, Feb. 15, 1742.

"My dearest Friend,—I received your welcome letter, and have several times been desirous of answering it, but have as often been hindered by various affairs. Pardon my past neglect, though I have permitted some opportunities of testifying my regard for you to pass by. I have been occupied in various journeys. All last autumn I was wandering on the seacoast of Normandy. I have met with many novelties, among which you will be surprised to find some additions to the animal kingdom. I mean, however, before I make my discoveries public, to examine into the matter more fully.

"I have heard with the most sincere pleasure of your being appointed professor of botany at Upsal. You may now devote yourself entirely to the service of Flora, and lay open more completely the path you have pointed out, so as at length to bring to perfection a natural method of classification, which is what all lovers of botany wish and expect. I know of nothing new here except an essay on the natural history of Cayenne, and a catalogue of officinal plants. These little works will be conveyed to you by the surgeon of Count de Tessin, when he returns home. I shall also add a fasciculus of medical questions, of the faculty of Paris. I have not yet received what you last sent me; but I return you many thanks for your repeated kindness. I beg leave to offer you, as a testimony of my gratitude, a few exotic seeds. May God preserve you long in safety! Believe me your most devoted,

Bernard de Jussieu."

We have nothing of much interest to offer from this quarter, as Buffon, who was the most popular naturalist of his time, showed himself the rival of the Swede and a despiser of all classifications; although, as Lord Monboddo says, "those who have merely made themselves acquainted with the first rudiments of philosophy, cannot possibly be ignorant, that a distribution into genera and species is the foundation of all human knowledge; and that to be acquainted with an individual, as they term it, or one single thing, is neither art nor science."

From the long list of correspondents which Linnæus had in Germany and other parts of the Continent, we shall only mention Professor Gesner at Tubingen; Hebenstreit and Ludwig at Leipsic; Hermann and Jacquin at Vienna; Gieseke at Hamburg; Murray at Gottingen; Brunnich, Fabricius, and Muller, in Denmark; Gmelin, Ammann, and G. Muller, in Russia; Allemand, Burmann, Gorter, Cliffort, and Van Royen, in Holland; John Gesner and Scheuchzer, in Switzerland. We do not, however, find it necessary to insert any of the letters of these celebrated individuals; but shall conclude with part of a communication to the younger Linnæus, from Don Joseph Celestine Mutis, professor of philosophy, mathematics, and natural history, at the University of Santa Fé de Bogota, in New Grenada.

"From the Mines of Ybagua, Sept. 12, 1778.

"This letter, which I have many a time, in the joy of my heart, had it in contemplation to write to you, my worthy friend, I find myself now scarcely able to begin, on account of the grief with which yours just received has overwhelmed me. As I opened this letter, enclosed in one from a beloved brother of mine who lives at Cadiz, I did not at once discover from whom it came, the superscription being in an unknown hand; but I feared it might bring me an account of the precious life of my valued friend the Chevalier Von Linné being either in danger, or perhaps extinct. When I had read it, I perceived but too certainly the truth of what had been announced in the public papers, that this great man, your illustrious father, was no more. To cultivate his faithful friendship has for many years been my chief ambition, in spite of the wide distance between your polar region and the equator. I wanted resolution to open, soon afterwards, a packet from M. Gahn, whose handwriting I recognised in the direction, lest I might perhaps find a letter, the last, and now posthumous, pledge of his friendship, flattering me with hopes which I had already abandoned. Allow me, therefore, my dear sir, to recall to your mind those recollections which, however sad, we ought not to forget. If it were possible for you to overcome the feelings of nature, I cannot satisfy the claims of friendship without lamenting, with you, our common loss.

"Let me inform you, therefore, that, so long ago as the year 1761, when I ventured to introduce myself to this great man by a trifling communication, as I had not enjoyed any intercourse with him before my departure from Europe, I was first favoured, in this my distant abode, with one of those letters, so highly valued by the most learned men in Europe. In this, according to his usual custom, your distinguished father endeavoured, in the most attractive style, to stimulate my youthful ardour more and more for the study of nature. From that period I rejoiced to devote myself to his service, and our correspondence was kept up for eighteen years, as regularly as the great distance between us, the negligence of those in whom we confided, and my occasional extensive journeys would admit. By some unavoidable accidents, indeed, many of my letters never reached him; and I have also, too late, discovered that many of his had been lost. Meanwhile, our communications were confidential and exclusive, not extended on my part to any other persons, whether my countrymen or not; for I devoted all my discoveries and all my labours to his immortal genius alone. A little while ago, when I still supposed him living (as I saw the illustrious name of Von Linné among the members of the Royal Academy of Paris, in a list at the end of the Connoissance des Tems), I was particularly happy to obtain the complete fructification of that most elegant tree which yields the Peruvian balsam, in order that I might satisfy his curiosity, so often expressed, on the subject of the genus of this tree, either by describing it among my new genera, or by transmitting any observations for his use. But when I had just overcome the difficulties which had so long deprived me of this acquisition, and was anticipating the pleasure my excellent friend would receive from the communication, the world was deprived of him. You have lost an affectionate parent, and I a most highly-esteemed patron. I trust that you, my honoured friend, will, with his blood, inherit his exalted genius, his ardent love of science, his kind liberality to his friends, and all the other valuable endowments of his mind. On my part, I shall show my gratitude to his memory by teaching and extolling the name of Linnæus, as the supreme prince of naturalists, even here under the equator, where the sciences are already flourishing, and advancing by the most rapid steps; and where, I am disposed to believe, the muses may, perhaps, in future ages, fix their seat. If my opinion be of any weight as a naturalist, I must declare that I can find no name, in the whole history of this department of knowledge, worthy to be compared with the illustrious Swede. Of this at least I am certain, that the merits of Newton in philosophy and mathematics are equalled in botany, and all the principles of natural history, by the immortal Von Linné. These great men stand equal and unrivalled, in my judgment, as the most faithful interpreters of Nature's works. I trust, sir, you will not take amiss this testimony of mine in favour of your distinguished parent; for, as you are closely allied to him in blood, I feel myself scarcely less intimately attached, by the particular friendship with which he was so good as to favour me. His memory will ever be cherished by me, as that of a beloved preceptor, and I shall value, as long as I live, every pledge of his regard...."

With this testimony to the transcendent merits of Linnæus we conclude the present section, regarding it as a fit introduction to that which follows, in which we shall attempt to sketch the character of this extraordinary man.

SECTION XI.

Character of Linnæus.

Specific Character of Linnæus—Remarks of Condorcet—Linnæus's Appearance and bodily Conformation—His Habits, mental Characteristics, Sociality, domestic Relations, Parsimony, and Generosity—His Forbearance towards his Opponents, Inaptitude for the Acquisition of Languages, Love of Fame, moral Conduct, religious Feelings—Character of his Writings—Remarks on his Classifications.

The character of Linnæus, marked as it is by features which the least reflective mind can hardly fail to distinguish as indicative of qualities that seldom present themselves in so high a degree of development, is not difficult to be appreciated.

The method which he employed for characterising the genera and species of animals and plants, he applied to himself as an individual, and the description which he gave of his own person and mind is too remarkable to be omitted here. It is this:—

"Occipite gibbo, ad suturam lambdoideam transverse depresso, pili in infantia nivei, dein fusci, in senio canescentes. Oculi brunnei, vivaces, acutissimi, visu eximio. Frons in senio rugosa. Verruca obliterata in bucca dextra et alia in nasi dextro latere. Dentes debiles, cariosi ab odontalgia hæreditaria in juventute.

"Animus promptus, mobilis ad iram et lætitiam et mærores, cito placabatur; hilaris in juventute, nec in senio torpidus, in rebus agendis promptissimus; incessu levis, agilis.

"Curas domesticas committebat uxori, ipse naturæ productis unice intentus; incepta opera ad finem perduxit, nec in itinere respexit."

To convert this aphoristic description into elegant English, such as is employed by writers of the Buffon school,—men of many words and few facts,—would be to destroy its peculiar beauty, which can only be retained in an appropriate translation:—

"The head of Linnæus had a remarkable prominence behind, and was transversely depressed at the lambdoid suture. His hair was white in infancy, afterwards brown, in old age grayish. His eyes were hazel, lively, and penetrating; their power of vision exquisite. His forehead was furrowed in old age. He had an obliterated wart on the right cheek, and another on the corresponding side of the nose. His teeth were unsound, and at an early age decayed from hereditary toothach. His mind was quick, easily excited to anger, joy, or sadness; but its affections soon subsided. In youth he was cheerful, in age not torpid, in business most active. He walked with a light step, and was distinguished for agility. The management of his domestic affairs he committed to his wife, and concerned himself solely with the productions of nature. Whatever he began he brought to an end, and on a journey he never looked back."

"Some time before his death," says Condorcet in his Eloge, "Linnæus traced in Latin, on a sheet of paper, his character, his manners, and his external conformation, imitating in this respect several great men. He accuses himself of impatience, of an excessive vivacity, and even of a little jealousy. In this sketch he has pushed modesty and truth to their utmost; and they who have known that great naturalist, justly charge him with severity towards himself. There are moments when the most virtuous person sees nothing but his own failings. After describing universal nature in all its details, it may be said that the picture would have remained incomplete had he not painted himself. At the same time it is vexing that he should have painted himself in colours so unfavourable. Judging him by his conduct, no one could have fancied the existence of these defects, nor could they have been known unless he had revealed them." Yet, if the damnatory revelation which he made be, as M. Fée asserts, nothing more than the above sketch, it would appear that he has half in playfulness presented a technical character of himself, such as he would have written of a bear or a baboon. It presents indications of candour and self-reproach, but certainly is, on the whole, much more laudatory than otherwise.

With respect to bodily conformation, he was of a stature rather below the ordinary standard, as has been the case with several very ambitious, active, and successful men. His temperament was the sanguineous, with a proportion of the nervous; whence he was lively, excitable, full of hope, and of great ardour; but since he was in no degree melancholic, some physiologists might puzzle themselves to discover where he obtained his indefatigable industry, his perseverance, his obstinate straightforwardness, and the tenacity with which he held all opinions which he had once received. In youth and middle age he was light, but muscular; whence his personal agility and energy; but as he advanced in years he became rather full, although with little diminution of his corporeal, and still less of his mental activity. In walking he stooped a little, having contracted that habit from his constant search for plants and other objects. He was moderate in his diet, regulated his mode of living by strict method, and by temperance preserved his energies, that he might devote them to the cultivation of his favourite sciences. His hours of sleep were in summer from ten to five, in winter from nine to six.

Punctual and orderly in all his arrangements, he underwent labours which to most men would have been impracticable. Yet the period of study he always limited by the natural flow of his spirits, and whenever he became fatigued, or felt indisposed for labour, he laid aside his task. Some persons have accounted for the immense extent of his works by simply allowing him industry and perseverance; but they who think so are not aware, that these qualities are generally inseparable from genius of the highest order.

In the evenings he frequently indulged in social intercourse with his friends, when he gave free vent to his lively humour; never for a moment enveloping himself in that reserve with which men of little minds conceal their real want of dignity. Whether delivering a solemn oration at the university, or familiarly conversing with the learned, or dancing in a barn with his pupils, he was respected and esteemed alike.

It is perhaps strange that, although of this joyous temperament, he had not a musical ear, having been in this respect like a man whose character was in almost every point very different, but not less truly estimable,—that great master of moral wisdom, Dr Johnson. It would even seem that he had a kind of antipathy to certain combinations of harmonious sound, although it is clear that he enjoyed the lively song of the thrush and skylark, which he mentions in his Lapland journey as affording him delight.

With respect to his domestic relations, it is agreed by his biographers that he manifested a very amiable character. He was a faithful and tender husband, although his consort possessed few estimable qualities; a fond and indulgent father, although his children obtained a much smaller share of his solicitude than his garden and museum. His wife, who, as we have seen, took charge of all his domestic arrangements, is described as having been of a masculine appearance, selfish, domineering, and destitute of accomplishments. Unable to hold any share in rational conversation, she had little desire to encourage it in others; and as her parsimony was still greater than her husband's, we may suppose that her mode of management was not very conducive to the comfort of her guests. As a mother being incapable of estimating the advantages of proper training, her daughters were in a great measure left destitute of the polite acquirements becoming their station in society; and the father being, as he says, "naturæ productis unice intentus," did not trouble himself about uninteresting affairs of this nature. The result, so far as regards his son, we shall see in a subsequent section.

It is generally acknowledged that Linnæus was more addicted to the love of gold than becomes a philosopher, and that his style of living was by no means equal to his income. "For my own part," says his pupil Fabricius, "I can easily excuse him for having been a little too fond of money, when I consider those extremes of poverty which so long and so heavily overwhelmed him. It may also be said in his defence, that the parsimonious habits which he had contracted under the most pressing necessity remained with him ever after, and that he found it impossible to renounce them when he lived in the midst of abundance." This apology may perhaps suffice, especially when we find it asserted that his frugality never degenerated into avarice.

Towards his pupils he conducted himself with the most praiseworthy liberality. To those who were poor he remitted the fees due to him as professor, and even from the rich he on many occasions refused to receive any recompense. Dr Gieseke, when about to leave him in the autumn of 1771, pressed upon him a Swedish bank-note, as a remuneration for the trouble which he had taken in affording him instruction; but he was unwilling to accept it, and it was not till after the repeated entreaties of his pupil that he acceded to his request:—"Tell me candidly," said he, "if you are rich, and can afford it;—can you well spare this money on your return to Germany? If you can, give the note to my wife; but should you be poor, so help me God, I would not take a farthing from you!"—"To the praise of Linnæus," says Mr Ehrhart, "I must farther own, notwithstanding his parsimony, that he neither would nor did accept a single penny as a fee for the lectures which he gave me. You are a Swiss," he once said to me, "and the only Swiss that visits me. I shall take no money of you, but feel a pleasure in telling you all that I know gratis."

His excitable temper not unfrequently betrayed him into expressions which indicated a great want of self-control; but if he was easily roused to anger, he was as speedily appeased. He was exceedingly pleasant in conversation, humorous, and fond of telling entertaining stories. Constant in his attachments, he was ever disposed to look with indulgence on the faults of his friends; and he was fortunate in the affection which his pupils manifested towards him. But it is said that he was equally tenacious of dislike towards his enemies, or those of whom he had formed an unfavourable opinion.

His opponents he treated with forbearance or contempt, and on no occasion engaged in controversy. In a letter to Haller he says,—"Our great example, Boerhaave, answered nobody whatever: I recollect his saying to me one day, 'You should never reply to any controversial writers; promise me that you will not.' I promised him accordingly, and have benefited very much by it." If he cherished animosity towards his adversaries, it certainly did not prevent him from expressing his esteem for their merits; and as dissimulation had no place in his character, he did not follow the example of those who by private misrepresentations undo the benefits conferred by public encomiums. "I am certain," says Murray, "that had his most unjust and most violent opponents heard him, they could not have refused him their esteem and affection."

No man ever excelled him in the discrimination of natural objects; nor is it necessary for us to enter upon any exposition of the excellencies of his mental constitution, as fitting him for the office which he assumed as legislator of natural history. Active, penetrating, sagacious, more conversant with nature than with books, yet not unacquainted with the labours of others, he succeeded in eliciting order from the chaotic confusion which he found prevailing in his favourite sciences. His memory, which was uncommonly vigorous, was, like his other faculties, devoted to natural history alone; and it was the first that suffered decay. When he was only fifty years of age it already exhibited symptoms of decline; and a few years before his death it was almost entirely extinguished. In the study of modern languages he had never made sufficient progress to enable him to express his ideas with fluency in any other than his native tongue. His intercourse with strangers was carried on in Latin, of which he had a competent knowledge, although in his letters he paid little attention to elegance, or even in some cases to grammatical accuracy. He used to say to his friends,—"Malo tres alapas a Prisciano, quam unam a Natura,—I would rather have three slaps from Priscian than one from Nature."

The love of fame was his predominant passion. It possessed his soul at an early age, strengthened as he advanced in years, and retained its hold to the last. "Famam extendere factis" was his favourite motto, and that which, when ennobled, he chose for his coat of arms. But his ambition was entirely confined to science, and never influenced his conduct towards the persons with whom he had intercourse, nor manifested itself by the assumption of superiority. Fond of praise, he was liberal in dispensing it to others; and, although nothing afforded him more pleasure than flattery, he was neither apt to boast of his merits, nor disinclined to extol those of his fellow-labourers.

We do not find any remarkable deviations in his general conduct from the straight path of morality. It is true, that in the affair of Rosen the impetuosity of his temper had nearly betrayed him into an act which would have stamped his memory with indelible disgrace; but if he exhibited some of the frailties and errors inseparable from humanity, it is neither our inclination to search them out, nor our province to pronounce judgment upon them. He has been accused of betraying a prurient imagination in the names which he gave to many objects, both in the vegetable and animal kingdoms. It is certain, that a more chastened taste would have enabled him to avoid offence in this matter; but neither in conversation nor in act has any moral delinquency been laid to his charge.

In all his writings there appears a deep feeling of reverence and gratitude towards the Supreme Being; and in the history of his life we find nothing which could lead us to suppose that such feelings were assumed for the occasion. Over the door of his room was inscribed,—"Innocui vivite, Numen adest,—Live in innocence, for God is present." His more important works he commences and ends with some passage from the Scriptures, expressive of the power, the glory, the beneficence of God, the creator and preserver of all things. Whenever, in his lectures or on his excursions, he found an opportunity of expatiating on these subjects, he embraced it with enthusiasm. "On these occasions," says one of his biographers, "his heart glowed with celestial fire, and his mouth poured forth torrents of admirable eloquence." Where is the naturalist, possessed of the true feelings of a man, who does not honour in his heart the being possessed of such a character! The sneer of the filthy sensualist, who, steeped in pollution, endeavours to persuade his turbid mind that all others are like himself; the scorn of the little puffed-up intellect, which, having traced the outline of some curious mechanism in nature, exults in the fancied independence of its own poor energies; the malice of the grovelling spirit, that, finding itself eclipsed by the splendour of superior talents, strives to obscure them by the aspersions of calumny,—what are they that they should influence our estimation of the character of this great man, who with his ardent piety and the devotion of his faculties to the glory of his Creator, is, amid all his imperfections, an object worthy of our love and esteem. And such he will remain, while the world endures, in the view of every enlightened admirer of the wonderful works of God.

His writings are characterized by extreme brevity, nervousness, and precision. He expresses in a dozen words what might be expanded into half as many sentences. His style certainly is not always pure, nor even on all occasions grammatically correct. He was more desirous to instruct than to entertain, and therefore his expressions are weighed but not ornamented. Yet no teacher ever excited such enthusiasm in his pupils; and since the world began has there been none who gave such an impulse to the progress of natural history. They who can sneer at such a man must be cold and selfish indeed. "The language of Linnæus," says Cuvier, "is ingenious and singular. Its very singularity renders it attractive. His phraseology, and even his titles, are figurative; but his figures are in general highly expressive. With him, the various means by which Nature ensures the reproduction of plants are their nuptials; the changes in the position of their parts at night are their sleep; the periods of the year at which they flower form the calendar of Flora."

As an example of his manner, when treating of a subject not technically described, we may present his account of the plant to which he gave the name of Andromeda: "This most choice and beautiful virgin gracefully erects her long and shining neck (the peduncle), her face with its rosy lips (the corolla) far excelling the best pigment. She kneels on the ground with her feet bound (the lower part of the stem incumbent), surrounded with water, and fixed to a rock (a projecting clod), exposed to frightful dragons (frogs and newts). She bends her sorrowful face (the flower) towards the earth, stretches up her innocent arms (the branches) toward heaven, worthy of a better place and happier fate, until the welcome Perseus (summer), after conquering the monster, draws her out of the water and renders her a fruitful mother, when she raises her head (the fruit) erect." The analogy that gave rise to this fanciful description, which is contained in the Flora Lapponica, suggested itself to Linnæus on his Lapland journey. "The Chamædaphne of Buxbaum," says he, "was at this time in its highest beauty, decorating the marshy grounds in a most agreeable manner. The flowers are quite blood-red before they expand, but when full grown the corolla is of a flesh-colour. Scarcely any painter's art can so happily imitate the beauty of a fine female complexion; still less could any artificial colour upon the face itself bear a comparison with this lovely blossom. As I contemplated it, I could not help thinking of Andromeda as described by the poets; and the more I meditated upon their descriptions, the more applicable they seemed to the little plant before me; so that, if these writers had had it in view, they could scarcely have contrived a more apposite fable. Andromeda is represented by them as a virgin of most exquisite and unrivalled charms; but these charms remain in perfection only so long as she retains her virgin purity, which is also applicable to the plant, now preparing to celebrate its nuptials. This plant is always fixed on some little turfy hillock in the midst of the swamps, as Andromeda herself was chained to a rock in the sea, which bathed her feet, as the fresh water does the roots of the plant. Dragons and venomous serpents surrounded her, as toads and other reptiles frequent the abode of her vegetable prototype, and, when they pair in the spring, throw mud and water over its leaves and branches. As the distressed virgin cast down her blushing face through excessive affliction, so does the rosy-coloured flower hang its head, growing paler and paler till it withers away. Hence, as this plant forms a new genus, I have chosen for it the name of Andromeda."

"Botany may be compared to one of those plants which flower only once in a century. It first put forth some seed-leaves in the reign of Alexander. After the war of Mithridates, the victorious Romans transported it to Rome, when the root-leaves began to appear. Receiving no further cultivation, it ceased to grow. It was next carried from Italy to Arabia, where it remained until the twelfth century. It then languished in France during three centuries; its root-leaves began to wither, and the plant was ready to perish. Towards the sixteenth century, however, it yielded a slight flower (Cæsalpinus), so frail that the gentlest breeze might seem sufficient to detach it from its slender stalk. This flower bore no fruit. Towards the seventeenth century, the stem, which had been so long without appearing, shot up to a great height; but its leaves were few, and no flower appeared. In the early spring of this happy period, however, when a gentle warmth had succeeded the frosts of winter, this stem yielded a fresh flower, to which succeeded a fruit (C. Bauhin) that nearly attained maturity. Soon after, this splendid stem was surrounded with numerous leaves and flowers."

These figurative descriptions, however, have no place in the more technical writings of Linnæus, where, on the contrary, all is brief, clear, and precise; but, as we have already presented some specimens of these, it is unnecessary to make any additional remarks.

Notwithstanding the attacks that have been made on his mineralogical system, it is at least deserving of praise, as showing the practicability of arranging the objects belonging to this kingdom of nature according to strict method. In botany his merits were transcendent, and with the mention of that science his name is uniformly associated. He found it in a rude and unsettled state, and left it so admirably disposed, that the beauty and practical utility of his method recommended it to the cultivators of science in all countries. Nor were his labours in the animal kingdom less successful. The general principles of classification which he introduced, his invention of specific names, his improvements in nomenclature and terminology, and the wonderful precision of his descriptions, rendered the study of these sciences as pleasing and easy as it had previously been irksome and laborious.

All systems flourish and fade. The mineralogy of Linnæus has perished; his zoology, cut down to the root, has sent forth a profusion of luxuriant shoots; and although his botany maintains as yet a strong claim upon the admiration of the lovers of nature, a fairer plant has sprung up beside it, which promises a richer harvest of golden fruits. But should the period ever arrive when all that belonged to him of mere system and technicology shall be obliterated, he will not the less be remembered as a bright luminary in the dark hemisphere of natural science, which served for a time to throw a useful light around, and led observers to surer paths of observation than had previously been known.

SECTION XII.

Catalogue of the Works of Linnæus.

Hortus Uplandicus—Florula Lapponica—Systema Naturæ—Hypothesis Nova de Febrium Intermittentium Causa—Fundamenta Botanica—Bibliotheca Botanica—Musa Cliffortiana—Genera Plantarum—Viridarium Cliffortianum—Caroli Linnæi Corollarium Generum Plantarum—Flora Lapponica—Hortus Cliffortianus—Critica Botanica—Petri Artedi, Sueci Medici, Ichthyologia—Classes Plantarum, seu Systema Plantarum—Oratio de Memorabilibus in Insectis—Orbis Eruditi Judicium de C. Linnæi Scriptis—Oratio de Peregrinationum intra Patriam Necessitate—Oratio de Telluris Habitabilis Incremento—Flora Suecica—Animalia Sueciæ—Oeländska och Gothländska Resa—Fauna Sueciæ Regni—Flora Zeylanica—Wästgötha Resa—Hortus Upsaliensis—Materia Medica Regni Vegetabilis—Materia Medica Regni Animalis—Skänska Resa—Philosophia Botanica—Materia Medica Regni Lapidei—Species Plantarum—Museum Tessinianum—Museum Regis Adolphi Suecorum—Frederici Hasselquist Iter Palestinum—Petri Lœflingii Iter Hispanicum—Oratio Regia—Disquisitio Quæstionis, ab Acad. Imper. Scientiarum Petropolitanæ, in annum 1759 pro Præemio, Propositæ—Genera Morborum—Museum Reginæ Louisæ Ulricæ—Clavis Medica Duplex—Mantissa Plantarum—Mantissa Plantarum altera—Deliciæ Naturæ—Essays printed in the Transactions of the Academies of Upsal and Stockholm.

1. Hortus Uplandicus, sive enumeratio plantarum exoticarum Uplandiæ, quæ in hortis vel agris coluntur, imprimis autem in horto Academico Upsaliensi. Upsal, 1731. 160 pages 8vo. This is the first work published by Linnæus, and in it the plants are already disposed according to the sexual system.

2. Florula Lapponica, quæ continet catalogum plantarum, quas per provincias Lapponicas Westrobothnienses observavit C. Linnæus. It was written in 1732, and inserted in the Acta Litteraria Sueciæ of the same year, but only in part, the second section having appeared in the same collection in 1735.

3. Systema Naturæ, sive Regna Tria Naturæ, systematice proposita, per classes, ordines, genera et species. Lugd. Batav. apud Haak, 1735. 14 pages folio. Of this work we have already spoken at considerable length. The two editions most in use are that of 1766-68, published at Stockholm, being the last that appeared under the author's inspection, and the enlarged but ill-digested one of Gmelin, published in 1788-1792 at Leipsic.

4. Hypothesis Nova de Febrium Intermittentium Causa. Harderovici, 1735. 4to. This is Linnæus's thesis, written when he took his medical degree at Harderwyk in Holland.

5. Fundamenta Botanica, quæ majorum operum prodromi instar, theoriam scientiæ botanicæ per breves aphorismos tradunt. Amst. 1736, apud Schouten. 36 pages 12mo. There have been eight editions of this tract, of which the last was published at Paris in 1774. 8vo.

6. Bibliotheca Botanica, recensens libros plus mille de plantis, huc usque editos secundum systema auctorum naturale, in classes, ordines, genera et species dispositos, &c. Amstelod. 1736, apud Schouten. 136 pages 12mo. There have been two other editions; the last of which appeared at Amsterdam in 1751.

7. Musa Cliffortiana, Florens Hartecampi prope Harlemum. Lugd. Batav. 1736. 40 pages 4to.

8. Genera Plantarum earumque characteres naturales, secundum numerum, figuram, situm et proportionem omnium fructificationis partium. Lugd. Batav. apud Wishof, 1737. 384 pages 8vo. The last edition, corrected by Linnæus, was published at Stockholm in 1764. It contains 1239 genera. Five other editions have appeared since; the two last by Schreber and Hanke.

9. Viridarium Cliffortianum. Amst. 1737. 8vo.

10. Caroli Linnæi Corollarium Generum Plantarum; cui accedit Methodus Sexualis. Lugd. Batav. 1737. 8vo.

11. Flora Lapponica, exhibens plantas per Lapponiam crescentes, secundum systema sexuale, collectas itinere impensis Societ. Reg. Litterar. Scientar. Sueciæ, anno 1732 instituta, additis synonymis, &c. Amstelod. apud Schouten, 1737. An improved edition was published by Sir J. E. Smith, London, 1792.

12. Hortus Cliffortianus. Amst. 1737. One vol. folio.

13. Critica Botanica, in qua nomina plantarum generica, specifica et variantia examini subjiciuntur, selectiora confirmantur, indigna rejiciuntur simulque doctrina circa denominationem plantarum traditur; cui accedit Browalii Discursus de introducenda in scholas Historiæ Naturalis lectione. Lugd. Batav. apud Wishof, 1737. A second edition, with a Dissertation on the Life and Writings of Linnæus, was given by J. E. Gilibert in 1788.

14. Petri Artedi, Sueci Medici, Ichthyologia, sive opera omnia de Piscibus; scilicet Bibliotheca Ichthyologica; Genera Piscium; Synonyma Specierum et Descriptiones; omnia in hoc genera perfectiora quam antea ulla. Posthuma vindicavit, recognovit, coaptavit et edidit C. Linnæus. Lugd. Batav. apud Wishof, 1738. A second edition, by Walbaum, appeared at Gryphishaw in 1788-1791. 3 vols 4to.

15. Classes Plantarum, seu Systema Plantarum; omnia a fructificatione desumpta, quorum sexdecim universalia et tredecim particularia, compendiose proposita secundum classes, ordines et nomina generica, cum clave cujusvis methodi et synonymis genericis. Lugd. Batav. apud Wishof, 1738. A second edition came out in 1747.

16. Oratio de Memorabilibus in Insectis, in Swedish. Stockholm, 1739. 8vo. There have been seven editions in Swedish, German, and Latin, one of which was inserted in the Amænitates Academicæ.

17. Orbis Eruditi Judicium de C. Linnæi Scriptis. Upsal, 1741. This pamphlet was published anonymously by Linnæus, to vindicate himself against the attacks of Wallerius. A second edition by Stœver, in his Collectio Epistolarum Caroli a Linné. Hamburg, 1792.

18. Oratio de Peregrinationum intra Patriam Necessitate. Upsal, 1742. 4to. This oration was delivered by Linnæus when he assumed his professorial functions. It is also inserted in the Amænitates Academicæ.

19. Oratio de Telluris Habitabilis Incremento. Upsal, 1743. 4to.

20. Flora Suecica, exhibens plantas, per Regnum Sueciæ crescentes, systematice cum differentiis specierum, synonymis auctorum, nominibus incolarum, solo locorum, usu pharmacopæorum. Lugd. Batav. apud Wishof, 1745. A second edition was printed at Stockholm, 1755.

21. Animalia Sueciæ. Holm. 1745. 8vo.

22. Oeländska och Gothländska Resa. Travels in Œland and Gothland. Stock. och Upsal, 1745. This work was translated into German by Schreber, 1763.

23. Fauna Sueciæ Regni, Mammalia, Aves, Amphibia, Pisces, Insecta, Vermes; distributa per classes, ordines, genera et species. Holm. apud Salvium, 1746. A second edition also at Stockholm, 1761.

24. Flora Zeylanica, sistens plantas Indicas Zeylonæ Insulæ, quæ olim 1670-1677, lectæ fuere a Paulo Hermanno. Holm. 1747. A second impression was executed at Leipsic, 1748.

25. Wästgötha Resa. Travels in West Gothland. Stockholm, 1747. Translated into German by Schreber, 1765.

26. Hortus Upsaliensis, exhibens plantas exoticas horto Upsaliensis Academiæ a Car. Linnæo illatas ab anno 1742, in annum 1748, additis differentiis, synonymis, habitationibus, hospitiis, rariorumque descriptionibus, in gratiam studiosæ juventutis. Holm. 1748.

27. Materia Medica Regni Vegetabilis. Holm. 1749. 8vo.

28. Materia Medica Regni Animalis. Upsal, 1750.

29. Skänska Resa. Travels in Scania. Stockholm, 1749. 434 pages 8vo. Translated into German by Klein, vol. i. The rest has not appeared.

30. Philosophia Botanica, in qua explicantur fundamenta botanica, cum definitionibus partium, exemplis terminorum, observationibus rariorum, adjectis figuris. Holm. apud Kiesewetter, 1751. 362 pages 8vo. Seven editions have been published of this splendid work. It has also been translated into English by Rose, and into Spanish by Capdevila.

31. Materia Medica Regni Lapidei. Upsal, 1752. The three parts of the Materia Medica were published separately, and the two last have been inserted in the Amænitates Academicæ. Two editions were afterwards required by the scientific world.

32. Species Plantarum, exhibens plantas rite cognitas, ad genera relatas cum differentiis specificis, nominibus trivialibus, synonymis selectis, locis natalibus, secundum systema sexuale digestas. Holm. apud Salvium. 2 vols 8vo, 1753. Two other editions have since appeared, the last by Trattner in 1764.

33. Museum Tessinianum, Opera Comitis C. G. Tessin, Regis Regnique Senatoris, collectum. Latin and Swedish. Stockholm, 1753.

34. Museum Regis Adolphi Suecorum, &c., in quo Animalia rariora imprimis Exotica, Quadrupedia, Aves, Amphibia, Pisces, Insecta, Vermes describuntur et determinantur. In Latin and Swedish. Stockholm, 1754. Folio, with 35 plates. The preface has been translated into English by Sir J. E. Smith, and published under the title of Linnæus's Reflections on the Study of Nature.

35. Frederici Hasselquist Iter Palestinum; Ella resa til heliga landet. Holm. 1757. These travels have been translated into German, French, and English.

36. Petri Lœflingii Iter Hispanicum; Ella resa til Spanksa landerna, uti Europa och America, &c. Holm. 1758. 8vo. This work was translated into English by the Forsters. London, 1771.

37. Oratio Regia, coram rege reginaque habita. 1759. Folio. This is to be found also in the Amænitates Academicæ.

38. Disquisitio Quæstionis, ab Acad. Imper. Scientiarum Petropolitanæ, in annum 1759 pro Præmio, Propositæ: Sexum Plantarum argumentis et experimentis novis, &c. Petropol. 1760. This essay has been inserted in the Trans. of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences, vol. vii. 1761; and in the 22d volume of the Journal Encyclopedique. A translation also published in London in 1786. 8vo.

39. Genera Morborum, Upsal, 1763. Three editions.

40. Museum Reginæ Louisæ Ulricæ, in quo Animalia rariora Exotica, imprimis Insecta et Conchylia describuntur et determinantur; et Musei Regis Adolphi prodromus tomi secundi. Holm. 1764.

41. Clavis Medica Duplex, exterior et interior. Holm. 1763.

42. Mantissa Plantarum, generum editionis sextæ et specierum editionis secundæ. Holm. 1767.

43. Mantissa Plantarum altera. Holm. 1771.

44. Deliciæ Naturæ, an oration delivered in 1772. It was translated into Swedish by Linnæus himself, at the request of the students, and published at Stockholm, 1773. 8vo. The Latin edition has also been printed in the Amænitates Academicæ.

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Besides the above works, of which the Systema Naturæ alone would have sufficed to immortalize its author, he published numerous essays on various subjects in the Transactions of the Academies of Sciences of Upsal and Stockholm.

In the Transactions of the Upsal Academy:—

1. Animalia Regni Sueciæ, 1738.
2. Orchides, iisque affines, 1740.
3. Decem Plantarum genera nova, 1741.
4. Euporista in Febribus intermittentibus, 1742.
5. Pini usus œconomicus, 1743.
6. Abietis usus œconomicus, 1744.
7. Sexus Plantarum, 1744.
8. Scabiosæ novæ; speciei descriptio, 1744.
9. Penthorum, 1744.
10. Euporista in Dysenteria, 1745.
11. Sexus Plantarum usus œconomicus, 1746.
12. Theæ potus, 1746.
13. Cyprini speciei descriptio, 1746.

In the Transactions of the Stockholm Royal Academy of Sciences:—

Vol. I. 1739-40.

1. Cultura plantarum naturalis.
2. Gluten Lapponum e Perca.
3. Œstrus rangiferinus.
4. Picus pedibus tridactylis.
5. Mures Alpini Lemures.
6. Passer nivalis.
7. Piscis aureus Chinensium.
8. Fundamenta œconomiæ.

Vol. II. 1741.

9. Formicarum sexus.
10. Officinales Sueciæ Plantæ.
11. Centuria Plantarum in Suecia rariorum.

Vol. III. 1742.

12. Plantæ Tinctoriæ Indigenæ.
13. Amaryllis formosissima.
14. Gramen Sœlting.
15. Fœnum Suecicum.
16. Phaseoli Chinensis species.
17. Epilepsiæ vernensis causa.

Vol. IV. 1743.

18. De Uva Ursi seu Jackas Hapuck Sinus Hudsonici.

Vol. V. 1744.

19. Fagopyrum Sibiricum.
20. Petiveria.

Vol. VI. 1745

21. Passer procellarius.

Vol. VII. 1746.

22. Limnia.
23. Claytonia Sibirica.
24. De vermibus lucentibus ex China.

Vol. X. 1749.

25. Coluber (Chersea) scutis abdominalisbus 150, squamis subcaudalibus 34.
26. Avis Sommar Guling appellata.
27. Musca Frit, insectum quod grana interius exedit.
28. Emberiza Ciris.

Vol. XIII. 1752.

29. De Characteribus Anguium.

Vol. XIV. 1753.

30. Novæ duæ Tabaci species, paniculata et tinosa.

Vol. XV. 1754.

31. De plantis quæ Alpium Suecicarum indiginæfieri possint.
32. Simiæ, ex Cereopithecorum genere, descriptio.

Vol. XVI. 1755.

33. Mirabilis longiflora descriptio.
34. Lepidii descriptio.
35. Ayeniæ descriptio.
36. Gauræ descriptio.
37. Lœflingia et Minuartia.

Vol. XX. 1759.

38. Entomolithus paradoxus descriptus.
39. Gemma, penna-pavonis dicta.
40. Coccus Uvæ Ursi.

Vol. XXIII. 1763.

41. De Rubo arctico plantando.

Vol. XXIV. 1764.

42. Observationes ad cerevisiam pertinentes.

Vol. XXIX. 1769.

43. Animalis Brasiliensis descriptio.
44. Viverræ naricæ descriptio.
45. Simia Œdipus.
46. Gordius Medinensis.

Vol. XXXI. 1770.

47. Caleceolariæ pinnatæ descriptio.

Many of the doctrines discussed in the course of his lectures were converted by his pupils into subjects of academical dissertations. These were published by him, under the name of Amænitates Academicæ,—a collection which comprises many admirable essays in natural history, medicine, domestic and rural economy. The first volume appeared in 1749, the seventh and last in 1769. An edition in ten volumes, containing also the later essays of Linnæus himself, was published by Schreber in 1785-91. Selections from the Amænitates have also been printed in English and German.

It has been judged necessary to give at least the titles of the numerous works of Linnæus, because the list may be useful to those desirous of examining them generally, or of referring to a particular treatise. The influence which they exercised upon the advancement of science, and especially upon that of botany and zoology, we shall have occasion to notice in the second volume of the present work.

SECTION XIII.

A brief Notice of Linnæus's Son.

Unnatural Conduct of the Mother of the Younger Linnæus—His Birth and Education—In his eighteenth Year he is appointed Demonstrator of Botany, and, three Years after, Conjunct Professor of Natural History—He visits England, France, Holland, Germany, and Denmark—On returning engages in the Discharge of his Duties; but at Stockholm is seized with Fever, which ends in Apoplexy, by which he is carried off—His Character and Funeral.

Although the younger Linnæus has been considered as a botanist rather than a zoologist, a brief notice of him may be suitably appended to the biography of his father, more especially as he can scarcely be said to have possessed an independent existence, either as a man or as a naturalist. The victim of domestic tyranny, he seems to have lost whatever energy he might originally have possessed, and to have passed through life without being influenced by those powerful motives which usually impel ambitious men in their career. His mother, who in her conduct towards him bore some resemblance to the infamous mother of Savage the poet, entirely broke his spirit, which perhaps was never of the most ardent or aspiring description. Not content with making his home as uncomfortable as she could, she conceived a positive hatred for her only son, which she displayed by every affront and persecution that her situation gave her the means of inflicting on his susceptible and naturally amiable mind.[L]

Charles Linnæus was born on the 20th January 1741, at the house of his maternal grandfather, Moræus, at Fahlun. From his earliest childhood he was encouraged by his father in the attachment which he manifested to natural objects, especially plants; and when only ten years old, he knew by name most of those which were cultivated in the botanic garden at Upsal. A stranger, however, to the "stimulus of necessity," which had urged his parent to surmount every obstacle, he appears not to have exhibited any indications of enterprise or enthusiasm. Notwithstanding this, in his eighteenth year, he was appointed demonstrator in the botanical garden, and at the age of twenty-one commenced authorship by publishing a decade of rare plants. Within twelve months another decade was produced, but the work was discontinued, for what reason is not known. In 1763, he was nominated conjunct professor of botany, with the promise that after his father's death he should succeed him in all his academical functions. In 1765, he took his degree of doctor of medicine, and began to give lectures; but, owing to the causes already alluded to, his fondness for science soon degenerated into disgust.

When he was thirty-seven years of age his father died, and he succeeded to his offices; but his mother forced him to pay for the library, manuscripts, herbarium, and other articles, which he ought to have inherited. However, a stimulus was thereby imparted which roused him from his lethargy, and he began in earnest to discharge the duties that were imposed upon him, among which were the arrangement of his father's papers, and the superintendence of new editions of several of his works. A third mantissa or supplement to the Systema Vegetabilium, left in manuscript by Linnæus, and enlarged by his son, was published at Brunswick in 1781, under the care of Ehrhart.

The young lecturer had long been desirous of travelling, but during his father's life had found it impossible to gratify his inclination. Being now his own master, he prepared to visit the principal countries of Europe; and, as Thunberg had been appointed demonstrator of botany, the government granted him permission. Want of money, however, presented an obstacle; to overcome which he found it necessary to borrow a sum of his friend Baron Alstrœmer, to whom he resigned his juvenile herbarium in pledge. At London, where he arrived in May 1781, he was received with enthusiasm, and treated with every possible attention by his father's friends and correspondents, especially Sir Joseph Banks, in whose house he principally resided. Here he occupied himself in preparing several works, such as a System of the Mammalia, and a Treatise on the Liliaceæ and Palms; but an attack of jaundice interrupted his pursuits, and his happiness was further diminished by the death of his friend Solander.

On recovering from his illness, he proceeded to Paris in the end of August, accompanied by M. Broussonet. In that capital he was loaded with all the attentions which were due to the son of Linnæus, and passed the winter among a circle of learned and ingenious persons. In the spring of 1782, he visited Holland, where he inspected the gardens and museums, and received, as in England and France, the most valuable contributions to his collections. He next proceeded to Hamburg, from whence he went to Kiel to visit his friend Fabricius, the great entomologist. At Copenhagen he experienced the same respectful kindness as in the other great cities. In January 1783, he went to Gottenburg, to render his homage of gratitude to Baron Alstrœmer, and in February returned to Upsal.

By this journey he had increased his knowledge, established useful connexions, collected many valuable specimens, and emancipated himself from the state of listlessness into which he had previously fallen. Hopes were entertained that he might prove a worthy successor to the legislator of natural history; and there is no reason to doubt that he would at least have acquitted himself honourably in the discharge of his duties.

But in the month of August he had occasion to go to Stockholm, where he was seized with a bilious fever, which, however, soon abated, so that he was able to return home. There he experienced a relapse; and having imprudently exposed himself to the cold and damp of the apartment in which his collections were kept, a third accession of fever came on, accompanied with apoplexy, which carried him off on the 1st of November 1783, in the forty-second year of his age.

He is said to have possessed a vigorous frame of body, and even to have inherited his father's looks, but without his energy, his activity, his consciousness of talent, or his love of adulation. He was, on the contrary, gentle and retired. Had he really been endowed with genius similar to that of his parent, he must have distinguished his career, brief as it was, by some meritorious performance. But it is no doubt wisely ordered that superiority of intellect should not, like the distinctions conferred by birth and fortune, be hereditary.

His remains were solemnly deposited, on the 30th of November, in the cathedral at Upsal, close to those of his father. A funeral oration was pronounced by M. Von Schulzenheim; and as the male line of the family had become extinct, his coat of arms was broken in pieces. The gardener of the university then strewed flowers over the grave "of a generation that," to use the words of one of its historians, "will remain great and imperishable as long as the earth, and Nature, and her science shall exist!"

After the death of this young man, the collections, library, and even the manuscripts, of his father, were offered for sale, and purchased by Sir James Edward Smith, the founder of the Linnæan Society of London. They are now in the possession of that illustrious body, whose labours have tended so much to forward the progress of natural history in general, and of botany in particular. The herbarium, which is contained in two deal presses, similar to the model described in the Philosophia Botanica, is to the botanist an object of great interest, and has been the means of elucidating many doubtful points. The building in which his museum was kept at Hammarby, although it now contains only the chair in which he sat when delivering his lectures, and a stuffed crocodile suspended from the roof, continues to attract the notice of strangers, who generally carry away with them a specimen of the Linnæa, which grows profusely in the neighbourhood.

It may be mentioned, in conclusion, that the widow of the great Swedish naturalist survived him fourteen years, having died in 1806, after attaining the 94th year of her age.