LINNÆUS. (continued 2)

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.