LINNÆUS. (continued 3)

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

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

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

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

SECTION X.

Correspondence of Linnæus.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The following is Linnæus's answer:—

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"P. Collinson,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Remember me to the immortal Banks and Solander.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bernard de Jussieu."

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

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

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

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

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

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

SECTION XI.

Character of Linnæus.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SECTION XII.

Catalogue of the Works of Linnæus.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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