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UC-NRLF 


SB    123 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

PRESENTED  BY 

PROF.  CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 
MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


A    CHAPTER 
IN    SWEDISH    HISTORY 

VOL.  I. 


PRINTED    BY 

:POTTISWOODE    AND    CO.,    NEW-STREET    SQUAUK 
LONDON 


STATUE   OF   LINNJEUS   AT   STOCKHOLM 


THROUGH    THE    FIELDS 
WITH 


A    CHAPTER     IN     SWEDISH     HISTORY 


BY 


MKS    FLORENCE    CADDY 

AUTHOR     OF     'FOOTSTEPS     OF     JEANNE     D'ARC*     ETC. 


IN    TWO    VOLUMES—  VOL.  I. 


ON  THE  CASTLE   HILL,  UPSALA 

LONDON 
LONGMANS,     GREEN,     AND     CO. 

1887 

All    rights    reserved 


TO     MY     HIGHLY     ESTEEMED     AND     VALUED     FRIEND 

DR   HENRY    TRIMEN,    F.L.S.  &c. 

Director  of  the  Colonial  Botanical  Establishment,  Ceylon 

WHOSE    KIND    ASSISTANCE    HAS    ENABLED    ME    WITH    THE 

MORE     CONFIDENCE     TO    OFFER     TO     THE     PUBLIC 

THIS    SKETCH    OF    THE    LIFE    AND    TRAVELS 

OF    THE    GREAT    NATURALIST 


M345910 


CONTENTS 

OP 
THE    FIRST    VOLUME. 


CHAPTEB 

I.   THE   LINDEN   TREE   OF   LINNHULT 1 

II.   WEXIO V 

III.  LUND   UNIVERSITY 54 

IV.  UPSALA ,  .  .      .  85 

V.   DEAN   CELSIUS  COMES 114 

VI.   THE   NORTH   SWEDISH   PROVINCES 136 

VII.   '  LACHESIS  LAPPONICA  '  :  JOURNEY  ROUND  LAPLAND,  1731, 

MAY   TO   NOVEMBER  . 188 

VIII.   ROSEN  VICTOR 198 

IX.   ITER  DALECARLIUM— THE   FAIR   FLOWER   OF   FALUN.  .   213 

X.   TAKES   HIS   DOCTOR'S   DEGREE   IN   HOLLAND  .  .      .   259 

XI.   LEYDEN — THE   FAT  OF  THE   LAND 291 

XH.   A  VISIT   TO   ENGLAND  .  .318 


ILLUSTRATIONS  IN  VOL.   I. 

STATUE  OF  LINNJEUS  AT  STOCKHOLM     .        .  Frontispiece 

ON  THE  CASTLE  HILL,  UP8ALA  .         ...  Vignette  title 

LINNJEUS  IN  SMALAND To  face  page    22 


MAP. 

(At  end  of  volume) 

THE   TRAVELS   OF   LINN^US,    1735-38 


THBOUGH    THE    FIELDS 
WITH   LINNAEUS 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   LINDEN  TREE   OF  LINNHULT. 

Beneath  yon  birch  with  silver  bark 

And  boughs  so  pendulous  and  fair, 
The  brook  falls  scattered  down  the  rock, 

And  all  is  mossy  there.— COLERIDGE. 

AT  RSshult,  in  the  heart  of  SmSland,  a  province  of 
South  Sweden,  on  a  slope  beside  the  trunk  railway  line, 
stands  a  small  shingle-roofed  wooden  house,  painted 
deep  red,  with  white  windows  draped  with  the  whitest 
muslin  the  best  laundry  ever  aided  a  bleaching-ground 
to  produce.  A  granite  obelisk  before  the  house,  be- 
tween it  and  the  rail,  tells  all  the  world,  or,  to  be  accu- 
rate, the  few  persons  who  daily  travel  through  SmSland 
by  the  slow  cattle  and  timber  train,  that  Carl  von 
Linne,  oftener  spoken  of  as  Linnaeus,  was  born  here  on 
May  23,  1707.  The  obelisk  was  erected  in  1866.  No 
other  building  is  visible  until  we  arrive  at  the  small 
station  at  Liatorp. 

VOL.  I.  B 

/a 


2       THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNsEUS 

This  is,  indeed,  being  flung  into  medias  res,  as 
Horace  recommends ;  for  if  any  place  can  fairly  be 
defined  as  medias  res,  it  is  R&shult  in  SmSland.  Even 
in  Sweden  there  is  no  getting  at  it  without  patience. 
It  is  the  kernel  of  everything ;  leading  apparently  from 
nowhere  to  nowhere,  yet  really  on  the  main  road  to 
every  town  of  interest  in  Sweden. 

At  10  P.M.  the  late  and  lingeringly  slow  '  cargo  ' 
train  stops  at  Liatorp  station  for  '  Linnseus,'  as  every 
one  understands  and  is  careful  to  inform  us,  and  moon- 
light on  the  islanded  lake  Mockeln,  and  the  last  gleams 
of  dying  daylight,  at  the  end  of  May,  make  it  easy  to 
find  the  small  hotel  with  its  '  Rum  for  Resande.' 

We  can  see  the  mat  of  fresh  spruce  boughs  laid,  as 
is  customary,  at  the  foot  of  its  wooden  threshold  steps, 
and  above  this  we  meet  the  welcoming  smile  of  a  plea- 
sant-looking woman,  who  has  been  sitting  in  the  porch 
watching  by  the  tender  light,  still  tinting  the  sky 
with  daffodil  and  wild-rose  colour,  to  see  the  train 
come  in. 

4  Yes,  this  is  right  for  Linnseus.  And  so  the 
stranger  ladies  want  to  find  out  all  about  our  Lin- 
iiseus  ?  This  is  charming.  Yes,  here  is  Stenbrohult, 
his  early  home;  and  yonder  is  ESshult,  his  birth- 
place. To-morrow  you  can  drive  over  and  visit  it. 
It  is  about  half  a  mile  from  here.' 

1  It  is  not  worth  while  to  drive  that  little  step.' 

1  Half  a  Swedish  mile ! ' 
1  Rum  is  a  room  in  Swedish;  it  is  pronounced  room,  and  not  rum. 


THE  LINDEN-TREE  OF  LINNHULT  3 

'Ah,  to  be  sure — there  is  a  difference.' 

( So  the  English  people  really  care  about  our 
Linnaeus  ?  This  is  delightful.' 

It  seems  very  amusing  to  them  likewise.  The  train 
was  still  waiting,  and  would  have  carried  us  on  farther 
had  we  been  misled. 

Meanwhile  mistress  and  maid  draw  out  a  bed  which 
shuts  up  telescope-fashion  at  the  foot,  and  prepare  a 
sofa  whose  cover  lifts  off,  and,  drawing  out  at  the  side, 
formsia  trough-like  receptacle  for  an  extra  guest.  All 
sofas,  however  splendid  the  apartment,  are  thus  formed 
as  spare  beds  in  Sweden.  Going  to  bed  here  is  like 
laying  oneself  by  in  a  drawer.  Presently  the  round 
table,  sleek  with  white  linen,  is  spread  with  a  star- 
shaped  arrangement  of  tiny  glass  dishes  of  relishes, 
served  to  provoke  appetite  (they  do  this  with  hungry 
English  people),  to  be  removed  by  a  second  course  of 
exquisitely  cooked  cutlets  and  potatoes — a  pleasant 
sight  at  11  P.M.  for  famished  travellers  weary  with  the 
time-murdering  train,  that  dawdles  fifteen  minutes  at 
every  wayside  station,  where  there  seems  no  excuse  for 
having  a  station  at  all ;  and,  besides  these,  a  junction 
at  every  alternate  station  gives  one  ample  time  for 
making  excursions  in  the  district.  The  groaning 
train  of  timber-trucks  stretching  from  horizon  to 
horizon,  with  some  pig  and  cattle  vans,  and  a  pas- 
senger carriage  at  the  end  of  all  as  a  concession,  steams 
slowly  in  and  out  of  each  station  at  one-horse — no, 
one-donkey  or  puppy-dog  power.  Let  not  over-wise 


4      THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

travellers  avoid  the  snail  t&g1  (snail  train)  lest  a 
worse  thing,  the  cargo  train,  befall  them.  But  here 
we  are  011  our  ground,  in  medias  res,  as  explained  before, 
which  is  a  comfort ;  for  I  defy  anyone  to  get  at  Stenbro- 
hult  from  any  civilised  place,  other  than  Scandinavian, 
within  a  fortnight  or  ten  days  at  least. 

Liatorp  is  in  the  parish  of  Stenbrohult,  of  which 
Nils  Linnaeus,  father  of  our  hero,  was  rector,  so  this  is 
the  scenery  of  the  great  botanist's  early  life. 

These  wooden  houses,  the  only  sort  known  in  Swedish 
villages,  are  much  larger  than  from  the  outside  they 
appear  to  be.  They  have  shingle  roofs,  set  on  mostly 
at  a  right  angle — sometimes  more,  sometimes  less,  but 
thereabout.  This  seeming  trifle  shows  a  naturally  in- 
artistic feeling  in  the  Swedes.  The  right-angled  gable 
always  makes  a  common-looking  house ;  it  has  no 
specific  character. 

The  wooden  walls  being  so  thin  makes  the  apart- 
ments surprisingly  roomy  inside  ;  yet  they  are  warm 
and  comfortable  withal.  Every  bedroom  by  day  be- 
comes a  fine  sitting-room  with  handsome  mahogany 
sofas,  even  in  poor  houses.  The  flowers,  too,  are  a  great 
adornment,  for  the  inhabitants  keep  plants  in  every 
window.  That  cactus  (you  would  take  it  for  a  green 
rock  or  a  fossil  cactus)  is  seventy  years  old,  for  certain ; 
it  has  been  so  long  in  the  family,  and  was  not  young 
when  it  came  to  them.  It  may  be  over  a  hundred 
years  old.  It  or  its  immediate  ancestor  belonged  to 
Nils  Linna3us.  It  is  not  rash  to  suppose  it  one  of 

iff,  fast  train. 


THE  LINDEN-TREE  OF  LINNHULT  5 

his  four  hundred  rare  plants;  though  more  probably 
it  was  a  Mexican  importation,  sent  by  Linnaeus  to  his 
father.  I  do  not  say  it  was  so,  but  much  of  the  best 
legal  evidence  is  made  up  of  likely  conjecture.  The 
other  plants  here  are  flowers — roses  and  such-like — with 
less  pedigree  but  more  beauty — this  is  la  vieille  roche. 

The  smallest  cottages  here  are  comfortable,  and 
the  people,  though  poor  in  actual  coin,  are  yet  easy, 
happy,  and  contented.  One  can  best  judge  of  the 
happiness  of  a  country  by  the  condition  of  its  poor 
people.  Here,  though  it  is  hard  to  make  a  living,  there 
appear  to  be  no  poor  people  in  our  sense  of  the  word ; 
that  is,  none  verging  on  pauperism.  The  villages  are 
trim  and  clean,  without  being  over  scrubbing-brushed 
as  in  Holland.  The  floors  are  of  clean  bare  boards. 

Give  your  linen  to  the  maid,  and  you  will  see  her 
wash  it  at  the  pump,  soap  it,  beat  it  on  a  bench 
thoroughly  with  a  kind  of  cricket-bat,  bleach  it  on  the 
flowery  turf,  and  return  it  to  you  lint-white,  with  all  the 
patent  washing-powders  and  dirty  messes,  with  which 
townspeople  give  themselves  blood-poisoning  and  all 
manner  of  skin  diseases,  driven  out  of  it.  Brave,  strong 
girl ;  I  see  her  in  the  garden  doing  her  washing  so 
honestly.  The  farmyard  with  the  fowls,  and,  besides 
the  pump,  a  well  with  a  bucket  to  wind  up,  has  a 
neatness,  without  being  at  all  prim  or  fancy-farmed, 
which  makes  it  very  pleasant  to  look  down  upon.  A 
long  ladder  reaches  to  the  attics  or  garrets,  where  the 
swallows  build  in  the  eaves.  There  are  also  wooden 
steps  up  to  the  slightly  elevated  ground  floor. 


6       THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN  &  US 

Many  vehicles,  of  a  sort  between  a  cart  and  a 
carriage,  drive  into  the  yard,  arid  the  drivers  unharness 
and  put  up  their  horses  in  free,  old-fashioned,  homely 
style,  and,  doffing  their  huge  frieze  overcoats,  awaken 
themselves  up  into  the  belief  that  it  is  a  pleasant  sum- 
mer-like day.  Such  a  funny  old  equipage  has  just 
driven  into  the  yard !  an  ancient  form  of  cabriolet  or 
chariot  with  a  hood  ;  low,  small,  crunched-up,  and,  oh, 
so  shabby-genteel !  Out  of  it  step  an  ancient  pair,  in 
clothing  like  old  pictures,  just  spoiled  with  a  few 
modern  remnants  of  the  fashion  of  ten  years  ago.  The 
lady  trails  her  snuff-brown  silk  skirt,  with  one  scanty 
flounce  at  the  bottom  of  it,  through  the  farmyard  with 
a  genteel  amble,  keeping  her  quality  from  contact  with 
the  general  coffee-room.  She  is  unaware  that  dresses 
are  worn  short  now,  and  that  flounces  such  as  hers  are 
no  longer  admired.  The  gentleman's  tailor  can  never 
have  smiled  again  after  executing  that  esteemed  order. 
The  gentleman,  furnished  by  him,  is  short,  and  stout, 
and  brown  of  extreme  neutrality — a  faded  brown, 
further  neutralised  by  long  lying  by,  when  the  style  of 
the  day — I  speak  of  Sweden — is  a  symphony  in  spinach 
colour,  with  velvet  collar  of  a  livelier  hue  of  green,  a 
bronze-green  billycock  hat  with  a  peacock's  feather  in 
the  band,  and  a  tasty  alpaca  umbrella  of  ultramarine 
blue,  all  cushiony  and  full.  They  use  a  simple  sort  of 
sledge  here  in  the  snow-time — one  sees  them  lying  by 
in  handy  corners ;  in  summer  they  run  light  home- 
made well-made  carriages,  constructed  to  hold  two 


THE  LINDEN-TREE  OF  LINNHULT  7 

medium-sized  and  two  small  persons,  with  cushions 
of  home-grown  and  home-tanned  hides.  One  of  these 
was  now  brought  round  to  take  us  to  K&shult. 

The  sandy  road  to  RSshult  meanders  about  the  rail- 
way-line like  the  serpent  round  the  rod  of  ^Esculapius. 
The  railway  men  ply  swiftly  to  and  fro  between  the 
stations  on  the  line,  paddling  their  little  tricycle  trucks, 
or  six  of  them  more  arduously  pumping  along  their 
i  Sociables.'  This  is  much  quicker  travelling  than  the 
train. 

Whortleberries,  juniper  shrubs,  and  wild  straw- 
berries form  the  undergrowth  beneath  the  pines  and 
among  the  grey  boulders  set  in  wood  anemones,  among 
which  as  we  passed  lay  a  snake  curled  up  like  one  of 
the  twisted  cakes  used  as  the  sign  of  a  baker's  shop. 
Three  flaxen-haired,  dark-blue-eyed  girl  children  dressed 
in  shades  of  pink  and  grey  and  rosy  scarlet  greeted  us 
from  their  cottage  garden  gate  with  wondering  but 
modest  gaze. 

The  people  are  polite,  the  wayside  greetings  are 
very  courteous,  yet  everyone  minds  his  own  business, 
and  a  pushing  crowd  never  gathers  round  an  artist  as 
in  Belgium  and  elsewhere.  There  is  no  fear  of  pick- 
pockets, or  other  robberies  or  disagreeables. 

I  will  here  give  part  of  Linnaeus's  own  characteristic 
description  of  the  scenery,  taken  from  his  diary. 

4  Stenbrohult,  a  parish  of  Sm&land,  is  situated  on 
the  confines  of  Sk&ne,  in  a  very  pleasant  spot  adjoining 
the  great  lake  Moklen,  which  forms  itself  into  a  bay 


S       THROUGH  THE  FIELDS   WITH  LINNAEUS 

about  a  quarter  of  a  (Swedish)  mile  long,  and  in  the 
centre  of  this  bay  stands  Stenbrohult  church.  It  is 
surrounded  on  all  sides,  except  to  the  west,  where  it 
fronts  the  lake,  by  well-cultivated  lands.  At  a  little 
distance  to  the  south  the  eye  is  relieved  by  a  beech 
wood;  to  the  north  the  lofty  mount  Taxas1  rears  its 
head,  and  Moklen  lies  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  lake. 
Moreover,  to  the  east  the  fields  are  encompassed  with 
woods  which  westward  inclose  broad  meadows  and  large 
spreading  trees.  In  short,  Flora  seems  to  have  lavished 
all  her  beauties  on  the  spot  that  was  to  give  birth  to  our 
botanist.' 

We  drive  through  an  avenue  of  hoary-lichened  firs 
with  the  lake  Mockeln  shimmering  between  their  stems, 
coloured  no  longer  with  the  glassy  reflections  of  last 
night  before  the  sundown,  but  fresh,  blue,  and  spark- 
ling in  the  limpid  air,  fragrant  with  flowers  and  buds  of 
the  lichen-clothed  juniper  shrubs.  We  cross  a  bridge 
over  an  arm  of  the  lake.  The  influence  of  a  gardener 
lasts  long  and  spreads  wide ;  we  still  perceive  the  influence 
of  Nils  Linnaeus  and  his  clan,  all  of  them  great  gar- 
deners, in  the  variety  and  comeliness  of  the  vegetation, 
which  is  hereabouts  unusually  rich.  Yet  one  tree  that 
used  to  flourish  here,  the  famous  lime  tree  of  the  Linnaei, 
is  conspicuously  absent.  There  is  no  lime  tree  growing 
here  now,  or  none  of  any  stateliness.  And  yet  there 
might  be ;  for  if  De  Candolle's  list  of  the  ascertained 

1  Linnaeus  had  seen  few  mountains  when  he  wrote  this.     It  is 
as  if  we  might  say,  '  the  lofty  Primrose  Hill  rears  its  head,'  &c. 


THE  LINDEN-TREE  OF  LINNHULT  g 

ages  of  certain  trees  be  correct,  there  are  limes  that 
have  lived  a  thousand  and  nearly  twelve  hundred  years.1 

This  famous  lime  tree,  according  to  Pulteney,  one 
of  the  most  careful  biographers  of  Linnaeus,  stood  on  the 
farm  where  he  was  born,  and  three  progenitors  of  his 
family  took  their  names  from  it — Lindelius,  Tiliander, 
and  Linnaeus.  This  shows  the  inaccuracy  of  even  a 
careful  historian,  for  Linnaeus  was  not  born  on  a  farm 
at  all,  but  at  the  parsonage  house  of  RSshult,  and  his 
ancestors  who  named  themselves  from  the  lime  tree  lived 
at  Hwitaryd,  near  by.  It  is  not  unusual  for  Swedish 
families  to  name  themselves  from  natural  objects. 

The  peasants  regard  the  lime  tree  as  sacred ;  in  early 
spring  they  deck  the  graves  of  lost  relatives  with  its 
fresh  green  boughs.2 

A  large  linden  tree  would  always  be  an  object  of 
note  in  that  land  where  the  pine,  the  spruce  fir,  and  the 
birch  are  the  principal  vegetation  above  the  variegated 
carpet  of  the  ground.  The  tree  in  question  may  be  here, 
should  be  here,  but  I  have  not  identified  it,  nor  could  I 
hear  of  it.  The  tradition  of  its  three  branches  dying  at 
the  extinction  of  the  three  families  and  the  dead  stump 
remaining  is,  I  suspect,  a  legend. 

For  those  who  care  for  the  study  of  race,  of  descent 
of  talents  and  qualities  through  pure  genealogies,  the 

1  The  lime  is  one  of  the  most  lasting  of  trees,  living  to  1,076- 
1,147  years.     This  is  measured  by  the  concentric  zones.     Professor 
Henslow  considers  De  Candolle  overrated  the  ages  of  his  trees  one- 
third. 

2  Horace  Marryat. 


io     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

story  of  the  linden  tree  of  the  Linnasi  should  have  great 
interest,  showing  as  it  does  how  the  pride  of  hard-won 
place  went  hand  in  hand  with  a  deep  and  increasing 
love  of  nature,  inherited  from  three  worthy  peasants 
of  Hwitaryd  (who  dwelt  under  the  shadow  of  the  great 
lime  tree)  whose  descendants  intermarried,  and  their 
fine  qualities  combined  to  form  one  brilliant  descendant, 
the  flower  of  the  family  tree — the  splendid  Linnaeus. 

For  all  that  Buckle  holds  that  there  is  no  such  thing 
as  hereditary  transmission  of  qualities,  no  virtue  in  pure 
race,  the  general  experience  of  the  world  runs  otherwise.1 

In  speaking  of  a  botanist  like  Linna3us  it  is  in- 
cumbent on  one  to  mention  root  and  branch,  and  Lin- 
naeus was  proud  of  his  genealogy.  In  his  notes  made 
for  his  autobiography — which  never  became  a  book — he 
gives  in  full  the  genealogy  of  the  Linnaei,  with  their 
botanical  and  clerical  traditions,  which  I  shall  epitomise 
here.  Skip  it,  ye  who  care  not  for  such  matters ;  easier 
reading  lies  beyond.  Yet  one  has  to  learn  less  interest- 
ing lines  of  kings,  and  there  are  crowds  who  read  the 
pedigrees  of  horses  in  the  stud-book  and  racing  calendar. 

'  Ingemar  Suensson,  a  peasant  at  Jomsboda,  in  the 
parish  of  Hwitaryd  in  Smaland :  from  him  descended 
Charles  Tiliander,  who  took  his  name  from  a  tall  tilia 
standing  between  Jomsboda  and  Linnhult.  He  studied 

1  Galton,  in  his  book  on  Hereditary  Talent,  says,  'I  would 
strongly  urge  that  the  sketch  should  be  pretty  exhaustive  as  regards 
the  nearer  kinsfolk,  male  and  female,  certainly  including  aunts  and 
uncles  on  both  sides,  and  preferably  great-aunts,  uncles,  and  cousins. 
This  has  great  statistical  value.' 


THE  LINDEN-TREE  OF  LINNHULT          11 

at  Upsala  in  1660,  and  died  without  issue  1697.  His 
brother,  Suen  Tiliander,1  studied  at  Upsala  1678.  He 
lived  as  domestic  chaplain  to  Count  H.  Horn  at  Bremen, 
and  died  rector  of  Pjetteryd  in  1712.'  [Our  little 
Linnaeus  may  have  remembered  him,  his  great-uncle. 
Suen's  sister  Ingrid  married  Carl's  grandfather.]  '  He 
was  a  peculiar  lover  of  gardening  and  natural  history. 
His  sons  were  Abel  Tiliander,  who  succeeded  him  as 
pastor,  and  was  drowned  in  a  well  in  1724,  and  Nicholas, 
chaplain  to  a  regiment.  The  latter  left  issue,  Carl 
Tiliander,  born  1701,  who  studied  at  Lund  1720,  became 
adjunct  teacher  of  Philosophy  there  in  1729,  and  adjunct 
teacher  of  Divinity  there  1730.' 

Doubtless  this  Carl,  who  was  six  years  older  than 
our  Carl  Linnaeus,  was  held  up  as  a  model  to  his  younger 
cousin,  who  was  reckoned  among  the  dunces.  He  was 
high  in  Lund  University  at  the  time  Linnaeus  was 
entered  there  as  a  student,  with  a  bad  character  from 
his  grammar  school.  We  do  not  hear  of  the  two  having 
had  much  communication.  I  fear  me  Carl  Tiliander 
was  a  prig,  and  ashamed  of  his  country  cousin.  Yet  the 
Tilianders  seem  to  have  been  the  pedagogues  of  the 
Linnaeus  family  for  a  long  while,  for  Suen,  the  pastor 
of  Pjetteryd,  took  our  hero's  father,  Nils  Linnaeus,  into 
his  house  '  to  educate  with  his  children,  and,  having  a 
good  garden,  he  gave  him  also  a  taste  for  horticulture ' ; 
and  a  certain  John  Tiliander,  a  severe  man,  which  is  all 
we  can  find  out  about  him,  was  the  earliest  tutor  of  the 
1  Linnaeus's  maternal  uncle.-  -SiR  J.  E.  SMITH. 


12     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

great  botanist.     LinnaBus  now  takes  the  line  of  another 
stem  of  his  family. 

'  Anders,  a  peasant  at  Jomsboda.'  These  peasant  an- 
cestors were  all  men  of  virtue  and  value.  i  His  progeny 
were  :  (1)  Ambern  Lindelius,  born  1600  ;  took  his  name 
from  the  same  linden  tree.'  He  was  the  first  to  do  so. 
*  He  was  made  Master  of  Arts  in  1632,  teacher,  lecturer, 
and  rector,  &c.,  and  died  in  1684.  (2)  Lars  Lindelius, 
who  died  rector  of  Jonkoping  in  1672.  Eric  Ambern 
Lindelius,  son  of  the  former,  studied  at  Upsala  1655, 
died  preacher  at  Quanberga  in  1715,'  when  Carl 
Linnaeus  was  eight  years  old.  £  Lars  Lindelius'  son 
John  was  a  physician  of  great  repute  at  Wexio.  He 
studied  at  Lund  1672,  Upsala  1680,  and  died  in  1711.' 
Thus  both  the  Swedish  universities  and  many  of  the 
rectories  in  South  Sweden  teem  with  Linnaean  traditions. 
1  No  remaining  males  of  this  family,'  says  Linnaaus. 

Now  comes  the  line  of  Linnasus's  father's  family,  the 
main  stock. 

4  Benge  Ingemarson,  also  a  peasant  in  the  parish 
of  Hwitaryd,  had  issue  Ingemar  Bengtson,  born  1633. 
He  was  farmer  of  the  manor  of  Erickstad.  His  son 
Nicholas  (Nils),  who  also  took  his  name  of  Linnaeus 
from  the  same  linden  tree,  was  born  1674;  assumed 
clerical  functions  1704.'  At  the  age  of  thirty-one  he 
married  Christina  Broderson,  the  young  daughter  of 
the  pastor  of  Stenbrohult,  who  was  only  seventeen. 
This  was  in  1705  ;  at  the  same  time  he  was  appointed 
vicar  of  Stenbrohult,  in  the  curacy  of  the  district  of 


THE  LINDEN-TREE  OF  LINNHULT  13 

R&shult.  At  the  time  of  the  great  botanist's  birth  Nils 
Linnaeus  was  cornminister,  which,  on  the  Swedish  Church 
establishment,  is  a  clergyman  somewhat  similarly  cir- 
cumstanced to  one  who  in  England  serves  a  chapel  of 
ease.1  The  '  Swedish  Biographical  Dictionary'  mentions 
many  other  ancestral  connections  and  collateral  branches, 
including  a  cousinship  with  the  British  Admiral  Kem- 
penfelt,  who  was  drowned  in  the '  Royal  George,'  1782,  in 
the  course  of  five  pages  of  genealogical  tables,  comprising 
a  number  of  respectable  people,  nearly  all  of  them  clergy- 
men or  medical  doctors.2  There  is  also  a  genealogical  table 
in  the  appendix  to  Pulteney's  biography,  going  further 
arid  more  minutely  into  the  pedigree,  including  various  in- 
teresting particulars,  such  as  this  concerning  Ingemar  of 
Waras,  in  the  parish  of  Hangeryd,  who  was  blind  many 
years,  and  spontaneously  recovered  his  sight  in  advanced 
age.  But  this  is  enough  for  the  indulgent  reader. 

GENEALOGY  OF  THE   LINNAEUS   FAMILY. 

LlNDELIUS.  TlLIANDER. 

Anders,  a  peasant  at  Jomsboda  Ingemar  Suensson,  a  peasant  at 

in    the   parish   of    Hwitaryd,  Jomsboda,  had  sons — 

bmaland,  had  sons —  1.  Carl  Tiliander,  died  1697. 

1.  Ambern  Lindelius,  born  1600,  2.  Slum   Tiliander,   died    1712; 
died  1684.  and  a  daughter,  Ingrid  Inge- 

2.  Lars  Lindelius,  died  1672.  marsdotter. 

Ambern's  son —  Suen  Tiliander  had  sons — 

Eric    Ambern    Lindelius,    died  Abel  Tiliander,  pastor,  drowned 
1716.  1724. 

Lars'  son —  Nicholas  Tiliander,  army  chap- 
John    Lindelius,    physician    at          lain. 

Wexio,  died  1711.  Nicholas's  son,   Carl  Tiliander, 

born  1701. 


Pulteney.  s  Scenskt  Biograjiskt  Lcxikon. 


14     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN&US 

LlKZTJBUB. 

Benge  Tngemarson,  peasant  in  the  parish  of  Hwitaryd,  had  a  son, 

(Ingemar  Bengtson,  born  1633,  farmer  of  the  manor  of  Erickstad  ; 

•j        he  married 

\  Ingrid  Ingemarsdotter,  sister  of  Suen  Tiliander,  pastor  of  Pietteryd . 
They  had  a  son, 

(Nicholas  (Nils)  Linnceus,  born  1674,  rector  of   Stenbrohult ;   he 

\       married 

(  Christina  Brodersonia,  daughter  of  his  predecessor  in  office. 
They  had  two  sons  and  three  daughters — 

Carl  Linncsus,  born  1707,  married  Sarah  Elizabeth  Moraea ;  had 
two  sons  (both  died  childless)  and  four  daughters. 

Anna  Maria,  born  1710,  married  Gabriel  Hok,  rector  of  Wirestad. 

Sophia  Juliana,  born  17 14,  married  Johan  Collins,  rector  of  Kysby. 

Samuel,  born  1718,  married  the   daughter  of   the   prebendary  of 
Markaryd ;  had  several  daughters,  no  sons. 

Emerentia,  married  —  Branting,  receiver  of  the  land-tax  in  the  Hun- 
dred of  Sunnerbo. 

No  heir  male  of  the  three  families.  The  arms  of 
Von  Linne  were  broken  on  the  tomb  of  Carl  von  Linne, 
son  of  the  great  Carl  Linnaeus,  ennobled  as  Von  Linne.1 

Nils  Linnseus  afterwards  became  rector  of  Stenbro- 
hult. His  father-in-law,  Samuel  Petri  Broderson,  rector 
of  Stenbrohult,  died  December  30,  1707,  of  a  fall  by 
which  his  clavicle  was  broken.  The  vicar  of  Wexio 
succeeded  Samuel  Broderson,  but,  dying  in  the  same 
year,  Nils  Linnasus  succeeded  him  in  the  living  of 
Stenbrohult. 

The  family  tree  is  the  linden  of  Linnhult. 

Thus  Linnseus  was,  in  fact,  rooted  in  R&shult ;  it  was 
more  than  an  ordinary  birthplace.  The  linden  tree 

1  How  often  we  see  in  cases  of  great  hereditary  abilitjr  the  line 
dies  out  after  the  most  talented  member  of  it  has  brought  it  into 
special  prominence. 


THE  LINDEN-TREE  OF  LINNHULT  15 

under  whose  shade  the  family  grew  up  stood  in  the 
vicinity  of  his  native  place,  between  Jomsboda  and 
Linnhult.  The  linden  tree  has  passed  away,  but  in 
this  cottage,  this  very  cottage,  Linnaeus's  father  dwelt, 
so  long  do  these  wooden  houses  last.  This  one  looks  as 
new  and  strong  as  do  the  other  houses  round,  and  as 
cheerful  with  its  white  muslin  window  draperies,  for  it 
is  inhabited,  and  the  climbing  plants  growing  up  round 
it,  ever  youthful  in  their  buds  and  blossoms.  Children 
still  peep  from  those  windows,  still  play  about  this  sloping 
garden.  A  little  pair  are  before  me  now.  But  that  this 
boy's  eyes  are  of  the  usual  Swedish  blue,  like  the  speed- 
well of  their  fields,  in  this  fair  child  I  can  almost  imagine 
I  see  the  intelligent  and  bright-faced  Carl  Linnaeus,  a 
boy  with  rosy  cheeks,  sparkling  brown  eyes,  and  light 
silky  hair,  almost  white  in  its  fairness ;  and  that  tiny 
maiden,  with  the  dazzlingly  fair  neck,  and  flaxen  locks 
escaping  from  under  her  cotton  gipsy  bonnet,  might  be 
the  little  Anna  Maria  Linnasa,  long  since  lying  in 
respected  sleep  as  Fru  Hok  in  the  rectory  churchyard 
of  Wirestad,  near  by.  .Nils,  the  perpetual  curate  of 
RSshult,  having  been  born  in  1674  makes  the  little 
house  connect  us  with  that  date,  which  has  so  long  since 
drifted  into  history,  in  a  more  intimate  way  than  do 
many  more  ancient  buildings.  Life  here  altogether 
carries  us  back  in  the  past,  so  completely  is  it  the  life 
of  Linnaeus's  own  day  and  that  of  his  ancestors  before 
him. 

There  has  been  no  regular  biography    written   of 


16     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

Linnaeus  since  Stoever  (of  Altona)  wrote  in  German  his 
valuable  '  Life  of  Linne" '  in  1794,  and  Pulteney  his  in 
English  in  1805.1 

These  two  biographers  abuse  each  other  politely  in 
long  prefaces.  Stoever  says  of  Pulteney's  book,  c  It  is 
in  several  other  respects  imperfect  and  deficient.  The 
learned  author  ought  to  have  had  recourse  to  Baron 
Haller's  "  Bibliotheca  Botanica,"  torn  ii.  What  follows  is 
a  translation  of  this  work.'  Pulteney  speaks  of  Stoever's 
'  Life  of  Linne '  as  containing  interesting  particulars, 
<  but  it  is  not  without  a  considerable  number  of  errors.' 

Sir  William  Jardine,  in  his  brilliant  epitome  of  both 
books,  made  as  a  short  biographical  notice  of  Linnseus 
for  the  Naturalists'  Library,  speaks  of  Linngeus's  diary  * 
as  owing  its  preservation  to  Dr.  Maton  who  edited  it.3 
Almost  as  precious  as  this  are  the  letters  and  diaries 
of  travel  kept  by  Linnaeus,  which  came  with  his  other 
collections  into  the  possession  of  Sir  James  E.  Smith, 
the  founder  of  the  Linnaean  Society.  These  papers, 
written  either  in  Latin  or  Swedish,  have  been  par- 
tially edited  and  translated  by  him,  and  some  few  of 
the  diaries  have  been  separately  published  in  German, 
but  some  of  them  have  never  hitherto  been  brought  to 

1  Turton's  biography,  written  in  1806  to  accompany  a  translation 
of  Linnaeus's  General  '  System  of  Nature,'  is  compiled  from  these. 
The  smaller  biographies  are  abridgments  of  Stoever. 

2  The  marvel  is  that  Stoever  did  his  work  so  well  without  the  diary 
and  documents  that  Dr.  Maton  appended  to  the  second  English  edition 
of  Stoever. 

3  The  diary,  down  to  1730,  was  put  into  Latin  by  Archbishop 
Menander.     It  is  written  in  the  third  person. 


THE  LINDEN-TREE   OF  LINNHULT  17 

light  at  all.  Sir  J.  Smith  is  our  most  trustworthy 
authority  on  this  subject,  as  he  possessed  materials  of 
which  both  Stoever  and  Pulteney  were  ignorant,  although 
he  only  used  them  biographically  in  a  short  memoir 
written  for  Rees's  '  Cyclopaedia.' 

What  the  present  generation  knows  of  Linnaeus  is 
an  obsolete  system  and  a  few  trivial  anecdotes.  In 
painting  his  portrait  I  have  tried  to  give  as  a  background 
the  things  he  saw,  the  scenes  he  moved  in,  the  con- 
tinuous diorama  of  his  life,  which  abounded  with 
adventure  more  than  usually  falls  to  the  lot  of  scholars 
*  whose  fame  is  acquired  in  solitude.'  I  wish  it  may  be 
thought  a  pleasant  yarn  about  Linnaeus. 

Stoever,  and  all  the  short  biography  writers  who  about 
his  time  pillaged  rather  than  translated  him,  begin  with 
a  hot  dispute  concerning  Linnaeus's  birthday.  Some 
say  it  was  the  3rd  of  May,  some  the  13th,  some  the 
23rd,  and  various  other  dates.1  Linnaeus  in  his  genea- 
logical table  says :  <  On  May  12,  1707,  at  RSshult  in 
SmSland,  was  born  Carl  Linnaeus ' ;  but  as  his  own 
flowery  language  in  his  commenced  autobiography  says 
he  was  '  brought  into  the  world  in  a  delightful  season  of 
the  year,  between  the  months  of  frondescence  and  flo- 


1  The  New  Style  being  then  in  process  of  gradual  adoption  in 
Sweden,  the  year  1704  was  regarded  as  a  common  year  in  that 
country ;  consequently  the  true  date  of  Linnaeus's  birth,  according 
to  our  present  reckoning,  was  May  23, 1707  ;  the  commonly  received 
date,  May  24,  being  an  error  due  to  supposing  the  calendar  in 
Sweden  and  Kussia  at  that  time  to  be  identical. — Encycl.  Brit.> 
JACKSON. 

VOL.  I.  C 


1 3     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNALUS 

rescence,'  this  gave  a  good  opening  for  controversy.  The 
4 Times'  of  April  1885,  speaking  of  the  new  statue 
of  Linngeus  in  the  Humle  Garden  at  Stockholm,  says  : 
{  On  the  13th  of  next  month  a  statue  of  the  celebrated 
Swedish  botanist  Linnaeus  will  be  publicly  unveiled  at 
Stockholm.  The  day  will  be  the  178th  anniversary  of 
his  birth.'  The  obelisk  says  he  was  born  on  May  23. 
Linnaeus's  own  diary  fixes  the  date  with  scrupulous 
exactness,  as  May  \\-\^  between  12  and  1  in  the 
night. 

The  reason  of  these  aberrations  regarding  his  birthday 
is  that,  taking  the  1 3th  of  May  as  about  a  central  date, 
some  authors  in  their  'cuteness,  thinking  they  are  the 
first  to  remember  the  fact  of  the  late  change  in  Sweden 
from  the  Old  to  the  New  Style  in  the  calendar,  have 
put  him  on  or  back  eleven  days,  or  some  only  ten  days 
inclusive,  not  being  able  for  the  life  of  them  to  remember 
whether  it  should  be  eleven  days  forward  or  backward ; 
accordingly  the  date  ranges  from  the  3rd  to  the  24th 
of  May,  an  important  difference  in  the  short  Swedish 
spring.  Carl  was  the  first-born  child  of  his  parents ; 
other  little  ones  followed  quickly  on — three  daughters 
and  a  second  son. 

We  will  have  one  short  look  round  the  curate's 
cottage  at  R&shult  before  removing  with  him  to  the 
somewhat  larger  house  and  much  larger  garden  of 
Stenbrohult  rectory.  The  granite  obelisk,  surmounted 
with  the  Polar  star  in  gold,  stands  tall  in  front  of  the 
small  red  cottage  (of  the  curacy)  at  the  top  of  the  slop- 


THE  LINDEN-TREE  OF  LINNHULT  19 

ing  garden,  still  set  with  flowers  and  beehives  on  grass 
thick  with  anemones  and  tiny  pansies,  and  wild  straw- 
berries under  the  yellow-flowering  gooseberry  bushes 
and  other  shrubs.  The  cottage  stands  in  a  beech  grove 
which  forms  with  the  spruce,  larch,  and  other  trees  a 
forest  around  it.  The  ground  at  the  foot  of  a  good-sized 
oak  growing  below  the  cottage  is  powdered  with  wood 
anemones.  The  land  is  undulating  hereabout,  and  very 
agreeably  broken  and  diversified.  The  railway-line 
passes  directly  before  the  obelisk  and  cottage,  being 
only  divided  from  the  garden  by  a  pair  of  iron  gates. 
Beyond  a  stream,  which  one  passes  by  a  plank  bridge, 
a  wood  rises  on  the  opposite  side  across  the  railway. 

The  well  is  still  worked  by  a  pole  lever,  one  of  the 
earliest  and  simplest  ways  of  raising  water  for  garden- 
ing purposes.  Above  the  vibrating  sound  of  the  wood- 
pecker's tapping  rises  the  prolonged  coo  of  the  wood- 
pigeon.  The  air  is  vocal  with  birds  and  perfumed  with 
buds  and  flowers.  It  is  the  very  fittest  early  home  for  a 
student  of  natural  history,  the  science  of  peace.  The 
garden  is  walled  on  two  sides  with  granite,  the  large 
stones  being  smoothly  laid  and  fitted  without  mortar. 
A  granite  slab  forming  a  small  table  in  an  arbour  is 
inscribed  with  Linnaous's  name ;  the  Polar  star  and 
other  devices  are  decipherable  on  it,  traced  in  outline 
with  tinges  of  colour.  This,  of  course,  has  nothing  to 
do  with  the  infancy  of  Linnaeus. 

His  father  was  appointed  rector,  instead  of  curate, 
of  Stenbrohult  in  1708,  and  the  family  moved  to  the 

c  2 


20     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

rectory  when  Carl  was  a  year  old.  The  present  rectory 
house  is  not  the  home  of  Linnaeus's  childhood — that  was 
burnt  down  some  forty  years  later  and  rebuilt.  Here 
was  a  much  larger  garden,  and  Carl  was  as  a  child  in 
the  Garden  of  Paradise.  '  From  the  very  time  that  he 
first  left  his  cradle,'  says  the  enthusiastic  Turton,  '  he 
almost  lived  in  his  father's  garden,  which  was  planted  with 
the  rarer  shrubs  and  flowers ;  and  thus  were  kindled, 
before  he  was  well  out  of  his  mother's  arms,  those  sparks 
which  shone  so  vividly  all  his  lifetime,  and  latterly 
burst  into  such  a  flame.'  '  The  same  thing  that  is  said 
of  a  poet — nasciiur,  non  fit — may  be  said  without  im- 
propriety of  our  botanist.'  *  Carl  was  nursed  in  beauty, 
fragrance,  and  pure  delights.  His  toys  were  flowers, 
and  Christina,  his  young  mother,  herself  with  only 
eighteen  years  of  youth,  used  to  stop  his  cries  by  giving 
him  a  flower  to  play  with. 

The  smallness  of  the  rector's  income  obliged  him  to 
make  the  best  of  husbandry.  He  was  his  own  gardener. 
His  child  was  his  constant  companion,  enjoying  to  the 

full 

Delight  and  liberty,  the  simple  creed 
Of  childhood,  whether  busy  or  at  rest.2 

Here  on  the  scene  one  seems  to  see  the  sunny-haired 
child  running  about  among  these  ferny  foregrounds, 
his  baby  feet — sometimes  bare  like  his  young  brethren 
around,  sometimes,  as  became  the  rector's  son,  with  tiny 
canvas  shoes  with  a  buckle-strap  across  the  instep — care- 
1  Linnaeus's  Diary.  2  Wordsworth. 


THE  LINDEN-TREE   OF  LINNHULT          21 

fully  stepping  between  the  plants  so  as  to  injure  none  of 
them,  as  I  have  seen  a  little  London-bred  boy  do  among 
the  ferns  at  Hampstead  Heath.  Perhaps  Carl  oftenest 
wore  those  national  thick  shoes  with  heels,  but  cut  off 
low  at  heel,  like  slippers,  which  it  is  almost  impossible 
to  wear  out.  In  these  he  went  out  scampering  and 
chasing  the  butterflies  across  the  broken  ground  where 
the  granite  boulders  are  almost  lost  among  the  whortle- 
berries, his  keen  eyes  and  swift  feet  following  their 
flight  into  the  grey  mystery  of  the  fir  woods  until 
tempted  away  by  the  discovery  of  a  nest  of  game  birds, 
all  full  of  dear  little  palpitating  balls  of  fluff. 

His  eyesight  was  from  a  child  remarkably  acute — a 
seemingly  indispensable  requisite  to  the  naturalist,  did  we 
not  remember  that  Huber,  Reboul,  and  Rumphius,  among 
the  most  eminent  observers  of  nature,  have  been  blind. 

Carl  needed  his  keen  bright  eyes  to  trace  the  airy 
path  of  the  butterflies,  for,  as  a  rule,  these  are  very 
small  in  Sweden.1  The  brimstone  butterfly,  the  only 
large  one  I  saw  here,  is  one  of  the  largest,  at  least 
among  the  common  ones. 

I  have  just  caught,  killed,  and  stuck  a  tiny  fairy, 
a  blue  butterfly,2  smaller  and  more  fragile  than  our 
smallest  chalk-hill  blues.  Did  I  call  natural  history 
the  science  of  peace  ?  Oh,  monstrous  fiction  !  But 
Linnaeus  was  as  yet  innocent  of  trying  to  compass 
their  death.  He  wanted  to  keep  them  alive,  as  most 

1  The  family  of  the  Lycainida  being  numerous!}*  represented. 
'-'  One  of  the  Lyca-nidcc. 


22     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS   WITH  LINNAEUS 

children  do  ;  it  was  only  by  sad  accident  that  they  were 
bruised  and  maimed.  He  formed  a  museum  of  live 
insects.  He  scarcely  knew  which  he  loved  best,  the 
caterpillar  or  the  plant  it  fed  upon.  He  loved  the 
troops  of  ants  that  crowd  the  dust  with  palpable  life. 
Some  of  the  sorts  found  hereabout  are  large  enough  to 
be  visible  to  the  most  casual  observer.1 

What  pleasure  to  a  child  thus  to  run,  beloved  yet 
wild  and  free,  beneath  the  trees,  sheltering  the  cooing 
doves,  and  the  dryad's  hair  of  the  silver  birch,  his  feet 
lapped  in  leaves  of  the  wild  lily  of  the  valley  with  minia- 
ture racemes  2 ;  the  pimpernel  and  fern  curls  fringing  the 
foundations  of  the  boulders,  which  served  little  Carl  for 
seats  and  tables  !  Where  we  can  generalise  only  a  mazy 
bewilderment  of  grey  stems,  and  in  the  foreground  a 
crumbling  grey  intricacy  of  boulders  touched  with 
orange  lichen,  the  colours  of  the  orange-tipped  butter- 
fly, his  classifying  infant  eyes  can  spy  the  minute 
green  butterfly,3  invisible  to  anyone  else,  upon  the 
whortleberries  the  moment  it  waves  the  brown  upper 
sides  to  its  wings  preparatory  to  a  fresh  start.  It  has 
been  safe,  even  from  Carl,  so  long  as  the  metallic  green 
under-sides  to  its  closed  wings  hid  it  among  the  crowd 
of  leaves.  Distinct  to  him  also  are  a  small  brown-and- 
white  speckled  butterfly,  and  an  atomy  dark  brown 
spotted  one,4  nearly  black ;  and  among  the  commoner 

1  There  are  five  species  of  Formica  found  in  Sweden.     One  kind 
is  said  to  be  eatable. 

2  Maianthemum  bifolium.  s  Thecla  Jtubi,  Lin. 
4  Ccenonympha  Hero,  Lin. 


LINN^US  IN  SM!LAND 


THE  LINDEN-TREE  OF  LINNHULT          23 

white  cabbage  butterflies  he  can  discern  a  rarer  fairy, 
a  tender  Psyche,  looking  to  the  ordinary  world  like  a 
wood  anemone  or  an  oxalis  flower.1  The  brimstone 
butterflies  are  a  thought  yellower  than  ours,  and  there 
are  many  small-sized  tortoiseshells.  George  Eliot  men- 
tions how  not  one  polype  for  a  long  while  could  Mr. 
Lewes  detect  in  some  seaside  holiday  ramble,  after  all  his 
reading — so  necessary  is  it  for  the  eye  to  be  educated 
by  objects  as  well  as  ideas.  For  one  thing,  however, 
the  little  Linnseus's  eyes  were  never  strained  over  the 
horrible  uncivilised  print  that  the  Germans  blind  them- 
selves with,  as,  though  the  Danes  and  Norwegians  use 
the  Gothic  character,  the  Swedes  use  Koman  letters,  and 
the  Swedes  seldom  wear  spectacles. 

The  church  of  Stenbrohult  is  three-quarters  of  a 
Swedish  mile  from  Liatorp  station,  and  the  parish  is  very 
scattered,  entailing  considerable  labour  on  the  clergyman ; 
but  the  congregation  make  light  of  twelve  English  miles 
to  go  and  come  to  church.  The  village  and  the  indis- 
pensable all-sorts  shop  of  Diwerse  R'okeri,  and  the  Bageri, 
or  baker's  shop,  are  at  Liatorp.  There  are  no  squalid 
cottages  in  Liatorp  such  as  we  too  often  see  in  Devonshire 
villages ;  yet  all  nature  is  less  kind,  and  the  winter  is  cruel. 
Though  in  the  stony  wilderness  of  SmSland  there  would 
be  hardly  a  square  yard  of  turf  unless  cleared  by  hand 
labour,  and  they  cannot  plant  a  cabbage  till  they  have 
cleared  a  space,  the  cheerful  content  of  the  people  would 
be  surprising,  but  for  the  thought  that  a  field  once  cleared 
1  Leucophasia  sinapis  of  the  Pieridee. 


24     THROUGH   THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

is  always  clear  and  profitable  when  once  the  boulders 
are  piled  up  into  fences.  If  I  seem  tediously  minute, 
remember  that  Stenbrohult  is  the  foundation  stone  of 
Linnasus's  history.  This  is  the  summer  life.  In  winter 
the  social  joys  are  perhaps  keener  and  more  common,  for 
it  is  easiest  to  get  about  when  frost  has  made  the  land 
and  water  all  alike,  when  the  snow  has  filled  up  and 
smoothed  the  roughnesses  of  the  ground  between  the 
boulders,  and  the  Swedish  landscape  is  daylighted  by 
its  own  purity  of  snow,  its  landmarks  effaced,  and  one 
can  best  travel  by  the  compass  of  the  stars.  The  worst 
season  is  before  the  frost  sets  in,  when  these  Northern 
forests  have  a  dreadfully  aguish  feeling.  The  little 
Linnaeus,  all  his  life  a  gouty  subject,  was  very  suscep- 
tible to  neuralgia  and  suffered  much  from  toothache. 

His  pleasures,  however,  as  a  child  redeemed  his 
pains.  He  has  recorded  how  the  love  of  natural  science 
that  followed  him  through  life  was  first  decidedly  dis- 
played when  he  was  scarcely  four  years  old.  The  child 
was  indeed  father  to  the  man.  It  must  have  been  at 
Whitsuntide  after  his  fourth  birthday  when  Carl  ac- 
companied his  father  to  a  feast  at  Mockeln,  on  the 
other  side  of  the  tall  alder-fringed  lake.  In  the  even- 
ing the  guests  seated  themselves  on  some  flowery  turf, 
listening  to  the  pastor,  who  explained  to  them  the 
names  and  properties  of  various  plants,  showing  them 
the  roots  of  the  Succisa,  Tormentilla,  Orchides,  &c. 
The  child  paid  deep  attention  to  all  he  saw  and  heard, 
and  from  that  time  never  ceased  harassing  his  father 


THE  LINDEN-TREE   OF  LINNHULT  25 

with  questions  about  the  name,  qualities,  and  nature  of 
every  plant  he  met  with ;  but  though  his  memory  was 
good,  and  later  became  remarkably  so  from  its  constant 
exercise  with  attention,  childlike  he  forgot  the  names 
of  the  plants  and  the  result  of  all  his  questions.  These 
things  require  to  be  impressed  on  children's  memory 
by  constant  repetition,  line  upon  line,  like  the  nursery 
rhymes  and  other  lore  they  learn.  His  father  refused 
to  tell  him  more  until  he  showed  with  the  curiosity  a  de- 
termination to  remember.  Indeed,  it  was  a  long  lesson 
to  learn  the  names  of  all  the  plants  in  the  home  garden  ; 
for  Linnaeus  in  a  letter  to  Baron  Hal  ler  says  it  con- 
tained more  than  four  hundred  species,  many  of  them 
rare  and  exotic.1  His  father  was  his  tutor  in  other  things 
besides  natural  history.  He  taught  Carl  Latin,  religion, 
and  geography,  i  to  qualify  him  for  the  pulpit  and  to 
conduct  his  botanical  studies  more  skilfully,'  until  he 
was  seven  years  old,  when  he  was  placed  under  the 
care  of  John  Tiliander,  a  relative,  who,  I  suppose,  came 
to  stay  with  the  family,  or  came,  perhaps,  as  curate.2 
He  was  in  no  way  fitted  to  be  tutor  of  an  intelligent, 
vivacious,  and  peculiar  child,  the  child  of  the  young 
century,  John  having  in  teaching  but  one  idea  of  his 
own — an  idea  already  antiquated:  that  of  obstinate 
severity — an  idea  impossible  to  maintain  at  a  time  when 

1  '  To  this  early  discipline  Linnasus  afterwards  ascribed  his  tena- 
cious memory,  which,  added  to  his  sharpness  of  sight,  laid  the 
foundations  of  his  eminence  as  a  reforming  naturalist.' — JACKSON. 

2  Linnaeus  marks  the  date  Sept.  15,  1714. 


26     THROUGH   THE  FIELDS   WITH  LINNAEUS 

the  swathes  and  bandages  of  the  European  intellect  were 
bursting.  The  budding  energies  might  be  controlled 
and  swayed,  but  could  not  at  that  impulsive  epoch  be 
sternly  repressed.  Childhood  has  the  mind  in  minia- 
ture, but,  having  its  seed  leaves  still  on,  we  do  not 
always  recognise  its  sort. 

To  the  late  day  of  his  writing  his  autobiography 
Linnaeus  bore  a  grudge  against  John  Tiliander.  This 
man,  morose,  and  probably  disappointed  in  the  ambition 
he  shared  in  common  with  his  family,  vented  his  dis- 
content with  circumstances  on  poor  little  Carl. 

But  the  boy's  pains  and  penalties  were  mitigated  by 
a  joy,  a  new  sense — that  of  proprietorship.  At  eight 
years  old  his  father  allotted  Carl  a  piece  of  ground  of 
his  own,  and  he  at  once  began  to  form  a  botanical 
garden  in  miniature  on  an  independent  plan.  His  love 
of  science  disturbed  even  his  father  when  the  boy 
brought  in  weeds  and  wild  herbs  hard  to  eradicate,  and 
worse  than  these — wild  bees  and  wasps,  with  all  their 
concomitant  inconveniences.  In  a  garden  necessarily 
cultivated  for  profit  such  practical  science  had  to  be 
discouraged. 


CHAPTER  II. 

WEXIO. 

The  breeze  that  flung  the  lilies  to  and  fro,  and  said 

The  dawn,  the  dawn,  and  died  away, 

Thence  shall  we  hear 

The  music  of  the  ever-flowing  streams, 
The  low  deep  thunders  of  the  booming  sea. 

Clouds,  ARISTOPHANES  (translated  by  ME.  COLLINS). 

IN  the  spring  of  1717, l  Carl's  father  took  him  to  Wexio 
to  be  entered  at  the  grammar  school  (or  trivial  school, 
as  Linnaeus  calls  it  in  his  diary)  in  that  town  where 
already  his  connection  John  Lindelius  had  been  cele- 
brated as  a  physician.  It  is  true  John  had  been  dead 
these  six  years,  but  his  interest  would  still  be  alive  in 
the  place,  and  might  be  useful  to  the  boy  now  for  the 
first  time  leaving  his  parents'  roof.  Carl's  outward 
appearance  had  been  transformed  to  suit  his  altered 
circumstances.  The  long  silky  white  hair  was  cut  short 
as  befits  a  schoolboy,  and  he  was  provided  with  new 
boots  for  state  occasions — high  loose  boots  reaching 
up  the  calf.  Linnaeus's  account  of  his  schooldays  is  long- 
worded,  after  the  fashion  of  his  time ;  but  Stoever's 
biography  of  him  is  very  funny.  He  begins  the  story 

1  A  note-book  of  Linnaeus's  says  September  1714,  but  this  date 
is  evidently  an  accidental  interpolation.     See  note  2  p.  25. 


28     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

of  Carl's  going  to  school,  '  At  the  epoch  of  this  deter- 
mination ' — viz.  of  his  father  sending  him  to  school — 
'  Linnaeus  had  seen  his  second  lustre.'  This  makes 
Stoever  difficult  reading,  one  so  often  stops  to  laugh  or 
to  consult  the  dictionary  (often  Lempriere).  His  full- 
sailed  prose  expresses  everything  in  long  measure. 
Stoever's  rococo  pages  are  stiff  with  embroidery  of  style 
rather  than  embroidery  of  thought. 

Can  one  imagine  a  greater  pleasure  to  an  inquiring 
boy  of  ten  than,  escaping  from  the  severe  rule  of  John 
Tiliander,  to  travel  with  his  father,  also  a  lover  of  nature, 
enjoying  an  unwonted  excursion  in  spring  through  an 
interesting  country  ?  Even  though  the  journey  was  to 
end  in  going  to  school,  still  school  was  a  novelty ;  and  to 
one  with  whom  travel  in  his  own  country  was  a  passion, 
this  was  a  joy  to  stand  out  salient  through  life.  The 
parting  from  home  gave  it  the  touch  of  pathos  that 
thrilled  the  nerves  and  made  the  feelings  more  sensitive 
to  every  impression.  They  were  off  in  the  morning 
early,  for  they  had  before  them  a  ride  of  over  five-;,  ml  - 
thirty  miles.  They  rode,  most  likely,  both  on  one  horse. 
Good-bye,  loved  mother  and  fond  little  sisters !  Their 
handkerchiefs  are  waved  dry  before  the  dear  travellers 
are  out  of  sight  from  the  knoll  on  which  they  stand. 
Sweden  in  spring  is  one  vast  natural  history  collection, 
all  careless  of  mankind,  and  SmSland  is  the  very  pith 
and  core  of  the  country  as  regards  entomology  and 
botany,  both  of  them  our  Carl's  wild  delights — objects 
that  he  loved  as  other  bovs  love  their  boats  and  bats. 


WEXIO  29 

SmSland  is  one  huge  moraine  which  has  poured  itself 
upon  a  lake,  filling  it,  except  where  a  few  pools  are  left 
so  mingled  with  the  stones  that  it  is  hard  to  say  where 
dry  land  begins  and  ends.  It  is  said  of  Soderman- 
land  (Sudermania),  which  is  likewise  a  confused  mixture 
of  lake  and  forest,  that  here  the  Creator  omitted  to 
separate  the  land  from  the  water.  This  is  still  more 
aptly  applicable  to  Smaland,  which  is  the  superlative  of 
this.  Solitary  it  is,  yet  full  of  life  that  never  allows 
the  country  to  feel  gloomy — the  early  heron  fishing  in 
the  lake ;  the  young  trees  springing  all  about ;  happy 
families  of  fir-trees,  thick  as  grass — 

Those  delicious  self-sown  firs,  whispering, 
What  has  been  shall  be. 

How  vivid  is  the  verdure  of  the  spruce  in  spring, 
enhanced  by  that  blue  low  distance  to  the  northward, 
where  the  ground  has  been  partially  cleared ;  elsewhere, 
the  hoary  limbs  of  patriarchal  trees  harmonising  with 
the  primeval  boulders,  make  all  one  grey  mystery,  into 
which  the  sharp  eyes  of  our  young  Linnaeus  can  pierce 
and  he  can  find  out  treasures  for  his  collections,  where 
perhaps  only  a  pair  of  kites  are  visible  above  the 
slanting  splinter  fences  to  a  more  ordinary  observer — 
where  some,  perhaps,  can  merely  see  the  gates  which 
so  often  cross  the  Swedish  roads  to  keep  the  cattle 
within  bounds,  and  others  see  only  the  vast  chaos  of 
the  land ! 

The  ground   somewhat  changes  character   on   ap- 
proaching Alfvesta  on  Lake   Salen,  where  the  marsh 


30     THROUGH   THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

marigolds,  heralded  forth  by  the  cuckoo,  as  they  say  in 
Sweden,  are  flowering  right  out  into  the  water  beyond 
rushy  peninsulas ;  and  the  ancient  church  of  AringsSs 
is  seen,  with  its  curious  detached  belfry  mounted  on  a 
wooden  scaffolding,  or,  rather,  a  peculiar  arrangement 
of  wooden  columns.  Fergusson — who,  however,  is  too 
hard  upon  Swedish  architecture  generally — says,  '  The 
most  pleasing  objects  in  Sweden  are  the  count r}^ 
churches  with  their  tall  wooden  spires  and  detached 
belfries.  If  these  do  not  possess  much  architectural 
beauty,  they,  at  all  events,  are  real  purpose-like  erec- 
tions, expressing  what  they  are  intended  for  in  the 
simplest  manner,  and  with  their  accompaniments 
always  making  up  a  pleasing  group.'  Swedish  archi- 
tecture is  mostly  very  simple,  but  fully  expressive  of 
its  intention.  There  is  no  opulence  or  splendour  in 
Sweden,  not  even  in  nature;  the  beauty  there  takes 
other  characteristics — fair  flowers,  blithe  birds  and 
insects,  and  fair  women.  God  manifests  Himself  in 
different  ways  in  different  countries,  through  other 
darkened  glasses.  In  Sweden — its  air,  its  snow,  its 
social  life,  its  moralities — all  are  pure;  therein  lies  its 
charm.  It  is  plain,  but  with  the  purity  of  snow. 
Nature  and  science  go  hand  in  hand  in  Scandinavia ; 
art  is  left  out  of  daily  life  altogether.  Their  school  of 
painting  is  only  nature  transcribed,  or  set  on  canvas, 
with  affectionate  feeling  but  no  ideal  grace.  There  are 
some  interesting  runic  stones  at  AringsSs. 

Here  Nils  Linnaeus  stopped  to  dine  at  the  house  of 


WEXIO  31 

one  of  his  wife's  relatives — Professor  Lars  Johansson 
Humerus,  a  cousin  of  the  Brodersons,  and  also  con- 
nected with  the  Tilianders.  The  rector  introduced  his 
pretty  boy,  who  evidently  made  a  favourable  impression 
upon  the  professor,  for  he  counselled  his  father  to  send 
Carl  to  complete  his  education  at  Lund  University, 
where  he  promised  to  be  kind  to  him.  The  travellers 
then  proceeded  on  their  way  to  Wexio. 

Their  road  skirted  the  lake,  and,  though  still  wooded 
and  rocky,  the  scenery  was  less  wild  and  unconquered 
by  man  than  their  own  Stenbrohult,  and  the  climate 
even  milder  than  at  Liatorp,  the  most  fertile  part  of 
their  own  parish.  Here  the  gooseberries  were  setting 
for  fruit ;  at  home  they  were  still  in  blossom. 

'  All  nature  is  alive,  and  seems  to  be  gathering  all 
her  entomological  hosts  to  eat  you  up,'  says  Sydney 
Smith  of  the  wildernesses  of  Brazil.  In  Sweden, 
awakened  nature  at  the  close  of  May  is  arraying  her 
entomological  hosts  for  work  or  warfare.  Still  wood 
and  rock ;  though  some  of  the  larger  masses  of  stone 
here  are  not  boulders,  but  the  living  rock,  showing 
traces  of  glacier  action  in  its  rounded  smoothness. 
These  rock  walls  are  stained  red  with  microscopic 
lichen,  against  which  the  hoary  stems  of  pine  and  fir, 
all  powdered  or  dusty  with  their  parasitic  moss,  and  the 
coarser  ragged  lichen  hanging  about  the  low  wiry  twigs 
of  the  firs,  look  ruder  and  rougher  than  ever.  The 
principal  crop  grown  hereabout  is  telegraph  posts. 

This  place  is  called  Gemla ;  though  why  it  bears  a 


32     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN JE  US 

name  at  all  it  is  difficult  at  first  to  see,  for  only  now 
and  then  a  back  settler's  cottage  is  discoverable  by  the 
track  that  leads  to  it  through  the  woods,  and  a  few 
patches  of  pasture  are  carelessly  enclosed  here  and 
there  by  the  rudely  made  fences  of  splinters  stuck 
obliquely  between  tall  upright  rods  of  irregular  height. 
There  are  nowadays,  however,  several  manufactories 
tucked  away  inside  these  rude  forests,  and  served  by  the 
branch  railway  to  Wexio.  About  four  miles  further 
lies  Bappe,  at  the  junction  of  the  two  lakes,  Helgasjo 
and  Bergquarasjo,  on  whose  borders  rises  the  picturesque 
ruined  castle  of  Bergquara ;  and  here  the  father  and 
son  are  nearing  the  end  of  their  journey.  The  ground 
is  smoother ;  that  is,  there  are  fewer  boulders  than  at 
Gemla,  though  occasionally  a  huge  immovable  block  of 
granite  stands  right  in  the  middle  of  a  field  of  rye. 
They  cross  a  wooden  bridge  over  the  narrowest  arm  of 
the  smaller  lake,  and  can  see  in  the  distance  another 
large  islanded  lake,  with  a  church  spire  and  blue  hills 
on  its  further  shore,  which  lake  is  connected  in  the  usual 
Swedish  labyrinthine  watery  manner  with  the  Helgasjo 
at  Rappe. 

This  is  the  approach  to  Wexio,  a  clean,  white, 
comely,  empty-looking  town,  seated  on  a  pretty  blue 
lake  which  is  part  of  a  vast  general  water  system  in 
these  parts,  where  there  is  now  (in  1886)  an  esplanade 
with  seats;  and  in  the  evening  when  the  fashionable 
folks  turn  out  to  promenade  it  looks  like  any  modern 
watering-place,  only  prettier  and  pleasanter  than  most. 


WEXIO  33 

It  had  not  altogether  this  appearance  in  1717,  for 
the  town  has  been  stone-built  since  the  fire  of  1843  ;  but 
in  some  parts  its  aspect  is  unchanged.  The  cathedral, 
dating  from  1300,  with  its  curiously  battlemented 
tower  and  its  six  transepts,  is  one  of  the  quaintest  I  ever 
saw.  It  focusses  a  pleasing  scene  as  one  sits  in  the 
leafy  avenues  of  its  close,  admiring  the  truly  Swedish 
mixture  of  its  colours,  red,  white,  and  grey,  set  in  foliage, 
and  backed  by  a  deep  blue  sky.  Not  until  one  comes 
to  draw  the  building  does  one  perceive  the  variety  of 
its  forms  and  tracery.  It  looks  so  simple  with  its  six 
transepts  all  set  in  a  row,  yet  it  puzzles  one's  perspective 
more  than  many  more  seemingly  elaborate  churches. 

A  bridge  under  the  railway  leads  to  the — sea,  I  was 
going  to  write,  the  blue  lake  looks  so  like  the  sea  from 
the  avenues  round  the  church ;  and  a  lofty  bridge  over 
the  railway  leads  to  the  higher  gardens  they  are  laying 
out  above  the  lake  borders,  Wexio  is  an  attractive  place, 
and  none  so  small  either ;  on  closer  view  it  has  all  the 
consequential  appearance  of  a  flourishing  town ;  though, 
with  a  population  of  only  4,000,  it  looks  over-housed. 

It  must  have  seemed  a  prodigiously  fine  place  to 
young  Linnasus,  now  seeing  a  town  for  the  first  time ; 
but  the  happy  hunting-grounds  for  natural  history 
looked  a  long  way  off.  Father  and  son  repaired  at  once 
to  the  grammar  school — now  called  the  old  grammar 
school,  for  a  handsome  new  one  has  been  lately  built 
and  the  old  school-house  has  been  handed  over  to  a  lower 
class  of  boys,  who,  however,  look  very  respectable  and 

VOL.  i.  D 


34     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

fairly  well  to  do,  besides  being  well-mannered — but  this 
last  is  universal  in  Sweden.  The  old  grammar  school  bears 
a  family  likeness  to  the  cathedral,  having  a  frontage  of 
five  gables  in  a  row,  and  a  large  playing-field  before  it 
fringed  with  fine  avenues  of  plane  trees.  An  obelisk 
to  H.  Siogren,  on  a  grassy  mound,  faces  the  school.  It 
bears  the  motto  Aliis,  non  Sibi.  Lasnerius,  the  rector  of 
the  school,  was  a  botanist;  the  two  rectors  talked  of 
botany  and  looked  round  the  garden  together.  Now  the 
father  could  jog  home  rejoicing :  this  brother  botanist 
would  be  kind  to  his  boy. 

The  Linnaei  next  went  to  call  on  Dr.  Eothman,  the 
successor  of  their  relative  John  Lindelius  as  the  physician 
in  highest  repute  at  Wexio,  to  bespeak  his  interest  in 
the  lad.  While  the  elders  were  holding  a  long  chat 
over  botany,  a  subject  of  interest  in  common  with  both, 
we  may  suppose  young  Carl  eagerly  listened  to  their 
talk,  and  when  it  turned  on  medical  topics — for  it  is 
more  than  probable  that  the  rector  took  the  opportunity 
of  speaking  with  the  doctor  about  his  own  ailments,  as 
we  know  that  he  afterwards  consulted  Dr.  Rothrnan 
on  a  malady  to  which  he  was  subject — the  observing 
Carl  found  objects  of  interest  in  the  room  to  occupy 
his  attention  and  a  country  child's  natural  weakness  of 
wonder.  They  were  pressed  to  stay  to  supper,  but  the 
hospitality  was  declined.  Father  and  son  spent  their 
last  evening  together.  They  sat  by  the  delicious 
lake  talking  in  the  sunlight,  now  at  eight  o'clock 
(May  28),  glancing  on  the  little  rowboats  out  a-fishing: 


WEXIO  35 

the  water  so  clear,  the  opposite  shore  reflections  so  soft, 
exquisitely  tender — as  the  parent's  heart.  Young  Carl, 
though  he  cared  less  for  fish  than  for  any  branch  of 
natural  history,  was  yet  interested  in  the  unprofitable 
fishing  of  the  men  and  boys  from  the  turfy  bank.  The 
fish  themselves  had  unsuccessful  sport ;  it  was  equally 
amusing  to  see  the  numerous  fish  leaping  up  at  the 
swarms  of  gnats  above  the  lake,  and  the  way  the  gnats 
darted  away  and  escaped. 

The  Linnaei  took  their  evening  meal  together,  in  a 
garden  overlooking  the  lake  (one  can  enjoy  this  even  in 
Sweden  on  May  28),  while  watching  the  moon  (at  8.20) 
rising  white,  dim,  spectral,  above  the  lake  out  of  the 
mist — not  silver,  only  just  a  dead  white,  gradually  (at 
8.45)  becoming  more  normal  in  brightness. 

The  inhabitants  of  Wexio  come  out  to  wander  up 
and  down  in  the  cool  sweet  air.  The  women  affect 
fawn  colour  and  rosy-pink,  and  brick-scarlet  cottons 
over  their  ordinary  grey-blue  woollen  clothes;  these 
contrasts  have  a  pleasing  effect  in  the  landscape.  They 
wear  white  or  pink  kerchiefs  on  their  heads ;  otherwise 
there  is  no  especial  costume  in  this  part  of  Sweden. 
This  kerchief  is  the  national  head-dress ;  it  is  worn  of 
black  silk  or  cashmere  edged  with  lace  on  best  occasions. 
All  this  town  gaiety,  which  at  another  time  would  have 
been  so  brilliant  and  dazzling  to  the  country-bred  lad, 
loses  its  charm  this  evening  while  he  clings  to  his  father 
as  the  time  of  parting  draws  near. 

Andres  Celsius  of  Upsala  had  not  yet  invented  his 


36     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

thermometer,  for  he  was  a  boy  then — only  six  years 
older  than  our  Carl ;  but  the  temperature  on  the  following 
morning  really  stood  at  13-14  (Celsius^),  making  the 
fire  in  the  white  stove  in  the  coffee-room  of  the  inn 
very  acceptable  as,  after  stirring  its  embers  with  a  brass 
trident,  father  and  son  sat  down  to  breakfast  off  fish  and 
eggs  and  a  basketful  of  three  shades  of  brown  rye  and 
barley  bread,  and  the  pretty  maiden  who  waited  on  them 
brought  some  fine  white  bread  besides  as  a  special 
welcoming.  '  Tak,  tak,'  say  they  both — the  Swedish  for 
'  Thank  you.'  Since  Charles  XII. 5s  wars  carried  off  the 
men  women  have  always  been  waiters  in  Swedish  inns. 
The  sun  coming  out  makes  it  warm,  but  not  yet 
oppressive,  as  they  walk  to  the  school  by  way  of  the 
sparkling  blue  lake.  It  seems  higher  water  than  last 
night,  as  if  there  were  a  tide  in  it.  But  feeling  rises 
above  the  line  of  noticing  such  things  as  the  moment  of 
parting  draws  near.  It  comes,  the  embrace  is  over,  the 
blessing  left  behind,  and  all  the  love  that  can  be  con- 
centrated in  one  last  yearning  look,  and  the  parent,  with 
chill  at  his  heart,  foreboding  on  his  mind,  and  a  prayer  at 
his  lips,  rides  home  through  the  pine  woods,  still  tragic 
with  their  traces  of  snow-havoc.  A  young  forest  tree 
had  been  uprooted  and  hastily  put  in  to  fill  a  gap  in 
the  splinter  hedge.  Pastor  Nils  Linnaeus  looks  at  it 
painfully  and  then  turns  quickly  away.  How  glorious 
were  these  forest  aisles  when  solid  with  the  crystals  of 
winter,  and  when  his  boy  played  in  them  and  lit  all 
nature  up  for  him  with  the  gladness  of  his  rosy  face  : 


WEXIO  37 

the  trees  a  vista  of  white  pyramids,  each  tree  topped 
with  a  pinnacle  of  snow!  He  rides  wearily  home 
beneath  the  '  querulous  fraternity  of  pines  ' ;  the  light 
dies  out  of  the  landscape  for  him  now  Carl  is  gone ;  the 
boy  is  a  child  no  longer ;  it  is  almost  like  losing  him  to 
feel  that  the  loved  babe  is  gone,  changed  into  another 
form — improved,  it  may  be,  but  the  same  no  longer. 
He  is  a  son  gone  out  in  the  world.  Henceforward,  the 
pastor  must  enjoy  his  flowers  alone ;  yet  he  will  enjoy 
Carl's  interest  in  their  growth  in  the  rare  periodical 
visits  home — rare  of  necessity  because  the  family  is  poor 
and  journeys  long — and  Hope  shines  at  the  end  of  a 
long  vista  of  years.  The  pastor  is  not  a  great  man, 
though  he  had  youthful  aspirations  ;  but  Carl  will  be 
great,  and  make  a  name  that  will  be  known  throughout 
the  province — throughout  Sweden,  it  may  be.  He  may 
even  rise  to  be  a  bishop  in  the  Church,  for  he  is  a  lad  of 
noble  promise.  These  duties  of  weaning  oneself  from  a 
parent's  joys  are  painful — from  the  pang  of  shearing  a 
boy's  golden  locks  to  the  greater  grief  of  his  severance 
from  the  home  world.  Perhaps  one  feels  these  most 
with  the  first  and  the  last  to  go. 

Wexio  was  a  large  world  to  Carl :  the  school  and 
gymnasium  had  in  his  time  210  scholars.1  His  progress 
in  the  Latin  school  was  not  satisfactory — as  to  Latin  ; 
yet  everyone  spoke  well  of  his  good  conduct  and  pleasing 
manners ;  but  he  was  inattentive,  and  he  took  every 
opportunity  of  escaping  out  into  the  country  to  collect 
1  Linnaeus  mentions  this  in  his  SkSne  Journey. 


38     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

plants.  On  holidays  no  pupil  was  so  little  found  at 
home  as  Linnaeus.  How  he  admired  the  plants  that 
everybody  keeps  in  his  window  in  Sweden !  that  is, 
everybody  but  schoolboys;  it  is  difficult  for  them  to 
have  plants  of  their  own.  Dr.  Rothman  seems  to  have 
been  kind  to  him — for  his  father's  sake  a  little,  and 
more  for  the  look  of  bright  intelligence  which  flushed 
his  face  when  a  word  was  spoken  about  botany ;  but  a 
physician  in  full  practice  has  not  much  time  to  spare 
over  a  boy  of  ten  or  twelve ;  if  he  '  tips '  him  or  asks  him 
now  and  then  to  tea  with  his  children,  it  is  the  utmost 
he  can  do  for  him. 

Carl  had  been  a  year  at  Wexio  when  his  brother 
Samuel  was  born,  in  1718.  The  parents  had  thus  been 
absorbed  in  new  joys  and  cares ;  a  tragedy,  too,  had 
happened  in  the  family;  Abel  Tiliander,  rector  of 
Pietteryd,  was  accidentally  drowned  in  a  well.1 

In  1719  Carl  was  put  under  the  private  tuition  of 
Gabriel  Hok,  who  afterwards  married  his  sister  Anna 
Maria.  This  man  possessed  a  milder  disposition  and 
much  better  talents  for  teaching  than  John  Tiliander ; 
but  he  could  not  overcome  the  distaste  the  boy  had 
contracted  towards  the  ordinary  studies  of  the  school. 

Carl's  progress  was  still  slow.  Not  for  three  years 
did  he  receive  promotion  to  a  higher  form  in  the  school, 
called  the  ( circle  ' ; 2  and  this  time  must  be  unusually 
prolonged  or  it  would  not  be  remarked  upon.  In  the 
circle  he  had  more  liberty  and  leisure,  and  devoted  both 
1  Diary.  2  Notes  for  Autobiography. 


WEXIO  39 

to  the  study  of  his  choice.  He  wandered  about  the 
outskirts  of  the  town  seeking  plants.  Laenerius,  the 
rector  of  the  school,  often  talked  with  Dr.  Rothman 
about  the  talent  of  the  boy,  and,  being  himself  such  a 
lover  of  botany,  perhaps  relaxed  discipline  in  his  favour. 
Stoever  says  he  viewed  his  pursuits  with  complacency ; 
at  least,  he  considered  them  as  innocent.  l  He  grew 
fond  of  a  youth  who  so  ardently  entered  into  his  own 
researches  and  displayed  such  extraordinary  talent.  He 
formed  a  proper  judgment  of  his  genius  and  applica- 
tion, while  Carl's  schoolfellows  considered  him  as  a 
vagabond  who  wasted  his  time  in  useless  studies  and 
running  about.'  *  It  is  true  he  was  not  sent  to  school 
for  that. 

At  sixteen  he  began  forming  a  small  library  of 
botanical  books,  comprising  Hanson's  £  Orta-bok,'  or 
herbal,  Tilland's  <  Catalogue,'  Palmberg's  '  Serta  Florea 
Suecana,'  the  '  Chloris  Gothica '  of  Bromelius,  and 
Rudbeck's  ( Hortus  Upsaliensis.'  These  latter  he  could 
not  as  yet  understand,  but  he  committed  them  to 
memory.2  For  this  his  schoolfellows  nicknamed  him 
the  Little  Botanist.  Our  nicknames  in  England  are 
seldom  so  well-sounding,  but  boys  are  more  mannerly 
in  Sweden.  He  was  confirmed  in  the  cathedral  of 
Wexio,  by  the  bishop  and  another  minister,  in  full  lawn 
sleeves  and  copes  of  crimson  velvet  with  great  gold 
crosses  on  the  back.3  It  is  a  pretty  sight  to  see  all  the 
little  fair  heads  of  the  girls  as  the  deaconesses  range 
1  Jardine.  2  Diary.  8  The  Swedish  clergy  always  wear  ruffs. 


40     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

them  in  their  places  in  the  cathedral  before  confirmation, 
the  rosy  boys  hanging  shyly  about  the  columns  of  the 
church,  waiting  to  be  shown  their  places. 

In  1724,  when  Carl  was  seventeen,  he  was  removed 
to  the  upper  school,  or  gymnasium,  a  separate  building, 
where  the  higher  branches  of  literature  were  taught. 
Here  his  tutors,  like  those  of  Newton  at  Cambridge, 
gave  him  up  as  a  hopeless  dunce.  There  was  no 
modern  side  to  a  public  school  then ;  a  lad  had  to  fight 
his  way  against  and  through  the  classics.  A  test 
examination  showed  that  his  time  and  attention  had 
been  all  absorbed  in  his  eagerness  after  flowers  and 
insects.  His  father  was  written  to  and  a  manual 
employment  recommended.  This  was  what  the  Swedes 
call  a  Job's  post — a  bad  news-letter.  The  examiners 
were  severe,  and  although  in  mathematics,  and  particu- 
larly in  physics,  Carl  did  well  at  Wexio,  still  the  Greek 
and  Latin  grammars  reigned  supreme,  and  the  tutors 
told  him  flatly  he  was  fit  for  nothing  but  to  be  a  cobbler. 

His  fate  was  otherwise  decided.  At  one  of  his 
visits  to  Dr.  Bothman  he  met  with  Tournefort's  c  Ele- 
ments of  Botany.'  Away  went  all  remembrance  of  the 
examiners :  from  henceforth  he  could  be  nothing  but  a 
botanist.  This  was  the  keynote  in  his  career. 

Though  a  good  and  pious  boy,  he  entertained  an 
intense  dislike  of  the  study  of  divinity  as  a  profession ; 
his  sense  of  duty  to  his  parents  fought  against  his  dread 
of  their  forcing  him  into  the  ministry,  for  which  he  felt 
no  vocation.  He  roamed  the  fields  now  more  in  distress 


WEXIO  41 

of  mind  than  for  research :  he  wandered  off  as  far  as 
the  royal  tumulus  of  Amlech — Shakespere's  '  Hamlet ' ; 
his  disturbance  of  mind  was,  perhaps,  equally  great. 
Had  Linnaeus  been  able  to  read  English  he  would  have 
found  a  kinship  in  Hamlet's  unwilling  acceptance  of 
life,  with  its  problems  not  always  adapted  to  man's 
varying  mental  constitution.  To  be  or  not  to  be  a 
clergyman :  that  was  the  question.  How  dare  assume 
to  guide  others,  when  every  blade  and  leaf  taught  him 
his  own  ignorance  ?  He  could  not  receive  the  narrower 
doctrines  — the  only  ones  then  current — as  to  what  objects 
were  the  best  worth  seeking  in  this  world.  How  was 
it,  then,  that  his  companions,  who,  he  could  not  help 
seeing,  were  most  of  them  less  talented  than  he,  were 
able  without  difficulty  to  pursue  studies  that  for  him 
were  like  beating  his  head  against  a  stone  wall  ?  He 
was  brought  down  to  earth  again.  What !  Were  all  his 
botanical  excursions  to  be  stopped  ? — his  only  pleasure 
at  Wexio,  where  '  amid  his  wild-wood  sights  he  lived 
alone.  As  if  the  poppy  felt  with  him.' 

Stoever  proceeds  in  his  inimitable  way :  '  Dogmati- 
cal acquirements,  the  Hebrew  language,  and  the  more 
solid  branches  of  scholastic  science  had  been  forgotten 
amidst  the  allurements  of  the  goddess  Flora,  and  still 
continued  to  enjoy  their  usual  share  of  oblivion.' 

When  we  read  passages  like  these  our  own  pon- 
derous Johnson  feels  less  sesquipedalian.  He  seems 
light  reading  after  seeing  Stoever  and  other  Germans 
disporting  themselves  like  whales.  Carlyle  talks  of 


42     THROUGH   THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

how  '  old  German  books,  dull  as  stupidity  itself — nay, 
superannuated  stupidity — gain  with  labour  the  dreariest 
glimpses  of  unimportant  extinct  human  things.'  But 
they  are  always  trusty  as  to  dates,  according  to  their 
light,  and  mostly  as  to  facts,  when  one  can  get  to  the 
bottom  of  their  meaning.  Carl's  parents  took  the  com- 
plaints  of  the  professors  and  lecturers  of  the  college 
much  to  heart,  foreseeing  in  the  evil  report  the 
probable  ruin  of  their  fondest  hopes.  The  mother 
argued  thus  :  c  His  father  loved  plants  too,  yet  he  got 
the  divinity,  or  theology,  into  his  head.  Why  could 
not  Carl  ?  Was  all  the  rise  in  the  family  to  go  for 
nought  ?  Was  the  peasant  family  to  be  again  de- 
graded to  the  ranks  ?  He  must  toil  at  this  uncongenial 
study  for  his  forefathers'  sake — and  for  theirs.  His 
father  had  no  money  to  give  him,  and  the  boy  could  not 
expect  to  live  by  picking  flowers.' 

His  father  came  out  to  see  him  soon  after  this. 
The  first  evening  was  a  happy  one.  The  meeting 
could  not  fail  to  awaken  pride  and  delight  in  his  boy  in 
his  merely  physical  aspect.  Nils  saw  himself  young 
again,  with  added  charms  such  as  he  could  not  remem- 
ber in  himself;  besides,  he  had  never  been  without  in- 
fluence over  his  son.  Oh  yes,  all  things  would  be  set 
right  by  some  mild  yet  firm  parental  talk.  The  lad  had 
promised  to  be  so  clever  in  earlier  days.  But  the  next 
morning,  after  the  masters  of  the  school  had  pronounced 
him  unfit  for  any  learned  profession,  a  cloud  of  sadness 
rose  between  father  and  son  ;  they  were  no  longer  able 


WEXIO  43 

to  see  each  other's  mind.  The  tutors  had  no  opinion  of 
Carl's  abilities,  and  again  counselled  his  father  to  put 
him  to  some  mechanical  trade — a  tailor,  or  better  still  a 
shoemaker,  a  favourite  craft  in  Sweden,  and,  I  suppose, 
therefore  the  most  profitable ;  it  was,  at  all  events,  a 
secure  livelihood. 

The  account  in  Linnaeus's  diary  runs  thus  :  '  1726. 
The  father  came  to  Wexio,  hoping  to  hear  from  the 
preceptors  a  very  flattering  account  of  his  beloved  son's 
progress  in  his  studies  and  morals.  But  things  hap- 
pened quite  otherwise ;  for,  though  everybody  was 
willing  to  allow  how  unexceptionable  his  moral  conduct 
was,  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  it  was  thought  right  to 
advise  the  father  to  put  the  youth  as  an  apprentice  to 
some  tailor  or  shoemaker,  or  some  other  manual  em- 
ployment/ Good  as  is  the  evidence  of  the  diary,  it  is 
only  the  rapid  rough  draft  of  the  fuller  and  sometimes 
slightly  differing  account  in  the  autobiography  begun 
in  Latin,  and  continued  in  Latin  or  Swedish  by  various 
hands  from  dictation,  or  compiled  from  conversations. 
This  date  of  1726  seems  to  be  an  error,  as  we  know  this 
event  occurred  three  years  before  his  admission  to  Lund 
University,  where  he  went  in  1727.  With  filial  obedi- 
ence Carl  avowed  his  readiness  to  study  divinity,  but 
owned  at  the  same  time  his  want  of  inclination,  his 
great  aversion.  His  father  therefore  resolved  to  make 
his  son  '  take  absolute  leave  of  the  muses ' — old  Stoever's 
expression — and  to  bind  him  apprentice  to  some  honest 
cobbler. 


44     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

Would  Linnaeus  ever  have  sung  at  his  cobbling 
shopboard  like  Hans  Sachs  ?  No,  for  Linnaeus  was  no 
poet,  no  psalmist,  no  student  of  men.  He  would  have 
reared  himself  a  bower  of  greenstuff  and  followed  with 
melancholy  musings  the  movement  of  the  flies  in  his 
window.  He  might  have  been  himself  lost.  Who  can 
tell  ?  Would  so  strong  a  bias  have  created  for  itself  an 
opening  to  the  light  if  imprisoned  in  an  uncongenial 
forced  labour  ? 

One  person  only  appreciated  the  form  of  industry  of 
the  boy,  of  whom  none  spoke  in  any  blame  except  that 
he  had  no  taste  for  the  grammar  school  routine — a  thing 
not  uncommon  among  idle  boys.  Yet  Carl  was  not 
idle :  there  lay  the  problem.  The  rest  never  thought  of 
solving  it,  only  of  smashing  it  open.  This  person  was 
Dr.  Rothman,  the  physician  and  medical  professor  in 
Wexio  College. 

The  old  clergyman,  having  for  some  weeks  laboured 
under  a  complaint  which  perhaps  had  now  been  increased 
by  his  anxiety,  was  obliged  to  consult  Dr.  Kothman 
professionally,  and,  grieving  at  the  seemingly  wayward 
and  careless  disposition  of  his  son,  he  opened  his  mind 
to  the  doctor,  who  kindly  prescribed  for  both  his 
mental  and  bodily  sufferings.1  '  Rothman  intimated 
that  he  found  himself  equal  to  the  cure  of  both  com- 
plaints.' 2  The  boy  might  arrive  at  eminence  in  medi- 
cine, as  being  more  intimately  connected  with  that 
branch  of  his  own  choosing.  He  counselled  his  not 
1  Sir  W.  Jardine.  2  Diary. 


WEXIO  45 

being  forced  to  the  Church,  but  to  a  more  congenial 
profession  which  would  utilise  his  botanical  studies. 
He  finally  offered  to  give  young  Linnseus  board  and  in- 
struction for  a  time  if  he  were  permitted  to  continue 
his  studies  at  the  gymnasium — not  in  divinity,  but  in 
medicine.  At  the  end  of  a  year  they  might  see  if  a 
trade  were  really  the  better  decision. 

This  was  some  comfort  to  carry  home  to  the  anxious 
mother. 

'  Life  is  not  long/  says  Dr.  Johnson,  '  and  too  much 
of  it  must  not  pass  in  an  idle  deliberation  how  it  shall 
be  spent.'      But  it  is  human  nature  all  the  world  over 
to  seize  any  delay  in  making  a  change  for  the  worse 
something  may  turn  up. 

Rothman  spoke  kindly  of  the  lad — of  his  diligence, 
his  peculiar  endowments  for  his  favourite  studies.  The 
first  praises  of  his  boy  sounded  sweet  in  the  father's 
ears.  Rothman  was  himself  an  eminent  man,  cele- 
brated throughout  all — Wexio.  No  matter  the  area,  the 
celebrity  was  the  thing ;  he  was  first  in  Wexio. 

Carl  added  his  entreaties  to  Rothman's  persuasion. 
Many  times  had  he  heard  his  father  say  that  a  young 
man  ought  to  learn  that  for  which  he  felt  the  greatest 
inclination,  because  the  natural  propensity  of  a  person 
always  advanced  him  most  in  point  of  perfection.  He 
was  right  in  a  general  sense.  It  requires  the  highest 
genius  to  fight  its  way  through  all  drawbacks.  It  is 
like  good  roads  and  good  walking-shoes  to  a  traveller 
that  the  line  of  life  should  go  with  the  general  bias. 


46     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS   WITH  LINNAEUS 

An  actor  or  actress  should  not  be  overweighted  by  per- 
sonal unfitness. 

With  a  shrug  of  the  shoulders  at  parental  weakness, 
the  masters  who  had  urged  his  being  articled  to  a  shoe- 
maker received  back  young  Linnaeus  as  one  who  was 
to  fail  in  medicine  likewise.  They  showed  even  less 
penetration  than  the  easily-blinded  father.  Dr.  Roth- 
man  had  the  clearest  eyes  of  any  of  them.  They  gave 
it  as  their  opinion  that  Carl  was  not  endowed  with  such 
parts  as  would  qualify  him  for  any  learned  profession, 
grounding  this  judgment  on  the  little  progress  Linnaeus 
had  made  in  Latin.  No  sooner,  however,  had  Roth- 
man  directed  him  to  read  Pliny  than  his  progress  be- 
came rapid  ;  because  the  contents  of  that  author  corre- 
sponded entirely  with  his  own  natural  propensity.  To 
this  circumstance  may  be  ascribed  his  predilection  for 
Pliny  and  the  laconism  of  his  style.  Yet  he  loved  the 
Georgics  even  better. 

The  father  had  still  to  consult  with  his  wife,  who 
would  be  deeply  hurt  at  the  ruin  of  her  hope  of  seeing 
her  son  a  minister.  Equally  disappointing  was  it  to  the 
father,  who  had  himself  raised  the  family  from  the  peasant 
station,  to  find  it  must  return  to  the  clay  from  whence 
it  sprang— who  had  hoped  to  see  himself  surpassed  in  his 
boy.  How  should  he  break  it  to  the  mother,  the  proud 
ambitious  mother,  who  was  waiting  at  home  listening 
for  the  splash  of  oars  on  Lake  Mockeln  for  her  husband's 
return  with  details  of  the  lad's  triumphs,  that  her  boy 
was  considered  good  for  nothing  ? 


WEXIQ  47 

Who  knows,  she  thought  in  anger,  the  tutors  them- 
selves might  be  jealous  of  his  gifts !  Alas,  poor  fond  proud 
mother,  jaundiced  now  even  to  disbelief  in  Rothman ! 
Her  son  would  have  to  be  a  shoemaker  after  all !  Oh, 
the  sadness  of  that  night !  Vainly  did  Nils  defend  his 
own  favourite  pursuit.  She  who  had  loved  flowers  all  her 
life  now  loathed  them.  Never  should  the  babe  Samuel 
have  anything  to  do  with  natural  history  ;  he  should  not 
enter  the  hateful  garden.  The  child  should  gather  no 
wild  flowers.  This  very  restriction  made  Samuel  in 
later  years  a  botanist ;  but  his  love  for  plants  not  being 
so  ardent  as  that  of  his  elder  brother,  his  parents  were 
not  deprived  of  the  gratification  of  seeing  him  in  due 
time  become  a  minister.  That  is,  his  strength  of  purpose 
was  not  so  great  as  Carl's,  or  his  sense  of  duty  stronger. 

Christina,  the  daughter  as  well  as  the  wife  of  a 
clergyman,  felt  more  keenly  on  the  point  of  family 
pride  than  Nils  did.  She  felt  the  hope  deferred  that 
maketh  the  heart  sick  when  her  cherished  wish  had  to 
be  transferred  to  a  younger  boy.  Carl's  throne  in  her 
mind  was  vacant  from  henceforth. 

Though  Carl  redeemed  this  suffering  nobly  after- 
wards, he  was  not  morally  so  great  as  Banks.  Our 
admirable  English  naturalist  had  the  stronger  character 
of  the  two,  the  wider  mind,  which  can  take  to  itself 
even  uncongenial  learning.  As  an  instance,  once  when 
overwhelmed  by  his  great  love  of  flowers,  he  said  to 
himself,  '  It  is  surely  more  natural  that  I  should  be 
taught  to  know  all  these  productions  of  nature  in  pre- 


48     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

ference  to  Greek  and  Latin  :  but  the  latter  is  my  father's 
command,  and  it  is  my  duty  to  obey  him.  I  will,  how- 
ever, make  myself  acquainted  with  all  these  different 
plants  for  my  own  pleasure  and  gratification.' l  He 
immediately  began  to  teach  himself  botany.  Banks 
was  a  rich  man's  son,  and  might  with  more  impunity 
than  Linnaeus  have  been  idle. 

I  admit  the  faults  of  my  immediate  hero  Linnaeus ; 
I  have  no  wish  to  make  him  out  perfect :  he  had  many 
weaknesses.  He  was  a  great  man  for  all  that. 

After  much  hesitation  the  parents  at  length  con- 
sented to  let  their  son  follow  the  new  line.  How 
ardent  became  Carl's  love  of  nature  now !  how  happy  his 
life  henceforth  till  he  was  twenty  !  Linnaeus  entered 
with  redoubled  eagerness  into  his  now  encouraged 
studies ;  only  disturbed  by  such  hard  facts  as  certain 
Swedish  plants  not  being  reducible  to  the  rules  of 
Tournefort's  System,  he  could  expand  freely  in  the 
career  he  had  hitherto  pursued  by  secret  and  inter- 
rupted steps.  The  certainty  and  limitation  of  a  settled 
plan  of  study  concentrated  his  zeal  and  spirit. 

Rothman  gave  his  willing  pupil  instructions  in 
physiology  and  botany,  and  pointed  out,  somewhat 
superfluously  perhaps,  the  advantage  of  studying  the 
latter  science  according  to  the  system  of  Tournefort. 
Carl's  lynx  eyes  had  discovered  the  text-book  before. 
He  had  already  begun  to  arrange  every  plant  in  its 

1  The   somewhat   priggish  sound   of   this  is  due  to   the  sym- 
pathising biographer. 


WEXIO  49 

proper  place,  and  even  to  doubt  the  situation  of  many 
species  whose  characters  had  not  been  properly  ascer- 
tained. 'Rothman  gave  his  pupil  a  private  course  of 
instruction  in  physiology  on  the  Boerhaavian  principles, 
that  he  might  make  more  rapid  progress.  He  was 
rewarded  by  his  success/  l  In  both  studies  Carl  made 
considerable  proficiency. 

Tournefort,  however,  gave  him  the  first  view  of  the 
conveniencies  of  arrangement  and  the  beauty  of  system, 
and  was  doubtless  the  foundation-stone  of  his  own 
later  structure.  In  writing  the  life  of  an  eminent  man 
it  is  customary  to  speak  first  of  his  ancestors,  of  his 
parents  being  poor  and  honest,  and  so  forth  ;  his  mental 
ancestry  is  of  even  more  importance  to  his  biographer. 
Linnaeus's  immediate  ancestor,  metaphysically,  was 
Tournefort.  His  valuable  book2  was  not  only  illus- 
trated, but  elucidated,  by  the  insertion  of  a  figure  of  a 
flower  and  a  fruit  of  each  genus.  Carl  saw  nature  by 
this  fine  strong  light,  as  modern  artists  see  the  external 
movements  of  nature  by  the  teaching  of  Ruskin. 
Little  did  Rothman  think  he  was  forming  the  mould  of 
a  greater  botanist  than  Tournefort. 

Tournefort,  who  was  born  in  1656,  died  in  1708 — the 
very  year  after  Linnaeus  was  born — aged  only  fifty- 
two.  f  He  might  have  been  alive  now,'  thought  Carl 
regretfully  as  he  turned  over  the  book  that  was  ablaze 
with  light  for  him,  *  and  I  would  have  walked  barefoot3 

1  Pulteney.  2  Institutiones  Rei  Herbaria,  Paris,  1700. 

»  Letter  to  Haller. 

VOL.  I.  E 


50     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS   WITH  LINNAEUS 

to  sit  at  his  feet  had  not  that  hideous  accident  de- 
stroyed him.' 

Tournefort,  weakened  by  his  laborious  travels  in 
the  East,  was  felled  by  a  blow  on  the  chest  from  the 
axle  of  a  carriage — an  injury  from  which  he  had  not 
strength  to  recover.  Tournefort  was  the  first  inventor 
of  the  Genera;  therefore  was  he  most  immediately 
Linnaeus's  metaphysical  father.  To  meet  with  him  at 
the  first  unfolding  of  his  mind  was  a  regeneration  to  our 
Carl.  Tournefort  was  his  real  tutor,  then  came  Vaillant. 
Carl's  own  neatly  kept  little  library  consisted  of  books 
calculated  rather  to  fire  than  to  satisfy  his  curiosity. 
These  works,  he  felt,  were  only  the  beginning  of  science  ; 
the  fire  laid,  he  longed  to  apply  the  match  and  fire 
the  mass.1  He  attempted  to  arrange  in  systematic 
order  the  plants  growing  around  him,  which,  being 
Swedish,  varied  considerably  from  the  French  examples 
of  Tournefort  and  Vaillant. 

He  felt  acutely  the  imperfection  of  even  Tourne- 
fort's  system.  Oh,  if  he  could  perfect  the  system,  or  in- 
vent one  which  would  be  less  incomplete  !  This  was  his 
boyish  dream  :  a  fine  ambition  for  a  youth  of  seventeen. 
Even  then  he  began  to  feel  the  difficulties  attending 
classification.  He  had  already  got  beyond  Rothman,  who 
worked  very  contentedly  with  his  favourite  text-books. 

Carl  remained  three  years  with  the  worthy  Dr. 
Kothman,  and  gained  his  education.  These  three  years 
at  Wexio  passed  quickly,  pleasantly,  now  that  he  had 
1  Jardine. 


WEXIO  51 

liberty  of  thought.  It  is  not  altogether  surprising  that 
at  Wexio,  although  he  lived  there  ten  years,  they  hold 
little  tradition  of  Linnaeus.  The  old  gymnasium,  which 
now  contains  the  Sm&landic  museum,  library,  and  collec- 
tion of  antiquities  and  coins,  has  since  honoured  itself 
with  Linne's  bust,  but  only  one  person  here  and  there 
in  Wexio  knows  that  he  studied  here  at  all :  for  even 
in  his  day  he  was  only  known  as  an  eccentric  young 
fellow  who  wasted  his  time  on  things  outside  the  school 
routine,  causing  some  surprise  as  to  why,  considering 
his  parents  were  poor,  he  was  allowed  to  remain  there 
at  all.  He  might  have  wasted  his  time  less  expensively 
at  home.  He  seldom  shared  in  the  schoolboys'  sports  ; 
but  the  masters  said,  in  more  sarcastic  but  less  witty 
words  than  Dr.  Johnson  used  of  himself,  he  contrived 
wonderfully  well  to  be  idle  without  them. 

One  Christmas  Carl  invited  his  more  kindly  pre- 
ceptor Gabriel  Hok  to  come  home  with  him  on  a  visit 
and  tell  him  all  about  Lund  University,  where  Hok  was 
entered  as  a  tutor.  Here  Gabriel  saw  Anna  Maria,  the 
eldest  of  Carl's  three  sisters,  a  pretty  girl,  if  we  may 
judge  by  her  portrait,  taken  in  later  life,  which  now 
hangs  at  Hammarby.  Hok,  to  please  Anna  Maria's 
parents,  spoke  well,  indeed  proudly,  of  Carl ;  all  of 
which  promoted  the  enjoyment  of  that  pleasant  Christ- 
mas holiday.  Carl,  it  appears,  did  not  return  to  Wexio, 
but  stayed  some  months  unsettled  at  home.  Probably 
the  parents  feared  to  risk,  or  were  unable  to  furnish  funds 
for  his  entrance  to  Lund  University,  until  his  mother's 


52     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN&US 

relative,  Professor  Humerus,  urged  their  sending  him 
thither,  and  offered  to  provide  maintenance  for  him  so 
long  as  he  should  need  it. 

We  can  surmise  how  eagerly  Carl  accepted  this  offer 
by  an  entry  in  a  pocket-book  J  of  his  of  later  date, 
where  he  says  he  flew  to  Wexio  to  ask  from  the  rector 
the  necessary  testimonials  for  entering  the  university. 
He  says  he  left  his  parents  on  May  1  (11),  1727,  for 
Wexio,  returning  on  May  2  (12)  back  to  Stenbrohult 
with  his  testimonial. 

On  applying  to  Nils  Krok,  rector  of  the  gymnasium 
in  that  year,  for  a  testimonial  for  entering  the  university, 
he  was  given  the  following — a  very  curious  example  of 
the  way  professors  then  worded  their  certificates  : 

1727.  c  Youth  at  school  may  be  compared  to 
shrubs  in  a  garden,  which  will  sometimes,  though 
rarely,  elude  all  the  care  of  the  gardeners ;  but,  if 
transplanted  into  a  different  soil,  may  become  fruitful 
trees.  With  this  view,  therefore,  and  no  other,  the 
bearer  is  sent  to  the  university,  where  it  is  possible 
that  he  may  meet  with  a  climate  propitious  to  his 
progress.'  Signed  Nils  Krok.  rector. 

1  This  pocket-book,  in  the  possession  of  the  Linnasan  Society, 
is  an  interleaved  copy  of  Operis  agrostographici  Idea,  seu  Gra-. 
minum,  Juncorum,  Cyperorutn,  Cyperoidutn,  usque  qffinum  methodus, 
authors  Johanne  Scheuchzero,  M.D.  Tigurin.  Acad.  Nat.  Cur. 
Philippo.  Tiguri :  Typis  Bodmerianis  CIOIOCCXIX.  It  is  in- 
scribed 'Carl  Linnaeus,  Upsal,  1728.'  It  is  interleaved  throughout, 
and  annotated  in  dainty  hand-writing  and  carefully-drawn  flowers. 
In  some  of  the  blank  pages  at  the  end  is  written,  'Vita  Carol i 
Linnaei.  Ens  entium,  miserere  mei !  ' 


WEXIO  53 

Linnaeus,  who  must  have,  been  amused  at  the  arbori- 
cultural  illustration,  speaks  of  this  as  a  not  very  credit- 
able certificate. 

He  gives,  in  the  pocket-book,  his  birth  and  parentage, 
and  a  list  of  his  classes  and  masters  at  Wexio.  The  entry 
of  farewell  to  his  parents  on  his  departure  for  Lund, 
August  14,  1727,  seems  to  me  to  apply  to  his  actually 
taking  up  his  residence  at  the  university  after  the  long 
summer  vacation.  It  is  not  likely  that,  after  the  hurried 
journey  to  Wexio  in  quest  of  the  testimonial,  he  would 
have  waited  so  long  before  entering  himself  at  Lund 
as  a  student.  Several  circumstances  in  the  story  of  his 
early  days  at  Lund  imply  his  entry  previous  to  the 
summer  vacation ;  the  solemn  farewell  to  his  parents 
would  have  occurred  only  on  his  taking  up  his  residence 
at  the  university. 

When  records  are  scanty  one  works  best  by  putting 
likelihoods  together,  by  following  his  road  and  describ- 
ing what  he  saw. 


54     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN^US 


CHAPTER  III. 

LUND   UNIVERSITY. 

Buoyantly  he  went. 

Again  his  stooping  forehead  was  besprent 
With  dewdrops  from  the  skirting  ferns.     Then  wide 
Opened  the  great  morass,  shot  every  side 
With  flashing  water  through  and  through  ;  a-shine, 
Thick-steaming,  all  alive.     Whose  shape  divine 
Quivered  i'  the  farthest  rainbow-vapour,  glanced 
Athwart  the  flying  herons  ?     He  advanced, 
But  warily  .... 

Each  footfall  burst  up  in  the  marish  floor 
A  diamond  jet :  and  if  he  stopped  to  pick 
Rose-lichen,  or  molest  the  leeches  quick, 
And  circling  blood-worms,  minnow,  newt,  or  loach, 
A  sudden  pond  would  silently  encroach 
This  way  and  that. — Bordello,  BROWNING. 

IN  1727,  when  he  was  just  twenty,  Carl  Linnaeus  was 
matriculated  at  the  university  of  Lund,  in  Sk&ne,  South 
Sweden,  where  his  father  had  studied,  and  contended 
with  poverty  for  some  years,  but  where  Carl  possessed 
two  relations  who  would  be  of  great  help  to  him  in  his 
studies.  One  of  these,  his  cousin  Carl  Tiliander,  was 
a  student  of  some  years'  standing. 

Speaking  so  well  and  so  persuasively  as  Carl  did, 
his  mother  still  looked  forward  to  his  being  one  day  a 
preacher.  She  hoped  much  from  the  university.  Carl 


LUND   UNIVERSITY  55 

travelled  southward  alone  this  time :  he  was  to  meet 
his  elder  relative  Humerus,  who  was  a  professor  in  the 
university  of  Lund,  and  who  had  promised  to  support 
him. 

It  was  his  birthday,  May  23  (May  13,  Old  Style). 
What  makes  the  date  of  Linnaeus's  birthday  of  moment 
is  that  nearly  every  journey  of  consequence  that  he 
took,  and  many  of  the  chief  events  of  his  life,  are  dated 
from  his  birthday.  It  is  true  that  this  is  just  the  time 
of  the  break  into  the  pleasantness  of  spring,  and  there- 
fore, naturally,  the  time  to  begin  botanical  excursions. 
Carl  looked  up  fondly  at  the  red  cottage,  his  birth-place 
at  R&shult,  as  he  passed  it.  Poor  as  he  might  be,  a  garden 
like  that  would  be  sufficient  for  his  happiness ;  surely  he 
might  hope  to  compass  as  much  in  life,  or  so  little,  as 
that.  He  walked  on — he  was  to  walk  the  distance  of  about 
eighty-four  English  miles  in  four  days — carrying  his 
knapsack,  and  resting  at  various  farm-houses  or  priests' 
houses  on  the  way.  Twenty-one  miles  a  day  promised 
a  pleasant  walk.  There  is  nothing  more  delightful  to 
an  active  young  man  than  a  lightly  equipped  walking 
tour.  Carl  was  lightly  equipped  enough,  we  may  be 
sure,  and  he  found  much  to  entertain  him  on  the  way. 
Through  life  he  always  enjoyed  travel  even  beyond  the 
usual  relish  of  youth. 

A  walking-tour  is  a  more  formidable  thing  in 
Sweden  than  elsewhere,  when  one  reflects  that  Sweden, 
containing  170,000  square  miles,  is  consequently  nearly 
three  times  as  large  as  England  and  Wales  together. 


56     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS   WITH  LINNAEUS 

Then  the  towns  and  cultivated  lands  bear  so  small  a 
proportion  to  the  fells,  forests,  and  barren  plains  (super- 
ficially considered,  a  monotone  of  difficulty),  which  to- 
gether comprise  3,123  Swedish  square  miles,  leaving, 
when  we  have  deducted  429  Swedish  miles  for  the  lakes, 
only  an  area  of  247  square  Swedish  miles  of  meadow 
and  cultivated  land.1  One  may  travel  for  miles  without 
seeing  a  human  being. 

Carl  walked  lightly  on  with  the  brisk  step  of  a 
youth  who  means  to  carve  his  own  way  to  conquer  the 
world.  He  had  to  depend  upon  himself  now.  He  was 
happy,  being  filled  with  the  great  thoughts  of  what  he 
meant  to  do,  and  with  that  longing  to  name  and  define 
things  that  marks  the  time  of  noontide  in  the  mind.  The 
sweet  fanciful  vaguenesses  of  childhood's  dawn  having 
vanished,  with  the  dewdrops  all  about  them  dried,  youth 
is  the  hour  when  one  really  possesses  one's  pleasures, 
instinctively  realising  happiness — 

Yes,  as  I  walk,  I  behold,  in  a  luminous  large  intuition. 

His  first  day's  journey  took  him  through  SmSland 
with  its  shingle-roofed  red  houses  and  its  red  lichened 
rocks,  with  juniper  underwood,  above  which  wave  the 
silver  birches  whisking  the  flowing  streams  lightly  and 
airily  as  does  the  line  of  a  fly-fisher.  The  land  was 
fair,  yet  for  nearly  the  first  time  in  his  life  Carl's  own 
thoughts  occupied  him  more  than  did  external  nature. 
It  is  true  he  had  made  a  long  day  of  it :  the  butter- 
flies had  been  asleep  for  hours.  The  white  owl  was 
1  H.  Marryat. 


LUND    UNIVERSITY  57 

blinking  himself  awake,  the  white  ghost-moth,  just 
emerged  from  his  chrysalis,  was  trying  his  yet  moist 
wing.  At  9  P.M.  the  evening  light  reflected  the  banks 
and  trees  in  a  white  lake  to  the  eastward  on  his  left ; 
the  western  sky  was  still  suffused  with  buff  and  pale 
pink  when  Carl  entered  Ousby,  laden  with  specimens, 
and  made  for  one  of  the  wooden  houses,  raised  on 
cyclopean  stone  foundations,  where  dwelt  a  brother 
clergyman  of  his  father's,  who  received  him  with  hospi- 
tality and  a  round  lecture,  such  as  he  deemed  good  for 
youth,  and  for  this  youth  in  particular. 

Off  betimes,  for  Carl  did  not  care  for  a  second  lec- 
ture. He  crossed  the  Helga  by  a  ferry — not  across  the 
river  itself,  but  further  down  in  the  pretty  islanded 
lake  of  Ousby.  The  landscape  became  more  smiling 
and  commonplace.  But  there  is  natural  history  every- 
where. From  the  rising  ground  at  Hastveda  he  could 
trace  the  great  plain  of  Sk£ne  below  him.  This  ridge 
still  looks  like  a  devastated  land,  only  peopled,  appa- 
rently, by  one  long-legged  stork  with  white  body  and 
black  wings.  This  was  of  old  the  borderland  between 
the  Swede  and  the  Dane :  henceforward  to  the  coast 
the  people  become  more  Danish. 

Carl  would  soon  descend  upon  another  world,  a 
world  of  level  mediocrity — so  it  seemed  to  him  as  he 
looked  down  upon  the  reaches  of  distance  without  one 
salient  point.  Should  he  too  soon  be  lost  in  that  ex- 
panse, that  waste?  Dismal  reflections  in  a  boy  are 
generally  a  sign  of  its  being  dinner-time,  and  no  dinner, 


58     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN&US 

or  not  much,  forthcoming.  He  ate  his  goat's-milk 
cheese — it  was  his  breakfast — and  his  flat  round  rye 
biscuit,  as  large  as  our  largest-sized  dinner-plates,  that 
he  had  slung  round  his  shoulders  by  a  string  threaded 
through  the  hole  in  the  centre.  This  is  the  Swedish 
bread  of  everyday  life.  He  ate  and  felt  better.  His 
hand  formed  a  cup  at  any  stream.  No,  he  was  not 
lonely,  his  old  friends  were  about  him.  The  undulating 
ground  here  is  still  lined  with  whortleberry  plants  and 
polypodiums.  One  tasselled  spruce  above  a  rock  reflected 
itself  in  the  lake  mirror  ;  boulders  were  standing  up  in 
the  shallow  water  ;  the  lake  was  still  surrounded  by  fir 
woods.  Sm&land  does  not  level  into  Sk&ne  all  at  once 
in  a  hard  sharp  line :  it  melts  away,  blending  two  forms 
of  beauty.  The  graceful  white-flowered  bird  cherry,1 
as  they  translate  the  Swedish  hagg,  a  favourite  tree  of 
LinnaBus,  and  the  aspen  are  still  very  common. 

A  lake  with  boats  upon  it,  all  setting  southward,  in- 
vited Carl  to  step  into  one  of  the  fishing-craft  and  work 
his  passage  for  about  half  a  Swedish  mile.  The  swallows 
flew  dipping  and  curving  by  the  low  banks  on  the 
eastern  shore.  As  they  rowed  away  from  these  rocky 
slopes  towards  the  west  the  signs  of  prosperity  came 
thicker  on  ;  more  linen  webs  were  spread  out  to  bleach, 
and  boulders  were  cropping  out  among  the  corn — what 
was  a  sign  of  poverty  to  them  was  to  him  a  token  of 
wealth  :  he  was  more  used  to  seeing  the  stones  crop  out  of 
the  whortleberry  masses.  Carl  bought  caraway  biscuits 
1  Prunus  padus. 


LUND   UNIVERSITY  59 

and  bread  flavoured  with  anise-seed  of  a  woman  who  was 
carrying  her  basket  to  the  ferry,  and  the  boatman  offered 
him  a  drink  of  light  beer  from  his  firkin  for  his  luck  in 
catching  fish. 

It  was  still  broad  daylight,  for  all  that  he  had  lin- 
gered, when  he  arrived  at  Hessleholm,  where  he  walked 
about  the  town,  or  rather  village,  with  its  neat  wooden 
houses  with  steps  up  and  down  at  the  porch ;  houses 
not  so  dainty  as  in  Switzerland,  yet  still  pretty  and 
inviting,  set  in  gardens  full  of  cherry  blossom,  which  is 
in  full  bloom  even  so  far  south  as  Sk&ne  at  this  date. 
Hessleholm  is  an  increasing  place  now  that  the  railway 
is  made  to  carry  off  the  stores  of  timber  that  its  saw- 
mills make  available  to  the  outside  world.  No  lectures 
for  Carl  to-night :  these  good  people  are  strangers,  and 
he  has  already  fascinated  them  by  his  silver  tongue  and 
all  the  wonders  he  can  show  them  in  their  own  sur- 
roundings. They  do  not  allow  him  to  go  forth  with 
dry  rye  biscuit :  they  force  on  him  an  abundant  break- 
fast, and  they  pack  up  a  neat  dinner  of  white  bread  and 
rarer  fresh  meat,  and  tempting  cream  cheese,  and  pickled 
fish,  and  bits  of  angelica  steeped  for  weeks  in  honey. 

A  third  day's  journey  in  the  sweet  fresh  air — there 
is  something  intensely  balmy  about  the  air  of  Sweden 
in  May — and  a  third  day's  pleasure.  So  this  is  SkSne, 
that  he  has  heard  so  much  of,  as  we  in  England  hear  of 
the  mildness  and  fertility  of  Devon.  One  more  ridge 
of  limestone  with  a  windmill  on  it,  and  now  he  is  on 
lower  ground,  with  meadows  in  the  blue  distance  beyond 


60     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

the  fringe  of  woods;  another  lake,  the  Tinga,  with 
marshy  borders  and  a  little  stone  jetty  built  out  into 
the  deeper  water,  and  rocky  scenery  to  the  left  hand, 
on  the  east.  Had  it  but  a  mild  winter  climate,  how 
people  would  fight  for  this  delightful  land,  thinks  the 
passing  stranger  from  the  south. 

Though  in  some  parts  the  soil  is  still  poor  and 
heather-covered,  there  is  an  appreciable  difference  in  its 
average  value  as  compared  with  SmSland.  There  are 
fine  currants  in  blossom  at  Sosdala,  and  the  church- 
spire  at  Mallby  is  set  in  what  looks  like  amazingly  rich 
land  to  Carl,  and  there  are  water-lilies  in  the  meandering 
rivulet  below  the  rude  but  pretty  little  double  stone 
bridge.  Here  and  there  the  land  is  fairly  cleared  for 
crops,  yet  it  is  often  impossible  to  clear  away  the 
boulders  so  as  to  leave  room  to  till  the  soil,  notwith- 
standing that  they  gather  up  all  they  can  into  lines  of 
rude  stone  fences..  The  stones  are,  after  all,  too  many 
for  the  hands  they  have  to  lift  them.  '  Here  they 
should  plant  woods  to  shelter  the  clearer  plains,'  thinks 
the  young  Linnaeus,  ever  ready  to  set  the  world  to  rights. 
And  there  are  woods  hidden  away  behind  the  ridges  of 
rock.  There  is  one  particular  forest  at  Sosdala  where 
the  black  stork  builds  her  nest  and  hatches  every  year 
a  brood  of  young  ones,  who  disappear  none  knows  where. 
That  wheat  is  not  yet  sprouting  here  and  barley  is  very 
backward,  is  what  a  traveller  from  the  south  would  notice. 
But  to  Linnaaus  Sk&ne's  vegetation  seemed  in  advance  of 
everything  he  knew,  save  that  of  Liatorp  itself,  his  local 


LUND    UNIVERSITY  61 

fondness  would  reserve,  and  Wexio,  which  is  mild  as  any 
part  of  Sweden.  He  already  felt  traveller  enough  to  in- 
stitute comparisons.  What !  pine  and  spruce-clad  rocky 
hills  again !  From  above  it  looked  all  one  blue  ocean 
of  meadowland.  He  stands  on  another  shelf  of  native 
gneiss  rock,  beyond  the  limits  of  the  great  moraine, 
which  forms  a  shield  to  the  fertile  Scanian  level.  The 
boulders  of  the  moraine  are  chiefly  granite,  the  under- 
lying native  rock  is  either  gneiss  or  limestone.  The 
granite  has  a  good  smooth  fracture  which  adapts  it  for 
walls,  bridges,  and  the  cyclopean  foundations  of  the 
houses. 

It  is  softer,  prettier  country  now,  with  fine  rich  earth 
too,  and  pigs  in  plenty  and  brown  cows,  and  beech  as 
well  as  birch  woods  at  Tjorna.rp — a  sign  to  Linnaeus  that 
he  had  come  far  south,  for  the  beech  was  rare  up  in  his 
country — and  a  foliage-fringed  lake.  The  lakes  run 
through  Sweden  like  necklaces  of  pearls :  no  sooner  is 
one  rounded  than  another  rises  ready  on  the  string. 

Up  hill  and  now  down  again  among  blue  flowers. 
There  is  still  much  moorland  scenery,  with  rugged 
wastes  of  heather  and  purling  streams,  and  some  un- 
awakened  water  in  still  pools,  and  wheat  just  springing 
in  the  well-sheltered  patches  of  cultivation.  Up  and 
down  hill  in  reiterating  succession,  in  long  stretches 
of  both  sorts,  for  this  landscape  comprises  half  a  pro- 
vince. Here  it  resembles  some  lowland  Scotch  or  York- 
shire scenery,  a  wild  sierra  region  with  beech  and  birch 
woods  intermingled  with  rushy  swamps  spangled  with 


62     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

marsh-marigolds,  the  more  elevated   ground  whitened 
with  wood-anemones. 

People  are  richer  here — at  least  they  seem  so  to 
Linnaeus,  who  judges  by  the  houses,  built  of  great  stones 
in  cyclopean  masonry,  the  fine  pairs  of  horses  browsing 
in  the  grass  patches  (I,  in  speaking  to  Southerners,  dare 
not  call  them  meadows),  and  oxen  drawing  huge  stones 
on  timber  trucks.  Carl  now  came  in  sight  of  the  pretty 
Ringsjo,  or  Lake  King,  beech-fringed  and  beautiful,  and 
the  timber  station  at  Hor,  with  the  chips  built  up 
smoothly  in  large  cone-shaped  stacks.  Here  they  would 
have  hospitably  received  him  for  the  night.  A  child 
winding  blue  yarn  on  a  wheel  by  her  cottage  door 
smiled  a  welcome  to  the  youth ;  it  was  very  tempting, 
but  he  had  planned  to  get  on  to  the  Bosjokloster.  He 
took  a  draught  of  milk  and  trudged  on.  He  soon 
reached  the  peninsula  on  which  stands  the  Bosjokloster, 
once  a  monastery,  as  its  name  shows,  and  even  in 
Linnaeus'  time  ready  to  receive  pilgrims,  who  used  to 
come  to  it  from  far  and  near.  Monasteries  were  then 
still  numerous  in  these  parts.  Count  Beckfries  owns 
the  Bosjokloster  now,  and  pilgrims  never  go  there,  and 
tourists  rarely.  The  famous  oak  tree,  now  forty  feet  in 
circumference,  and  the  oldest  tree  in  Sweden,  was  even 
then  renowned ;  but  it  was  less  remarkable  th^n  than  now 
that  the  best  part  of  two  centuries  are  added  to  its  age. 
Next  day  would  be  the  last  of  Carl's  journey:  next 
evening  he  would  see  Lund  and  be  received  into  the 
arms  of  his  Alma  Mater. 


LUND   UNIVERSITY  63 

He  took  the  boat  in  the  morning  with  the  rest 
of  the  pilgrims,  chiefly  small  traders,  and  rowed  across 
the  lake  southward,  leaving  Stehag  far  off  on  the 
right  hand.  After  landing  the  party  the  boatmen  set 
to  work  with  their  fishing-nets  and  tackle.  They  had 
bunches  of  flowers  tied  to  their  masts  ;  the  country 
people  had  them  tied  to  their  staves  and  in  their  hats : 
nowadays  they  tie  blossoming  branches  and  bouquets 
to  the  railway-carriages,  such  is  their  fondness  for 
flowers,  their  welcome  to  the  spring. 

The  trees  were  bare  here,  the  range  of  low  hills  looked 
purply-blue  behind  them.  Linnaeus  was  surprised  to 
see  Sk&ne's  broader  aspect  so  wintry.  It  was  nothing 
like  our  usual  idea  of  hot  summer  bursting  upon  Sweden 
all  at  once ;  this  was  certainly  a  slow-moving  spring. 
What  huge  narcissus  bouquets  the  people  carry  !  and  yet 
what  shawls,  and  wraps,  and  thick  frieze  coats  they  wear ! 
Larks  and  thrushes  sang  to  welcome  the  abundant 
flowers,  which  were  much  more  plentiful  than  leaves. 
On  the  hill-slopes  everywhere  were  wild  flowers  in  pro- 
fusion— cowslips,  orchis  and  marsh-marigolds,  whose 
unfolding  is  the  signal  for  the  cuckoo  to  arrive  and 
the  roach  to  spawn.  One  field  was  blue  with  pansies  ; 
blackthorn  blossom  peeped  out  among  the  boulder 
fences ;  the  birches  were  just  dressed  in  tiny  amber  leaf, 
the  cherry-blossom  was  in  its  first  freshness,  and  the 
gardens  at  Eslof  were  masses  of  variegated  and  early 
flowers.  It  was  a  pleasant  journey  through  varied  pleas- 
ing country,  presenting,  besides  the  ordinary  wooden 


64     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

houses  and  stone  cottages  with  thatched  roofs,  and  storks 
making  themselves  at  home  thereon,  a  view  of  several 
handsome  country  seats  of  gentlemen  and  nobles. 

At  last  Carl  really  descends  once  and  for  all  upon 
the  plain  of  SkSne ;  in  ten  miles  more  he  will  be  at 
Lund.  He  recognises  the  more  fertile  landscape  of 
his  father's  description  now,  in  a  vast  expanse  of  sunny 
green  pasture  sloping  away  downward  into  aerial  grey, 
just  marked  by  hedges,  a  few  windmills,  and  pollard 
willows ;  and  a  nearer  water-landscape  of  a  still  river, 
full  of  fish,  half  shaded  by  birch  and  alder  not  quite  in 
leaf;  and,  beyond  a  foam  of  pear-blossom,  a  fine  reach 
of  blue  level  distance  seaward. 

Carl  had  turned  aside  from  the  road  and  now  stood 
on  the  '  Saints'  Hill,'  from  whence  the  view  at  sunset  is 
so  fine.  Before  him  are  the  towers  of  Lund — Londinum 
Gothorum,  the  London  of  the  Goths— superior  to  our 
own  London  in  old,  perhaps  legendary  times,  when  it  had 
200,000  inhabitants  and  we  had  less  than  Lund  has 
now.  Lund  is  situated  on  the  small  river  HojeS,  which 
was  formerly  navigable  for  large  vessels. 

From  this  height  Carl  can  see  Malmo  and  the  sea 
beyond  ;  yes,  and  what  is  that  fringe  to  the  right,  that 
range  of  further  distant  towers,  melting  in  the  horizon's 
gold  ?  They  are  not  trees,  they  are  towers — the  towers 
of  Copenhagen.  Now  indeed  he  is  a  traveller  ;  he 
sees  another  country !  He  must  sit  down  to  pause  and 
gaze  and  think.  That  golden  distance  seems  like  his 
life  spread  out  before  him.  He  sits  there  at  gaze,  half 


LUND   UNIVERSITY  65 

dreaming,  while  the  sun  sinks,  and  then  wakes  with  a 
start  to  remember  he  is  a  stranger  to  the  town  and 
has  food  and  a  night's  lodging  to  seek.  He  is 
weary  and  somewhat  footsore.  It  becomes  chilly  too, 
the  sea  breeze  carrying  the  cold  so  uninterruptedly 
from  the  Tartar  steppes  causes  him  to  shiver.  It  is 
colder  here  than  further  inland.  The  poplars  are 
leafless,  though  budding,  and  hereabouts  the  young 
hedge  leaves  are  quite  pale  green,  almost  white,  as  if 
grown  in  the  dark.  Still  it  is  a  prosperous  easy-looking 
land,  with  slight  undulations,  and  to  all  appearance  well 
peopled. 

Carl  entered  the  town  by  way  of  the  bishop's  palace, 
the  hospital  and  university  buildings,  through  the  grove 
of  elms  and  horse-chestnuts  round  the  cathedral.  The 
name  Lund  signifies  in  Swedish  a  pleasant  grove. 

It  is  too  late  to  present  his  credentials,  such  as  they 
are,  to-night ;  besides,  the  longer  he  can  postpone  the 
ignominious  process  of  showing  the  Wexio  certificate  of 
his  incompetence  the  better.  He  must  sup  and  look 
for  an  inn,  as  he  does  not  know  the  address  of  his  cousin 
Carl  Tiliander's  lodgings;  and  as  for  his  relative 
Humerus,  the  professor  with  whom  he  is  to  live,  it  will 
be  too  late  an  hour  to  present  himself  before  a  college 
don  after  he  has  shaken  off  the  dust  of  travel  and  made 
the  best  of  himself.  Besides,  a  few  more  hours  of 
liberty  will  not  come  amiss. 

The  Stadshuset  Hotel  is  much  too  large  and  impor- 
tant for  his  purse.  It  is  customary  in  Sweden  to  find 

VOL.  I.  F 


66     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS   WITH  LINNAEUS 

the  town-hall  building,  where  there  is  mostly  a  large 
ball-room,  used  also  for  theatricals  and  meetings — the 
principal  hotel.  It  was  so  in  Wexio  too,  as  Linnaeus 
remembered.  A  smaller  house,  with  its  modest  '  Ruin 
for  Resande,'  with  supper,  was  soon  found.  It  had  been 
light  enough  to  write  long  after  nine  o'clock,  but  the 
excited  Carl  found  so  much  to  record  that  he  lighted  his 
candle  and  sat  up  late  to  finish  the  journal  of  his  travels.1 
Through  life  he  kept  a  careful  diary,  not  so  much  of 
personal  occurrences  as  of  his  observations.  He  slept 
like  a  fossil. 

Carl  had  told  the  people  to  call  him  early.  He  had 
no  watch — a  possession  well-nigh  indispensable  in 
Sweden,  where  you  never  know  in  summer  when  to 
get  up,  nor  when  to  go  to  bed,  for  daylight  is  no  clue  : 
in  winter  it  is  worse,  for  the  darkness  is  then  as 
perplexing  as  the  overbright  daylight  in  May  and  June. 
But  it  seemed,  from  the  many  noises  of  a  town,  to  be 
nine  or  ten  when  he  awoke.  They  must  have  forgotten 
to  call  him.  Land  of  the  great  Gustavus,  could  it  be 
that  Swedes  could  thus  forget  a  guest  and  break  their 
promises?  At  length  they  knocked.  They  called  it 
six.  '  I  don't  believe  it,'  muttered  Carl ;  '  the  people 
are  too  wide  awake  in  the  streets  for  Whitsun  week.' 
People  do  not  keep  such  outrageously  early  hours  in 
Sweden  as  in  Germany  :  the  daylight  keeps  them  up 
later  at  night. 

The  market  was  being  held  in  the  open  place  before 
1  This  one,  alas,  exists  no  longer. 


LUND   UNIVERSITY  67 

the  Stadshuset,  and  it  was  raining — a  small  steady  rain. 
Carl  did  not  wait  to  breakfast:  he  expected  soon  to 
find  his  cousin  Carl  Tiliander.  A  procession  of  the 
students  was  marching  across  the  market-place,  with  a 
military  band,  and  rabble  following.  Carl  looked  among 
the  students  for  the  other  Carl,  but  could  not  distinguish 
him  ;  it  is  true  he  might  not  have  known  him.  He 
must  go  and  inquire  for  him  at  the  Akademiska 
Forening,  and  also  for  Professor  Humerus. 

On  his  way  thither  he  looked  up  at  the  fine  white 
Norman  cathedral.  It  is  really  a  grand  building.  To 
Carl  it  seemed  stupendous,  with  its  vast  portal  and 
lofty  granite  towers.  It  was  suited  to  the  time  when 
Lund  really  housed  80,000  people,  now  dwindled  to 
12,000.  When  desolated  by  Charles  XII.'s  wars  the 
town  had  only  680  inhabitants.  How  much  murder 
one  man  may  do  and  not  be  hanged  for  it!  Carl 
entered  the  church,  the  doors  being  open,  which  is  not 
usually  the  case  out  of  service  hours  in  Swedish 
churches.  A  funeral  was  going  on ;  not  actually  the 
service,  but  the  bier  was  lying  at  the  foot  of  the 
seventeen  steps  leading  from  the  nave  to  the  transept, 
from  whence  two  more  lead  to  the  choir,  and  again  three 
steps  to  the  high  altar.  It  was  evidently  a  person  of 
consideration  who  had  died,  for  the  coffin  was  covered 
with  wreaths,  flags  and  memorials,  and  several  persons 
stood  watching  the  bier.  Awed,  but  not  much  interested, 
Carl  walked  round  the  church,  whose  gilt  and  coloured 
roof  was  then  only  a  shadow  of  its  present  self,  for  it 

F   2 


68     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS   WITH  LINNAEUS 

has  been  carefully  restored.  He  walked  up  on  the 
right-hand  side,  where  eight  steps  lead  to  the  raised 
chancel,  examining  the  monuments,  placed  tablet-wise 
in  niches,  of  an  architect  and  a  king  and  queen,. 
These  look  early  in  date,  though,  the  inscriptions  having 
been  tampered  with,  one  cannot  be  precise  about  it. 
Carl  was  afraid  of  being  shut  in  the  church,  so  he  hurried 
past  the  old  carved-wood  stalls  round  the  choir,  by  the 
bay  where  the  model  stands  of  the  building  as  origin- 
ally planned,  and  through  the  archway  facing  this 
bay,  where  niched  winged  figures  stand  on  grotesque 
animals,  which  have  a  Byzantine  look,  doubly  strange 
in  Sweden.  These  sculptures  still  bear  traces  of  their 
former  colours.  The  great  square  pillars  of  the  nave? 
and  the  great  rounded  pilasters  with  their  chamfered 
capitals,  are  as  imposing  as  the  best  Norman  work  in 
France.  Carl  did  not  then  enter  the  mighty  crypt,  lighted 
by  ten  windows  and  supported  by  twenty-four  pillars — 
c  the  most  beautiful  and  majestic  part  of  the  church ' — 
which  forms  a  ground-floor  storey  to  the  high-raised 
chancel :  all  of  which  reminds  one  of  St.  Denis,  near  Paris. 
Here  are  the  colossal  images  of  the  giant  Finn  and  his 
wife,  said  by  legend  to  have  built  the  church.  These 
are  huge  stone  figures  clasping  the  great  columns,  which 
also  have  chamfered  or  sculptured  capitals.  The  story 
read  to  Carl,  later,  when  he  had  time  to  think  about  it, 
as  if  the  old  Scandinavian  pagan  heroes  were  buried  in 
this  crypt  on  the  establishment  of  Christianity :  or  as 
if  in  1080  the  powers  that  then  were  in  Scandinavia 


LUND   UNIVERSITY  69 

built  this  church  under  the  direction  of  architects  from 
France. 

This  cathedral  is  said  to  have  been  consecrated  by 
Archbishop  Eskil,  an  Englishman,  in  1145.  It  is  pure 
Romanesque  or  Norman  in  its  style,  and  in  its  sharp- 
edged  whiteness  reminds  one  much  of  the  Conqueror's 
and  Matilda's  churches  at  Caen.  When  this  was  built 
Lund  was  styled  the  capital  of  Denmark.  It  was  often 
the  residence  of  the  Scandinavian  kings. 

Fergusson,  who  is  never  enthusiastic  about  Swedish 
architecture,  says :  '  The  cathedral  at  Lund  is  older  and 
better  than  either  of  these  (Upsala  or  Linkoping).1  It 
was  commenced,  apparently,  about  1080,  considerably 
advanced  in  1150,  and  the  erection  of  the  apse  must  be 
placed  between  these  two  dates.  The  little  gables  over 
the  apsidal  gallery  seem  part  of  the  original  design,  and 
are  the  only  examples  of  the  class  we  possess.  With 
these  the  whole  makes  up  a  very  pleasing  composition.' 
I  wonder  at  the  usually  perceptive  Fergusson  not 
recognising  above  the  fine  exterior  arcade  the  gabled 
corona,  typical  of  the  crown  of  thorns,  for  this  meaning 
is  well  known  to  even  ordinary  writers  on  Swedish 
architecture.  It  is  not  the  only  example  of  this  in 
Sweden,  and  a  church  in  Gothland  has  the  same  gabled 
corona.  I  do  not  delight  in  gush,  but  one  may  express 
feeling,  and  Fergusson  is  really  too  calm.  Its  contrast 
with  the  Swedish  wildernesses  makes  Lund  Cathedral 

1  In  Fergusson,  the  name  Lidkoping  is  manifestly  a  misprint  for 
Linkoping. 


70     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

doubly  impressive  as  a  stately  relic  of  tlie  dawn  of 
Christianity  in  Sweden. 

Leaving  the  cathedral,  of  which  one  watcher  by  the 
coffin  was  the  only  living  tenant,  Carl  hastened  through 
the  elm  groves  on  his  way  to  the  university.  In  his 
hurry  he  did  not  perceive  the  approach  of  a  student 
who  was  diligently  absorbed  in  a  book.  They  jostled 
each  other,  and  Linneeus  recognised  Carl  Tiliander. 
To  see  his  cousin  and  to  claim  his  friendship  was  one 
action  with  our  Carl ;  but  Tiliander  was  cool  and  did 
not  respond  to  Linnaeus's  overtures.  The  sight  of  the 
unfortunate  certificate  was  sufficient  to  make  the  rising 
young  student,  who  was  one  day  to  be  a  professor  in  the 
university,  pause  before  he  proclaimed  his  kindred  with 
one  who  seemed  at  best  an  unpromising  young  scamp. 
He  would  not  help  him  other  than  by  reading  him  a 
lecture  for  his  good,  and  Carl  never  relished  such. 

We  are  nowhere  told  what  was  Carl  Tiliander's 
relationship  to  the  John  Tiliander  who  was  Linnaeus's 
early  tutor,  but  we  may  be  quite  sure  that  whatever 
Carl  had  heard  from  John  about  the  boy  was  bad. 
This  Carl  was  an  eminently  respectable  youth — a  bit  of 
a  Pharisee,  I  fear.  He  was  not,  as  has  been  supposed, 
a  professor  at  Lund  on  Linngeus's  arrival  in  1727 ;  he 
was  then  only  a  distinguished  student :  he  became  ad- 
junct teacher  in  Philosophy  two  years  later — in  1729. 
This  Carl  was  a  celebrated  man  in  his  family ;  he  was 
rector  of  Jonkoping  in  1741  and  later  a  Doctor  of 
Divinity.  He  was  twice  delegated  as  representative  to 


LUND   UNIVERSITY  71 

the  Swedish  Diet.  He  coldly  advised  Linnaeus  to  do 
the  best  he  could  with  his  awkward  certificate,  lifted 
his  college  cap,  and  passed  on.  The  bells  were  clanging 
loudly  for  the  funeral. 

Indignant  and  astounded,  our  Carl  stood  rooted  to 
the  spot ;  never,  if  he  starved  first,  would  'he  ask  a 
favour  of  a  Tiliander  who  could  thus  heartlessly  disown 
him.  Would  Humerus  do  the  same  ?  He  almost  dreaded 
now  to  meet  his  relative  the  professor,  even  though  he 
had  expressed  himself  in  terms  so  kindly.  The  rain 
fell  faster  than  ever.  On  leaving  the  shelter  of  the 
large  horse-chestnut  trees  Carl  passed  the  open  square, 
now  dignified  with  the  statue  of  the  poet  Tegner, 
towards  the  red-brick  round-arched  building  of  the 
Akademiska  Forening.  Here  the  funeral  procession 
was  mustering  to  move  towards  the  cathedral.  The 
white-capped  students,  assembled  under  umbrellas,  were 
following  a  grand  display  of  banners  with  black  cock- 
ades. The  flagstaff  of  the  building  was  twined  with 
black.  Linnaeus  waited  while  the  procession  filed 
slowly  by  at  the  foot  of  a  mound  with  three  rough 
stones  set  upright,  surrounded  by  four  rude  slabs — a 
runic  monument — and  asked  a  bystander  whose  funeral 
it  was  that  was  thus  honoured. 

1  It  is  that  of  a  professor  in  the  university — Professor 
Humerus.' 

Linnaeus  staggered  backward,  but  recovered  him- 
self, and  following  the  procession  to  the  church  door, 
entered,  and  looked  again  upon  the  coffin  of  his  only  friend 


72     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

in  Lund.  It  seemed  he  was  chief  mourner  there.  What 
was  he  to  do  ?  He  went  out  of  the  cathedral  with  the 
others  and  still  followed  the  procession,  which  now  bore 
the  coffin  beneath  the  banners,  the  chaplets  and 
mementoes  being  carried  by  the  principal  students, 
Carl  Tiliander  walking  among  the  first.  They  carried 
the  coffin  first  to  the  Kloster  church  (near  the  present 
railway-station),  where  an  office  was  recited,  and  con- 
veyed it,  now  on  a  funeral  car,  to  the  cemetery  on  the 
high  ground  to  the  east  of  the  town.  White-capped 
students  carried  the  banners,  professors  and  students 
of  the  highest  grade  came  next,  the  whole  body  of  the 
students  following  to  solemn  music  of  a  martial  kind. 

What  was  Linnaeus  to  do  now  ?  He  must  after  all 
bind  himself  apprentice  to  one  of  the  numerous  shoe- 
makers in  Lund.  SkSne  abounds  in  shoemakers,  for  all 
that  many  little  boys  run  barefoot.  That  trade  is  over- 
crowded, for  here,  as  in  Denmark,  it  rains  shoemakers 
and  shoemakers'  boys.1 

They  were  all  departing,  when  one  of  the  principal 
men  forming  the  procession  perceived  Linnaeus,  and 
struck  by  his  appearance  of  dejection  as  he  sat  himself 
despondently  on  a  tombstone  near  the  late  professor's 
grave,  he  came  up  and  spoke  to  him.  It  was  Gabriel 
Hok,  the  suitor  of  his  sister  Anna  Maria.  Hok  recog- 
nised him  at  once. 

'  Hallo,  Carl !  what  are  you  doing  here  ? '  or  its 
equivalent  in  Swedish. 

1  Danish  proverb. 


LUND   UNIVERSITY  73 

Hok  deeply  sympathised  with  Carl's  misfortune  in 
finding  his  relative  and  protector  dead  on  his  arrival. 
He  looked  at  the  unflattering  certificate  from  Krok 
of  the  gymnasium  at  Wexio,  and  decided  he  had  better 
not  hand  it  in.  The  case  was  urgent.  Hok  took  the 
responsibility  upon  himself,  and  used  his  interest  to  pro- 
cure Carl's  admittance  into  the  university,  and,  with- 
holding the  doubtful  testimonial  altogether,  introduced 
him  to  the  dean  and  rector  as  his  private  pupil  and  pro- 
cured his  matriculation.1  Thus,  by  Hok  rather  than  by 
Krok,  Carl's  name  was  enrolled  in  the  classes  and  the 
injurious  document  suppressed.  He  underwent  with 
credit  the  matriculation  examination  of  the  dean  and  of 
Papke,  the  professor  of  Eloquence.  He  always  had  a 
silver  tongue  ;  if  he  spoke  he  prevailed.2  Having  thus 
settled  this  important  matter,  Linnasus  was  enabled  to 
pass  the  vacation  in  peace  at  home  ;  and,  perhaps,  with 
Hok's  assistance,  prepare  for  his  first  term.  We  are  not 
told  how  Linnaeus  found  means  to  attend  the  lectures  of 
Kilian  Stobasus,  the  professor  of  Botany  and  Medicine, 
which  he  mentions  as  beginning  on  August  21,  as 
he  had  no  money  to  pay  the  fees ;  but  he  did  attend 
them,  and  these  lectures  enriched  and  rendered  more 
exact  the  scientific  knowledge  of  our  young  botanist.3 

1  Diary. 

2  Papke's  examination  is  said  to  have  taken  place  in  August 
1727,  which  has  caused  Sir  J.  E.  Smith  to  suppose  the  matriculation 
was  in  August.     Better  evidence  goes  to  show  these  events  took 
place  in  the  spring. 

3  Stoever. 


74     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

His  attention  and  diligence  interested  the  professor,  who 
pointed  out  to  him  the  means  of  making  a  hortus  siccus. 
Linnaeus  at  once  began  drying  plants  and  glueing  them 
on  paper.  The  dry  air  of  Sweden  is  favourable  to  the 
drying  of  plants.  Linnaeus  always  dried  his  plants  and 
fixed  them  with  isinglass,  each  on  a  half-sheet  of  paper. 
I  dare  say  it  was  through  the  friendly  offices  of  Hb'k, 
himself  at  this  time  a  poor  man,  that  Stobaeus  was 
apprised  of  the  ardent  student's  indigent  condition ;  so 
that  Linnasus  found  in  his  extremity  of  need  a  second 
good  physician  ready  to  hold  out  a  helping  hand  to  a 
struggling  young  brother.  Like  the  kind  Rothman  of 
Wexio,  Stobaeus  offered  him  accommodation  free  of  all 
expense  in  his  own  family,  and  here  Carl  for  the  first 
time  in  his  life  met  with  a  well-arranged  collection  of 
natural  history. 

This  fact  of  his  being  again  gratuitously  received 
into  a  family  proves  Linnaeus's  good  behaviour  and 
manners,  for  we  never  hear  of  the  ladies  of  these  families 
objecting  to  him  in  any  way.  Stobaeus  had  very  bad 
health;  he  was  one-eyed,  besides,  and  lame  in  one  foot. 
But  what  nature  had  denied  him  in  bodily  advantages 
was  amply  compensated  for  in  the  excellence  of  his  dis- 
position and  the  superiority  of  his  mental  attainments.1 
This  was  a  delightful  life.  Carl's  mind  grew  apace. 
He  became  acquainted  with  curiosities  he  had  never 
seen  before.  The  Natural  History  Museum  of  Lund 
contained  a  fine  collection  of  birds  and  snow-white 
1  Stoever. 


LUND   UNIVERSITY  75 

squirrels  and  winter-clad  foxes  from  Lapland,  besides 
minerals,  shells,  plants,  birds,  and  other  creatures,  each 
one  a  specimen  of  a  vast  family  out  in  the  wide  world. 
The  present  botanical  garden  of  Lund  did  not  then 
exist.  The  botanical  garden  of  Carl's  time  flourished 
upon  what  is  now  a  waste  space  in  the  form  of  a  ne- 
glected shrubbery,  where  a  few  ancient  cypresses  with 
gnarled  stems,  old  enough  to  have  known  Linnaeus, 
grow  at  the  back  of  the  old  university  building  l  where 
Linngeus  studied.  This  is  an  oblong  brick  building 
of  the  Kenaissance  mingled  with  a  bastard  Roman- 
esque, in  three  storeys,  with  quadrangular  turrets 
at  the  angles  and  a  rounded  tower  in  the  centre, 
loftier  by  a  cornice  and  an  additional  storey  than  the 
main  building.  This  central  tower  has  a  pure  Roman- 
esque portal  by  which  a  winding  staircase  leads  to  the 
library  2  and  reading-room.  The  books  and  pamphlets 
are  arranged  in  open  frames  reaching  to  the  roof.  The 
grove  of  horse-chestnuts  in  front  of  this  building  must 
have  been  respectable  young  trees  in  Linnaeus's  time. 

A  small  red  building  close  by,  led  up  to  by  a  flight 
of  steps,  also  near  the  large  red-brick  mansion  of  the 
Akademiska  Forening,  is  the  Kultur  Historiska,  one  of 
the  most  interesting  spots  in  Lund  to  Linnaeus,  though 
it  might  now  be  overlooked  among  the  more  elegant 
white  stone  buildings  of  the  new  university,  standing 
on  a  terraced  pedestal  of  granite,  in  Vitruvian  Classical 
style,  with  pediments  and  sphynges  above  the  cornice  of 

1  Curia  Lundensis.  2  Universitets  Bibliotekets. 


76     THROUGH   THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

the  central  hall.  REGIA  ACADEMIA  CAROLINA  is  inscribed 
on  the  garden  front  of  this  new  university,  which  has 
been  built  within  the  last  six  years.  At  the  entrance 
door  are  four  colossal  female  figures  with  tablets  in- 
scribed Theologia,  Juris-Scientia,  Medicina,  Philosophia. 
This  assemblage  of  new  and  old  buildings  gives  a  grace 
and  dignity  to  Lund.  PALESTRA  ET  ODEVM  sufficiently 
designates  the  intention  of  another  brick  building  com- 
pleting the  group.  Tegner's  statue  faces  them  all. 
The  present  botanic  garden  is  on  the  eastern  outskirt 
of  the  town.  There  are  some  large  tree-ferns  in  the 
hothouses,  and  the  garden  is  a  fine  one,  with  borders  of 
poet's  narcissus  (in  May)  a  foot  deep  in  long  continuous 
chains ;  but,  excepting  these,  there  is  a  better  display  of 
flowers  in  the  windows  of  the  streets  leading  to  the 
gardens.  A  notice  was  posted  up  inviting  the  students 
on  May  28  to  go  on  a  botanical  excursion  to  Refta  and 
FogelsSng,  this  latter  a  favourite  haunt  of  Linnaeus. 

They  know  nothing  of  Linnaeus  now  at  Lund,  but 
they  are  very  proud  of  their  poet  Tegner  and  his  house 
in  the  Klostergade.  The  students  do  not  learn  modern 
languages ;  Greek,  it  appears,  they  speak  fluently ;  a 
little  more  German  would  be  more  convenient,  and 
perhaps  English;  French  they  do  not  aim  at.  Their 
manners  are  more  Gothic  here  than  in  the  rest  of 
Sweden,  from  their  proximity  to  Denmark,  where 
people  are  less  polite,  though  a  great  deal  of  capping 
and  bowing  goes  on.  But  to  return  to  Linnaeus. 

He  was  allowed  to  attend  Stobaeus's  demonstrations 


LUND   UNIVERSITY  7? 

of  shells,  petrifactions,  and  molluscs,  which  were  ex- 
hibited to  Matthias  Benzelstierna  and  Retzius,  two 
private  pupils  of  Dr.  Stobaeus.1 

Plants  remained,  above  all,  his  favourite  study.  His 
botanical  arrangements  so  far  were  made  entirely  accord- 
ing to  the  system  of  Tournefort.  His  experimental  know- 
ledge, drawn  from  nature,  was  rendered  regular,  exact, 
and  more  extensive  by  that  obtained  from  books. 

There  was  also  a  young  German  student,  Koulas  by 
name,  who  lived  with  Stobaeus,  and  to  whom,  among 
other  indulgences,  was  shown  that  of  having  access  to 
the  Doctor's  library.  Linnaeus  formed  a  close  friendship 
with  this  young  man,  and  in  return  for  "teaching  him 
the  principles  of  physiology,  which  he  had  learned  from 
Dr.  Rothman,  he  obtained  books  by  means  of  Koulas  from 
Stobasus's  library,  which  contained  the  most  valuable 
works  on  botany.  Linnaeus's  candle  was  often  seen 
burning  far  into  the  night,  to  the  terror  of  Stobaeus's 
mother,  who  was  very  old  and  a  bad  sleeper.  She 
desired  her  son  to  chide  the  young  SmSlander  for  his 
carelessness.2 

Carl's  candle  was  inimically  observed  by  another 
person,  a  student  named  Rosen,  higher  in  the  university 
than  himself,  and  a  friend  of  Carl  Tiliander,  as  well  as 
a  pupil  of  Stobaeus.  This  young  man,  Nicholas  Rosen, 
who  had  been  till  now  Stobaeus's  favourite  pupil,  was 
jealous  of  the  favour  shown  to  the  young  Linnaeus  at 
times  even  over  himself.  Carl  was  so  eager,  so  clever 
1  Diary.  «  Ibid. 


78     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS   WITH  LINNAEUS 

and  original  in  his  observations,  that  it  is  no  wonder 
a  man  like  Stobaeus  enjoyed  having  the  youthful  zeal 
and  brilliancy  about  him,  encouraging  his  own  drier 
studies  and  reinvesting  them  with  the  poetry  they  might 
have  forgotten. 

Now  was  Rosen's  opportunity.  We  may  admit 
that  he  really  thought  badly  of  his  new  rival  from  what 
he  had  gathered  from  Tiliander,  who  was  also  honestly 
entitled  to  his  opinion  ;  he  thought  it  would  be  well  if 
the  professor's  eyes  were  opened  to  the  fact  that  he  was 
wasting  kindness  on  a  worthless  subject.  He  persuaded 
himself  he  could  not  bear  to  see  the  good  professor 
deceived ;  for  that  Linnaeus  would  disappoint  him  Rosen 
felt  sure.  Those  two  model  young  men,  Rosen  and 
Tiliander,  were  never  without  excellent  motives. 

*  Do  you  see,  sir,  that  light  in  Linnasus's  room  ?  He 
always  keeps  it  burning  very  late.' 

'  Pooh  !  it  is  nothing.'  Stobasus's  second  thought 
was,  '  I  fear  the  poor  boy  may  feel  ill.' 

Rosen  sneered  politely. 

'  It  may  be  so,  but  he  loves  company,  and  people 
passing  his  door  have  fancied  they  heard  the  sound  of 
cards.' 

The  Rosen  doubts  crept  into  the  cockles  of  even  the 
professor's  unsuspicious  mind  when  night  after  night 
the  lamp  shone  on  the  trees  outside.  What  a  pity  if 
that  nice,  clever  fellow  should  be  tempted  into  practising 
what  were  then  called  the  lighter  vices  !  He  was  known 
to  be  of  a  social,  convivial  turn,  and  fond  of  company. 


LUND   UNIVERSITY  79 

He  might  be  making  merry  with  the  servants  while  the 
family  had  retired  to  rest.  Come  what  would,  the  good 
Stobaeus  resolved  that  at  all  cost  of  unpleasantness  to 
himself  the  boy  should  be  saved.  He  burst  into  his 
room  at  eleven  o'clock,  and  there  sat  Linnaeus  intrenched 
with  the  works  of  Caesalpinus,  Bauphius,  Tournefort, 
and  others.1  These  were  his  companions.  Stobaeus 
ordered  him  at  o*nce  to  bed  after  making  him  confess 
he  had  persuaded  Koulas,  the  German  student,  to  take 
the  books  out  for  him ;  but,  delighted  to  find  his  favourite 
reinstated  in  his  good  opinion,  he  gave  him  free  access 
to  his  library  and  made  him  one  of  the  family,  treating 
him,  in  fact,  like  a  son.2 

Professor  Hok  was  always  kind  to  Carl,  but  his 
having  taken  to  the  medical  branch  of  study  drew  him 
out  of  Hok's  supervision,  he  being  a  teacher  of  Divinity. 

Carl  had  his  livelier  pleasures  too — the  students' 
carnival  of  Valborg's  mass  eve,3  the  Walpurgisnacht, 
when  they  light  the  Valborg  fires.  They  collect  mate- 
rials for  a  bonfire  on  the  highest  and  nearest  hill,  and  the 
young  people  go  up  and  fire  the  beacon  and  dance 
round  the  blaze  in  a  ring,  and  tell  fortunes  by  the  flight 
of  the  storks.  There  were  likewise  the  Midsummer  fes- 
tivities, with  fireworks  and  dancing.  Carl  also  was  of 
great  assistance  to  his  protector  in  his  profession. 
Stobaeus  being  perpetually  harassed  with  applications 
for  medical  advice  from  the  nobility  of  Sk£ne,  Linnaeus 
was  sometimes  called  to  write  letters  and  give  advice  in 

1  Stoever.  2  Diary.  8  Valborg's  Day  is  May  1. 


So     THROUGH   THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

the  Doctor's  stead ;  but  when  he  wrote  a  bad  hand  he 
was  usually  sent  away  again. 

Besides  keeping  his  regular  herbal,  Carl  made  ex- 
cursions into  all  the  neighbouring  districts,  exploring 
the  animal  as  well  as  the  vegetable  kingdoms  of  nature. 
In  an  excursion  to  '  Fogels&ng,  in  the  spring  of  1728, 
with  a  brother  botanist,  Matthias  Benzelstierna,  Carl 
was  attacked  by  an  accident  or  malady — for  it  seems 
uncertain  which  it  should  be  called — common  to  the  in- 
habitants of  the  Baltic  and  Bothnian  coasts.  A  small 
animal  is  said  to  penetrate  the  skin  and  bury  itself  so 
deeply  in  the  flesh  that  it  leaves  only  a  black  dot  at  the 
spot  where  it  entered.  Unless  immediately  extracted, 
the  effect  of  the  animal's  poison  is  to  cause  inflammation 
and  gangrene  with  great  rapidity,  and  death  in  the 
course  of  a  day  or  two,  or  sometimes  within  a  few  hours. 
That  this  malady  is  indeed  caused  by  an  animal  has 
been  doubted  and  denied  by  scientific  men ;  but  Linnaeus 
was  convinced  of  its  being  so,  and  notwithstanding  the 
suffering  he  endured  while  a  parish  priest  was  kindly 
acting  as  surgeon  and  extracting  the  substance,  about 
half-an-inch  in  length,  from  his  arm,  he  carefully 
examined  it,  and  in  spite  of  its  injured  appearance, 
pronounced  it  to  be  a  true  vermes  and  called  it 
the  Furia  infernalis,  from  an  idea  that  it  realised  the 
description  of  the  fatal  powers  ascribed  by  the  ancients 
to  an  imaginary  animal  so  named.' l  Linnaeus  utilised 
his  mythological  and  other  classical  studies  as  aids  in 
1  Smith. 


LUND   UNIVERSITY  Si 

the  nomenclature  of  his  discoveries.  He  was  at  this 
time  especially  interested  in  examining  the  lower  forms 
of  animal  life. 

Most  Swedes  think  this  furia  is  no  worm,  but  that 
it  owes  its  origin  to  a  poisonous  matter  injected  into  the 
flesh  by  the  sting  of  an  insect.  Though  fruitless  the 
result  of  all  the  researches  made  since  Linnasus's  time 
to  discover  an  example  of  this  worm,  yet  the  disorder  is 
common  in  the  fenny  parts  of  Eastern  Sweden  in  autumn.1 

Darwin,  in  his  book  on  worms,  says,  i  In  Scandinavia 
there  are  eight  species,  according  to  Eisen,  but  two  of 
these  rarely  burrow  in  the  ground,  and  one  inhabits  very 
wet  places,  or  even  lives  under  the  water.'  It  was  most 
probably  a  moist  place  where  Linnaeus  was  botanising ; 
but  Eisen  says  nothing  about  stinging  worms,  and 
Darwin  does  not  concern  himself  with  flesh-burr owers. 
In  Scandinavia  worm-burrows  (in  the  earth)  run  down 
to  a  depth  of  from  seven  to  eight  feet. 

1  Linnseus  thus  describes  the  Furia,  in  his  Sy sterna,  Natures  : 
'Habitat  in  Bothniae  Suecise  Septentrionalis  vastis  paludibus 
caespitosis ;  ex  sethere  deciduassepein  corpora  hominum  animaliumque 
momento  citus  penetrat  summo  omnium  dolore,  immo  interdum 
intra  quadrantem  horae  pras  dolore  occidit,  quo  et  ipse  Lundini  1728 
laboravi.  Anima  1  nonnisi  rude  siccatum  vidi.  Animalibus  chao- 
ticis  videtur  proprietatibus  affine.  Quomodo  aera  petat,  unde  decidit 
a  solstitio  aestivali  in  hyemale,  nullus  dixit.'  Linnaeus  was  no  deep 
classical  scholar :  his  Latin  was  fluent  rather  than  accurate. 

-  Sir  J.  E.  Smith.  Linnaeus's  pupil  Solander  has  recorded 
several  cases  of  this  accident  or  disease,  and  describes  the  animal  as 
if  he  had  seen  it,  in  the  Nova  Acta  Upsaliensia,  vol.  i.  p.  55.  The 
Furia  infernalis  seems  an  animalcule  one-sixth  of  an  inch  long. 
Dr.  Solander  describes  it  as  dropping  out  of  the  air  in  autumn. 
Art .  '  Furia '  in  Rees'  Cyclopedia. 

VOL.  I.  G 


82     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN&US 

Linnaeus  appears  to  have  been  seriously  ill  on  this 
occasion,  as  both  his  biographers  l  remark  that  the  skill 
of  Stobaeus  saved  his  life.  His  own  diary  says  differ- 
ently :  '  The  arm  immediately  became  so  swollen  and 
inflamed  that  his  life  was  endangered,  especially  as, 
Stobaeus  being  about  to  set  off  for  the  mineral  waters 

of  Helsingborg,  he  was  left  to  the  care  of .  Snell, 

however,  having  made  an  incision  the  whole  length  of 
his  arm,  restored  him  to  his  former  health.' 2 

Linnaeus  had  lived  with  Stobasus  about  a  year, 
and  the  professor  gave  him  hopes  of  becoming  his  heir, 
as  he  had  no  children.3  But  now,  in  order  to  recover 
his  health,  Carl  went  to  pass  the  summer  vacation  with 
his  parents  in  Smaland,  and  here  he  met  his  first  friend, 
Dr.  Rothman  ;  it  is  very  probable  he  went  to  Wexio  to 
see  him,  and  the  doctor  advised  him  to  leave  Lund  for 
Upsala,  as  a  superior  school  for  medicine  and  botany. 
Linnaeus,  too,  greatly  desired  to  see  more  of  the  world 
and  widen  his  learning,  and  he  resolved  to  go  to  Upsala. 
How  to  compass  it  was  another  matter. 

His  mother  sighed  to  see  Carl  employ  his  whole 
time  in  glueing  plants  on  paper,  to  the  delight  of  little 
Samuel,  who  also  loved  plants  better  than  Latin,  and  at 
last  she  abandoned  her  long-cherished  hope  of  seeing  Carl 
become  a  preacher.  Linnaeus's  young  mother  had  been 
passionately  fond  of  flowers,  and  was  always  melancholy 
from  the  frosts  of  October  until  spring;  yet  she  now 

1  Stoever  and  Pulteney.  2  Diary. 

8  Ibid. 


LUND    UNIVERSITY  83 

solemnly  adjured  Samuel  to  look  upon  all  flowers  as 
prickly  thorns  and  stinging  nettles. 

c  But  what  is  Carl  to  live  on  ? '  she  asked. 

c  Never  fear,  mother,  I  will  work  my  way ' ;  and 
Rothman  said  the  same.  They  all  believed  in  him  who 
believed  in  himself. 

'  When  I  was  as  you  are  now,  towering  in  confidence 
of  twenty-one,  little  did  I  suspect  that  I  should  be  at 
fifty-four  as  I  now  am,'  thought  the  father,  unable  to 
supply  his  first-born  son  with  the  necessaries  of  student 
life ;  perhaps  he  only  felt  what  Dr.  Johnson  put  thus 
into  words.  Rothman  hinted  the  possibility  of  Carl's 
talents  gaining  for  him  a  pension  from  Government 
that  his  studies  might  be  utilised  for  his  country,  and 
the  great  likelihood  of  one  of  the  many  royal  and  other 
foundations  of  Upsala  falling  to  his  share.  The  hint 
lighted  the  spark  of  hope,  the  hope  at  once  became  a 
conviction  in  Carl's  breast,  and  with  a  light  heart,  light 
luggage,  his  parent's  blessing,  and  200  silver  dollars — 
reckoned  at  about  SI.  sterling,  his  whole  fortune — all 
that  his  father  could  spare  him,  or  his  mother  save — he 
set  out  for  Upsala  to  make  his  path  to  fortune  and  to 
fame.1 

Linnaeus  was  a  self-made  man.  It  is  as  a  man, 
and  in  the  history  of  his  self-making,  that  he  is  more 
interesting  to  this  generation  than  as  a  scientist. 
He  left  Wexio,  Lund,  and  even  Upsala,  with  a 

1  A.  de  A.  Fee  says  it  was  100  crowns.  Were  these  6cus,  or  were 
they  kroner  ?  100  kroner  would  be  little  over  5Z. 

G  2 


84     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN&US 

reputation  utterly  disproportioned  to  his  great  abilities. 
He  had  not  consulted  Stobaeus  about  his  removal  to 
Upsala,  although  he  must  have  written  to  inform  the 
authorities  at  Lund  of  his  intention,  and  asked  for  a 
testimonial  of  his  attainments,  as  this  time  he  carried  a 
splendid  Latin  official  testimonial  from  the  rector  of  the 
university,  in  which  he  was  called  c  politissimus  orna- 
tissimusque  dominus,'  and  was  declared  c  to  have  con- 
ducted himself  with  no  less  diligence  than  correctness, 
so  as  to  gain  the  affection  of  all  who  knew  him.'  *  This 
testimonial,  addressed  to  the £  Candido  Lectori,'  is  signed 
Arvid  Moller,  rector. 

'  With  the  stillest  face,  more  touching  than  if  it  had 
been  all  beteared,'  the  still-young  mother  watched  her 
boy  depart,  the  stalwart  son,  losing  with  him  her  cer- 
tainty of  finding  a  protector  to  herself  and  her  little 
children,  the  youngest  girl  a  mere  infant.  Father  and 
mother  then  turned  and  again  sobbed  in  each  other's 
arms  and  prayed  for  their  darling,  the  hope  of  their 
age  and  weakness,  for  whom  they  had  no  other  help 
than  prayer.  It  was  answered  openly. 

1  Smith. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

UPSALA. 

In  the  very  beginnings  of  science,  the  parsons,  who  managed  things 

then, 
Being  handy  with  hammer  and  chisel,  made  gods  in  the  likeness  of 

men; 

Till  Commerce  arose,  and  at  length  some  men  of  exceptional  power 
Supplanted  both  demons  and  gods  by  the  atoms,  which  last  to  this 

hour. 
Yet  they  did  not  abolish  the  gods,  but  they  sent  them  well  out  of 

the  way, 

With  the  rarest  of  nectar  to  drink,  in  blue  fields  of  nothing  to  sway. 

J.  C.  MAXWELL. 

UPSALA  is  distant  from  Lund  seventy-five  Swedish,  or 
about  five  hundred  English  miles ;  from  Stenbrohult  it 
is  eighty-four  miles  less.  No  biographer  tells  us  how 
Carl  made  the  journey,  whether  by  sea  or  land,  and 
those  who  mention  it  loosely  give  Michaelmas  as  the 
date. 

His  previously  mentioned  pocket-book  l  says  Carl 
took  his  departure  on  August  23,  1728,  arriving  at 
Upsala  on  September  5.  It  names  Ekesio,  Skenninge, 
Orebro,  Arboga,  Koping,  Westerns,  Enkoping  as  his 
route.  The  writer  carelessly  inverts  the  three  last 
names,  which  if  taken  in  that  sequence  would  lead  him 

1  Belonging  to  the  Linmean  Society. 


86     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

directly  away  from  Upsala.  Most  travellers,  poor, 
hurried,  and  unencumbered  as  he  was,  would  have  selected 
the  more  direct  route  by  Jonkoping  up  the  Vettern  and 
Hjalmar  lakes,  whence  a  short  road  across  country  would 
bring  them  to  the  Malar,  giving  direct  water  communi- 
cation to  the  very  quays  of  Upsala.  I  can  only  account 
for  Carl's  choosing  the  longer  and  more  expensive  route 
by  his  considering  the  land  journey  would  afford  him 
better  opportunities  for  study  on  the  road.1  I  do  not 
purpose  describing  this  line  of  country,  because  we  shall 
travel  over  all  the  region  of  the  Vettern  with  him  in 
his  later  and  less  hurried  tours.  Carl's  journey  was  of 
necessity  hurried,  for,  having  only  SI.  sterling,  repre- 
senting his  whole  patrimony,  to  embark  on  life  with, 
he  could  not  delay  nor  turn  aside  to  visit  objects  or 
places  of  interest. 

He  arrived  at  Upsala,  perhaps  the  poorest  student 
who  ever  entered  her  walls.2  I  do  not  deny  it,  but  the 
authorities  have  contradictory  ways  of  making  it  out. 
Stoever  says  '  he  had  200  silver  dollars,  worth  about 
SI.  sterling.'  This  might  be  so  if  they  were  German 
silver  dollars,  but  200  thalers  would  be  30£.  200  francs 
would  be  nearer  the  mark,  or  Swedish  kronor  not  so 
very  far  off,  but  the  Swedes  did  not  reckon  by  kronor 
in  those  days.  I  dare  not  contradict  Stoever,  lest  I 
should  rue  discovering  inaccuracy  in  a  German ;  and 

1  His  journey  averaged  thirty-two  miles  on  each  of  the  thirteen 
days. 

2  Stoever. 


UPSALA  87 

every  little  duodecimo  biographer  of  early  in  this 
•century  has  followed  Stoever,  via  Pulteney,  securely, 
and  said  Linnaeus  had  8/.  One  writer  kindly  allows 
him  this  sum  annually.  200  silver  dollars  make  about 
40Z.,  varying  of  course  with  the  dollar  you  reckon  by. 
There  is  a  considerable  difference  between  SI.  and  40/. 
to  a  young  man  in  any  country  ;  and  40?.,  according  to 
the  value  of  money  in  Sweden  at  that  time,  seems  a 
good  deal  for  Carl's  father  to  have  spared.  Money  seems 
to  be  measured  in  Sweden  something  on  the  Scotch  plan 
of  punds  instead  of  pounds,  and  the  cost  of  living  is  still 
small  at  the  Swedish  universities.  Lund  has  now  about 
600  students,  Upsala  double  that  number.  31.  a  month 
at  Lund  and  4/.  at  Upsala  will  cover  all  the  student's 
expenses.  If  this  be  so  now — and  it  is  an  admitted  fact — 
Carl's  200  silver  dollars  made  a  fair  first  year's  allowance 
for  him,  even  deducting  a  small  sum  for  his  journey.1 

1  Before  1777  accounts  were  kept  in  dahler  of  4  marck,  or  32 
ore,  either  in  silver  or  copper  coins ;  the  former  being  reckoned  at 
three  times  the  value  of  the  same  denominations  of  the  latter.  By 
the  regulations  of  1777  (which  was  the  reckoning  used  when  Stoever 
wrote  his  history)  the  specie  riksdaler  was  to  pass  for  the  same 
value  that  6  silver  dahler  or  18  koppar  dahler  formerly  did. — Kelly's 
Universal  Cambist,  1835. 

The  single  ducats  (the  common  gold  coinage  of  Sweden)  were 
to  pass  for  1  riksdaler  46  skilling  specie;  or  11  dahler  24  ore 
silver ;  or  35  dahler  8  ore  copper. 

The  silver  dollars  used  in  Linnseus's  youth  were  coins  of  Frederic 
and  Ulrica  Leonora,  showing  the  two  sovereigns  side  by  side  on  the 
obverse,  the  reverse  the  three  crowns  of  the  realm  ;  and  the  rarer 
pieces  of  Charles  XII.  with  the  crossed  arrows,  a  crown,  and  a  star 
on  the  reverse.  The  rapid  changes  in  value  of  the  coinage  after 
Charles  XII. 's  wars  causes  the  difficulty  in  reckoning  Linna3us's 
funds. 


88     THROUGH    THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

The  Enkoping  road,  by  which  Carl  entered  the  town, 
leads  down  the  hill  directly  through  the  group  of 
university  buildings.  The  ground-plan  of  Upsala  looks 
imposing  on  the  map ;  but  as  all  the  '  new  town  '  is  as 
yet  unbuilt,  we  see  it  pretty  much  as  Carl  Linnaeus  saw 
it  on  the  day  he  entered  Upsala. 

Was  it  an  omen  that  the  first  person  he  knew  by 
sight  was  Eosen,  his  antagonist  at  Lund  ?  The  youths 
met  coldly  and  soon  parted.  Rosen  and  Linnaeus  were 
about  as  unsociable  as  Swedish  milestones.  Carl  gazed 
with  more  interest  on  the  town  itself;  but,  neglecting 
the  fine  cathedral,  he  flew  to  the  botanical  garden — not 
then  what  it  is  now,  and  vastly  different  to  what 
Linnaeus  himself  made  it — and  he  thought  it  in- 
significant. 

The  Botanic  Garden  now  has  well  laid  out  walks 
and  alleys,  tall  screens  of  dipt  limes  and  lower  hedges 
of  hornbeam  and  other  close-grown  greenery  sheltering 
the  various  gardens,  and  a  fine  botanical  lecture-room, 
built  in  classic  style  with  a  peristyle,  within  which  the 
object  that  first  attracts  the  visitor  is  the  marble  statue 
of  Linnaeus  by  Bystrom.  The  professor  of  Botany 
resides  near  the  entrance  to  the  garden.  The  present 
garden  is  on  the  high  but  sheltered  ground  behind  the 
castle  ;  the  botanic  garden  that  Linnaeus  saw  was  on  the 
level  ground  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river. 

Disappointed  in  the  garden,  Carl,  impetuous  in  all  his 
ways,  flew  up  what  is  now  the  Carolina  Park,  and  away 
by  its  steep  alleys  to  the  hill  whereon  the  castle  stands. 


UPSALA  89 

He  made  himself  master  of  the  bearings  of  the  town, 
and  with  experienced  glance  at  once  fixed  upon  the  best 
site  for  a  botanic  garden,  when  he,  the  radical  reformer, 
should  once  get  a  voice  in  the  matter ;  he  examined 
the  place  with  curiosity,  considering  what  improvements 
he  should  make  when  high  in  the  university — for  a  great 
man  he  determined  and  fully  expected  to  be.  On  the 
whole,  he  was  pleased  with  the  view  of  Upsala.  These 
are  his  own  words :  <  Upsala  is  the  ancient  seat  of 
government.  Its  palace  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1702. 
With  respect  to  situation  and  variety  of  prospects, 
scarcely  any  city  can  be  compared  with  this.  For  the 
distance  of  a  quarter  of  a  Swedish  mile  it  is  surrounded 
with  fertile  corn-fields,  which  are  bounded  by  hills,  and 
the  view  is  terminated  by  spacious  forests.' 

Time  was  flying,  and  Carl  had  to  report  himself  as 
arrived  and  enrol  himself  in  one  of  the  thirteen  'nations ' 
of  the  university.  He  had  to  find  himself  in  lodgings  and 
settle  down  :  all  this  to  do  before  dusk — and  the  days 
shorten  in  September,  especially  so  far  north  as  Upsala. 
This  palpable  fact  startled  the  young  SmSlander.  He 
briskly  returned  to  the  town  across  the  broken  turfy 
ground  behind  the  castle,  through  the  court  (that  was  to 
have  been  a  quadrangle,  only  it  was  never  made  so,  the 
town  front  of  the  castle  alone  being  built)  containing 
the  long-bearded  bust  of  Gustavus  Vasa  mounted  on  four 
cannons.  He  scrambled  round  among  the  unfinished 
turrets,  finding  no  path  down  the  steep  hill  on  that  side, 
but  lingering  a  moment  to  behold  the  panoramic  view 


90     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN&US 

extending  all  over  Upland,  comprising  Old  Upsala,  with 
its  'Assize  Hill'  and  the  three  tall  tumuli  known  as  the 
Tombs  of  the  Kings.1  Geologically,  too,  this  view  is 
very  interesting,  and  Carl  already  knew  all  the  geology 
that  was  then  known  in  Sweden,  and  was  constantly 
discovering  more.  The  period  following  the  glacial 
epoch  was  that  of  the  roll-stone  or  sand-ridges.  Such 
ridges  are  very  common  in  Sweden ;  the  celebrated 
mounds  at  Upsala  are  situated  at  the  end  of  such  a 
ridge.2  This  landscape  is  studded  by  Danmark  and 
many  other  towers  and  villages,  the  Fyrisa1  river  gliding 
through  the  broad  meadows  which  fade  far  off  into  the 
infinite  ring  of  blue.  He  made  his  way  round  in  front 
of  the  tall  pinky-red  castle  where  the  green  hill,  which 
is  here  almost  a  cliff,  makes  a  magnificent  pedestal  to  a 
palace,  and  down  into  the  university  quarter — if  one 
may  say  so  of  a  town  which  is  all  university ;  though  the 
academic  buildings,  looking  like  large  private  houses, 
are  principally  grouped  on  the  north-west  side  of  the 
town,  just  beyond  the  cathedral  precincts. 

While  Linnaeus  is  settling  his  affairs  let  us  glance 
at  the  stately  cathedral  that  he,  who  cared  nothing 
for  art,  so  heedlessly  passed  by.  His  own  monument 
adorns  it  now,  and  his  remains  lie  there  in  honour ;  but 
his  monument  was  the  last  thing  he  would  be  thinking 
of  just  now — it  was  his  work  that  lay  before  him. 
Victory  before  Westminster  Abbey !  Upsala  Cathedral, 

1  They  are  each  58  feet  high  and  225  feet  in  diameter. 

2  Du  Chaillu. 


UPSALA  91 

if  less  imposing  than  that  of  Lund,  is  a  fine  building, 
harmonious  with  the  city's  name  of  Upsalir,  '  the  lofty 
halls ' ;  and  made  grander  by  being  built  on  a  height,1  in  a 
commanding  and  picturesque  situation.  It  is  approached 
from  the  main  streets  bordering  the  canal  by  a  flight  of 
steps  leading  through  an  archway  framing  delightful 
pictures  of  the  Peasant's  church,  more  ancient  than  the 
cathedral,  and  other  buildings  and  parks,  most  of  them 
connected  with  the  university. 

The  cathedral  is  a  very  interesting  building  and 
full  of  charm;  but  before  hearing  mine  or  any  other 
traveller's  ravings — for  travellers  always  come  back 
raving  from  the  North,  though  most  of  them  do  not 
intend  to  visit  Sweden  again :  '  the  sea-sickness  is  too 
horrid ' — let  us  hear  Fergusson,  who  never  raves  over 
Swedish  buildings.  He  begins  his  concise  account  of 
Scandinavian  architecture  thus  :  '  No  one  who  has 
listened  to  all  that  was  said  and  written  in  Germany 
before  the  late  Danish  war  can  very  well  doubt  that 
when  he  passes  the  Eyder,  going  northward,  he  will 
enter  on  a  new  architectural  province.  He  must,  how- 
ever, be  singularly  deficient  in  ethnographical  know- 
ledge if  he  expects  to  find  anything  either  original  or 
beautiful  in  a  country  inhabited  by  races  of  such  purely 
Aryan  stock.  If  there  is  any  Finnish  or  Lap  blood  in 
the  veins  of  the  Swedes  or  Danes,  it  must  have  dried 
up  very  early,  for  no  trace  of  its  effect  can  be  detected 
in  any  of  their  architectural  utterances ;  unless,  indeed, 
1  Mons  domini. 


92     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS   WITH  LINN^US 

we  should  ascribe  to  it  that  peculiar  fondness  for 
circular  forms  which  is  so  characteristic  of  their  early 
churches,  and  which  may  have  been  derived  from  the 
circular  mounds  and  stone  circles  which  were  in  use  in 
Sweden  till  the  end  of  the  tenth  century.' 

Does  this  solve  the  hard  fact  of  Linnaeus's  coldness 
to  art — that  he  was  purely  Aryan?  But  surely  the 
Greeks  were  Aryan  too.  Or,  does  Fergusson,  having  hit 
upon  an  idea,  knock  his  head  against  it  too  hard  ?  c  The 
cathedral  of  Upsala  can  scarcely  be  quoted  as  an  ex- 
ample of  Scandinavian  art,  for  when  the  Swedes,  in 
the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century  (1278),  determined 
on  the  erection  of  a  cathedral  worthy  of  their  country, 
they  employed  a  Frenchman,  Etienne  Bonneuil,  to 
furnish  them  with  a  design  and  to  superintend  the 
erection,  which  he  did  till  his  death.  After  Bonneuil's 
death  the  French  principles  of  detail  were  departed 
from.'  The  university  buildings  are  not  individually  re- 
markable, although  their  grouping  between  the  quaintly 
simple  lines  of  the  towered  castle  on  its  commanding 
hill  and  the  rich  Renaissance  twin  towers  of  the  cathe- 
dral spiring  up  the  valley,  together  with  the  undulating 
and  well-planted  slopes  of  the  ground  on  the  north- 
western bank  of  the  river,  makes  up  a  very  pleasing 
prospect,  with  many  picturesque  points  for  the  memory 
to  retain. 

Carl's  immediate  professors  were  Olaus  Rudbeck 
(junior)  and  Roberg,  both  old  men.  Under  them  he 
made  rapid  advances  in  the  different  branches  of  medi- 


UPSALA  93 

cine  and  natural  history ;  and,  regardless  of  the  fact  of 
his  bread  depending  on  the  name  he  might  win  in  the 
regular  line  of  study,  he  revelled  in  all  the  gratifica- 
tions of  intellectual  luxury.  Life  was  one  sparkling 
delight. 

His  was  a  ( bright,  healthy,  loving  nature,  enjoying 
ordinary  innocent  things  so  much  that  vice  had  no 
temptation  for  him.'  Chief  among  his  enjoyments — 
we  know  it  from  his  remarks  in  after  life — was  to  sail 
up  and  down  the  river  to  the  Almare  Staket,  where  an 
arm  of  Lake  Malar  narrows  itself  into  a  more  river- 
like  branch,  until  it  actually  becomes  the  Fyrisa"  River, 
flowing  through  Upsala.1  The  Malar  resembles  a  great 
sea-anemone,  with  arms  in  all  directions,  only  that 
these  arms  have  other  arms,  and  so  ad  infinitum :  a 
deeply  pinnate  fern-leaf  is  a  more  exact  comparison. 
To  sail  through  the  Malar  is  like  seeing  theatrical 
scenery  unfolding  as  the  capes  and  islands  retire  and 
disclose  other  islands,  and  beauties  of  lake  and  shore. 

The  Almare  Island,  with  the  ruined  castle  of  St. 
Erik's  Borg,  stands  in  the  middle  of  the  strait  or  Staket, 
where  a  swing-bridge  lets  the  boat  pass  into  the  long 
and  sleepy  Skarfven,  as  this  arm  of  the  lake  is  called ; 
the  shores  are  lined  with  gambrel-roofed  cottages  set 
in  foliage ;  boats,  fishing-nets,  and  good  agriculture 
enliven  the  soft  and  soothing  landscape.  Then  comes 
the  red-roofed  town  of  Sigtuna,  which  has  gone  so  com- 
pletely to  sleep  these  last  seven  hundred  years,  that 
1  There  are  no  lakes  immediately  by  Upsala. 


94     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN&US 

after  being  one  of  the  largest  and  handsomest  towns 
in  Sweden,  it  is  now  a  mere  village  with  picturesque 
ivy-covered  ruins  and  five  hundred  inhabitants.  The 
massive  silver  doors  of  one  of  its  churches  were  carried 
off  in  1187  by  the  Esths  to  Novgorod,  where  they 
may  now  be  seen.  Numbers  of  the  white-capped 
students  of  Upsala  are  to  be  met  cruising  about  this 
part  of  the  lake  and  river  nowadays.  Rail  and  steamer 
both  aid  their  peregrinations.1 

The  grass  here  grows  vividly  green,  and  the  trees 
are  fine  and  flourishing.  Presently  (we  are  sailing  to- 
wards Upsala)  the  foliaged  banks  subside  to  a  narrow 
low-shored  arm  of  the  lake,  looking  like  a  shallow 
river  rather  than  a  lake,  lying  between  water-meadows, 
until  the  banks  rise  again  into  fir  woods  and  hills 
clothed  with  silver  birch  and  the  foaming  white-blos- 
somed bird-cherry — essentially  a  Linnsean  tree,  as  it 
always  grows  abundantly  round  his  dwelling,  wherever 
that  may  be. 

At  Skogkloster — once  a  forest  monastery,  now  a  fine 
square  chateau,  with  copper-roofed  towers  at  the  angles 
and  much  magnificence  within — the  water  widens  out 
into  a  broad  bay  on  the  left  bank,  and  the  channel 
turns  off  to  the  right  towards  Upsala.  The  water's  local 
colour  is  a  greenish  brown  or  warm  olive,  lowered  by 
the  sky  reflections  to  a  neutral  grey.  The  boat  here 

1  The  undergraduates  wear  a  white  cap  with  a  black  velvet 
band  and  a  small  blue  and  yellow  rosette  in  the  centre,  symbolic  of 
the  Swedish  flag. 


UPSALA  95 

enters  the  Fyrisa"  through  a  drawbridge  and  by  a  chain 
of  low  islets  with  wind-tost  and  water-washed  fir-trees 
growing  on  them.  The  river,  shallow,  muddy,  and  rush- 
banked,  is  rich  in  water-lilies  and  marsh  plants.  The 
green  slopes  shelve  gently  upward  to  the  Scotch  fir" 
spruce,  and  pine  trees,  which  feather  down  to  the  grass  : 
the  banks  are  so  rotten  that  they  are  worn  away  by  every 
wavelet.  The  fine  modern  agricultural  school  here  has 
not  devoted  its  attention  to  the  first  principle  of  riverine 
agriculture,  the  solidifying  of  the  land-banks.  The 
mud  dissolves  like  sugar  behind  the  passing  steamers, 
and  is  swept  down  in  rich  liquid  form,  to  settle  at  the 
bottom  of  the  Malar. 

The  boat  sweeps  by  the  famous  '  King's  Meadow,' 
which  Linnaeus  afterwards  so  loved,  which  in  spring  is 
one  carpet  of  fritillary,  chiefly  purple,  mingled  with  the 
white  and  red  sorts.  High  above  this  historical  scene 
rises  the  round  red  tower  of  the  Slott,  or  Castle  of 
Gustavus  Vasa,  with  the  Dutch-looking  town  of  Upsala 
lying  at  its  foot,  and  the  long  stretch  of  canal- like 
river  is  closed  in  by  the  lofty  brick  cathedral  re- 
flected in  the  pools  between  the  five  bridges. 

Carl,  free  from  care  or  anxiety  respecting  his  bodily 
support,  worked  with  all  possible  zeal.  He  had  one 
great  disappointment,  however.  The  greatest  adept  in 
natural  history,  and  especially  in  botany,  in  Sweden, 
was  Olaus  Celsius,1  the  first  professor  of  Divinity,  and 
dean  of  the  chapter  of  Upsala.  Linnaeus  described  him 
1  Olof  in  the  Diary. 


95     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS   WITH  LINNAEUS 

later  in  a  letter  to  Haller  l  as  the  only  botanist  of  his 
country,  and  Carl  had  hoped  to  profit  by  his  learning. 
Celsius  at  this  time  was  away  on  official  business  at 
Stockholm,  so  that  Carl  was  obliged  to  continue  his 
favourite  study  with  no  guidance  save  that  of  his 
own  genius  and  the  works  of  the  men  of  the  last 
two  centuries — in  fact,  the  same  materials  that  Celsius 
himself  had ;  but  he  was  minus  Celsius'  years  of  experi- 
ence. 

A  year  passed.  With  his  vivacity  of  temperament, 
he  could  not  manage  his  small  finances  to  advantage — 
he  was  too  sanguine — he  felt  too  sure  of  immediately 
conquering  fortune  somehow.  Well  as  he  had  been 
trained  in  economy,  it  is  difficult  to  square  SI.  with 
a  journey,  clothes,  board,  lodging,  and  tuition  for  a 
year.  It  is  not  very  easy  to  do  it  for  40Z.  by  a  popular 
fellow,  naturally  open-handed,  whose  pleasant  speech, 
and  face  beaming  with  frankest  good-humour,  made  him 
courted  by  the  pleasure-loving  youths  of  the  university. 

A  short  time  before  Carl  came  northward,  his  rival 
at  Lund,  Nils  Rosen,  had  been  appointed  adjunctus  of 
the  faculty  of  medicine  at  Upsala ;  he  laughed  at 
LinnaBus's  hopes  of  that  pension  for  his  talents  which 
Rothman  had  encouraged  him  to  look  for.  The  pro- 
fessors looked  coldly  on  one  who  brought  no  ready- 
made  reputation  with  him,  and  who  seemed  unlikely  to 
do  them  credit,  as  he  only  pursued  an  inferior  or  inci- 
dental branch  of  learning — for  botany,  until  Carl  made 
1  Dated  from  Hartecainp,  near  Leyden,  May  1737. 


UPSALA  97 

a  profession  of  it,  was  not  a  profession  at  all.  He  was 
finding  his  level  among  them,  the  students  thought,  and 
Rosen  said  it.  '  Young  Linnaeus  always  had  too  good  an 
opinion  of  himself.'  One  would  say,  we  often  do  say, 
that  to  know  the  marvels  of  creation  keeps  one  humble  ; 
yet,  somehow,  young  scientific  men  are  seldom  humble, 
in  expression  at  least,  and  Linnaeus  was  no  exception. 
But  he  did  not  often  get  a  snubbing,1  nor  were  his  days 
sorrowful,  though  he  had  not  yet  set  the  FyrisS  on  fire. 
Now  were  his  joyous  friendships,  his  pleasures  of  hope. 
Carl  gave  little  heed  to  Rosen  now :  he  was  absorbed  in 
a  deep  friendship.  Hear  the  beginning  of  it  in  his  own 
words. 

( In  the  year  1728,'  says  Linnaeus,  '  I  came  to  Upsala. 
I  asked  what  student  was  most  eminent  for  his  know- 
ledge in  natural  history.  The  name  of  Artedi  was 
heard  everywhere ;  he  had  studied  there  several  years 
before  me.  I  felt  the  most  ardent  desire  to  see  him. 
On  paying  him  a  visit  I  found  him  pale,  downcast,  and 
weeping  because  his  father  had  just  died.  Our  con- 
versation turned  on  plants,  stones,  and  animals.  The 
novel  remarks  he  made,  the  knowledge  he  displayed, 
struck  me  with  amazement.  I  solicited  his  friendship, 
he  wished  for  mine.  How  valuable,  how  happy  was 
our  intercourse!  With  what  pleasure  did  we  see  it 
cemented !  If  one  of  us  made  a  new  observation  he 
communicated  it  to  the  other  ;  not  a  day  elapsed  with- 
out our  receiving  reciprocal  instruction.  Rivalship 
1  A  Swedish  word  ;  snubba,  a  rebuke. 

VOL.  I.  H 


98     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

increased  our  diligence  and  researches ;  though  we  lived 
at  a  great  distance,  yet  it  would  not  prevent  us  visiting 
each  other  every  day.  Even  the  dissimilitude  of  our 
character  turned  out  to  advantage.  He  excelled  me  in 
chemistry,  and  I  outdid  him  in  the  knowledge  of  birds 
and  insects  and  in  botany.' 

Artedi  also  studied  alchemy  :  the  poor  youth  added 
the  golden  dream  to  that  of  the  lordship  of  creation. 
Peter,  or  Pehr,  Artedi  was  two  years  older  than  Linnaeus. 
He  was  born  in  1705  in  Angermania,  likewise  of  poor 
parents.  His  behaviour  at  the  college  of  Hernosand  was 
the  counterpart  of  our  Carl's  at  Wexio,  preferring  the 
study  of  nature,  especially  that  of  fishes,  to  all  other 
accomplishments.  In  1724  he  came  to  Upsala  to 
study  divinity,  but  he  soon  exchanged  theology  for 
natural  history. 

Pehr  Arctedius — for  this  was  his  name  in  Swedish, 
only  he  shortened  it  to  Artedi — went  to  Angermanland 
to  discharge  the  last  duties  to  his  father,  and  on  his 
return  gave  himself  up  to  the  pleasures  of  a  friendship 
with  Linnaeus.  Artedi  was  of  a  tall  handsome  figure  ; 
Linnaeus  was  shorter,  stouter,  more  hasty  in  temper,  and 
fuller  of  youth's  certainty  of  success.  They  both  had  a 
noble  spirit  of  emulation ;  they  were  '  opposing  mirrors, 
each  reflecting  each ' ;  every  discovery  or  thought  re- 
turned to  each  improved,  enlightened  by  passing  through 
the  other's  mind ;  the  flashes  of  illumination  were  caught 
in  talk  and  fixed. 

Enthusiasm  is  catching.     Carl's  flame  fired  Artedi 


UPSALA  99 

also.  { As  soon  as  one  found  himself  unequal  to  the 
progress  of  the  other  in  one  species  of  study  he  dedi- 
cated himself  to  another.  They  therefore  divided  the 
kingdoms  and  provinces  of  nature  between  them.' l  They 
began  to  study  insects  and  fishes  together,  but  in  a 
short  time  Linnaeus  yielded  the  palm  to  Artedi  in  ich- 
thyology and  the  latter  acknowledged  Linnaeus  to  be  his 
superior  in  entomology.  Artedi  undertook  to  reduce 
amphibia,  and  Linnaeus  birds,  under  a  regular  arrange- 
ment. Each  kept  his  discoveries  to  himself,2  though 
for  no  length  of  time,  since  not  a  day  passed  without 
one  surprising  the  other  by  narrating  some  new  fact. 

Artedi  finally  confined  his  botanical  studies  to  the 
umbelliferous  plants,  in  which  he  pointed  out  the  dis- 
tinction which  arises  from  the  differences  of  the  involu- 
crum,  leading  to  a  new  method  of  classification,  which 
was  afterwards  published  by  Linnaeus,  with  a  tribute  to 
his  friend.  i  But  the  chief  object  of  Artedi's  pursuits, 
which  transmitted  his  fame  to  posterity,'  says  the  rap- 
turous old  Stoever,  '  was  the  empire  of  Neptune,  or  the 
knowledge  of  the  natural  history  of  fishes,  called  ichthy- 
ology. Linnaeus  relinquished  to  him  this  province.' 
Emulation  is  the  soul  of  improvement.  Laying  their 
plans  so  as  to  assist  each  other  in  every  branch  of  natural 
history  and  medicine,  Artedi  had  projected  the  happy 
plan  of  introducing  a  new  method  and  classification  in 
ichthyology,  which  cheered'  and  strengthened  Linnaeus 
to  effect  the  same  thing  in  botany.  They  '  worked 
1  Linnaeus.  2  Diary. 

H  2 


ioo     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

deliciously  hard  ;  felt  light,  happy,  invincible ' ;  and  they 
loved  like  David  and  Jonathan. 

To  Artedi  Linnasus  was  like  a  young  brother— like 
himself,  but  more  ardent :  as  Frederika  Bremer  says  of 
another  naturalist  (Kingsley),  '  a  young  mind  that  he 
could  like,  love,  quarrel  with,  live  with,  influence,  be 
influenced  by,  follow  through  the  thorny  path,  through 
tropical  islands,  through  storm  and  sunshine,  higher 
and  higher  ascending  into  the  metamorphosis  of  exis- 
tence/ Both  were  handsome  in  feature,  improved  by 
the  beauty  of  expression  caused  by  the  habitual  admira- 
tion of  God's  works :  the  love  of  beauty,  and  of  God  who 
made  such  beauty,  passes  into  the  countenance  and 
glorifies  it.  Their  faces  were  thus  habitually  cast  in  noble 
lines,  animated  by  the  eagerness  of  innocent  discovery. 
They  had  no  lower  lusts,  poverty  kept  them  from  all 
other  indulgence,  disciplined  them.  They  had  none  but 
intellectual  pleasures,  and  these  of  a  fine  kind.  At  first 
they  laughed  at  poverty — they,  so  rich  in  gifts,  health, 
youth,  affection,  admiration,  all  that  makes  life  so 
precious. 

Dans  un  grenier,  qu'on  est  bien  a  vingt  ans. 
Earth,  air,  and  water  were  full  of  their  familiar  friends. 
They  daily  sought  and  found  that  beauty  which  Plato 
defines — it  goes  best  in  French — i  Le  splendeur  du  vrai,'  * 
while  Aristotle  as  truly  declares  that  beauty  consists  in 
the  complete  development  of  beings,  each  according  to 
its  sort  and  nature, — the  groundwork  of  all  science.  The 
1  Which,  indeed,  is  the  best  definition  of  Art. 


UPSALA  ioi 

two  young  men  lodged  far  apart.  Artedi  naturally 
preferred  the  situation  by  the  river-side,  below  the 
castle  hill  and  the  present  hospital,  where  the  Strom- 
parterre  is  now,  where  the  band  plays  of  an  evening ; 
while  Linnseus  chose  to  be  nearer  the  botanical  garden 
and  the  museums.  Sometimes  they  met  farther  down  the 
river  by  the  flowery  '  King's  Meadow/  where  the  water- 
by  ssus  grows  in  ditches  by  the  wayside,  particularly 
in  places  sheltered  from  the  wind.  '  It  resembles  the 
cream  of  milk,'  Linnaeus  says,  '  and  is  called  by  the 
peasants  the  water-flower.'  Here  both  were  best  suited 
Sometimes  they  would  be  seated  on  the  moss-tufted 
castle  slopes,  where  grows  the  rare  moss,  the  lichen 
nivaliSj1  looking  away  over  the  distance,  far-reaching  as 
their  fancies,  talking  of  the  future ;  where  often  also 
the  two  elderly  professors,  Rudbeck  and  Roberg,  might 
be  seen,  as  the  professors  may  frequently  be  seen  at 
this  day,  pacing  the  grassy  terrace  in  front  of  the 
castle,  not  exactly  arm-in-arm,  but  the  taller  with  his 
arm  around  the  other's  neck,  the  shorter  holding  the 
other  round  the  waist — a  sight  queer  to  English  eyes, 
but  which  passes  perfectly  unnoticed  here  in  Upsala : 
these  would  be  talking  of  the  past.  And  what  a  difference 
in  the  ideas  and  the  talk  of  the  two  pairs !  Contrast  the 
seniors'  converse,  tough  and  sententious,  with  the  burning 
young  ideas  or  the  limp  new-born  ones  coming  forth 
copiously  and  with  every  form  of  expansion.  Yet  there 
was  occult  talk  between  the  juniors  also,  Artedi  groping 
1  Linnaeus. 


102     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS   WITH  LINNAEUS 

his  way  in  the  unutterable  and  sublime  ;  Linnasus  more 
practical,  eager  for  praise  and  profit.  Their  minds,  if 
raw,  were  receptive.  The  elders'  were  closed  to  any  new 
discoveries :  memory  was  broad  enough  for  them.  These 
two  old  professors  could  not  sympathise  with  the  young 
men,  but  Celsius  would  come  soon,  they  reflected,  and 
Celsius  would  understand  them. 

Young  people  think  our  old  inheritance  of  ideas, 
our  civilisation,  our  religion,  and  our  principles  are 
ancient  petrifactions.  They  are  not  so  ;  rather  are  they 
like  wood,  old  yet  alive,  from  which  spring  the  shoots, 
the  leaves,  the  sprigs,  that  look  so  different.  They  will 
become  the  same :  intrinsically  they  are  the  same. 

Sometimes  the  youths  would  dart  down  the  steep 
slopes  and  chevy  away  in  the  far  distance  in  chase  after 
a  bird  or  beast,  or  something  attractive  viewed  miles 
away.  Both  were  swimmers  :  most  Swedes  are  so,  and 
have  need  to  be  in  that  lake  country.  There  was  no 
end  to  Carl's  feats  of  agility  in  rock  or  wall-climbing,  and 
of  adventurous  courage  to  get  birds'  eggs  from  orchard, 
cliff,  tree,  or  tower ;  unwearying  his  zeal,  that  never  felt 
fatigue  while  in  the  chase,  by  night  or  day.  Of  happy 
disposition  generally,  Carl  was  of  quick  temper;  his 
anger  was  violent,  but  soon  over ;  though  he  would 
sometimes  be  chafed  to  exasperation  by  a  seeming  trifle. 
He  loved  the  hardest  study,  laboriously  travelling  in 
search  of  facts ;  not  careering  his  mind  through  fine 
districts — the  villas,  parks,  and  esplanades  of  classic  lore 
—but  changing  ancient  unreal  dreams  for  facts,  he 


UPSALA  103 

fought  his  way  through  difficulties  in  unknown  or  fresh- 
broken  ground. 

Though  genial  in  temperament  Linnaeus  cared  little 
for  athletic  sports.  Perhaps  few  Swedes  do.  I  have 
seen  Swedish  boys  at  brisk  play  in  the  gravelled  or 
pebbled  squares  in  front  of  their  grammar  schools  ;  but 
games  do  not  seem  to  thrive  among  them  like  football 
does  with  us.  They  are  such  long  years  behind  us  with 
their  tools — their  bicycles,  for  instance — that  as  we 
laugh  at  their  i  wobbling '  movements  we  forget  how  we 
grinned  at  our  own  early  velocipedes.  They  play 
croquet  too,  now  that  it  has  been  for  some  dozen  years 
superseded  by  lawn  tennis. 

Carl's  favourite  haunts  were  beyond  Danmark 
Church  and  the  ten  ancient  Mora  stones,  round  by 
Hammarby  and  Sofja,  where  the  clay  soil  of  Upsala  Vale 
changes  into  the  heathland  of  the  hills  consisting  of 
sand  and  stones ;  he  was  reminded  by  these  glacier-worn 
rocks  of  his  home  in  SmSland.  Here  he  could  revel  in 
discovery ;  here  he  felt  those  glorious  moments  when  the 
soul,  risen  by  hard-won  ways  mountains  high,  overlooks 
the  fair  world  of  common  things  in  the  clear  air,  the 
second  heaven,  of  purity.  He  prolonged  the  comfort  of 
these  excursions  to  the  latest  autumn,  ( those  seasons  of 
silence  and  twilight  when  nature  seems  to  sympathise 
with  the  fallen  ...  to  soothe  and  comfort,  to  inspire 
and  support  the  afflicted.'  For  as  time  went  on  and  a 
second  winter  was  approaching — a  Swedish  winter — 
and  yet  appreciation  came  not,  bringing  scholarships 


104     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

and  all  fat  things,  it  seemed  as  if  the  corporeal  portion 
of  the  complete  development  of  these  two  poor  geniuses 
were  at  a  standstill.  Petronius  says — it  is  Linnasus  who 
quotes  him  here — '  Poverty  is  the  attendant  of  a  good 
mind/  '  Never  mind,'  said  Carl,  cheerily  quoting  a  local 
proverb,  '  put  a  Smalander  on  a  barren  rock  in  the  sea, 
and  he  will  manage  to  make  his  living.'  Artedi  shook  his 
head.  Less  hopeful  than  Carl,  Artedi  was  pensive  and 
sentimental,  and  susceptible  of  soft  emotions.  Philo- 
sophy is  much,  but  it  is  not  bread  and  butter.  Carl's 
pockets  were  quite  empty,  and  he  had  no  chance  of  ob- 
taining private  pupils,  who,  in  fact,  are  seldom  put  under 
the  care  of  medical  students.  It  is  said  he  obtained  on 
December  16,  1728,  a  royal  scholarship,  of  the  value 
of  which  we  are  not  informed,1  but  which  was  quite 
insufficient  to  maintain  him.  Stoever  denies  this,  and 
it  seems  doubtful.  The  Englishman  has  perhaps  con- 
founded this  with  a  bursary  he  really  did  afterwards 
obtain — Wrede's  exhibition,  value  about  5Z. 

The  woodland  soft  fruits  were  all'  over ;  the  nuts 
would  soon  be  gone  too,  and  the  edible  roots  that  the 
two  friends  knew  so  well  how  to  find  in  summer; 
the  fish,  too,  that  they  caught,  examined,  dissected, 
cooked,  and  ate  with  their  rye  biscuit,  would  soon  all  be 
locked  beneath  the  ice,  as  winter  fell  '  a  heavy  gloom 
oppressive  o'er  their  world.'  Hitherto  they  had  relished 
their  plain  living  and  high  thinking  while,  over  some 
old  book  recently  ferreted  out  of  the  lost  corners  of  the 
1  Smith. 


UPSALA  105 

library,  or  some  fresh  winged  thing  discovered  in  the  air, 
they  seasoned  their  spare  dinner  with  proverbs  either 
national  or  of  their  own  coining,  bracing  up  their  soul 
with  maxims,  persuading  themselves  that  the  wants, 
anxieties,  privations  of  life  were  nought  when  set 
against  the  endless  rapture  of  perpetual  effort  to  realise 
a  grand  conception. 

Had  we  means  answering  to  our  mind.1 

c  Nothing  like  poverty  for  strengthening  the 
character,'  would  Artedi  say,  capped  by  Carl  with 
'  Many  things  are  more  precious  than  a  full  stomach,' 
and  his  friend's  rejoinder  by-and-by,  that  '  royal  roads 
do  not  make  a  great  people.'  Yet  the  burden  of  their 
inmost  feelings  was  i  Oh  for  Celsius !  Oh,  if  Dean 
Celsius  would  but  come!'  If  he  came  their  talents 
must  be  recognised.  '  Alas,  good  and  quickly  seldom 
meet,'  said  Artedi,  with  the  ready  proverb's  l  deep 
though  broken  wisdom.'  The  aged  medical  professors, 
Eudbeck  and  Roberg,  were  limited  and  dull,  and  little 
inclined  for  improvement,  which  meant  movement ;  and 
old  men  are  disinclined  to  stir.  These  men  were  pamphle- 
tary  rather  than  practical ;  but  Celsius  was  still  in  the 
prime  of  life  and  zealous  for  his  favourite  science. 

Linnaeus  felt  his  woes  deeply  aggravated  by  Celsius's 
prolonged  absence,  as  his  coat  became  more  and  more 
frayed  at  the  seams  and  edges,  and  threadbare.  For  all 
their  tall  talk  about  the  royalty  of  science,  it  was  hard 
when  Rosen  stalked  by  neatly  dressed,  or  was  seen 
1  Paracelsus,  BROWNING. 


106     THROUGH   THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN^US 

sitting  at  the  windows  of  the  Stadhuset  dining  with  a 
professor ;  it  was  hard  to  feel  that  they  two  would  be 
known  for  the  handsomest  young  men  in  Upsala  had 
they  but  had  new  coats  and  white  silk  caps.  Carl's 
shoes,  too,  he  had  had  them  soled  thrice ;  he  thought  he 
had  better  have  upper  leathers  put  to  them  this  time  for  a 
change.  At  last  nothing  was  left  of  them  but  the  strings, 
he  tramped  so  much ;  and  there  were  irreparable  defects 
in  some  parts  of  his  equipage  which  could  not  be  con- 
cealed by  '  all  sorts  of  coaxing,  darning,  or  sitting 
cross-legged.' 

A  blasted  bud  displays  yon  torn 
Faint  rudiments  of  the  full  flower  unborn. — Sordello. 
But  who  divines  what  glory  coats  o'erclasp  of  the  bulb  dormant. 

Paracelsus. 

There  was  a  certain  grim  humour  in  seeing  these 
two  ragged  students  portioning  out  the  animal,  vege- 
table, and  mineral  kingdoms  between  them ;  dividing, 
as  the  Eomans  had  done,  the  domination  of  the  world.1 
They  who  could  not  buy  an  oxstek 2  or  a  juicy  turnip  in  it ; 
yet  were  they  victors.  Like  Alexander,  they  had  whole 
provinces  to  their  hand  in  little — epitomised — on  their 
study  shelves  :  collections  of  rubbish,  valueless  in  them- 
selves, valuable  in  their  classification;  their  mineral 
collection,  complete  in  granite,  and  gravel,  and  iron- 
stone ;  the  cells  for  gold  and  silver  empty ;  rubies 
would  come  by-and-by ;  meanwhile  there  was  their 
place  ready  and  their  analysis  neatly  written  out.  As 
Elia  says  of  Captain  Jackson,  '  with  nothing  to  live  on 
1  BaecU.  2  Beefsteak. 


UPSALA  107 

he  seemed  to  live  on  everything.  He  had  a  stock  of 
wealth  in  his  mind — not  that  which  is  properly  termed 
content,  for  in  truth  he  was  not  to  be  contained  at  all, 
but  overflowed  all  bounds  by  the  force  of  a  magnificent 
self-delusion.'  Artedi  took  to  himself  the  realm  of 
fishes,  which  Linnaeus  willingly  '  conveyanced  '  to  him  ; 
but  when  Artedi  required  a  province  of  his  friend's  own 
particular  kingdom,  and  wished  to  take  the  umbelli- 
ferous plants  under  his  rule,  this  was  a  harder  conces- 
sion to  friendship. 

The  two  friends  were  always  finding  something 
fresh,  acquiring  property  too — a  treasure-chest — but  of 
a  sort  whose  key  was  in  their  mind.  There  is  nothing 
like  having  little  or  no  cash  for  making  one's  collections 
of  value.  One  buys  no  trash,  nothing  that  salesmen  of 
curiosities  consider  suitable  for  amateurs.  One  gleans, 
not  from  books,  but  from  the  substances  around,  com- 
pleting an  area,  exhausting  the  neighbourhood,  from  its 
chalk-hills  to  its  clay-beds.  Each  saw  himself  in  the 
glass  of  his  friend's  admiring  mind,  and  each  felt  comfort 
in  the  possession  of  commanding  talent.  They  must 
rise,  and  they  would. 

1  Or,  staggered  only  at  their  own  vast  wits,'  no  wonder 
if  these  two  students  felt  stuck-up,  over-elated  at  times, 
when  they  considered  the  education  the  rest  of  the 
fellows  were  getting  in  the  university.  Professor  Hud- 
beck  exhibited  to  the  students  his  beautifully  coloured 
drawings  of  birds,  and  Professor  Koberg  lectured  on  the 
problems  of  Aristotle  according  to  the  principles  of  Des 


io8     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

Cartes.  In  anatomy  and  chemistry  there  was  profound 
silence ;  neither  did  our  botanist  ever  hear  a  single  lec- 
ture, public  or  private,  on  the  study  of  plants.1  Oh,  when 
would  Celsius  come  and  disperse  this  gloom,  stir  this 
stagnation,  and  begin  to  teach  ? 

c  During  this  period  of  intense  receptivity ' 2  Linn&us 
read  in  the  Leipsic  commentaries  a  review  of  Vaillant's 
treatise  on  the  sexes  of  plants.  Here  was  a  ray  of 
light.  Oh,  for  Celsius  to  come  and  help  him  to  read 
by  it! 

Linnaeus  was  beginning  his  second  year  at  the 
university.  His  pockets  were  empty ;  subsisting  on 
accidents,  he  picked  up  a  meal  here  and  there  by 
helping  duller  students,  and  from  their  charity.  He 
learned  by  heart  that  marvellous  lesson  in  natural 
history,  that  '  of  all  God's  creatures,  man  alone  is  poor.' 
Now  his  clothes  gave  way  completely,  and  winter  was 
coming  on.  Winter  begins  to  bite  early  in  Sweden. 
Carl,  who  was  proud  of  his  personal  appearance,  and 
had  always  taken  pains  with  his  dress,  was  now  glad  to 
cover  himself  with  the  cast-off  clothes  of  his  more 
wealthy  companions.  He  grew  used  to  '  the  mean  and 
bitter  shifts  of  poverty,'  and  gaunt  and  haggard  with 
actual  famine. 

He  often  spoke  of  this  in  later  life  (as  well  as  in  his 

installation  speech  in   1741  as   professor  at    Upsala), 

telling  how  under  severest   poverty  he    could   return 

thanks  to  God  whose  Divine  Providence  guarded  and 

1  Stoever.  2  Jackson. 


UPSALA  109 

supported  him.  He  thus  made  his  own  case  an  en- 
couragement to  other  poor  students,  and  also  a  lesson 
in  patience ;  for  victory  does  not  come  with  a  leap — her 
path  must  be  laboriously  prepared. 

He  put  cards  and  pasteboard  in  the  worn-out  shoes 
given  him  by  his  comrades,  and  stitched  and  mended 
them  with  birch  bark,  neatly  and  carefully,  for  he  was 
neat-handed  with  his  glueing  of  plants  and  preparation 
of  specimens — a  good  thing  for  him,  for,  as  George  Eliot 
wisely  says,  £  Some  skill  with  the  hands  is  needful  for 
the  completeness  of  life,  and  makes  a  bridge  over  times 
of  doubt  and  despondency.'  The  lowest  price  of  a  pair 
of  common  boots  was  nine  (copper  ?)  dollars,  and  of  strong 
shoes  five  dollars.1  He  thought,  as  he  sat  mending 
his  shoes,  that  perhaps  the  cobbler's  trade  had  been  a 
better  life  after  all.  This  brought  to  memory  his  father's 
kindness.  He  felt  like  the  repentant  prodigal — I  will 
arise  and  go  to  my  father.  But  no,  his  father  could  not 
help  him — his  parents  had  too  many  mouths  to  feed ; 
he  would  not  sponge  upon  their  small  store. 

He  would  gladly  have  returned  to  Stobaeus  at  Lund, 
but  Stobaeus  had  taken  it  ill  that  a  pupil  whom  he  had 
treated  so  kindly  should  have  left  the  university  without 
consulting  him.2  No,  he  must  win  his  way  upwards 
by  himself;  and  as  Artedi  saw  the  conqueror  shine 
through  the  darkened  splendour  of  his  eyes,  he  sighed 
that  he  himself  had  not  the  same  victorious  constitution, 
that  he  could  not  equally  pull  the  chariot  of  science. 
1  Linnseus's  Lapland  diary.  2  Stoever. 


I  io     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN^US 

Meanwhile  cold  and  hunger  both  grew  harder  to 
bear ;  i  the  owl,  for  all  his  feathers,  was  a-cold ' ;  and  in 
the  depth  of  a  Swedish  winter,  where  to  study  one  must 
also  burn  the  midday  oil,  Carl  could  buy  neither  candles 
nor  oil  for  his  study  lamp.  Winter  was  Linnaeus's 
especial  enemy,  putting  ice  for  minerals,  shrivelling  his 
flowers  to  dust,  and  leaving  him  thin  as  his  own 
darning-needle.  Where  a  good-natured  friend  gave 
him  a  light,  it  was  a  sacrifice  to  burn  the  rare  and 
luxurious  candle  that  he  might  have  eaten.  What  a 
conflict  between  the  bodily  and  mental  appetite ! 

When  Dr.  Johnson  said  l  the  distinction  of  seasons 
is  produced  only  by  imagination  operating  on  luxury ' 
he  had  not  felt  a  Swedish  winter.  What  sounds  wise 
and  sensible  when  said  over  the  second  bottle  of  port  at 
the  c  Mitre '  is  less  true  when,  empty  of  pocket  and  of 
stomach,  one  shivers  in  thin  garments  outside  the  tavern. 
Skating  is  glorious  exercise,  but  one  cannot  even  slide, 
Sam  Weller  fashion,  barefooted.  When  one  has  sewn 
one's  boots  with  birch-bark  and  pasteboard,  one  is  as 
careful  of  them  as  Don  Quixote  was  over  the  second 
edition  of  his  helmet. 

Nothing  in  poverty  so  ill  is  borne, 

As  its  exposing  men  to  grinning  scorn. 

The  Swedes  are  too  polite  to  sneer  at  even  un- 
professional cobbling,  and  Carl  carefully  stitched  and 
mended  his  best  shoes  so  that  returning  daylight  might 
at  least  enable  him  to  go  out  and  gather  plants.  Spring 
was  opening  up  after  the  long  and  bitter  winter,  when 


UPS ALA  in 

cold  and  famine  fought  over  his  body ;  when  even  his 
mind  starved  in  those  noontide  twilights,  without  even  a 
rushlight  to  warm  body  and  soul  by ;  when  at  night  he 
would  shiver  for  hours  till  he  fell  asleep.  Each  day  at 
dinnertime  he  felt  the  want  of  the  meal ;  and  though  he 
at  first  fought  this  off  by  trying  to  absorb  himself  in  a 
book,  he  found  his  mind  wandering  through  faintness, 
and  he  had  to  go  and  lie  down  till  the  hunger  pang 
passed  off.  Carlyle,  in  the  inflated  style  of  his  youth, 
feelingly  says,  (  Few  things  in  nature  have  so  much  of 
the  sublime  in  them  as  the  spectacle  of  a  poor  but 
honourable-minded  youth,  with  discouragement  all 
around  him,  but  with  never-dying  hope  within  his 
heart ;  forging,  as  it  were,  the  armour  with  which  he  is 
destined  to  resist  and  overcome  the  hydras  of  this 
world,  and  conquer  for  himself  in  due  time  a  habitation 
among  the  sunny  fields  of  life.'  The  ancient  Scandi- 
navian spirit  within  him  made  Linnaeus  '  firm  to  inflict 
and  stubborn  to  endure.' 1 

But  the  broad  blaze  of  summer  now  coming,  when 
even  beggars  might  be  fed  cheap  and  warmed  for 
nothing,  would  be  all  the  more  radiant  for  the  long 
howling  darkness  of  six  months.  Even  this  dreary  winter 
stage  had  been  sweetened  to  Linnaeus  by  youth's  hopes 
and  friendship,  the  sweet  savour  of  life,  the  peculiar 

boon  of  heaven, 

To  men  and  angels  only  given, 
To  all  the  lower  world  denied. 

The  friends  inspired  and  warmed  each  other  with  fine 
1  Southey. 


112     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS   WITH  LIN N^  US 

words,  and  such  visions  Linnaeus  could  raise  by  his 
eloquence  in  the  mind  of  his  hearers,  his  Pylades,  his 
1  solitary  luxury,  his  friend,'  that  at  times  they  even 
grew  drunk  with  the  wine  of  their  enjoyment.  But 

Fate  is  tardy  with  the  stage 

And  crowd  she  promised.     Lean  he  grows  and  pale, 

Though  restlessly  at  rest. — Sordello. 

Sadly  Carl  munched  his  rye  biscuit  by  the  warmth 
of  the  stoke-hole  fire  in  the  winter  plant-house,  and  still 

waited. 

The  woods  were  long  austere  with  snow  ;  at  last 
Pink  leaflets  budded  on  the  beech,  and  fast 
Larches,  scattered  through  pine-tree  solitudes, 
Brightened  .  .  .  Our  buried  year  grew  young  again. 

Carl,  who  had  sighed  for  Celsius  to  come  for  his 
instruction  merely,  now  looked  to  his  coming  as  his  only 
possible  salvation.  How,  he  knew  not ;  but  with  all  the 
faith  not  yet  starved  out  of  him,  he  was  sure  that  a 
new  life  for  him  would  at  once  begin.  He  was  now  in 
debt  for  his  lodging,  and  debt  gnaws  sharply. 

At  last,  in  desperation,  and  by  the  advice  of  Professor 
Eoberg,  Carl  applied  for  the  situation  of  gardener  in 
the  academy  gardens ;  but  this  was  refused  him  by  Pro- 
fessor Rudbeck,  who  remarked  at  the  same  time  that  he 
thought  him  qualified  for  a  far  superior  station.1  He 
says  '  he  repined  very  much  at  this  denial.' 

Oh,  if  he  could  but  be  free  of  debt  he  would  forsake 
all  his  hopes,  all  his  dreams;  he  would  leave  Upsala, 
leave  his  friend,  and  go  home  and  be  obscure !  With 
1  Diary. 


UPS  ALA  113 

energies  burning  themselves  out  unused,  anxiety,  worn- 
out  hope,  and  leanness  preyed  upon  him.  He  did  not 
know  what  it  was  to  have  a  full  meal.  Bitterest  of 
all  to  him  was  the  sense  of  failure.  There  was  one 
lower  step.  If  our  Johnson  felt  savage  as  he  did  when 
some  well-meaning  clumsy  person  put  new  shoes  out- 
side his  door,  what  must  Linnaeus  have  felt  when  Rosen, 
who  was  now  going  abroad  for  the  purpose  of  improv- 
ing himself  and  obtaining  his  Doctor's  degree  (which 
by  the  Swedish  rule  must  be  taken  in  some  foreign 
country),  left  him  an  old  but  respectable  suit — Rosen, 
who  had  despised  Linnaeus  in  his  rags ! 

'  I  would  rather  die  than  put  it  on,'  cried  the  fierce 
Linnaeus.  In  debt  though  he  was,  he  could  not  be 
indebted  to  Rosen.  The  excellent  Rosen  complacently 
thought  of  coals  of  fire.  Rosen  went  abroad,  and  by- 
and-by  became  a  distinguished  man  at  Upsala  ;  he  was 
ultimately  ennobled  as  Von  Rosenstein.  In  the  mean- 
time his  place  as  adjunct  teacher  was  supplied  by  an 
incompetent  student  named  Preutz.  Linnaeus,  bound 
by  poverty  and  chained  by  debt,  could  not  leave  Upsala 
even  to  become  a  mechanic  in  SmaUand,  not  for  all  the 
flowery  language  in  which  Stoever  talks  of  his  taking 
leave  of  the  Muses  and  of  the  goddess  Flora.  But  he 
endeavoured  to  do  so  :  he  made  a  determination :  he 
would  beg  money  of  his  father,  of  his  relations,  of 
Stobaeus ;  he  would  so  far  humble  himself,  and  leave 
Upsala  and  the  bright  future  he  had  failed  to  conquer. 

Oh,  for  Celsius !  Oh,  why  had  Celsius  never  come  ? 

VOL.  I.  I 


ii4     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 


CHAPTER   V. 

DEAN   CELSIUS   COMES. 

Thou  seek'st  in  globe  and  galaxy, 
He  hides  in  pure  transparency. 
Thou  ask'st  in  fountains  and  in  fires, 
He  is  the  essence  that  inquires. 
He  is  the  axis  of  the  star ; 
*  He  is  the  sparkle  of  the  spar  ; 
He  is  the  heart  of  every  creature  ; 
He  is  the  meaning  of  each  feature  ; 
And  his  mind  is  the  sky 
Than  all  it  holds  more  deep,  more  high. 

Woodnotcs,  EMERSON. 

LlNN^EUS  was  about  to  quit  Upsala,  when,  standing  one 
morning  in  the  garden  he  loved  so  well,  before  a  newly- 
opened  flower — one  he  had  never  seen  bloom  before^- 
*  I  will  cut  it/  said  he — '  a  last  specimen  for  my  herbal, 
a  "  minne  "  of  happy  days  gone  by — and  then  depart/ 

Carl  stood  not  in  the  garden  alone :  a  voice  answered 
from  behind,  '  You  will  do  no  such  thing ;  leave  the 
flower.'  It  was  the  professor  of  Divinity  at  Upsala, 
in  gown  and  ruff;  it  was  Dean  Celsius  himself,  but 
Linnaeus  did  not  know  him. 

Old  Stoever  gives  another  version  of  the  tale.  I 
prune  it  of  some  of  his  exuberant  syllables.  '  One  day 


DEAN  CELSIUS  COMES  115 

in  the  autumn  of  1729  '  [it  was,  in  fact,  early  summer], 
*  while  Linnaeus  was  intently  examining  some  plants 
in  the  academic  garden,  there  entered  a  venerable  old 
clergyman '  [Stoever  always  adds  the  picturesque  touch, 
but  Celsius  was  just  forty-nine.1  Is  that  such  a  vener- 
able age  ?]  '  who  asked  him  what  he  was  about,  whether 
he  was  acquainted  with  plants,  whether  he  understood 
botany,  whence  he  came,  and  how  long  he  had  been 
prosecuting  his  studies. 

'  Linnaeus  answered  all  these  questions,  and,  when  his 
interlocutor  showed  him  various  plants,  mentioned  their 
names  agreeably  to  the  system  of  Tournefort.  Being 
further  asked  what  number  of  specimens  he  possessed, 
he  replied  that  he  had  above  600  indigenous  plants  pre- 
served in  his  cabinet.  He  was  requested  to  accompany 
the  gentleman  who  had  thus  interrogated  him  to  his 
house,  which  proved  to  be  that  of  Dr.  Olaf  Celsius,  and 
the  interrogator  was  the  Doctor  himself  just  returned 
from  Stockholm..5 

The  Dean  spoke  kindly  to  the  youth ;  Linnaeus 
trembled  like  the  aspen.  Intuition  told  him  who  this 
was.  Had  Celsius,  had  Fortune  really  come  at  last  ? 
Carl's  thin  cheek  reddened,  his  eyes  filled  at  the  tone  of 
kindness.  Hot  tears,  a  choking  sensation  in  the  throat, 
came  at  the  words  of  encouragement  from  an  elder  ;  the 
first  for  so  long.  Youth  is  always  so  hungry  for  kind- 
ness, and  Carl  was  used  to  wanting — bread.  The  ragged 
youth  spoke  of  the  plants  to  Celsius,  describing  them 
1  He  was  born  1680. 

i  2 


ii6     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

with  an  exactness  surprising  in  a  student,  and  upon 
nearer  conversation  displayed  such  extensive  knowledge 
as  struck  Celsius  with  astonishment.  At  last  the  sun 
had  risen  upon  Linnaeus.  They  talked;  the  dean 
listened  with  interest  while  the  young  man  spoke  with 
an  enthusiasm  which  for  the  moment  sent  the  rich 
blood  of  health  into  the  student's  pale  features,  long 
since  wan  with  insufficient  food.  His  threadbare 
clothes  and  patched  shoes  told  their  own  tale ;  '  starva- 
tion wrote  as  a.  notice-board  on  his  hollow  cheeks, 
skinny  fingers,  and  sunk  eyes,  went  straight  to  the 
heart.' 1  Soap  costs  little  and  water  nothing  in  Sweden, 
and  manners  come  by  nature  :  the  gentlemanly  bear- 
ing and  the  exquisite  personal  cleanliness  of  Linnaaus 
made  him  known  for  a  gentleman  at  once  ;  all  the  rags 
in  Upsala  could  not  disguise  the  gentlemanhood  of  the 
man  refined  by  loving  all  things  lovely. 

Carl  had  an  agitated  walk  to  Artedi's  lodgings. 
His  eyes  glittered  with  excitement  as  he  told  the  good 
news  to  his  friend.  Now  they  should  both  get  on :  he 
would  give  his  friend  a  helping  hand.  How  volubly 
they  talked !  It  was  as  good  as  a  full  meal  to  both. 

Inquiries  were  made.  Celsius  heard  of  Carl's  dis- 
tresses and  his  inoffensive  mode  of  life,  and  the  dean 
took  him  into  his  house  and  was  ever  kind  to  him,  and 
made  him  tutor  to  his  younger  children.  The  advan- 
tages were  mutual.  Celsius  too  had  found  what  he 
wanted.  For  thirty  years  he  had  been  intent  upon 
1  Sam  Slick. 


DEAN  CELSIUS  COMES  117 

illustrating  the  plants  of  Scripture,  and,  himself  an 
adept  in  Eastern  tongues,  had  travelled  to  the  East  to 
inquire  into  and  study  these  plants  in  their  native  soil. 
He  was  now  at  work  preparing  his  '  Hierobotanicon :-  a 
Critical  Dissertation  on  the  Plants  mentioned  in  Scrip- 
ture,' only  needing  some  more  youthful  help  to  make  the 
work  perfect  and  bring  it  before  the  world .  Now  had  come 
the  hour,  the  man,  and  the  collaborator  ready  made  to 
his  hand.  <  There  is  no  education  like  adversity  ' :  one 
readily  turns  one's  hand  to  anything.  Linnaeus  bore  an 
active  share  in  the  production  of  this  learned  work, 
which  is  in  Latin,  and,  alas,  sadly  fails  in  interesting 
the  ordinary  reader.  It  was  published  in  1745  and  1752 
in  two  volumes.  As  there  were  only  two  hundred  copies 
printed,  the  book  is  of  course  now  very  rare,  which  is  as 
well.  The  dean  could  not  even  interest  his  eldest  son  in  it ; 
but  then  he  was  working  at  his  own  line  of  mathematics. 
The  arrival  of  this  young  man,  just  six  years  older  than 
himself,  was  a  great  additional  pleasure  to  Linnaeus. 
They  became  firm  friends.  Andres  Celsius  is  one  of 
Sweden's  most  celebrated  men.  Later  he  joined  Mau- 
pertuis  and  his  associates  in  the  measurement  of  the 
Lapland  degree,  and  afterwards  built  an  observatory  at 
Upsala.  He  was  the  first  who  employed  the  centigrade 
thermometer.  He  wrote  astronomical  and  meteorologi- 
cal observations  and  a  collection  of  the  Aurorae  Boreales 
observed  in  his  time  in  Sweden.1  Linnaeus,  however, 

1  Under  the  title  CCCXVI  Observationes  de  Lumine  Boreali, 
1733.    Nuremberg.    Andres  Celsius,  born  1701  at  Upsala,  died  1744, 


1 18     THROUGH   THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINAGE  US 

took  a  deep  interest  in  the '  Hierobotanicon  ; '  as  we  shall 
see  later  on,  it  was  a  subject  on  which  he  felt  keenly  aa 
the  central  point  of  botanical  study,  comprising  as  it 
does  objects  of  such  vital  necessity  and  convenience 
to  mankind.  This  book  of  Celsius'  could  never  have 
satisfied  Linnaeus,  who  would  have  liked  a  complete 
Flora  Palestina  with  all  the  plants  that  Scripture  does 
not  mention  by  name  as  well ;  but  it  gave  him  an  in- 
sight into  the  way  of  preparing  such  works 7  and  made 
him  ambitious  himself  to  become  an  author. 

The  sap  rose  in  the  frozen  body :  it  was  the  spring- 
tide of  his  life,  and,  as  usual,  the  epoch  of  creative 
power.  Carl  had  already  composed  a  little  catalogue  of 
his  botanical  observations,  under  the  title  of  '  Spolia 
Botanica,'  Upsala,  1729.1  This  was  never  published. 
The  original,  written  in  Swedish,  is  preserved  with  the 
collection  of  MSS.  brought  to  England  by  Sir  J.  E, 
Smith.  It  was  dedicated  to  Professor  Eoberg,  and 
contains  sketches  of  a  few  of  the  plants,  arranged  on 
Tournefort's  system,  and  a  rude  map  of  their  habitat. 

must  not  be  confounded  with  his  father  Olaus  Celsius,  1680  (some 
say  1670)  to  1756,  theologian  and  botanist ;  or  with  his  grandfather, 
Magnus  Nicholas  Celsius,  1621-1679  (?),  mathematician  and  botanist. 
Linnseus  probably  accompanied  the  younger  Celsius  in  a  rapid  visit  to 
Dannemora,  of  which  we  find  the  only  trace  in  the  dates  in  tlie 
note-book  previously  mentioned  :  '  Journey  to  Dannemora,  May  24  ' 
[he  had  just  kept  his  birthday], « 1729  ;  June  10,  travelled  to  Upsala/ 
No  biographer  of  Linnasus  mentions  tlds  expedition.  It  must  have 
been  very  soon  after  his  appointment  with  Celsius.  The  dates  of  his 
life  at  Upsala  present  many  difficulties,  Stoever,  the  diary,  and  the 
note-book  are  so  contradictory.  Even  Linnaeus's  own  written  dates 
do  not  always  tally. 
1  Pulteney. 


DEAN  CELSIUS  COMES  119 

The  arranging  of  the  '  Hierobotanicon  *  was  one  of 
the  chief  motives  which  made  Celsius  take  Carl  into 
his  house  (though  he  afterwards  became  like  a  son  to 
Celsius,  and  he  a  father — a  true  adoption).  For  this 
purpose  also  he  had  free  use  of  Celsius'  library,  one  of 
the  richest  and  most  valuable  in  Sweden.  Here  Carl 
now  met  with  Vaillant's  small  treatise  on  the  sexes  of 
plants,1  a  review  of  which  he  had  already  read  in  the 
Leipsic  commentaries ;  which  gave  him  the  first  notion 
of  the  sexual  distinctions  of  flowers,  the  groundwork  of 
his  celebrated  system ;  which,  after  all,  contains  the 
spark  of  a  grand  illumination.  Hitherto  he  had  worked 
on  Tournefort's  lines  of  classification  by  form. 

This  was  the  germinating  moment  of  his  life.  To 
many  of  us  it  happens  to  be  once,  if  only  once,  struck 
dead,  as  it  seems,  to  all  outward  things  by  the  lightning 
shock  of  an  idea.  This  flash  is  what  must  be  brought 
to  crystallisation  by  hard  and  continuous  labour.  This 
idea  immortalised  Linnseus's  name,  and  deservedly  so, 
since  although  this  was  no  new  notion — that  of  sexes  of 
plants — Linnaeus  first  applied  it  to  classification  and 
elucidated  it.  '  Principles  had  to  be  imbibed  in  copious 
draughts  all  through  his  education.  The  collision, 
combination,  harmonising  of  these  constitute  specula- 
tive insight  and  conduct  to  original  thought.' 2  The 
Linnaean  is  an  artificial  system  ;  its  author  saw  that  fact 
as  plainly  as  we  do.  But,  though  imperfect,  it  was  a 
high  road  towards  a  new  method  of  thought. 

1  Sermo  de  Structura  Florum.  2  Bain  on  Mill. 


120     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

It  was  a  new  doctrine  in  his  day,  and  brilliant 
in  its  brand-new  gloss,  although  derived  from  a  hint 
as  old  as  Aristotle,  who  gives  this  glimmering — '  If 
the  dust  of  the  branch  of  a  male  palm  be  shaken  over 
the  female  tree,  the  fruit  of  the  latter  will  ripen  quickly.' 
Le  Vaillant  was  not  the  first  to  read  Aristotle,  but  he 
was  the  first  to  apply  the  idea  to  flower-structure,  to 
the  pistils  and  stamens  of  plants.  One  can  go  further 
with  other  people's  ideas  than  with  one's  own,  is  a  saying 
true  all  the  world  over :  it  was  left  to  this  young  Swede 
to  take  the  leap  from  Le  Vaillant's  standpoint  and  bring 
the  long-desired  system  out  of  the  obscurity  beyond. 
'  Till  now  Linnaeus  had  considered  plants  by  their  bloom, 
hitherto  the  stamina  and  pistilla  had  been  considered  in- 
significant.' A  mere  finish  to  the  beauty  of  the  flower, 
a  fringe  and  tassels.  '  The  idea  of  a  better  system  than 
that  which  Vaillant  had  hinted  now  guided  his  botanical 
observations.'  As  in  human  nature  families  are  named 
from  their  marriages,  so  with  plants  he  would  make 
this  the  basis  of  nomenclature.  The  further  he  brought 
his  theory  forward  the  more  consistency  did  he  discover 
in  his  own  knowledge,  the  more  powerful  were  the 
attractions  of  the  plan.  Oh,  the  fear  lest  someone 
might  forestall  him !  And  this  alarm  was  not  un- 
founded;  for  though  a  truth  may  have  lain  dormant 
for  thousands  of  years,  yet  the  moment  the  earth  is 
ready  for  its  appearing  it  will  spring  up,  and  someone 
will,  and  must,  be  the  first  to  light  upon  it.  'The 
sexes  of  plants  now  occupied  his  thoughts  night  and 


DEAN  CELSIUS  COMES  121 

day.' 1  During  this  time  of  intellectual  fever  he  kept 
his  ruind  jealously  aloof.  He  hugged  his  precious 
secret  even  from  Artedi :  their  habit  of  keeping  their 
discoveries  close  till  perfected  was  of  service  to  him 
now :  he  would  wait  until  at  last  he  could  bring  out 
his  fair  idea  complete,  clothed  in  a  system,  and  show 
his  new  Eve  to  his  bosom-friend,  and  then  under  four 
eyes  only.  Artedi  was  the  first ;  next  day  it  was  un- 
expectedly public  to  all  Upsala.  A  disputation  was 
held  before  Bishop  Wahlin  on  the  'Marriage  of  the 
Trees :  sive  Nuptiae  Arborum.'  This  was  a  blooming 
new  idea  in  the  summer  of  1730.2  Linnaeus  was  pre- 
sent. The  subject  of  the  controversy  was  familiar  to 
him.  None  found  it  more  pleasant,  nor  had  anyone  at 
Upsala  studied  it  better  than  himself.3  Linnaeus  was 
in  his  element ;  now  was  his  hour — the  opportunity 
that  comes  once  in  life  to  all  men.  Even  Artedi,  his 
bosom-friend,  was  astonished  at  his  radiance. 

The  account  in  the  diary  adds  a  few  particulars. 
'  There  was  just  then  published  a  philological  disserta- 
tion "  De  Nuptiis  Plantarum  " 4  from  the  pen  of  George 
Wahlin,  librarian  of  the  university;  and  as  Linnaeus 
had  no  opportunity  of  publicly  opposing  it,  or  of  stating 
his  doubts,  he  drew  up  in  writing  a  little  treatise  on 
the  sexes  of  plants,  and  showed  it  to  Dr.  Celsius,  who 
put  in  the  hands  of  Dr.  Rudbeck.  The  latter  honoured 

1  Diary. 

*  Glittering  Darwin's  Loves  of  the  Plants  delighted  the  reading 
world  in  1789.— FREDERIC  HARRISON. 

1  Notes  for  Biography  Linn.  *  Or  Arbwwm. 


122     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN.EUS 

it  with  the  highest  approbation,  and  expressed  a  wish 
to  be  better  acquainted  with  the  author. 

This  small  treatise,  replete  with  new  and  luminous 
observations,  delighted  Professor  Rudbeck;  he  was 
struck  with  the  young  author's  spirit  of  observation 
and  the  solidity  and  novelty  of  his  knowledge.  Old 
Rudbeck  was  not  altogether  one  of  those  professors 
'  miserable  creatures  lost  in  statistics  ' ;  he  loved  a  theory 
dearly.  He  wrote  paradoxes  by  the  score,  and  a  thick 
book  of  hypotheses  to  prove  that  all  Europe  was  civi- 
lised from  Sweden. 

i  We'll  verify  his  words,  eh,  Artedi  ? ' l  said  Linnasus. 
The  young  men  used  good-humouredly  to  laugh  at  the 
good  old  theorist.  '  Rarely  has  such  a  variety  of  profound 
and  extensive  learning  been  united  as  in  Rudbeck,' 
writes  Linnasus.  *  But  he  maintains  the  strangest  and 
most  unbounded  paradoxes.  He  pretends  that  Sweden 
was  the  abode  of  the  ancient  Pagan  deities  and  of  our 
first  parents  ;  the  terrestrial  paradise,  the  true  Atlantis 
of  Plato  ;  and  that  it  was  the  origin  of  the  English,  the 
Danes,  the  Greeks,  the  Romans,  and  all  the  rest  of  the 
world/ 

Linnaeus  was  brought  forward  to  dispute  upon  his 

1  The  view  now  gaining  ground  is  that  the  Aryans  originated 
in  Europe,  say  in  North  Germany  or  Sweden,  that  the  Sanskrit- 
speaking  conquerors  of  the  Land  of  the  Five  Rivers  were,  in  fact, 
the  Eurasians  of  their  time.  Mr.  Saporta's  notion  is  that  the  human 
race  originated  within  the  Arctic  circle  at  a  time  when  most  of  the 
surface  of  the  globe  was  too  hot  to  be  inhabited  by  man. — Hibbert 
Lecture,  May  1886. 


DEAN  CELSIUS  COMES  123 

thesis,  which  he  did  in  the  most  brilliant  style.  With- 
out a  copper  dollar  in  his  pocket,  though  no  longer  in 
rags,  he  was  an  object  of  great  attention.  This  was 
life  indeed.  It  was  as  if  he  had  dropped  from  the  stars, 
so  little  had  he  been  recognised  in  Upsala.  '  Thought 
is  the  soul  of  act.'  He  had  prepared  his  soul  in  unre- 
cognition,  as  all  such  souls  must  be  prepared.  Now  he 
could  expand,  give  wings  to  thought,  ply  act  on  act ; 
build  an  edifice  on  what  was  once  but  a  theory,  like  an 
architect's  design  set  in  accomplishment.  To  work  out 
both  demands  outward  influence.  His  was  a  fresh  soul 
created,  late  in  space,  as  the  new  stars  are,  when  the 
world  was  ready  to  receive  it. 

Professor  Rudbeck,  under  whom  he  had  been  prin- 
cipally working,  was  the  most  amazed.  Celsius'  swan, 
then,  really  was  a  swan.  We  can  readily  fancy  the 
triumph  of  the  worthy  dean  in  having  at  once  made 
the  discovery  that  the  other  professors  in  over  eighteen 
months  had  failed  to  make.  Of  course  some  envy  was 
excited,  but  Rudbeck  was  too  generous  to  feel  piqued 
with  either  Celsius  or  the  youth. 

Most  people  know  who  Rudbeck  was,  but  in  case 
overloaded  memory  should  confound  him  with  a  greater 
Olaus  Rudbeck,  his  father,  I  will  faintly  outline  the 
lives  of  both.  Olaus  Rudbeck,  junior,  born  1660,  was 
the  son  of  Rudbeck,  an  anatomical  discoverer,  or  more 
like  what  we  now  call  a  comparative  anatomist,  protected 
by  the  clear-sighted  Queen  Christina  of  Sweden.  The 
senior  Rudbeck  established  the  botanical  garden  at 


124     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

Upsala.  He  travelled  at  the  Queen's  expense  and 
collected  a  vast  quantity  of  plants  and  herbs,  most  of 
which,  and  the  greater  part  of  his  valuable  writings, 
with  nearly  all  the  1,000  blocks  prepared  for  the  en- 
gravings of  his  great  botanical  work,  were  destroyed  in 
the  great  fire  at  Upsala  in  1702.  Oxford  possesses  some 
relics  of  this  work,  and  the  Linnaean  Society  a  few  of  the 
engraved  blocks.  Rudbeck  did  not  long  survive  the  de- 
struction of  his  labours :  he  died  at  Upsala,  December  12, 
1702,  leaving  his  son,  who  had  accompanied  him  in  his 
Lapland  travels,  to  carry  on  his  work  and  repair  if 
possible  the  havoc  of  the  fire.  Linnaeus  named  a  plant 
after  him.  The  junior  Rudbeck  (with  whom  his  father's 
dying  wish  was  a  pious  heritage  that  he  had  never  yet 
been  able  to  fulfil)  was  now  seventy,  and  going  out  and 
giving  lectures  were  difficulties  for  him.  He  wished 
for  an  assistant.  Rosen  being  gone,  Rudbeck  had  hitherto 
employed  his  nominee,  Preutz,  to  read  his  lectures  for 
him ;  but  his  incompetency  deprived  them  of  all  their 
spirit :  a  dull  man  himself,  Preutz  dimmed  whatever  he 
handled.  The  perusal  of  Linnaeus's  treatise,  and  further 
examination,  determined  Rudbeck  to  fix  on  him  to 
replace  Preutz.  Accordingly,  he  invited  Carl  to  live  in 
his  house,  and  give  the  botanical  lectures  for  him. 

Linnaeus  was  examined  by  the  faculty  and  judged 
worthy  of  being  placed  (as  adjunctus)  in  Preutz's  stead. 
'  Professor  Roberg,  however,  thought  it  hazardous  to 
make  a  teacher  of  a  young  man  who  had  not  yet  been 
three  years  a  student,  and  still  more  so,  to  entrust  him 


DEAN  CELSIUS  COMES  125 

with  the  public  lectures.  But  there  was  no  other 
person  so  proper.1 

This  was  in  1730.  The  young  student  of  twenty- 
three  supplied  the  aged  professor's  place  with  every  mark 
of  approbation.  The  botanical  lectures  became  the  talk 
of  Upsala  and  the  attraction  of  the  university.  The  viva- 
city of  Carl's  instructions  and  the  novelty  of  their  matter 
charmed  his  audience,  accompanied  as  these  were  by  all 
the  graces  of  delivery,  and  the  secret  of  oratory — to  be  in 
earnest.  His  heart  was  in  the  work,  his  handsome  face 
glowing  with  the  love  of  lovely  things  as  he  joyfully 
taught  the  students  what  his  superior  talent  had  enabled 
him  to  discover.  They  relished  it  as  our  generation 
has  enjoyed  receiving  light  at  Ruskin's  hands.  The 
effect  of  his  teaching  was  heightened  by  the  beauty 
of  his  voice  and  diction,  and  the  enthusiasm  that  fired 
and  enlivened  his  whole  frame,  giving  a  dignity  to  his 
personal  appearance  which  had  never  been  remarked 
before.  He  seemed  born  for  a  professor.  The  young 
lecturer  himself  gained  by  his  residence  with  Rudbeck 
an  extensive  acquaintance  with  ornithology — a  great 
conquest  for  one  who  took  the  whole  of  nature  for  his 
province ;  and  he  now  laid  the  foundation  of  several  of  his 
works — the  '  Bibliotheca  Botanica,'  '  Classes  et  Genera 
Plantarum  ' ;  for  which  works  Professor  Rudbeck's  fine 
collection  of  books  and  drawings  was  of  infinite  use. 

His  good  fortune  did  not  come  single.  When  one 
person  has  made  a  discovery  (of  a  person,  place,  or  thing) 
1  Diary. 


126     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

another  will  usually  follow  in  his  wake,  the  brilliant 
trail  of  light  being  visible  and  self-evident.  Not  only 
was  Preutz  obliged  to  give  way  to  Linnaeus,  who  thus, 
after  little  over  two  years'  residence  at  Upsala,  was 
judged  qualified  to  teach  the  science  of  botany,  but 
Rudbeck,  knowing  him  to  be  tutor  to  Dean  Celsius's 
children,  engaged  him  in  the  like  capacity  to  his  own 
sons  by  his  second  wife.  Carl  now  said  grace  before  full 
meals ;  and  as  the  students  entertained  the  most  marked 
contempt  for  Preutz's  abilities,  many  of  them — as  Let- 
strom,  Sohlberg,  and  Archiater  Rudbeck's  first  wife's  son, 
Johan  Olof — put  themselves  under  the  private  instruc- 
tions of  Linnseus.  The  presents  they  made  him  enabled 
him  to  assume  a  more  decent  appearance  in  his  dress.1 
Dress  for  gentlemen  was  a  more  important  and  exten- 
sive thing  than  it  is  now,  involving  ruffles  and  em- 
broidery and  much  fine  linen.  As  adjunctus — oh 
triumph  of  all ! — he  held  Rosen's  very  post. 

Now  Carl  had  enough  to  do ;  what  with  the  '  Hiero- 
botanicon,'  lecturing  for  Rudbeck,  these  tutorships,  and 
his  private  pupils,  who  flocked  to  him  so  soon  as  he  did 
not  need  them,  and  his  own  books,  to  say  nothing  of 
his  researches  tacked  on  to  his  regular  studies  in 
medicine,  he  was  in  a  whirlwind  of  work.  '  His  morn- 
ings were  passed  in  giving  instruction  to  pupils  and 
his  evenings  in  composing  the  new  system  and  meditat- 
ing a  general  reform  of  botanical  science.  He  began  his 
"  Bibliotheca  Botanica,"  "  Classes  Plantarum,"  "  Critica 
1  Autobiography. 


DEAN  CELSIUS  COMES  127 

Botanica,"  and  "  Genera  Plantarum."  Hence,  not  a 
moment  passed  unoccupied  during  his  residence  at 
Upsala.-'1 

But  he  was  so  strong  and  young  that  nothing  came 
amiss  to  him.  '  Blessed  is  he  who  has  found  his  work ; 
let  him  ask  no  other  blessedness.  He  has  a  work,  a' 
life  purpose ;  he  has  found  it,  and  will  follow  it.' 2 
Celsius  had  brought  spring  out  of  the  winter  of  Carl's 
discontent.  Poverty  had  not  narrowed  his  mind,  but 
now  he  felt  a  renewing  as  he  bathed  in  the  bliss  of  work. 
It  was  no  fancy,  or,  if  fancy,  then  '  most  real  and  practical, 
as  many  of  our  fancies  are.'  He  was  endowed  with 
twenty-student  power — no,  twenty-tutor  power.  No 
bird,  or  beast,  or  insect  passed  by  him  unnoticed  ;  while, 
for  the  beautiful  embroidery  of  the  earth,  ah,  there  are 
times  when,  for  very  gladness,  tears  only  can  express 
our  reverence,  thankfulness,  and  perception  of  the 
beautiful.  Linnaeus  had  little  imagination ;  and  if  he 
seemed  to  lack  veneration  also,  and  perception  of  the 
beautiful,  it  was  because  the  artistic  capability  which 
expresses  these  was  deficient,  yet  these  things — reverence 
and  perception — were  there,  unspoken  but  not  unfelt. 

Carl  now  seemed  to  belong  to  the  successful  class, 
who  have  never  known  what  it  is  to  lack  a  meal  in  their 
life ;  and  with  advantages  of  dress  and  pocket-money, 
he  looked  a  different  creature  to  the  lean  starving 
student  of  last  year.  Prosperity  told  upon  his  humour 
too :  now  that  he  was  better  off,  that  he  had  no 
1  Stoever.  2  Carlyle,  Past  and  Present. 


128     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

gnawings  of  poverty  to  contend  with,  he  became  popular. 
The  elder  professors  enjoyed  his  wit  and  humour — they 
love  to  be  lightly  amused,  the  old  do  ;  the  younger  and 
more  earnest  sought  him  for  the  less  sparkling  treasures 
of  his  mind.  A  walk  with  him  was  of  immense  interest ; 
he  crowded  the  air  and  earth  with  things  of  life ;  Pan 
lived  again.  He  abounded  in  conversation,  and  delighted 
to  pour  forth  the  treasures  of  his  knowledge,  and 
thoughts  no  longer  unspeakable  ;  tongue-loosened  by 
the  oil  and  wine  of  gladness,  revealing  to  their  astonish- 
ment Nature's  open  secret.  It  was  not  the  money  he 
made :  it  was  the  fact  of  success,  of  appreciation,  that  made 
him  'burst  out  and  rollick  along  in  the  joy  of  existence/ 
Youth  had  long  been  stoppered  back  with  him.  It  was 
his  delight  in  finding  those  dreams  were  true—  all  with 
which  he  used  to  live  in  dreamland  with  Artedi. 

Ah,  why  was  there  no  Boswell  at  his  elbow  to  colan- 
der his  best  for  us  ?  The  diaries  only  give  us  the  bare 
facts :  we  know  not  what  it  was  to  hear  his  thoughts, 
fresh,  full,  powerful  like  a  clear  mountain  stream;  but 
we  know  for  certain  it  was  fine  to  hear  his  ideas  bubble 
forth  new-born  in  beauty  in  his  native  tongue,  for  in  after 
years  students,  ay,  and  professors,  crowded  to  Upsala 
simply  to  hear  him  speak — in  Latin  too.  These  would 
not  have  travelled  to  that  far-off  nook  had  not  the 
object  been  well  worth  the  journey.  He  was  a  good 
listener  too,  and  loved  to  hear  Rudbeck  tell  all  about  bis 
journey  with  his  father  into  Lapland,  and  the  wonders 
of  the  great  lone  North.  Eagerly  he  explored  the 


DEAN  CELSIUS  COMES  129 

ruins  of  old  Kudbeck's  work  and  wished  the  whole 
could  be  restored.  One  of  the  elder  Rudbeck's  works 
he  did  restore.1  '  Owing  to  Rudbeck's  age  and  infirmi- 
ties the  botanic  garden  had  fallen  into  a  very  low  con- 
dition. Carl  caused  the  garden  to  be  entirely  altered 
and  planted  with  the  rarest  species  he  could  procure,  • 
both  indigenous  and  exotic,  according  to  a  method  of 
his  own.  He  also  instituted  botanical  excursions  with 
his  pupils,  who  had  become  numerous.  To  hear  all  this 
must  have  rejoiced  his  father.  It  was,  indeed,  a  hopeful 
change  that  Carl  was  now  thought  capable  of  teaching  the 
science  of  botany,  and  placed  virtually  at  the  head  of  an 
establishment  in  which  a  year  before  he  had  applied  for 
the  situation  of  gardener.  Besides  botany  '  it  was  de- 
creed,' says  Stoever's  quaint  translator,  ;  that  he  should 
establish  a  better  order  in  the  other  reigns  of  nature, 
especially  among  the  classes  of  the  animal  reign.'  One 
would  think  he  was  translating  from  the  French. 

We  hear  less  of  Artedi  now.  '  We  have  been  brothers, 
and  henceforth  the  world  will  rise  between  us ; ' 2  but 
success  did  not  harden  Carl's  heart,  nor  make  him 
unmindful  of  his  beloved  friend ;  while  of  Celsius  he 
never  spoke  but  in  terms  of  reverence  and  warmest 
admiration.  Carl  possessed  greatly  the  arts  of  winning 
and  keeping  affection. 

In  Linnaeus's  eagerness  to  hear  all  that  the  garru- 
lous Rudbeck  loved  to  tell  of  his  father's  travels  in 
Lapland,  which  it  had  been  left  him  as  a  sacred  legacy  to 
1  Diary.  2  Paracelsus. 

VOL.  I.  K 


130     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

perpetuate,  the  professor  now  thought  he  saw  a  way  to 
renew  all  the  parental  discoveries.  Linnaeus's  youth  and 
strong  constitution,  his  remarkable  powers  of  mind,  and 
his  energy  pointed  him  out  as  the  deputy  for  the 
work  Rudbeck  himself  had  failed  to  fulfil.  The  Eoyal 
Academy  of  Sciences  at  Upsala  had  long  fostered  the 
hope  of  forming  a  complete  survey  of  the  whole  of 
Sweden,  investigating  its  capabilities  and  its  natural 
treasures  in  order  to  develop  the  latent  resources  of  the 
country.  Prompted,  doubtless,  by  Rudbeck's  great 
desire,  they  proposed  to  begin  by  a  searching  examina- 
tion of  the  arctic  regions  of  Sweden.  (  They  wanted  a 
fresh  and  virgin  intelligence  to  observe  and  consider  the 
country.'  l  Celsius  and  Rudbeck  both  proposed  that 
Linnaeus  should  undertake  the  first  expedition,  and 
without  one  thought  of  the  difficulties  of  the  under- 
taking, the  small  pay  offered,  and  the  disadvantage  of 
being  lost  to  sight  of  the  scientific  world  for  many 
months,  Carl  accepted  the  offer  with  alacrity,  and  al- 
though the  Lapland  expedition  could  not  take  place 
till  next  summer,  he  at  once  made  his  preparations  and 
arranged  his  affairs,  chiefly  negotiating  the  publication 
of  his  manuscript  books. 

The  author  of  (  Spolia  Botanica '  had  not  when  he 
wrote  it  in  1729  *  espoused  his  theory  of  a  sexual  differ- 
ence in  the  vegetable  kingdom,  though  within  three 
years  afterwards  it  was  sufficiently  matured  in  his  mind 
for  the  arrangement  of  the  Lapland  plants  in  that 
1  D 'Israeli's  Endymion. 


DEAN  CELSIUS  COMES  131 

method.' l  Now  that  he  had  formed  his  own  system,  he 
seems  to  have  given  up  all  intention  of  publishing  this 
his  earliest  work.  Linnaeus  thus  advertises  the  MS.  of 
his  second  book:  '  Upsala.  January  1732.  A  student 
of  medicine  and  natural  history  at  this  university,  of 
the  name  of  Carl  Linnaeus,  takes  great  pains  to  repre- 
sent these  two  sciences,  and  botany  likewise,  in  a  better 
light,  and  to  render  them  more  nourishing.  The  foreign 
herbs  and  plants,  which  are  cultivated  either  in  the 
fields  or  gardens  of  Upland,  have  already  been  enrolled 
by  him  in  a  little  work  which  appeared  last  December, 
1731,  called  «  Hortus  Uplandicus."  ' 

In  this  book  he  speaks  with  praise  of  his  father's 
garden  at  Stenbrohult  on  account  of  the  great  number 
of  rare  plants  in  it. 

Pulteney,  in  a  footnote,  says,  '  Stoever  mentions  a 
work  of  Linnaeus  called  "  Hortus  Uplandicus,"  which  is 
supposed  to  be  the  first  in  order  of  time  of  all  his  pro- 
ductions ;  but  as  the  date  of  it  is  1 730 2  it  would  not  have 
been  earlier  than  the  work  mentioned  above  ("  Spolia 
Botanica  ").  The  arrangement  is  stated  to  be  founded 
on  the  doctrine  of  a  sexual  difference.  I  do  not  find  any 
mention  of  the  "  Hortus  Uplandicus  "  in  the  catalogue  of 
Linnaeus's  works  given  in  his  own  diary.'  '  Which,'  had 
Stoever  but  seen  the  diary,  he  would  comment  thus  in 
his  polite,  roundabout,  and  long-winded  way  of  learned 

1  Pulteney. 

2  This  book  was  written  two  years  before  the  advertisement  of 
it  appeared. 

K  2 


132     THROUGH   THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

squabble-conducting,  '  which  by  the  intensely-respect- 
able-well -born-but-not-his-eyes  -  using  -  English  -  gentle- 
man a  careless -and -idiotic -manner -of -precious- and  - 
priceless  -  documents  -  an  -  evidence  -of-  unenlightened]  y- 
searching-example  is.'  For  the  name  is  in  the  diary  as 
plain  as  a  pikestaff — and  in  Pulteney's  own  book  too, 
second  edition.  The  real  difficulty  is  that  he  has  muddled 
the  dates,  both  year  and  month  of  when  the  book  ap- 
peared: errors  which  Stoever  must  have  crowed  over 
when  he  met  with  Pulteney's  work. 

Linngeus  thus  prematurely  announces  another  book  ; 
or  it  is  advertised  for  him :  '  Upsal,  February  15,  1732. 
An  able  student  of  medicine,  Mr.  Carl  Linngeus,  causes 
a  botanical  work  to  be  printed  here,  entitled  "  Funda- 
menta  Botanica." '  This  did  not  appear  till  four  years 
after,  in  1736,  at  Amsterdam.  Linnaeus  sent  the  MS. 
to  Griefs walda,  but  he  could  not  find  a  person  who 
would  undertake  to  publish  it.  This  shows  how  early 
Linnaeus  prepared  his  system,  what  alterations  he  made 
iii  the  '  Fundamenta  Botanica,'  and  at  the  same  time 
how  eager  he  was  to  make  his  system  known,  even  by 
advertising  works  which  still  remained  in  MS. 

While  these  things  were  in  preparation  who  should 
return  but  Rosen — return  to  see  his  old  rival  lecturing  in 
his  place  !  One  can  picture  to  oneself  Linnaeus  *  biting 
his  lip  to  keep  down  a  great  smile  of  pride.'  How  did 
Rosen  like  all  this  ?  The  diary  throws  some  light  upon 
the  matter.  Late  'in  the  year  1731,  the  Medicines 
adjunctus,  Dr.  Rosen,  having  returned  from  his  travels 


DEAN  CELSIUS  COMES  133 

abroad,  and  having  perfected  himself  in  anatomy  and 
the  practice  of  medicine,  got  into  universal  request, 
there  being  no  other  practitioner  at  Upsala.  He  like- 
wise commenced  a  course  of  lectures  on  a  branch  con- 
nected with  Professor  Rudbeck's  office.  As  the  latter 
was  seventy  years  of  age  there  was  a  good  prospect  of 
his  being  chosen  Rudbeck's  successor,  and  of  his  having 
no  competitor  unless  Linnaeus  got  forward.  He  (Rosen) 
also  applied  for  permission  to  lecture  publicly  on  botany, 
but  Rudbeck  was  unwilling  to  trust  this  department  to 
him,  as  he  had  never  studied  it.  Rosen  tried  to  per- 
suade Linnaeus  to  give  up  the  lectures  to  him  sponta- 
neously, which  Linnaeus  would  have  done  had  Rudbeck 
consented  to  it.  Thus  Linnaeus  had  scarcely  surmounted 
poverty  before  he  became  an  object  of  envy — a  passion 
that  played  him  too  many  tricks,  of  no  use  to  be  mentioned 
here.  The  faithless  wife  of  the  librarian  Norrelius  lived 
at  this  time  in  Rudbeck's  house,  and  by  her  Linnaeus 
was  made  so  odious  to  his  patroness '  [Rudbeck's 
wife]  '  that  he  could  no  longer  stay  there ;  and  as  Rud- 
beck had  often  related  to  him  the  curious  facts  he  had 
noticed  and  the  plants  he  had  discovered  on  his  travels 
in  Lapland,  Linnaeus  conceived  a  great  inclination  to 
visit  that  country.  The  secretary  of  the  academy,  the 
Master  of  Arts,  Andres  Celsius  '  [who  four  years  later, 
1736,  himself  visited  that  country]  'strongly  recom- 
mended him  to  go  there.' l  The  machinations  of  his 
enemies  prevailed,  and  Rosen,  who  had  never  been 
1  Diary. 


134     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

above  using  mean  arts,  at  length  got  rid  of  Linnaeus, 
at  any  rate  for  the  present.  Linnaeus  left  Rudbeck's 
house  and  gave  up  his  situation  of  tutor  towards  the 
end  of  the  year,  at  which  time  he  went  to  his  native 
province  of  Sm&land.1  Linnaeus  passed  part  of  the 
winter  with  his  father  at  Stenbrohult.  A  vastly  different 
home-coming  from  before  :  the  young  man  honoured  with 
a  state  commission  of  importance,  the  vicarial  professor 
of  botany  at  Upsala,  was  quite  another  being  from  the 
struggling  student  who  was  merely  seeking  his  way. 
The  sisters  might  well  be  proud  of  such  a  brother, 
and  Gabriel  Hok,  now  rector  of  the  adjoining  parish  of 
Wirestad,  was  glad  to  make  a  visit  to  his  old  pupil 
an  excuse  for  also  enjoying  the  society  of  Linnaeus 's 
fair  sister.  We  are  not  told  precisely  when  the  rector 
of  Wirestad  married  Anna  Maria  Linnaea,  but  we 
may  reasonably  conclude  it  was  about  this  time,  and 
it  is  very  probable  that  Gabriel's  bridesman,  a  clerical 
friend,  on  the  same  happy  occasion  met  and  admired 
the  lively  and  equally  pretty  sister  Juliana,  whom  he 
afterwards  carried  off  to  another  South  Swedish  rectory.2 

In  January  1732  Carl  paid  a  visit  of  some  days  to 
his  kind  friend  and  preceptor  Stobasus  at  Lund,  who 
had  by  this  time  forgiven  him  for  leaving  his  protection. 
One  of  Carl's  objects  in  visiting  Lund  was  to  study  the 
collection  of  fossils  belonging  to  Stobgeus,  this  being 
the  only  branch  of  natural  history  he  was  not  well  versed 
in.  Linnaeus's  mind  had  grown  since  he  used  to  look 

1  Diary.  2  Both  their  portraits  are  at  Hammarby. 


DEAN  CELSIUS  COMES  135 

at  this  collection  with  respectful  awe.  It  is  often  so 
with  us,  the  mental  garments  we  once  wore  with  pride 
no  longer  fit  us.  Stobaeus's  cabinet  of  minerals,  con- 
sisting chiefly  of  petrifactions,  did  not  now  satisfy  Lin- 
naeus. 

He  returned  to  his  parents'  home  in  SmSland, 
and  spent  some  weeks,  and  then  went  to  Upsala  to 
prepare  for  the  great  journey  and  learn  the  result  of  his 
publishing  negotiations.  Just  after  his  return  from  Sten- 
brohult  another  advertisement  appears,  dated  Upsala, 
March  15, 1732,  of  the  '  Insecta  Uplandica,'  and  a  book 
relating  to  the  birds  of  Sweden.  He  took  an  affectionate 
leave  of  Artedi,  who  was  going  to  England  to  complete 
his  studies  in  ichthyology.  They  made  their  wills,  and 
the  friends  mutually  assigned  to  each  other  such  MSS. 
treating  of  natural  history,  as  they  should  be  in  posses- 
sion of,  in  case  either  of  them  should  die  in  their  travels. 
Linnseus  bore  also  messages  and  letters  from  Artedi  to 
his  relatives  in  Angermania. 


136     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   NORTH   SWEDISH   PROVINCES. 

Spring  clothes  the  fields  and  decks  the  flowery  grove, 
And  all  creation  glows  with  life  and  lore. 

From  the  Latin  of  LINN  JBUS. 

THE  account  of  Linngeus's  Lapland  journey  was  written 
by  himself  in  a  diary  called  c  Lachesis  Lapponica ' ;  this 
MS.  was  purchased  from  the  widow  of  Linnaeus,  with 
the  rest  of  the  great  botanist's  writings  and  collections, 
by  Sir  J.  E.  Smith.  It  became  his  duty  and  wish  to 
render  them  useful.  Great  was  his  disappointment 
to  find  the  '  Lachesis  Lapponica  '  written  in  Swedish. 
For  a  long  time  it  remained  undeciphered.  At  length 
Mr.  C.  Troilus  undertook  the  translation.  It  proved  to 
be  the  identical  journal  written  on  the  spot  during  the 
tour ;  but  the  difficulty  of  interpreting  it  proved  unex- 
pectedly great.  The  bulk  of  the  composition  is  Swedish, 
but  so  intermixed  with  Latin,  even  in  half  sentences, 
that  the  translator,  not  being  much  acquainted  with 
this  language,  found  it  necessary  to  leave  frequent 
blanks.  The  translation  is  in  two  volumes,  octavo. 

It  is  such  a  journal  as  a  man  would  write  for  his 
own  use,  without  a  thought  of  its  ever  being  seen  by 


THE  NORTH  SWEDISH  PROVINCES        137 

any  other  person.  The  composition  is  entirely  artless 
and  unaffected,  giving  a  most  pleasing  idea  of  the  writer's 
mind  and  temper,  and  it  is  interesting  in  showing  the 
development  of  a  mind  such  as  that  of  Linnaeus.  It  is 
not  a  professed  description  of  Lapland,  nor  even  a  regular 
detail  of  the  route  of  the  traveller.  What  was  familiar 
to  Linnaeus,  either  in  books  or  in  his  own  mind,  he 
omitted.  By  the  brilliant  sketches  he  has  left  us  in  his 
1  Flora  Lapponica,'  written  in  Holland  some  years  later, 
we  see  his  journal  perfected  by  after-research,  which 
makes  it  more  solid  but  not  so  fresh.  In  the  journal 
we  meet  with  the  first  traces  of  ideas,  opinions,  or  dis- 
coveries, which  scarcely  acquired  a  shape,  even  in  the 
mind  of  the  writer,  till  some  time  afterwards.  The 
familiar  and  correct  use  of  the  Latin  language,  and  the 
general  accuracy  of  the  observations,  give  a  very  high 
idea  of  the  author's  accomplishments,  considering  they 
are  made  without  a  single  book  to  refer  to  or  a  com- 
panion to  consult.  The  original,  moreover,  displays  a 
natural  eloquence,  of  which  the  translation,  especially 
when  condensed,  falls  short.  The  numerous  sketches 
with  a  pen  that  occur  in  the  MS.  are  strikingly  illus- 
trative. His  handwriting  was  small,  but  legible  and 
elegant.1  The  '  Lachesis  Lapponica '  had  not  been 
translated  when  Stoever  and  Pulteney  wrote,  so  that 
it  is  here  first  given  with  the  c  Life.'  It  is  interesting 
to  read  this  in  connection  with  the  journeys  of  Wheel- 
wright and  Du  Chaillu  on  the  same  roads ;  Linnaeus  is 
1  Partially  abridged  from  Sir  J.  Smith's  preface. 


138     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

by  far  the  closest  observer  of  the  three,  while  the  diffi- 
cult Lycksele  episode  is  exclusively  his  own.  His  outfit 
sounds  strange  150  years  later. 

EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  JOURNAL. 

£  Having  been  appointed  by  the  Royal  Academy  of 
Sciences  to  travel  through  Lapland  for  the  purpose  of 
investigating  the  three  kingdoms  of  nature  in  that 
country,  I  prepared  my  wearing  apparel  and  other 
necessaries  for  the  journey  as  follows. 

1  My  clothes  consisted  of  a  light  coat  of  Westgoth- 
land  linsey-wolsey  cloths  without  folds,  lined  with  red 
shalloon,  having  small  cuffs  and  collar  of  shag ;  leather 
breeches  ;  a  round  wig ;  a  green  leather  cap,  and  a  pair 
of  half-boots.  I  carried  a  small  leather  bag,  half  an 
ell  in  length,  but  somewhat  less  in  breadth,  furnished  on 
one  side  with  hooks  and  eyes,  so  that  it  could  be  opened 
and  shut  at  pleasure.  This  bag  contained  one  shirt, 
two  pairs  of  false  sleeves ;  two  half-shirts,1  an  inkstand, 
pencase,  microscope,  and  spying-glass ;  a  gauze  cap  to 
protect  me  occasionally  from  the  gnats,  a  comb,  my 
journal,  and  a  parcel  of  paper  stitched  together  for  dry- 
ing plants,  both  in  folio  ;  my  MS.  "  Ornithology,"  "  Flora 
Uplandica"  and  "  Characteres  Generici."  I  wore  a  hanger 
at  my  side,  and  carried  a  small  fowling-piece,  as  well  as 
an  octangular  stick  graduated  for  the  purpose  of  mea- 
suring. My  pocket-book  contained  a  passport  from  the 

1  What  is  a  half  -shirt  1 


THE  NORTH  SWEDISH  PROVINCES        139 

governor  of  Upsala,  and  a  recommendation  from  the 
Academy.' 

I  make  more  copious  extracts  from  the  earlier  por- 
tion of  the  journal,  as  the  part  of  Sweden  treated  of  has 
not  often  been  described.  The  aspect  of  the  country  is 
almost  unaltered  since  Linnseus's  day.  In  his  shorter 
diary  account  of  his  Lapland  tour  he  says  he  set  out 
on  horseback  without  incumbrances  of  any  kind,  and 
having  all  his  baggage  on  his  back. 

c  I  set  out  alone  from  the  city  of  Upsala,  on  Friday, 
May  12,  1732  [Old  Style],  at  11  o'clock,  being  within 
half  a. day  of  25  years  of  age.1  At  this  season  nature 
wore  her  most  cheerful  and  delightful  aspect,  and  Flora 
celebrated  her  nuptials  with  Phoebus.' 

A  flowery  way  of  saying  it  was  a  fine  day.  Carl 
seems  to  have  been  made  vain  by  the  praise  bestowed 
on  his  eloquence,  and  to  have  enriched  it  at  this  time 
by  tropes  and  classical  allusions,  after  the  manner  of 
youth.  One  forgives  Linnaeus  for  his  flowery  language 
— it  was  a  fashion,  like  the  embroidered  waistcoats 
worn  by  those  dear  dandies,  the  curled  darlings  of  his 
day — for  he  wrote  sense.  It  is  only  l  grand  nonsense  ' 
that  is  insupportable. 

{Now  the  winter-corn  was  half  a  foot  high,  and 
the  barley  had  just  shot  out  its  blade.  The  birch, 
the  elm,  and  the  aspen  tree  began  to  put  forth  their 
leaves.  I  left  old  Upsala  on  the  right,  with  its  three 
large  sepulchral  mounds  or  tumuli.  The  few  plants 
1  A  birthday  treat  of  the  sort  he  best  enjoyed. 


140     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNALUS 

now  in  flower  were  Draba  verna,  called  in  Sm&land  the 
rye-flower,  because  as  soon  as  the  husbandman  sees  it  in 
bloom  he  sows  his  Lent  corn ;  dandelions,  scorpion- 
grass,  violets  and  wild  pansies,  Thlaspi  arvense,  Litlio- 
spermum  arvense,  sedges,1  rushes,2  Salisc,  Primula  veris, 
as  it  is  called,  though  neither  here  nor  in  other  places 
the  first  flower  of  the  spring,3  the  Swedish  caper,  &c. 
The  lark  was  my  companion  all  the  way,  flying  before 
me  quavering  in  the  air.  Ecce  suum  tirile,  tirile,  suum 
tirile  tractat. 

c  Hogsta  is  a  Swedish  mile  and  a  quarter  from 
Upsala.  Here  the  forests  began  to  thicken.  The 
charming  lark  here  left  me,  but  another  bird  welcomed 
my  approach  to  the  forest,  the  redwing,  whose  warblings 
from  the  top  of  the  spruce  fir  were  no  less  delightful. 
Its  lofty  and  varied  notes  rival  those  of  the  nightingale 
herself.' 

Linnaeus  followed  the  high  road,  which  still  exists, 
like  the  string  of  the  bow  which  the  railway  makes  in 
curving  towards  Dannemora. 

1  In  the  forest  are  innumerable  dwarf  firs,4  whose 
diminutive  height  bears  no  proportion  to  their  thick 
trunks,  their  lowermost  branches  being  on  a  level  with 
the  uppermost,  and  the  leading  shoot  entirely  wanting. 
It  seems  as  if  all  the  branches  came  from  one  centre, 
like  those  of  a  palm,  and  that  the  top  had  been  cut  off. 

1   Carex.  2  Juncus  campestris. 

3  The  primrose  blooms  quite  to  the  end  of  June  in  Upland. 

4  Pimis  plicata. 


THE  NORTH  SWEDISH  PROVINCES        141 

I  attribute  this  to  the  soil,  and  could  not  but  admire  it 
as  the  pruning  of  nature. 

'  At  Laby  (one  and  a  quarter  Swedish  mile  further) 
the  forest  abounds  with  the  Spanish  whortleberry, 
now  in  blossom.  Next  came  a  large  and  dreary  pine 
forest  in  which  the  herbaceous  plants  seemed  almost 
starved ;  the  soil  hardly  two  inches  deep  above  the 
sand  bore  heather,  and  some  lichens  of  the  tribe 
called  coralloides.  The  Golden  Saxifrage  }  was  now  in 
blossom.' 

He  speaks  of  a  runic  monument  near  the  posting- 
house,  but  the  inscription  had  already  been  copied. 

'  Opposite  Yfre  is  a  little  river,  the  water  of  which 
would  at  this  time  have  hardly  covered  the  tops  of  my 
shoes,  though  the  banks  are  at  least  five  ells  in  height. 
Near  the  church  of  Tierp  runs  a  stream  whose  bank 
on  the  side  where  it  curves  is  very  high  and  steep.  The 
great  power  of  a  current,  in  the  way  it  undermines  the 
ground,  is  exceeding  visible  at  this  place.  It  now  grew 
late,  and  I  hastened  to  Mehede,  two  and  a  half  miles ' 
[S.]  '  farther,  where  I  slept.' 

He  travelled  this  day  over  seven  and  a  half  Swedish 
miles,  or  about  fifty  English  miles. 

1  May  13.  Here  the  yew  grows  wild.  The  forest 
abounds  with  yellow  anemone,  hepatica,  and  wood- 
sorrel.  Here  for  the  first  time  I  heard  the  cuckoo. 

'  Having  often  been  told  of  the  cataract  of  Elf 
Carleby,  I  thought  it  worth  while  to  go  a  little  out  of 
1  Chrysosjjlenium  alternifolium. 


142     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

the  way  to  see  it,  especially  as  I  could  hear  its  roar 
from  the  road,  and  saw  the  vapour  of  its  foam  rising 
like  the  smoke  of  a  chimney.  I  perceived  the  river  to 
be  divided  into  three  channels  by  a  huge  rock.  The 
water  in  the  nearest  of  these  channels  falls  from  a 
height  of  twelve  or  fifteen  ells,1  so  that  its  foam  and 
spray  are  thrown  as  high  as  two  ells  into  the  air.  On 
this  branch  of  the  cascade  stands  a  sawmill.  Below 
the  cataract  is  a  salmon-fishery.  Oak  trees  grow  on 
the  summit  of  the  surrounding  rocks.  At  first  it 
seems  inconceivable  how  they  should  obtain  nourish- 
ment ;  but  the  vapours  (of  the  cataract)  are  collected 
by  the  hills  above,  and  trickle  down  in  streams  to  their 
roots.  In  the  valleys  I  picked  up  shells  remarkable  for 
the  acuteness  of  their  spiral  points.  Here  also  grew  a 
rare  moss  of  a  sulphur-green  colour. 

'  I  hastened  to  the  town  of  Elf-Carleby,  which  is 
divided  in  two  parts  by  the  large  river.  I  crossed  it  by 
a  ferry,  where  it  is  about  two  gun-shots  wide.  The 
ferryman '  [of  course  he  likens  him  to  Charon]  '  asked  for 
my  passport,  or  license  to  travel.  At  Elf-Carleby  for  the 
first  time  I  beheld  what  I  had  never  before  met  with 
in  our  northern  regions,  a  peculiar  variety  of  purple 
anemone  2 — hairy  and  purplish,  stamens  numerous  and 
very  short.'  This  flower  (a  peculiar  variety)  grows 
plentifully  near  Borgholm  on  the  island  of  Oland. 
Linnaeus  also  met  with  it  there  later. 

1  The  fall  is  forty-nine  feet  high. 

2  Pulsatilla  ajriifolia  or  Anemone  rernalis. 


THE  NORTH  SWEDISH  PROVINCES        143 

*  A  mile  from  Elf-Carleby  are  the  iron- works  called 
Harnas.  The  ore  is  brought  from  Dannemora  and  from 
Engsio  in  Sudermania.  Here  runs  the  river  which 
divides  the  provinces  of  Upland  and  Gestrickland. 
The  post-houses  or  inns  were  dreadfully  bad.  The 
forests  became  more  hilly  and  stony,  white  and  dark 
granite  ;  the  rose-willow  abounded.  Near  Gefle  stands 
a  runic  monumental  stone,  rather  more  legible  than 
usual,  and  on  that  account  better  taken  care  of.  By 
eleven  o'clock  I  arrived  at  Gefle,  where  I  was  obliged  to 
stay  all  day,  for  it  was  evening  before  I  received  from 
the  governor  of  the  province  of  Gestrickland  the  requi- 
site passport ;  owing  to  which  delay  and  my  attending 
morning  service  next  day  at  Gefle  church,  I  could  not 
quit  that  place  till  one  o'clock.' 

Gefle,  with  7,000  inhabitants,  is  now  one  of  the 
principal  seaport  towns  of  Sweden  ;  well-built  and 
clean,  with  neat  granite  quays,  and  substantial  modern 
appearance. 

'  At  this  town  is  the  last  apothecary's  shop,  and 
also  the  last  physician  in  the  province:  these  are  not 
to  be  met  with  further  north.  The  river  is  navigable 
through  the  town.  The  surrounding  country  abounds 
with  large  red  stones.  Here  begins  a  ridge  of  hills,  ex- 
tending to  the  next  post-house,  three-quarters  of  a  mile ' 
[S.]  c  further,  separating  two  lakes.  In  the  marshes 
to  the  left  the  note  of  the  snipe  was  heard  continually ; 
on  the  right  are  the  mineral  springs  of  Hille.  Troye 
post-house,  which  Professor  Rudbeck  the  elder  used  to 


144     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

call  Troy,  is  surrounded  by  a  smooth,  hill.  The  road 
from  hence  lay  across  a  marsh  called  by  the  people  the 
walls  of  Troy.  The  sweet  gale  l  and  dwarf  birch  form 
a  sort  of  low  alley  through  which  the  road  leads.  Here 
and  there  grew  the  marsh-violet  with  its  pale  grey 
flowers,  marked  with  five  or  seven  black  forked  lines 
on  the  lower  lip ;  and  in  the  forests  on  the  other  side 
of  the  marsh  were  many  kinds  of  club  moss.  A  quan- 
tity of  stones  lay  by  the  road-side,  which  the  governor 
of  the  province  had  caused  to  be  dug  up  in  order  to  mend 
the  highway.2 

4  They  looked  like  a  mass  of  ruins,  and  were  clothed 
with  Campanula  serpyllifolia  [the  plant  afterwards  called 
Linncea  borealis]*  'whose  trailing  shoots  and  verdant 
leaves  were  interwoven  with  those  of  the  ivy.  On  the 
right  is  the  lake  Hamrange  Fjarden,  which  adds  greatly 
to  the  beauty  of  the  road.  I  arrived  at  Hamrange 
post-house  during  the  night.  The  people  here  talked 
much  of  an  extraordinary  kind  of  tree :  no  one  could 
find  out  what  it  was.  Some  said  it  was  an  apple-tree 
which  had  been  cursed  by  a  beggar-woman,  who  one 
day  having  gathered  an  apple  from  it,  and  being  on 
that  account  seized  by  the  proprietor  of  the  tree,  de- 
clared that  the  tree  should  never  bear  fruit  any  more. 

1  Myrica  Gale,  the  bog  myrtle,  or  Scotch  or  Dutch  myrtle. 

2  There  are  four  kinds  of  road  in  Sweden :  the  Itungsvag,  king's 
road,  being  the  finest ;  country  road,  hdradsvdg  (sometimes  called 
by  travellers  horrid  way),  most  of  which  are  very  good ;  sockenvag 
(nick-named  shocking  way),  parish  road,  which  is  often  bad ;  and 
the  byrag,  village  road,  narrow  and  very  rough. — Du  CHAILLU. 

3  One  of  the  honeysuckle  family. 


THE  NORTH  SWEDISH  PROVINCES        145 

Next  morning  I  rose  with  the  sun  to  examine  this 
wonderful  tree.  It  proved  to  be  nothing  more  than  a 
common  elm.  Hence,  however,  we  learn  that  the  elm 
is  not  a  common  tree  in  this  part  of  the  country. 

'  The  redwing,  cuckoo,  black  grouse,  and  mountain 
finch  made  a  concert  in  the  forest,  to  which  the  lowing 
herds  of  cattle  under  the  shade  of  the  trees  formed  a 
bass.  Iceland  moss  grows  abundantly  in  this  forest.  I 
arrived  at  the  river  Tonna,  which  divides  Gestrickland 
from  Helsingland  and  empties  itself  into  the  Bay  of 
Touna.  The  lake  called  Hamrange  Fjarden  extends 
almost  to  the  sea.  I  was  told  it  did  actually  commu- 
nicate' [with  the  Bothnia].  ;  At  least  there  is  a  ditch 
in  the  mountain  itself — whether  the  work  of  art  or 
nature  is  uncertain — called  the  North  Sound,  hardly 
wide  enough  to  admit  a  boat  to  pass.  This  is  dammed 
up  as  summer  sets  in,  to  prevent  the  lake  losing  too  much 
water  by  that  channel,  as  the  iron  from  several  foundries 
is  conveyed  by  the  navigation  through  this  lake. 

'HELSINGLAND. 

'  The  common  and  spruce  firs  grow  here  to  a  very 
large  size.  The  inhabitants  had  stripped  almost  every 
tree  of  its  bark.  A  red  byssus  stains  the  stones  here, 
and  near  Norrala  there  is  a  bright  red  ochre  in  the 
earth,  and  staining  the  water.  Several  pairs  of  semi- 
circular wicker  baskets  were  placed  in  the  water  to  catch 
bream.  Here  I  observed  the  black-throated  diver, 
which  uttered  a  melancholy  note,  especially  in  diving. 

VOL.  I.  L 


146     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

1  In  the  course  of  this  day's  journey  I  observed  a 
great  variety  in  the  face  of  the  country  as  well  as  in  the 
soil.  Here  are  mountains,  hills,  marshes,  lakes,  forests, 
clay,  sand,  and  pebbles.  Cultivated  fields  indeed  are 
rare.  The  greater  part  of  the  country  consists  of  un- 
inhabitable mountainous  tracts.  In  the  valleys  only 
are  to  be  seen  small  dwelling-houses,  to  each  of  which 
adjoins  a  little  field.  The  people  seemed  somewhat 
larger  in  stature  than  elsewhere,  especially  the  men. 
The  women  suckle  their  children  more  than  twice  as 
long  as  with  us.  Brandy  is  not  always  to  be  had  here. 
The  people  are  humane  and  civilised.  Their  houses 
are  handsome  externally,  and  neat  and  comfortable 
within.'  [Are  not  these  advantages  due  to  their  having 
less  brandy  than  elsewhere  ?] 

'  The  ore  used  at  the  capital  iron  forge  of  Eksund  is 
of  several  kinds :  first,  from  Dannemora ;  second,  from 
Soderom  ;  third,  from  Grusone,  which  contains  beautiful 
cubical  pyrites ;  fourth,  a  black  ore  from  the  parish  of 
Arbro,  which  lies  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  but  in  stormy 
weather  is  thrown  up  on  the  shore.'  A  kind  of  blueish 
stone  (Saxum  fornacum  ?)  is  used  for  building  the  tun- 
nels and  chimneys ;  it  is  considered  more  compact  and 
better  able  to  resist  heat  than  other  building-stones. 
The  limestone  procured  from  the  seashore  abounds  with 
petrified  corals. 

1  Of  course  he  calls  the  workmen  sons  of  Vulcan.    Fashions  have 
hanged :  we  never  laugh  when  modern  tourists  call  them  sons  of 
Thor,  nor  when  we  invoke  all  the  Valkyrie. 


THE  NORTH  SWEDISH  PROVINCES        147 

*  In  every  river  a  wheel  is  placed,  contrived  to  lift 
up  a  hammer  for  the  purpose  of  bruising  flax.  When 
it  is  not  wanted,  a  trap-door  is  raised  to  turn  the  stream 
aside, 

c  Several  butterflies  were  to  be  seen  in  the  forest,  as 
the  common  black,  and  the  large  black  and  white. 
Between  the  post-house  of  Tygsund  and  Hudviksvall 
a  violet-coloured  clay  is  found  in  abundance,  forming  a 
regular  stratum.  I  observed  it  likewise  in  a  hill,  which 
was  nine  ells  in  height,  near  the  water,  a  span-width 
of  violet  clay  between  two  layers  of  barren  sand.  The 
clay  contained  small  and  delicately  smooth  white  bivalve 
shells,  quite  entire,  as  well  as  some  larger  brown  ones, 
of  which  great  quantities  are  to  be  found  near  the  water 
side.  At  this  spot  grows  the  Anemone  hepatica  with  a 
purple  flower — a  variety  so  very  rare  in  other  places  that 
I  should  almost  be  of  the  opinion  of  the  gardeners  who 
believe  that  colours  of  particular  earths  may  be  commu- 
nicated to  flowers. 

£  The  produce  of  the  arable  land  here  being  but 
scanty,  the  inhabitants  mix  herbs  with  their  corn,  and 
form  it  into  cakes  two  feet  broad,  but  only  a  line  in 
thickness,  by  which  means  the  taste  of  the  herbs  is 
rendered  less  perceptible.  Hudviksvall  is  a  little  town 
situated  between  a  small  lake  and  the  sea.  Near  this 
place  the  arctic  bramble  was  beginning  to  shoot  forth, 
while  Lychnis  dioica  and  Arabis  Thaliana  were  in  flower. 
The  larger  fields  here  are  sown  with  flax,  which  is 
performed  every  third  year.  The  soil  is  turned  up  by 

i-  2 


148     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

a  plough  and  the  seed  sown  on  the  furrow,  after  which 
the  ground  is  harrowed.  The  linen  manufactory  furnishes 
the  principal  occupation  of  the  inhabitants  of  this 
country.  Towards  evening  I  reached  Bringstad,  and 
continued  my  journey  at  sunrise. 

'  May  17. — I  overtook  seven  Laplanders  driving  their 
reindeer,  about  sixty  or  seventy  in  number,  followed  by 
their  young  ones.  Most  of  the  herd  had  lost  their  horns 
and  new  ones  were  sprouting  forth.  The  drivers  spoke 
good  Swedish. 

'  MEDELPAD. 

'  Here  the  common  ling  grows  more  scarce,  its  place 
being  supplied  by  a  greater  quantity  of  the  bilberry. 
Birch  trees  became  more  abundant  as  I  advanced.  I 
spied  a  brace  of  ptarmigans.  All  over  the  country  I 
this  day  passed  the  large  yellow  aconite  is  as  common 
as  ling  on  a  moor.  Not  being  eaten  by  any  kind  of 
cattle,  it  increases  abundantly  in  proportion  as  other 
herbs  are  devoured.  To  the  north  of  Dingersjo  stands 
a  considerable  mountain,  called  Nyackersberg,  the 
south  side  of  which  is  very  steep.  The  inhabitants  had 
planted  hop-grounds  under  it.1  As  the  hop  does  not  in 
general  thrive  well  hereabouts,  they  designed  that  this 
mountain  should  serve  as  a  wall  for  the  plants  to  run 
upon.  These  hops  were  very  thriving,  being  sheltered 
from  the  north  wind  and  at  the  same  time  exposed  to 
the  heat  of  the  sun,  whose  rays  are  concentrated  in  this 
1  Ale  (67)  is  the  common  drink  in  Sweden  and  Norway. 


THE  NORTH  SWEDISH  PROVINCES        149 

spot.  I  ascended  on  foot,  with  a  guide,  Knorby  Kuylen,1 
the  highest  mountain  in  Medelpad,  finding  many  un- 
common plants  in  greater  perfection  than  I  ever  saw 
them  before.  The  summit  is  crowned  with  a  beacon 
used  as  a  signal  during  the  war  with  the  Russians. 
Every  sort  of  moss  grows  on  this  mountain  that  can  be 
found  anywhere  in  the  country  round.  When  at  the 
summit  we  looked  down  on  the  country  beneath,  varied 
with  plains  and  cultivated  fields,  villages,  lakes,  rivers, 
&c.  Hares  run  about  on  the  very  highest  part  of  this 
hill.  An  eagle  owl  (Strix  Bubo)  rose  up  suddenly 
before  us  as  we  were  sliding  down  in  the  descent  of  the 
steep  south  side.  We  found  its  nest.  Here  and  there 
among  the  rocks  were  a  variety  of  herbaceous  plants, 
pansies  and  others.  Of  the  heartsease  some  of  the 
flowers  were  white,  others  blue  and  white,  others  with 
the  upper  petals  blue  and  yellow,  the  lateral  and  lower 
ones  blue,  while  others  again  had  a  mixture  of  yellow 
in  the  side  petals.  All  these  were  found  within  a  foot 
of  each  other;  sometimes  even  on  the  same  stalk 
different  colours  were  observable — a  plain  proof  that 
such  diversities  do  not  constitute  a  specific  distinction. 
(  Proceeding  farther  on  my  journey,  I  observed  by 
the  road  a  large  reddish  stone  full  of  glittering  portions 
of  talc.  The  greater  part  of  my  way  lay  near  the  sea- 
shore, which  was  strewn  with  the  wrecks  of  vessels.  To- 
wards evening  I  reached  Sundswall,  a  town  situated  in 
a  small  spot  between  two  high  hills.  On  one  side  is 
1  Norby  Kullen. 


I5o     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN.EUS 

the  sea,  into  which  a  river  discharges  itself  at  this  place. 
About  sunset  I  came  to  Finstad,  but  continued  my 
route  the  same  evening  to  Fjahl,  where  I  was  obliged  tc* 
pass  a  river  by  two  separate  ferries T  the  stream  being- 
divided  by  an  island. 

1  May  18. — Being  Ascension  Day,  I  spent  it  at  this 
place,  partly  on  account  of  the  holiday,  partly  to  rest  my 
weary  limbs  and  recruit  my  strength. 

'  I  was  so  unfortunate  in  my  journey  through  Medel- 
pad  as  not  to  meet  with  a  single  horse  that  did  not  tumble- 
with  me  several  times,  in  consequence  of  which  I  was 
at  one  time  so  severely  hurt  as  to  be  scarcely  able  tc* 
remount.  Having  already  collected  a  number  of  stones 
and  minerals,  which  were  no  less  burdensome  than  un- 
necessary to  carry  with  me  further,  I  rode  to  Hernosandr 
on  the  Bothnian  Gulf,  where  I  left  these  encumbrances. 
I  did  not,  however,  stay  there  above  two  hours.  Near 
here  I  picked  up  a  number  of  chrysomelas '  (a  sort  of 
beetle)  fof  a  blueish  green  and  gold.1  The  city  of 
Hernosand  stands  upon  an  island,  accessible  to  ships 
on  every  side,  except  at  Varbryggan,  where-  they  can 
scarcely  pass. 

f  I  left  Fjahl  at  sunrise,  and  at  Hasjo,  the  next  church, 
I  turned  to  the  left  out  of  the  main  road  to  examine  a 
hill  where  copper  ore  was  said  to  be  found.  The  stones,, 
indeed,  had  a  glittering  appearance  like  copper  ore,  but 
the  pyrites  to  which  that  was  owing  were  of  a  yellowish 
white — a  certain  indication  of  their  containing  chiefly 
1  The  beautiful  Chrys&niela  graminu* 


THE  NORTH  SWEDISH  PROVINCES        151 

iron.  I  examined  a  cave  formed  by  nature  in  a  very 
hard  rocky  mountain,  formerly  a  retreat  of  a  criminal 
who  had  concealed  himself  for  two  years  in  this  retired 
cavern.  The  roof  and  sides  of  this  cave,  near  the 
entrance,  were  clothed  with  Byssus  cryptarum.  Every- 
where near  the  road  lay  spar  full  of  talc,  or  Muscovy 
glass  glittering  in  the  sun.  Now  we  take  leave  of 
Medelpad  and  its  sandy  roads,  as  well  as  its  yellow 
aconite,  both  of  which  it  possesses  in  common  with 
Helsingland. 

'ANGERMANLAND. 

1  We  no  sooner  enter  this  district  than  we  meet 
with  steep  and  lofty  hills  scarcely  to  be  descended  with 
safety  on  horseback.1  In  the  heart  of  the  Angerman- 
nian  forest  trees  with  deciduous  leaves,  the  silver  birch, 
Betula  alba  (with  densely  matted  branches)  and  the 
hoary-leaved  alder  (Betula  incana)  abound  equally  with 
the  common  and  spruce  firs.  These  hills  might  with 
great  advantage  be  cleared  of  their  wood,  for  a  good 
soil  remains  wherever  the  trees  are  burnt  down — not 
barren  stones  as  in  Helsingland  and  Medelpad.  The 
valleys  between  the  mountains,  as  in  those  countries, 
are  cultivated  with  corn  or  laid  out  in  meadows  ;  but 
here  are  spacious  plains  besides.  Every  house  has  near 

1  On  the  coast  south  of  Ornskoldsvik  the  scenery  increases  in 
beauty,  and  as  far  as  Sundsvall  the  coast  is  the  highest  in  Sweden. 
Numerous  islands  dot  the  sea  along  the  shore,  the  principal  ones 
being  North  and  South  Ulfo,  inhabited  by  a  few  hundred  fishermen. 
Du  CHAILLU. 


152     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN&US 

it  a  stage  to  dry  corn  and  pease  on,  about  eight  ells  in 
height,  formed  of  perpendicular  posts  with  transverse 
beams.  The  hay,  or  flax,  is  hung  up  to  dry  on  these 
crossbars  of  what  appears  to  be  a  gigantic  six-barred 
gate  about  twenty  feet  high.  The  rye,  less  plentiful 
here  than  barley,  is  laid  here  to  dry. 

fTo  whatever  side  I  cast  my  eyes,  nothing  but 
lofty  blue  mountains  were  to  be  seen.  The  little  straw- 
berry-leaved bramble  (Itubus  arcticus) l  was  in  full 
bloom.  A  quarter  of  a  mile  further  is  Doggsta,  near 
which,  close  to  the  road,  stands  the  tremendously  steep 
mountain  of  Skula.  This  I  wished  to  explore,  but  the 
people  told  me  it  was  impossible.  With  much  difficulty 
I  prevailed  on  two  men  to  show  me  the  way.  We 
climbed,  creeping  on  our  hands  and  knees,  often  slipping 
back  again.  Sometimes  we  caught  hold  of  bushes, 
sometimes  of  small  projecting  stones.  I  was  following 
one  of  the  men  in  climbing  a  steep  rock,  but  seeing  the 
other  had  better  success,  I  endeavoured  to  overtake  him. 
I  had  but  just  left  my  former  situation,  when  a  large 
mass  of  rock  broke  loose  from  a  spot  which  my  late 
guide  had  just  passed,  and  fell  exactly  where  I  had 
been,  with  such  force  that  it  struck  fire  as  it  went,  and 
was  surrounded  with  fire  and  smoke.  If  I  had  not 
providentially  changed  my  route  nobody  would  ever 
have  heard  of  me  more.  At  length,  quite  spent  with 

1  The  Rubus  arcticus  is  a  valuable  plant  for  its  fruit,  which  par- 
takes of  the  flavour  of  the  raspberry  and  strawberry,  and  makes  a 
most  delicious  wine,  used  only  by  the  nobility  in  Sweden. — SMITH. 


THE  NORTH  SWEDISH  PROVINCES        153 

toil,  we  reached  the  object  of  our  pursuit,  which  is  a 
cavity  in  the  middle  of  the  mountain — a  mere  cavern. 
The  stones  that  compose  it  are  of  very  hard  quality,  or 
spar ;  yet  the  sides  of  the  cavern  are  in  many  places 
as  even  as  if  they  had  been  cut  artificially.  Several 
different  strata  are  distinguishable,  particularly  in  the 
roof,  which  is  concave  like  an  arch.  In  that  part  a  hole 
appears,  intended,  I  was  told,  for  a  chimney.  Several 
sorts  of  ferns  grow  on  the  adjacent  parts  of  the  moun- 
tain. We  descended  with  much  greater  ease.  Laying 
hold  of  the  tops  of  spruce  firs  which  grew  close  to  the 
rocks,  we  slid  down  upon  them,  dragging  them  after  us 
down  the  precipices. 

c  I  had  scarcely  continued  my  journey  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  before  I  found  a  great  part  of  the  country  covered 
with  snow,  in  patches  some  inches  deep.  The  pretty 
spring  flowers  had  gradually  disappeared.  The  buds  of 
the  birch,  which  so  greatly  contribute  to  the  beauty 
of  the  forests,  were  not  yet  put  forth.  The  high  moun- 
tains which  surround  this  track  and  screen  it  from  the 
genial  southern  and  western  breezes  may  account  for 
the  long  duration  of  the  snow. 

'  The  cornfields  afford  a  crop  two  years  successively, 
and  lie  fallow  the  third.  Rye  is  seldom  or  never  sown 
here,  being  too  slow  in  coming  to  perfection ;  so  that  the 
land,  which  must  next  receive  the  barley,  would  be  too 
much  exhausted. 

4  May  21. — After  going  to  church  at  Natra  I  re- 
marked some  cornfields,  which  the  curate  had  caused  to 


154     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

be  cultivated  in  a  manner  that  appeared  extraordinary 
to  me.  After  the  field  has  lain  fallow  three  or  four 
years  it  is  sown  with  one  part  rye  and  two  parts 
barley  mixed  together.  The  seed  is  sown  in  spring,  as 
soon  as  the  earth  is  capable  of  tillage.  The  barley 
grows  rank,  ripens  its  ears,  and  is  reaped.  The  rye 
meanwhile  goes  into  leaf,  but  shoots  up  no  stem,  as  the 
barley  smothers  it  and  retards  its  growth.  After  the 
latter  is  reaped  the  rye  advances  in  growth,  and  ripens 
the  year  following  without  any  further  cultivation,  the 
crop  being  very  abundant.  The  inhabitants  here  also 
make  broad  thin  cakes  of  bread.  The  flour  used  for 
this  purpose  commonly  consists  of  one  part  of  barley 
and  three  of  chaff.  When  they  wish  to  have  it  very 
good  and  the  country  is  rich  in  barley,  they  add  but 
two  portions  of  chaff  to  one  of  corn.  The  cakes  are  not 
suffered  to  remain  long  in  the  oven,  but  require  to  be 
turned  once.  Only  one  is  baked  at  a  time,  and  the  fire 
is  swept  towards  the  sides  of  the  oven  with  a  large 
bunch  of  cock's  feathers.  The  coverlets  of  the  beds  at 
this  place  are  made  of  hare-skins.  To-day  I  met  with 
no  flowers  except  the  wood-sorrel,  which  here  is  the 
primula,  or  first  flower  of  spring.  The  lily  of  the  valley 
and  strawberry-leaved  bramble  were  plentifully  in  leaf. 
1  May  22. — Apple  trees  grow  between  Veda  and 
Hornoen,  but  none  are  to  be  seen  further  north.  No  kind 
of  willow  is  to  be  met  with  throughout  Angermanland, 
nor  is  the  hazel.  Cherries  do  not  always  ripen,  but 
potatoes  thrive  very  well.  Tobacco  and  hops  both 


THE  NORTH  SWEDISH  PROVINCES        155 

grow  slowly  and  are  of  rare  occurrence.'  [One  marvels 
that  tobacco  grows  at  all.  It  shows  that  the  sun  shines 
down  very  hot  there,  and  brings  an  annual  plant 
quickly  forward.]  '  In  the  road  I  saw  a  cuckoo  fed  by  a 
Motacilla  (water  wagtail  ?).  Near  the  coast  was  a  quick- 
sand, caused  here,  as  in  SkSne,  by  the  fine  light  sand 
of  the  soil  being  taken  up  by  the  wind  into  the  air  and 
then  spread  about  upon  the  grass,  which  it  destroys. 
The  road  in  several  parts  lies  close  to  the  seashore. 

( May  23. — After  having  spent  the  night  at  Norma- 
ling,  I  took  a  walk  to  examine  the  neighbourhood,  and 
met  with  a  mineral  spring,  already  observed  by  Mr. 
Peter  Artedi  at  this  his  native  place.  It  appeared  to 
contain  a  great  quantity  of  ochre,  but  seemed  by  the 
taste  too  astringent  to  be  wholesome. 

'  I  observed  on  the  adjacent  shore  that  an  additional 
quantity  of  sand  is  thrown  up  every  year  by  the  sea,  which 
thus  makes  a  rampart  against  its  own  encroachments, 
continually  adding  by  little  and  little  to  the  continent.1 

'  In  proportion  as  I  approached  Westbothland,  the 
height  of  the  mountains,  the  quantity  of  large  stones, 
and  the  extent  of  the  forests  gradually  decreased.  Fir- 
trees,  which  of  late  had  been  of  rare  occurrence,  became 
more  abundant. 

1  Angermanland  is  a  beautiful  province,  and  many  of  its  valleys 
are  very  productive.  The  Angermanelfven,  running  through  its 
whole  territory,  is  the  deepest  river  of  Sweden,  and  may  be  ascended 
by  steamboats  as  far  as  Nyland,  sixty  [English]  miles,  and  by  small 
craft  to  Holm  thirty  miles  farther.'  The  river  is  two  miles  wide  at 
Wedga  beyond  Hernosand. — Du  CHAILLU. 


156     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

<  WESTBOTHLAND. 

'  The  ground  here  is  tolerably  level ;  the  soil  sand, 
or  sometimes  clay.  In  some  places  are  large  tracts  of 
moss.  Thus  the  country  is  by  no  means  fertile,  though 
it  affords  a  good  deal  of  milk.  Barley  is  the  chief  grain 
raised  here.  No  flowers  were  to  be  seen  here — not  even 
the  wood  sorrel,  my  only  consolation  in  Angermanland. 
The  two  sorts  of  cotton-rush  were  now  coming  into 
bloom.  The  dwarf  birch  was  abundant  enough,  but  as 
yet  showed  no  signs  of  catkins  or  leaves.  Throughout 
the  whole  of  this  country  no  ash,  maple,  lime,  elm,  nor 
willow  is  to  be  seen,  much  less  hazel,  oak,  or  beech. 
Towards  evening  I  reached  Roback,  where  I  passed  the 
night. 

f  May  24. — Close  to  Roback  is  a  fine  spacious  mea- 
dow, which  would  be  quite  level  were  it  not  for  the 
hundreds  of  ant-hills  scattered  near  it.  Near  the  road, 
and  very  near  the  rivulet  that  takes  its  course  towards 
the  town  of  UmeS,  are  some  mineral  springs,  abound- 
ing with  ochre,  and  covered  with  a  silvery  pellicle.  I 
conceive  that  Roback  may  have  obtained  its  name  from 
this  red  sediment — from  roc?,  red,  and  back,  a  rivulet.' ! 

Carl  was  ferried  over  to  UmeS 2  by  a  l  brawny  bald 
grey-headed,  grey-coated  Charon,'  just  such  as  Eudbeck 
had  described  to  him. 

1  Not  a  difficult  guess. 

2  « Umea,'  a  little  dirty  old  town,  with  a  remarkably  fine  white 
church,  and  the  largest  prison  I  have  seen  in  the  North. — WHEEL- 
WRIGHT. 


THE  NORTH  SWEDISH  PROVINCES        157 

'  Baron  Grundell,  the  governor  of  the  province,  a 
pattern  of  mildness,  received  me  kindly,  showed  me 
several  curiosities,  and  gave  me  much  interesting  in- 
formation. The  birds  I  saw  here  were  the  crossbill 
(which  cleverly  fed  on  the  cones  of  the  spruce  fir), 
yellowhammers,  swallows,  snow-buntings  and  ortolans. 

*  Ruffs  and  reeves  had  been  in  plenty  this  year. 
In  the  cornfields  lay  hundreds  of  gulls  (Larus  canus)  of 
sky-blue  colour. 

* In  the  garden  the  governor '  [the  pattern  of  mildness] 
'  showed  me  orach,  salad,  and  red  cabbage,1  which  last 
thrives  very  well,  though  the  white  cabbage  will  not  come 
to  perfection  here ;  also  garden  and  winter  cresses,  scurvy- 
grass,  camomile,  radishes,  goosetongue  (Achillea  ptar- 
mica),  rose-campion,  wild-rose,  lovage,  spinach,  onions, 
leeks,  chives,  cucumbers,  columbines,  carnations,  sweet- 
william,  gooseberries,  currants,  the  barberry,  elder, 
guelder-rose,  and  lilac.  Potatoes  here  are  not  larger  than 
poppy-heads ;  tobacco,  managed  with  the  greatest  care, 
and  when  the  season  is  remarkably  favourable,  some- 
times perfects  seed.  Dwarf  French  beans  thrive  pretty 
well,  but  the  climbing  kinds  never  succeed.  Broad 
beans  come  to  perfection ;  but  peas,  though  they  form 
pods,  never  ripen.  Roses,  apples,  pears,  and  plums 
hardly  grow  at  all,  though  cultivated  with  the  greatest 
attention.  Cherries,  apples,  pears,  and  plums  always  fail.2 

1  If  he  had  a  good  cook  for  these  herbs,  this  is,  perhaps,  the 
origin  of  his  designation. 

1  In  UmeS  Du  Chaillu  saw  a  garden  filled  with  flowers,  straw- 


158     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS   WITH  LINNAEUS 

The  people  wear  a  kind  of  shoes,  or  half  boots,  called 
kangor,  easy  in  wearing  and  impenetrable  to  water. 
Those  who  walk  there  may  walk  in  water  up  to  the  tops 
without  wetting  their  feet,  for  the  seams  never  give  way 
as  in  our  common  shoes.  They  only  cost  two  copper 
dollars.  They  are  cut  so  that  not  a  morsel  of  leather 
is  wasted.  Thick  soles  are  here  needless ;  neither  are 
heels  wanted.  Nature,  whom  no  artist  has  yet  been 
able  to  excel,  has  not  given  (high)  heels  to  mankind,  and 
for  this  reason  we  see  the  people  of  Westbothland  trip 
along  as  easily  and  nimbly  in  these  shoes  as  if  they  went 
barefoot. 

£  May  26. — I  took  leave  of  Umea1  and  turned  out  of 
the  main  road  to  the  left,,  my  design  being  to  visit 
Lycksele  Lapmark.  By  this  means  I  missed  the  ad- 
vantage I  had  hitherto  had  at  the  regular  post-houses, 
of  commanding  a  horse  whenever  I  pleased,  which  is  no 
small  advantage  to  a  stranger  travelling  in  Sweden.  It 
now  became  necessary  for  me  to  entreat  in  the  most 
submissive  manner  when  I  stood  in  need  of  this  useful 
animal.  The  road  grew  more  and  more  narrow  and 
bad,  so  that  my  horse  went  stumbling  along  at  almost 
every  step  among  great  stones  at  the  hazard  of  my  life. 
My  path  was  so  narrow  and  intricate  along  so  many  by- 
ways that  nothing  human  could  have  followed  my  track. 
In  this  dreary  wilderness  I  began  to  feel  very  solitary 

berries,  raspberries,  currant  bushes,  peas,  carrots,  and  potatoes,  with 
a  stretch  of  green  fields  beyond.  Cauliflowers,  cabbage,  and  lettuce 
had  headed,  peas  were  bearing  fully,  and  melons  were  growing 
under  glass. 


THE  NORTH  SWEDISH  PROVINCES        159 

and  to  long  earnestly  for  a  companion.  The  mere 
exercise  of  a  trotting-horse  in  a  good  road,  to  set  the 
heart  and  spirits  at  liberty,  would  have  been  preferable 
to  the  slow  and  tedious  mode  of  travelling  which  I  was 
doomed  to  experience.  The  few  inhabitants  I  met  with 
had  a  foreign  accent,  and  always  concluded  their  sen- 
tences with  an  adjective.  Here  grew  a  willow  l  very 
hairy  all  over ;  its  catkins  were  for  the  most  part 
advanced  and  faded. 

'  In  the  evening  I  arrived  at  Jamtboht,  where  some 
women  were  sitting  employed  in  cutting  the  bark  of  the 
aspen  tree  into  small  pieces  scarcely  an  inch  long  and  not 
half  so  broad.  The  bark  is  stript  from  the  tree  just  when 
the  leaves  begin  to  sprout,  and  laid  up  in  a  place  under 
the  roof  of  a  house  till  autumn  or  the  following  spring, 
when  it  is  cut  up  to  serve  as  good  for  cows,  goats,  and 
sheep,  instead  of  hay,  a  very  scarce  article  in  these 
parts,  for  the  fields  consist  principally  of  marshy  tracts 
with  coarse  herbage.  On  my  inquiring  what  I  could 
have  for  supper  they  set  before  me  the  breast  of  a  cock 
of  the  wood  (Tetrao  Urogallus),  which  had  been  shot 
and  dressed  some  time  the  preceding  year.  Its  aspect 
was  not  inviting,  and  I  imagined  the  flavour  would 
be  not  much  better,  but  I  was  mistaken.  The  taste 
proved  delicious,  and  I  wondered  at  the  ignorance  of 
those  who,  having  more  fowls  than  they  know  how 
to  dispose  of,  suffer  many  of  them  to  be  quite  spoiled, 
as  often  happens  at  Stockholm.  After  the  breast  is 
1  Sallx  lanata. 


160     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNALUS 

plucked,  separated  from  the  other  parts  of  the  bird,  and 
cleaned,  a  gash  is  cut  longitudinally  on  each  side  of  the 
breast-bone  quite  through  to  the  bottom,  and  two  others 
parallel  to  it  a  little  farther  off,  so  that  the  inside  of  the 
flesh  is  laid  open  in  order  that  it  may  be  thoroughly 
dressed.  The  whole  is  first  salted  with  fine  salt  for 
several  days.  Afterwards  a  small  quantity  of  flour  is 
strewed  on  the  under  side  to  prevent  its  sticking,  and 
then  it  is  put  into  an  oven  to  be  gradually  dried. 
When  done  it  is  hung  up  in  the  roof  of  the  house,  to 
be  kept  till  wanted,  where  it  would  continue  perfectly 
good  even  for  three  years  if  it  were  necessary  to  pre- 
serve it  so  long. 

'It  rained  so  violently  that  I  could  not  continue 
my  journey  that  evening,  and  was  therefore  obliged  to 
pass  the  night  at  this  place.  The  pillows  of  my  bed 
were  stuffed  with  reindeer's  hair  instead  of  feathers. 
Under  the  sheet  was  the  hide  of  a  reindeer  with  the 
hair  on,  the  hairy  side  uppermost,  on  which  people  told 
me  I  should  lie  very  soft.  They  use  willow  bark  for 
tanning  the  leather. 

1  May  27. — At  noon  I  pursued  the  same  bad  road  as 
yesterday — the  worst  road  I  ever  saw,  made  of  stones 
piled  on  stones  among  large  entangled  roots  of  trees. 
The  frost,  which  had  just  left  the  ground,  made  matters 
worse.  All  the  elements  were  against  me.  The 
branches  of  the  trees  hung  down  before  my  eyes,  loaded 
with  raindrops  in  every  direction.  Wherever  any 
young  birches  appeared  they  were  bent  down  to  the 


THE  NORTH  SWEDISH  PROVINCES        161 

earth '  [across  the  path], '  so  that  it  was  difficult  to  pass 
them.  The  aged  pines,  which  for  so  many  seasons  had 
raised  their  proud  tops  above  the  rest  of  the  forest, 
overthrown  by  the  wrath  of  Juno  (!),  lay  prostrate  in 
my  way.  The  rivulets,  which  traversed  the  country  in 
various  directions,  were  very  deep,  and  the  bridges  over 
them  so  decayed  and  ruinous  that  it  was  at  the  peril 
of  one's  neck  to  pass  them  on  a  stumbling  horse. 

Many  persons  had  confidently  assured  me  that  it 
was  absolutely  impossible  to  travel  to  Lycksele  in  the 
summer  season ;  but  I  had  always  comforted  myself  with 
the  saying  of  Solomon  (?)  that  '  nothing  is  impossible 
under  the  sun.'  However,  I  found  that  if  patience  be 
requisite  anywhere,  it  is  in  this  place.  To  complete 
my  distress,  I  had  a  horse  whose  saddle  was  not  stuffed, 
and  instead  of  a  bridle  I  had  only  a  rope,  which  was 
tied  to  the  animal's  under  jaw.  Here  and  there  in 
the  heart  of  the  forest  were  level  heathy  spots,  as  even 
as  if  they  had  been  made  so  by  a  line,  consisting  of 
barren  sand,  on  which  grew  a  few  straggling  firs  and 
some  scattered  plants  of  ling.  Some  places  afforded 
the  perforated  coralline  lichen  (L.  uncialis),  which  the 
inhabitants  in  rainy  weather,  when  it  is  tough,  rake 
together  in  large  heaps  and  carry  home  for  the  winter 
provender  of  their  cattle.  These  sandy  spots,  about  a 
mile  '  [Swedish]  <  in  extent,  were  encompassed  as  it  were 
with  a  rampart  or  very  steep  bank  fifteen  or  twenty 
ells  in  height,  so  nearly  perpendicular  that  it  could  not 
be  ascended  or  descended  without  extreme  difficulty. 

VOL.  I.  M 


162     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

It  often  happened  that  above  one  of  these  sandy 
heaths  lay  another  equally  barren.  The  interstices  of 
the  country  between  these  embanked  heaths  were 
occupied  by  water,  rocks,  and  marshes,  producing 
abundance  of  firs,  intermixed  with  some  birches,  all 
covered  with  black  and  white  filamentous  lichens.  The 
few  small  juniper  bushes  were  all  close  pressed  to  the 
ground.  At  Abacken,  and  on  the  road  beyond  it  for  a 
considerable  way,  some  loose  ice  still  remained,  which 
surprised  me  much  at  this  season  of  the  year  ; 1  yet  I 
recollected  I  had  but  a  week  before  met  with  snow  near 
Mount  Skula. 

1  Nothing  but  water  can  be  had  to  drink.  Against 
the  walls  of  the  houses  an  agaric,  shaped  like  a 
horse's  hoof,2  was  hung  up  to  serve  as  a  pincushion.  As 
a  protection  against  rain  the  people  wear  a  broad  hori- 
zontal collar  made  of  birch  bark,  fastened  round  the 
neck  with  pins. 

1  The  women  wash  their  houses  with  a  kind  of 
brush  made  of  twigs  of  spruce  fir  which  they  tie  to  the 
right  foot  and  scrub  the  floor  with  it.  The  peasants, 
instead  of  tobacco,  smoke  the  buds  of  hops,  or  sometimes 
juniper  berries  or  the  juniper  bark. 

'  In  the  evening  I  reached  Texnas  in  the  parish  of 
Umea1.  Seven  miles '  [Swedish]  c  distant  from  this  place 
is  the  church,  the  road  to  which  is  execrable,  so  that 
the  people  are  obliged  to  set  out  on  Friday  morning 
to  get  to  church  on  Sunday.  On  this  account  they  can 

1  This  is  June  in  the  New  Style.  z  Boletus  igniarius. 


THE  NORTH  SWEDISH  PROVINCES        163 

seldom  attend  Divine  service,  except  on  fast  days,  and 
Whitsunday,  Easter,  and  Christmas  days.  Timber  for 
the  purpose  of  building  a  church  here  was  brought  so 
long  ago  as  the  time  of  the  late  Abraham  Lindelius ; l 
but  it  has  lain  till  it  is  rotten. 

'  May  28. — I  left  Texnas  and  proceeded  to  Genom, 
where  I  was  obliged  to  stay  till  next  day,  as  there  is  no 
conveyance  but  by  water  to  Lycksele,  and  the  wind  blew 
very  hard.'  Here  he  saw  a  beaver,  which  he  describes. 

'  May  29. — Very  early  in  the  morning  I  quitted 
Genom  in  a  haep,  or  small  boat,  proceeding  along  the 
western  branch  of  the  UmeS  River.  When  the  sun 
rose  nothing  could  be  more  pleasant  than  the  view  of 
this  clear  unruffled  stream,  neither  contaminated  by 
floods  nor  disturbed  by  the  breath  of  ^Eolus.  All  along 
its  translucent  margin  the  forests  which  dotted  its  banks 
were  reflected  like  another  landscape  in  the  water.  On 
both  sides  were  large  level  heaths  guarded  by  steep 
ramparts  towards  the  river,  and  these  were  embellished 
with  plants  and  bushes,  the  whole  reversed  in  the  water, 
appearing  to  great  advantage.  The  huge  pines,  which 
had  hitherto  braved  Neptune's  power,  smiled  with  a 
fictitious  shadow  in  the  stream.  Neptune,  however,  in 
alliance  with  ^Eolus,  had  already  triumphed  over  many 
of  their  companions :  the  former  by  attacking  their 
roots,  while  the  latter  had  demolished  their  branches. 

'  Close  to  the  shore  were  many  ringed  plovers  and 
sandpipers.'      [He   saw  also   owls,  white   swans,   and 
1  Was  this  an  ancestor  of  Linnaeus  ? 

M  2 


1 64     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

cranes.]  c  The  peasant  who  was  my  rower  and  com- 
panion had  placed  about  thirty  small  nets  along  the 
shore,  in  which  he  caught  pike.  A  dried  pike  of  20 
Ibs.  weight  is  sold  for  a  dollar  and  five  marks,  silver 
coin.  In  one  of  the  nets  he  found  a  large  male  goosander 
caught. 

'  The  river  along  which  we  had  rowed  for  nearly 
three  miles '  [S.],  '  and  which  had  hitherto  been  easily 
navigable,  now  threatened  us  with  interruptions  from 
small  shelves  forming  cascades,  and  at  length  we  came 
to  three  of  these,  very  near  each  other,  which  were  ab- 
solutely impassable.  One  of  them  is  called  the  water- 
fall of  Tuken.  My  companion,  after  committing  all 
my  property  to  my  care,  laid  his  knapsack  on  his  back 
and  turning  the  boat  bottom  upwards,  placed  the  two 
oars  longitudinally,  so  as  to  cross  the  seats.  These 
rested  on  his  arms  as  he  carried  his  boat  over  his  head, 
and  thus  he  scampered  away  over  hills  and  valleys,  so 
that  the  Devil  himself  could  not  have  come  up  with 
him.'  Linnaeus  made  a  sketch  of  the  boat,  which  was 
in  'length  12  feet,  breadth  5  feet,  depth  2  feet.  The 
four  planks  which  formed  each  of  its  sides  were  of  root 
of  spruce  fir ;  the  two  transverse  seats  were  of  branches 
of  the  same  tree ;  the  seams  were  secured  obliquely 
with  cord  as  thick  as  a  goose-quill.'  He  gives  a 
humorous  sketch  of  the  man  running  off  with  the  boat, 
half  covered  with  it.  '  Now  and  then  some  poplars  are 
to  be  seen.  The  forest  was  rendered  pleasant  by  the 
tender  leaves  of  the  birch,  more  advanced  than  any  I  had 


THE  NORTH  SWEDISH  PROVINCES        165 

hitherto  met  with.  Among  the  plants  were  golden  rod, 
marsh  marigold,  and  the  Linncea  borealis ;  among  birds, 
the  ringed  plover,  the  redwing,  the  tufted  duck,  and  the 
black-throated  diver.  A  little  before  we  reached  the 
church  of  Lycksele,  a  fourth  waterfall  presented  itself. 
This  is  more  considerable  than  the  preceding,  and  falls 
over  a  rock.  On  its  brink  the  curate  had  erected  a 
mill.  Some  islands  of  considerable  size  are  seen  in 
the  river  as  we  approach  this  waterfall.  The  adjoin- 
ing mountain  is  formed  of  a  mixed  spar,  and  extends  a 
good  way  to  the  right,  being  in  one  part  very  lofty, 
and  perpendicular,  like  a  vast  wall,  towards  the  shore. 
At  eight  in  the  evening  I  arrived  at  the  hospitable 
dwelling  of  Mr.  Oladron,1  the  curate  of  Lycksele,  who, 
as  well  as  his  wife,  received  me  with  great  kindness. 
They  at  first  advised  me  to  stay  with  them  till  the  next 
fast  day,  the  Laplanders  not  being  implicitly  to  be 
trusted,  and  presenting  their  firearms  at  any  stranger 
who  comes  upon  them  unawares  or  without  some  re- 
commendation. In  the  morning  (May  30),  however, 
my  hosts  changed  their  opinion,  being  apprehensive 
of  my  journey  being  impeded  by  floods  if  I  delayed  it.' 
Here  he  gives  drawings  and  descriptions  of  the  para- 
phernalia used  in  driving  the  reindeer ;  the  ornaments 
of  the  saddlery,  harness,  and  so  forth.  l  The  pasture- 
ground  near  the  parsonage  of  Lycksele  was  very  poor, 
but  quite  the  reverse  about  quarter  of  a  mile  distant. 

1  Or  Pastor  Gran.  In  the  abridged  account  of  his  tour,  drawn 
up  as  a  report  to  the  Academy,  this  name  is  given.  Possibly  the 
name  was  Olaf  Gran. 


166     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN^US 

Here  the  butter  was  remarkable  for  its  fine  yellow 
colour,  approaching  almost  to  a  reddish  or  saffron  hue ; 
wherever  the  birch  abounded  the  pasture-ground  was 
of  the  best  quality.  In  the  school  here  were  only 
eight  scholars.  The  church  was  in  a  miserable  state. 

'At  Whitsuntide  this  year  no  Laplanders  were  at 
church,  the  pike  happening  to  spawn  just  at  that 
time.  This  fishery  constitutes  the  chief  trade  of  these 
people,  and  they  were  therefore,  now,  for  the  most  part 
dispersed  among  the  Alps,  each  in  his  own  tract,  in 
pursuit  of  this  object.  Divine  service  being  over,  on 
May  31  I  left  Lycksele  in  order  to  proceed  towards 
Sorsele.' 

In  this  tour  he  describes  the  Linncea  borealis.  His 
own  '  neglected  fate  and  early  maturity  are  said  to  be 
typified  by  it.'  He  gathered  it  at  Lycksele  on  May  29, 
and  chose  it  for  his  own  especial  flower.  Hitherto  this 
elegant  and  singular  little  plant  had  been  called  Cam- 
panula serpyllifolia,  thyme-leaved  bell-flower;  but 
Linnaeus,  prosecuting  the  study  of  vegetables  on  his 
new  principle,1  soon  found  this  to  constitute  a  new 
genus.  He  reserved  the  idea,  keeping  it  warm  in  his 
heart,  till  his  discoveries  and  publications  had  entitled 
him  to  botanical  commemoration,  and  his  friend  Grono- 
vius,  in  due  time,  with  his  concurrence,  undertook  to 
make  this  genus  known  to  the  world.  It  was  published 
by  Linnaeus  himself  in  the c  Genera  Plantarum,'  1 737,  and 
in  the  same  year  in  the  '  Flora  Lapponica,'  with  a  plate. 

1  Smith. 


THE  NORTH  SWEDISH  PROVINCES        167 

It  is  mentioned  in  the  '  Critica  Botanica '  as  '  an  humble, 
despised,  and  neglected  Lapland  plant,  flowering  at  an 
early  age.'  This  he  regarded  as  typical  of  himself. 

Linncea  borealis  grows  in  shady  places  in  Scotland, 
Switzerland,  Canada,  &c.,  and  was  cultivated  (after 
Linnseus  became  famous)  in  the  Jardin  du  Roi  in  Paris. 
The  plant  has  a  slight  perfume  in  the  evening.  It  is 
said  to  be  specific  against  gout  and  rheumatism ;  though 
Linnseus,  who  suffered  from  these  complaints,  never 
mentions  the  plant  as  medicinal. 

Fries l  speaks  of  the  Linnsea  as  '  one  of  the  prettiest 
of  plants,  which  by  its  colours  and  its  exquisite  vanilla 
perfume  enlivens  the  dark  pine  woods  of  Sweden.' 

At  this  place  too,  Lycksele,  he  seems  to  have  adopted 
the  motto  Tantus  amor  florum,  i  Thus  great  is  the  love 
of  flowers.' 

1  The  present  Director  of  the  Botanical  Garden  at  Upsala. 


1 68     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS   WITH  LINNAEUS 


CHAPTER  VII. 

1  LACHESIS  LAPPONICA  ' :  JOURNEY  THROUGH  LAPLAND,  1731, 
MAY   TO   NOVEMBER. 

Men  there  are  whose  patient  minds, 

In  one  object  centred, 
Wait,  till  through  their  darkened  blinds 

Truth  has  burst  and  entered. 
Then,  that  ray  so  barely  caught 

Joyfully  absorbing, 
They  behold  the  realms  of  Thought 

Into  Science  orbing. 

Men  there  are  whose  ambient  souls, 

In  rapt  Intuition, 
Seize  Creation  as  it  rolls, 

Whole,  without  partition. — J.  C.  MAXWELL. 

1  WE  here  behold,  not  the  awful  preceptor  of  the 
learned  world  in  his  professorial  chair,  but  a  youthful 
inexperienced  student  full  of  ardour  and  curiosity,  such 
as  we  ourselves  have  been.' *  This  Lapland  journey  was 
the  first  and  most  difficult  of  the  six  travels  of  Lin- 
naeus :  a  sort  of  labours  of  Hercules.  Even  now  the 
young  inquirer  asks  concerning  Lapland  :  f  Haven't  you 
got  to  eat  bears'  grease  there  always  ? '  To  know  the 
country  better  is  to  find  that  there  is  very  little  bears' 
1  Sir  J.  E.  Smith. 


'LACHESIS  LAPPONICA*  169 

grease  to  be  had.  A  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago, 
when  Linnaeus  travelled,  the  country  was  not  known  at 
all ;  Rudbeck's  memorials  were  destroyed  and  his  son's 
memory  was  failing.  The  utmost  that  was  known  of 
Lapland  had  been  learnt  by  Linnaeus  sitting  at  the  feet  of 
the  younger  Rudbeck  before  his  memory  failed  him  alto- 
gether. It  was  a  Robinson-Crusoe-like  form  of  journey ; 
for  not  only  did  Carl  travel  alone,  but  he  met  with  the 
scantiest  of  population,  in  miles  and  miles  of  loneliness 
studded  with  here  and  there  a  cottage.  Excepting  in 
the  larger  towns  and  on  board  the  steamers,  the  popula- 
tion of  Sweden  is  still  everywhere  '  understood  but  not 
exprest.'  Here  in  Lapmark  it  is  not  even  understood : 
the  country  is  one  vast  emptiness,  like  the  rest  of  the 
world  in  the  days  of  Paradise;  peopled  only  by  the 
1  lovely  phantoms  of  the  waterfalls.' 

The  intrepid  hardy-bred  Linnaeus,  with  his  un- 
tiring energy,  was  the  very  man  to  undertake  a  journey 
of  discovery  like  this.  He  observed  everything :  had 
an  eager  appetite  for  all  forms  of  nature.  His  indomit- 
able industry  was  well  suited  to  that  interminable  Lap- 
land day  'in  which  one  loses  all  hope  that  the  stars 
and  quiet  will  ever  come.'  It  only  enlarged  his  oppor- 
tunities to  see  'the  dawn  shine  through  the  whole 
night  till  it  be  morning.'  To  be  out  and  away  into  the 
wide  open,  was  his  longing  desire.  He  had  studied 
books  enough  ;  now  for  the  mind's  liberty,  now  to  range 
through  broad  nature.  To  educate  is  to  set  free  the 
mind,  new  sculptured,  from  its  marble  block.  Truly  this 


1 70     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LIN N^  US 

journey  was  broad  enough.  Round  Lapland,  skirting 
the  boundaries  of  Norway,  he  returned  to  Upsala  by 
the  eastern  side  of  the  Bothnian  Gulf,  having  in  five 
months  travelled  nearly  4,000  English  miles,  much  of 
it  on  foot.  That  many  modern  travellers  and  sports- 
men do  the  same  is  only  to  say  that  many  people  go 
to  America  and  many  view  the  Pacific  '  from  a  peak 
in  Darien ' ;  but  for  all  that  there  is  but  one  Colum- 
bus and  one  Cortez.  Linnseus's  journey  is  as  good  as 
a  guide-book  even  now,  for  the  face  of  the  country  is 
unchanged,  and  he  is  as  clearly  descriptive  as  Baedeker 
or  Murray.  Even  Du  Chaillu  scarcely  reads  clearer, 
fuller,  or  more  modern.  I  select  such  portions  from  the 
two  volumes  as  best  illustrate  his  character  and  history. 
1  May  31. — The  Divine  service  of  this  day  being  over 
I  left  Lycksele  for  Sorsele,  taking  with  me  only  three 
loaves  of  bread  and  some  reindeer  tongues  by  way  of 
provision.  I  presumed  that  I  should  procure  among 
the  Laplanders  reindeer-flesh,  cheese,  milk,  fish,  fowl, 
&c.  Nor  indeed  could  I  well  take  anything  more  at 
present ;  for  whenever  we  came  at  any  shoals  or  falls  in 
the  river  my  companion  took  our  boat  on  his  head  over 
mountains  and  valleys,  so  that  I  had  not  only  my  own 
luggage  to  carry  but  my  guide's  likewise.  At  one 
place,  close  to  the  river,  was  a  Laplander's  shop  raised 
on  a  round  pole  as  high  as  a  tall  man  and  as  thick  as 
one's  arm.  This  pole  supported  a  horizontal  beam, 
with  two  cross-pieces,  which  together  formed  the  foun- 
dation of  the  edifice.  The  walls  are  very  thin ;  the 


« LACHESIS  LAPPONICA  '  171 

ceiling  is  of  birch  bark,  with  a  roof  of  wood  and  stone 
above  it.  It  is  scarcely  possible  to  conceive  how  the 
owner  can  creep  into  this  building,  the  door  being  so 
small,  and  wherein  he  is  like  a  bird  in  a  tree.  The 
birch  bark  is  extremely  useful  to  the  Laplanders :  they 
make  their  plates  or  trenchers  of  it,  and  boat-scoops, 
shoes,  tubs  to  salt  fish  in,  and  baskets.  They  also  tan 
their  leather  with  birch  bark,  like  the  Russians.1 

t  June  1 . — We  pursued  our  journey  by  water  with 
considerable  labour  and  difficulty  all  night  long — if  it 
might  be  called  night,  which  was  as  light  as  day,  the 
sun  disappearing  for  about  half  an  hour  only,  and  the 
temperature  of  the  air  being  rather  cold.  Fir  trees 
were  thinly  scattered,  but  they  were  extremely  lofty. 
Here  were  spacious  tracts  producing  the  finest  timber 
I  ever  beheld.  The  ground  was  covered  with  ling,  red 
whortleberries,2  and  mosses.  In  the  low  grounds  grew 
smaller  firs,  amongst  abundance  of  birch,  and  red 
whortleberries,  which  grew  larger  as  he  travelled  north- 
ward, as  well  as  the  common  black  kind.3  On  the  dry 
hills,  which  most  abounded  with  large  pines,  the  finest 
timber  was  strewed  around,  felled  by  the  force  of  the 
tempests.  The  Laplanders  formed  their  huts  of  these. 
The  huts  were  at  this  time  mostly  deserted.  We  found 
guides  in  various  Laplanders,  and  proceeded  up  the 


1  The  oil  from  this  bark  gives  the  peculiar  odour  to  Russia  leather. 

2  Vaccinium  Vitis  Idcea.    Idaean  vine,  as  Scott  called  it  in  the 
*  Lady  of  the  Lake.'    Idaean,  relating  to  Mount  Ida  in  Crete. 

*  Vaccinium  Myrtillv/s. 


172     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

Umea1  River,  turning  off  to  the  right  at  the  Juita 
branch.  Here  I  found  crake-berries,1  as  large  as  the 
black  bilberry,  and  herb  Paris.  But  what  most  sur- 
prised and  pleased  me  was  the  little  round-leaved 
yellow  violet 2  described  by  Morrison,  which  had  not 
before  been  observed  in  Sweden. 

'  I  shall  not  dwell  on  the  inconveniences  I  had  to 
undergo  every  time  we  had  to  seek  for  any  of*  the 
Laplanders,  while  I  was  quite  destitute  of  provisions. 
These  poor  people  themselves  had  at  this  season  no- 
thing but  fish  to  eat,  as  they  had  not  yet  begun  to 
slaughter  their  reindeer  nor  to  go  a-fowling ;  neither 
had  they  as  yet  milked  any  of  their  reindeer. 

'  June  2. — We  were  obliged  to  leave  our  boat ;  the 
river  being  so  rapid,  and  so  much  impeded  by  falls, 
that  we  were  obliged  to  undertake  a  walk  of  a  few 
miles '  [Swedish]  '  further,  which  I  was  told  would  bring 
us  to  a  more  navigable  stream.  A  fen  or  marsh  lay 
before  us,  seemingly  half  a  mile '  [Swedish]  '  broad, 
which  we  had  to  to  cross.  At  every  step  the  water  was 
above  our  knees,  and  ice  was  at  the  bottom.  Where  the 
frost  was  quite  gone  we  often  sunk  still  deeper,  some- 
times to  the  waist.  If  we  thought  to  find  footing  on 
some  grassy  tuft  it  proved  treacherous  and  only  sunk 
us  lower.  Sometimes  we  came  where  no  bottom  was 
to  be  felt,  and  had  to  measure  back  our  weary  steps. 
Our  half-boots  were  filled  with  the  coldest  water. 
When  we  had  traversed  this  marsh  we  sought  in  vain 
1  Empetrum  nigrum.  *  Viola  Uflora. 


'LACHES IS  LAPPONICA*  173 

for  any  human  creature,  and  were  therefore  under  the 
necessity,  a  little  further  on,  of  crossing  (in  pursuit  of 
my  new  Lapland  guide)  another  bog  still  worse  than 
the  former,  and  a  mile '  [Swedish]  '  in  extent.  I  know 
not  what  I  would  not  rather  have  undertaken  than  to 
pass  this  place,  especially  as  it  blew  and  rained  vio- 
lently. We  reposed  ourselves  about  six  in  the  morning, 
wrung  the  water  out  of  our  clothes,  while  the  cold 
north  wind  parched  us  as  much  on  one  side  as  the  fire 
we  lighted  scorched  us  on  the  other,  and  the  gnats  kept 
inflicting  their  stings.  I  had  now  my  fill  of  travelling. 
These  marshes  are  called  stygx.  The  Styx  of  the  poets 
could  not  exceed  them  in  horror.  We  now  directed 
our  steps  to  the  desert  of  Lapmark,  not  knowing  where 
we  went '  [in  the  diary  account  of  his  tour  he  calls  this 
place  Olycksmyran — the  unlucky  marsh].  'My  Lap- 
lander, after  a  weary  search,  brought  a  woman  of  very 
diminutive  stature  to  see  me,  who  addressed  me  in  Swed- 
ish in  the  following  terms  :  "0  thou  poor  man  !  what 
hard  destiny  can  have  brought  thee  hither,  to  a  place 
never  visited  by  anyone  before  ?  This  is  the  first  time 
I  ever  beheld  a  stranger.  Thou  miserable  creature  ! 
How  didst  thou  come,  and  whither  wilt  thou  go  ?  "  I 
inquired  how  far  it  was  to  Sorsele.  "  That  we  do  not 
know,"  replied  she,  "  but  in  the  present  state  of  the 
roads  it  is  at  least  seven  days'  journey  from  hence,  as 
my  husband  has  told  me.'  There  was  no  boat  to  be 
had  on  the  next  river.  It  was  not  possible  to  proceed 
further  in  this  direction,  and  we  had  to  return  by  the 


174     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

horrible  way  we  came.  The  good  woman  conducted  us  to 
a  side  path,  whereby  we  avoided  about  half  a  mile' 
[Swedish]  '  of  the  way  we  had  come.  In  a  shed  sup- 
ported by  four  posts  hung  some  clothes  and  a  small  rein- 
deer cheese,  which  I  wished  to  purchase.  The  woman 
refused,  as  she  wanted  it  herself;  but  my  hunger  was 
such  that  I  could  not  lose  sight  of  this  cheese.  "  I 
have  no  desire,"  she  said,  "  that  thou  shouldst  die 
in  my  country  for  want  of  food,"  and  at  last  she  let 
me  buy  it.'  Even  she  was  struck  with  his  wretched 
appearance.1  '  We  continued  our  voyage  down  the 
river,  being  carried  with  great  velocity  by  the  current, 
the  whole  of  the  next  day.  At  length  coming  to  an 
island,  the  Laplander  failed  in  his  attempt  to  weather  it, 
and  the  boat,  striking  against  a  rock,  was  dashed  to 
pieces.  We  both  found  ourselves  in  the  water.  My 
conductor  lost  not  only  his  boat,  but  a  hatchet  and 
a  pike.  I  lost  two  stuffed  birds — one  a  large  heron, 
black,  with  a  white  breast  ;  the  other  a  red  bird,  or 
gvousachj  as  the  Laplanders  call  it.2  With  difficulty 
we  got  from  this  island  to  the  shore.3  The  sun  shone 
warm,  and  after  having  wrung  the  water  out  of  our 
clothes  we  walked  on  for  about  a  mile '  [Swedish]  '  along 
the  bank  of  the  river,  amongst  thickets  and  bogs, 
till  we  came  in  sight  of  a  colonist  who  was  fishing  for 

1  « He  actilly  looked  as  if  had  been  picked  off  a  rock  at  sea  and 
dragged  through  a  gimlet-hole.'— S.  SLICK. 

2  Corvus  infaustus. 

8  He  thinks  first  of  the  loss  of  the  birds ;  his  own  rescue  is  a 
minor  detail. 


^LACHESIS  LAPPONICA1  175 

pike.  He  gave  me  some  provision,  and  conducted  me 
to  Grano,  where  I  only  stopped  to  rest  one  night,  and 
on  the  evening  of  June  8  arrived  at  Umea*.  These 
poor  people  roast  their  fish  thoroughly,  and  boil  it 
better  and  longer  than  ever  I  saw  practised  before. 
They  know  no  other  soup  or  spoon-meat  than  the  water 
in  which  their  fish  has  been  boiled.  I  could  not  ob- 
serve that  the  nights  were  at  all  less  light  than  the 
days,  except  when  the  sun  was  clouded.  On  the  banks 
of  the  river,  where  fragments  are  to  be  found  of 
all  the  productions  of  the  mountains,  I  met  with  silver 
ore. 

1  A  Laplander,  whose  family  consists  of  four  persons, 
including  himself,  when  he  has  no  other  meat,  kills  a 
reindeer  every  week,  three  of  which  are  equal  to  an  ox  ; 
he  consequently  consumes  about  thirty  of  those  animals 
in  the  course  of  the  winter,  which  are  equal  to  ten  oxen, 
whereas  a  single  ox  is  sufficient  for  a  Swedish  peasant. 
The  bountiful  provision  of  nature  is  evinced  in  provid- 
ing mankind  with  bed  and  bedding  even  in  this  savage 
wilderness.  The  great  hair  moss  l  is  used  for  this  pur- 
pose. They  choose  the  starry-headed  plants,  out  of  the 
tufts  of  which  they  cut  a  surface  as  large  as  they  please 
for  a  bed  and  bolster,  separating  it  from  the  earth  be- 
neath. This  mossy  cushion  is  very  soft  and  elastic,  not 
growing  hard  by  pressure ;  and  if  a  similar  portion  of  it 
be  made  to  serve  as  a  coverlet,  nothing  can  be  more 
warm  and  comfortable.  They  fold  this  bed  together, 
1  Polytrichum  commune. 


176     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN&US 

tying  it  up  into  a  roll  that  may  be  grasped  by  a  man's 
arms,  which,  if  necessary,  they  carry  with  them  to  the 
place  where  they  mean  to  sleep  the  night  following.  If 
it  becomes  too  dry  and  compressed,  its  elasticity  is  re- 
stored by  a  little  moisture. 

1  June  12. — I  took  my  departure  (from  Umea1)  very 
early  in  the  misty  morning.  The  sun  appeared  quite 
dim,  wading,  as  it  were,  through  the  clouds.  Andro- 
meda polifolia  was  at  that  time  in  its  highest  beauty, 
decorating  the  marshy  grounds.  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 ; l  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  think- 
ing of  Andromeda  as  described  by  the  poets,  which 
seemed  so  applicable  to  the  plant  before  me,  that  if 
these  writers  had  had  it  in  view  they  could  scarcely 
have  conceived  a  more  apposite  fable.  This  plant  is 
always  fixed  on  some  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  plants ;  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  blush- 
1  A  Swede  can  judge  of  fine  complexions. 


1  LACHES  IS  LAPP  0  NIC A>  177 

ing  face  through  excessive  affliction,  so  does  the  rosy- 
coloured  flower  hang  its  head,  growing  paler  and  paler 
until  it  withers  away.  Hence,  as  this  plant  forms  a  new 
genus,  I  have  chosen  for  it  the  name  of  Andromeda.1 

'All  the  woods  and  copses  by  the  way  abounded 
with  butterflies  of  the  fritillary  tribe  without  silver 
spots.  An  elegant  little  blackish  butterfly,  besprinkled 
with  snow-white  spots  like  rings,  smooth  and  lustrous  on 
the  under  side,  was  very  plentiful  in  the  paths.  The 
great  dragon-fly,  with  two  flat  lobes  at  its  tail,  and 
another  species  with  blue  wings,  were  also  common. 

4  The  poorer  Laplanders  rock  their  infants  on 
branches  of  trees.2  In  the  part  of  the  country  where 
I  was  now  travelling  the  cradles  rock  vertically,  or  from 
head  to  foot. 

'I  now  entered  the  territory  of  Pitea".  Here  I 
met  with  kind  entertainment  from  Mr.  Solan der,  the 
principal  clergyman  of  the  place.' 3  [He  shot  and 
sketched  a  Striae  ulula,  which  was  too  much  damaged 
to  allow  of  stuffing.]  ;  Just  at  sunset  on  June  151 
reached  the  town  of  Old  PiteS,  having  crossed  the 
broad  river  in  a  ferry  boat.  Immediately  on  entering 
the  town  I  procured  a  lodging,  but  had  not  been  long 
in  bed  before  I  perceived  a  glare  of  light  on  the  wall  of 

1  Linnaeus  has  carried  the  fanciful  analogy  farther  in  his  Flora 
Lapponica :  '  At  length  comes  Perseus  in  the  shape  of  Summer,  dries 
up  the  surrounding  water,  and  destroys  the  monsters,  rendering  the 
damsel  a  fruitful  mother,  who  then  carries  her  head  (the  capsule) 
erect.' 

2  '  Hushaby,  baby,  on  the  tree-top.' 

*  Father  of  Dr.  Solander  the  naturalist. 
VOL.  I.  N 


i;8     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN^US 

my  chamber.  I  was  alarmed  with  the  idea  of  fire,  but 
on  looking  out  of  the  window  saw  the  sun  rising,  per- 
fectly red,  which  I  did  not  expect  would  take  place  so 
soon.  The  cock  crowed,  the  birds  began  to  sing,  and 
sleep  was  banished  from  my  eyelids.  Near  the  new 
town  of  PiteS,  close  to  the  shore,  grew  the  round- 
leaved  water- violet,1  with  perfectly  snow-white  flowers. 
'  June  19. — I  went  out  to  sea  in  a  boat  for  some 
miles  '  [Swedish]  '  to  explore  the  neighbouring  coast  and 
islands,  and  returned  at  length  to  the  new  town.  In  the 
island  of  Longoen,  three  miles'  [S]  'from  Old  PiteS,  I 
was  lucky  enough  to  find  growing  under  a  spruce  fir  the 
coral-rooted  orchis  (Ophrys  corallorrhiza)  in  full  bloom. 
It  is  a  very  rare  plant.  I  proceeded  to  LuleS,  being 
desirous  of  reaching  the  alps  of  Lulean  Lapland  in  time 
enough  to  see  the  midnight  sun,  which  is  seen  to  greater 
advantage  there  than  at  Tornea3.  The  new  town  of  LuleS 
is  very  small,  situated  on  a  peninsula  encompassed  by 
a  kind  of  bay.  The  soil  is  barren.  Indeed  the  slight 
eminence  the  town  stands  on  is  a  mere  heap  of  stones, 
with  sea-sand  in  their  interstices.  It  seems  as  if  the 
sea  had  carried  away  all  the  earth,  and,  like  a  beast  of 
prey,  had  left  nothing  but  the  bones,  throwing  sand 
over  them  to  conceal  its  ravages.  As  no  horse  was  to 
be  procured  in  the  whole  place,  I  proceeded  by  sea  to 
Old  LuleS,  half  a  mile '  [Swedish]  '  distant.  Here  the 
curious  kind  of  grass  2  which  is  called  in  Sm&land  "  old 
man's  beard  "  is  known  by  the  name  of  Lapp-heir ,  "  Lap- 
1  Viola  jjalustris.  2  Nardus  strict  a. 


<LACHESIS  LAPPONICA*  179 

lander's  hair."  It  was  now  in  blossom.  There  is  great 
conformity  between  this  country  and  Sm&land.'  His 
old  home  friend  the  bird-cherry  (hagg)  grew  plentifully 
here — it  grows  even  within  the  arctic  circle.  '  Many 
herbaceous  plants  grow  here  which  are  not  to  be  found 
in  Upland,  Sudermania,  Ostrogothia,1  nor  SkSne, 
though  natives  of  Sm&land.  The  water  swarmed  with 
innumerable  fishes  just  spawned,  so  pellucid  that  they 
were  rendered  conspicuous  chiefly  by  their  large  eyes. 
The  observer  of  nature  sees,  with  admiration,  that  the 
whole  world  is  full  of  the  glory  of  God.' 2 

The  weather  had  become  fair,  and  Linnaeus  says, 
1  If  the  summer  be  indeed  shorter  here  than  in  any 
other  part  of  the  world,  it  must  be  allowed  at  the  same 
time  to  be  nowhere  more  delightful.  I  was  never  in 
my  life  in  better  health  than  at  present.' 

1  June  24  (Midsummer  Day)  [July  4  N.  S.]. — Blessed 
be  the  Lord  for  the  beauty  of  summer  and  of  spring,  and 
for  what  is  here  in  greater  perfection  than  almost  any- 
where else  in  the  world — the  air,  the  water,  the  verdure 
of  the  herbage,  and  the  song  of  birds  ! 3 

4  Sunday,  June  20. — After  Divine  service  I  took  leave 

1  East  Gothland. 

2  The  parish  church  of  LuleS  is  regarded  as  the  oldest  in  West- 
bothnia,  having  been  built  in  the  very  earliest  ages  of  Christianity, 
and  was  very  famous  while  the   Catholic  religion  prevailed   in 
Sweden.    It  contains  a  remarkable  old  altar-piece,  the  gilding  of 
which  cost  2,408  ducats.     In  the  vestry  a  copy  of  the  canonical  law, 
in  seven  vols.  folio,  is  still  preserved. 

8  Du  Chaillu  says  :  '  I  had  not  before  heard  so  many  birds  singing 
together  after  midnight,  enjoying  the  spring.  Before  two  o'clock 
the  swallows  were  out  of  their  nests.' 

N  2 


i So     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

of  LuleS.  Half-way  between  SvarlS,  and  Harns  I  met 
with  the  (Pedicularis)  Sceptrum  Carolinum,  first  observed 
by  Professor  Rudbeck.  This  stately  plant  was  not  yet 
in  flower.  It  grew  in  a  dry  soil.  Near  Harns  is  found 
a  fine  handsome  blue  clay,  in  some  measure  fireproof;  also 
a  rare  kind  of  iron  ore/  He  notes  the  purple  Pinguicula^ 
June  29,  in  LuleS-Lapland — and  '  a  Pinguicula  the 
fore-part  of  whose  petal  was  white,  the  hind  part 
blue,  which  is  certainly  a  beautiful  as  well  as  singular 
variety.  The  little  alpine  variety  of  the  ptarmigan2 
was  now  accompanied  by  its  young.  I  caught  one  of 
these,  upon  which  the  hen  ran  so  close  to  me  that  I 
could  easily  have  taken  her  also.  She  kept  continually 
jumping  round  and  round  me ;  but  I  thought  it  a  pity 
to  deprive  the  tender  brood  of  their  mother ;  neither 
would  my  compassion  for  the  mother  allow  me  long 
to  detain  her  offspring,  which  I  restored  to  her  in 
safety. 

'  I  embarked  on  the  LuleS  River,  which  I  continued 
to  navigate  upwards  for  several  days  and  nights,  having 
good  accommodation  both  as  to  food  and  boat.  After 
three  days  and  nights  we  reached  Quickjock. 

'  My  companion  was  a  Laplander,  who  served  me 
both  as  servant  and  interpreter.  Few  persons  are 
met  with  on  these  alps  who  speak  Swedish,  and  I 
had  already  suffered  much  in  the  Lapland  part  of 
UrneS  for  want  of  knowing  the  language.  Nor  was 
a  companion  less  required  to  assist  me  in  carrying 
1  Butterwort.  2  Tvtrao  Lagopus. 


<  LAC  HE  SIS  LAPPONICA*  181 

what  was  necessary,  for  I  had  sufficient  encumbrances 
of  my  own  without  being  the  bearer  of  our  provisions 
into  the  bargain.  The  pine  trees  are  more  barren  of 
branches  on  their  north  sides  ;  hence  the  people  know 
by  these  trees  which  way  the  north  lies.  Brandy  is  here 
made  from  the  fir,  as  well  as  from  the  berries  of  the 
mountain  ash.  The  Angelica  sylvestris  is  a  dainty  in 
great  request  among  the  Lapps ;  they  use  its  root  for 
the  cure  of  their  terrible  colic.  The  common  method 
of  the  Laplanders  for  joining  broken  earthenware  is  to 
tie  the  fragments  together  with  a  thread  and  boil  the 
whole  in  fresh  milk,  by  which  they  are  cemented  to  each 
other.  The  reindeer  milk  is  very  glutinous. 

c  July  1. — When  I  came  to  the  lake  Skalk  in  the  way 
towards  Kionitis  I  was  much  struck  with  an  opening 
between  the  hills  to  the  N.W.,  through  which  appeared  a 
range  of  mountains,  from  ten  to  twenty  miles '  [Swedish] 
*  distant,  as  white  as  the  clouds,  and  seeming  not  above 
a  mile '  [S]  '  from  the  spot  where  I  stood.  Their 
summits  reached  the  clouds,  and  indeed  they  resembled 
a  range  of  white  clouds  rising  from  the  horizon.  They 
recalled-  to  my  mind  the  frontispiece  of  Rudbeck's 
u  Lapponia  Illustrata."  Mountains  upon  mountains 
rose  before  me  in  every  direction.  In  one  word,  I  now 
beheld  the  Lapland  Alps.'  [He  gives  a  clever  pen-and- 
ink  sketch  of  the  view."]  *  At  Kionitis  I  rested  durino- 

-I  F3 

the  whole  of  Sunday,  July  2.  Here  the  beautiful  corn 
was  growing  in  perfection  in  valleys  between  the  snowy 
mountains.  It  had  shot  up  so  high  as  to  be  laid  in  some 


i8z     THROUGH   THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

places  by  the  rain.  It  was  sown  on  May  25  or  26, 
as  at  UmeS. 

' "  Alone  I  crossed  the  Hyperborean  tracts  of  ice, 
the  snowy  Tanais,  and  fields  never  free  from  Riphaean 
frosts." ' — Virgil,  '  Georgics,'  iv.  517.  [Linngeus  quotes 
the  passage.] 

'  After  several  days'  travelling,  on  the  evening  of 
July  6  I  ascended  Vallivari,  the  first  mountain  of  the 
Alps  on  this  side.  On  my  first  ascending  these  wild  alps 
I  felt  as  if  in  a  new  world.  I  saw  few  birds,  except  some 
ptarmigans  running  with  their  young  along  the  vales. 
The  declining  sun  never  disappeared  sufficiently  to 
allow  any  cooling  shade.  The  midnight  sun,  deep  red, 
glowing  like  a  fierce  charcoal  fire,  tinged  everything  with 
roseate  hue,  most  magical  upon  the  snow,  bewildering 
the  brain,  and  producing  a  drowsy  effect.1 

The  peak  of  Sulitelma  is  6,326  feet  high.  The  blue 
glaciers  hereabout  are  magnificent.  Du  Chaillu  says 
he  never  lost  sight  of  the  blue  outline  of  Sulitelma, 
but  the  peak  was  mostly  hidden  from  view.2  Linnaeus 
specifies  no  peak  as  Sulitelma,  but  only  speaks  of  the 
mass  as  Vallivari.  When  at  length  he  was  able  to  turn 

1  Often  was  I  seized  with  an  indescribable  feeling  of  loneliness, 
and    at    the  same  time   a  desire  to   wander  farther  away. — Du 
CHAILLU. 

2  As  the  sun  shone  upon  the  ice  its  hue  was  simply  marvellous  ; 
it  seemed  in  many  places  like  a  huge  mass  of  sparkling  topaz  ;  its 
extent  was  enormous,  and  patches  of  snow  were  scattered  over  its 
surface.     There  were  only  two  breaks  of  dark  rock  visible  in  the 
frozen  mass ;    and  towering  above  all  was   Sulitelma,   dark  and 
gloomy,  looking  down  upon  the  sea  of  ice. — Du  CHAILLU. 


*LACIIESIS  LAPPONICA*  183 

his  eyes  from  the  magic  of  the  mountains  Linnaeus  was 
equally  enchanted  with  the  new  world  of  arctic  nature 
at  his  feet. 

'  When  I  cast  my  eyes  over  the  grass  and  herbage 
there  were  few  objects  I  had  seen  before,  so  that  all 
nature  was  alike  strange  to  me.  I  walked  in  snow  as 
if  it  had  been  the  severest  winter.  All  the  rare  plants 
that  I  had  previously  met  with,  and  which  had  from 
time  to  time  afforded  me  so  much  pleasure,  were  here 
as  in  miniature,  and  now  also  in  such  profusion  that  I 
was  overcome  with  astonishment,  thinking  I  had 
now  found  more  than  I  should  know  what  to  do  with. 
I  sat  down  to  collect  and  describe  these  vegetable 
rarities.' 

He  gives  a  list  of  thirty,  all  described  and  named 
extemporaneously.1  Not  one  of  these  names  has  subse- 
quently been  set  aside  by  any  of  his  severest  critics.  He 
noted  the  silken-leaved  alpine  lady's  mantle,  the  deep 
green  sibbaldia,  the  little  purple-flowered  azalea,  the  suc- 
culent rose-root,  the  red  lychnis,  and  several  ranunculi,  the 
beautiful  saxifraga  stellaris,  rivularis,  and  oppositifolia,  of 
which  last  Du  Chaillu  says, c  Many  times  have  I  remained 
standing  in  admiration  before  this  exquisite  flower,  which 
looks  like  a  velvety  carpet  of  purple  moss,  and  grows  in 
patches  on  the  dark  rocks,  often  surrounded  by  snow.' 
And  the  Primula  farinosa  of  which  Linnaeus  speaks, — 
'  This  primula,  the  splendid  crimson  of  whose  flowers 
attracts  the  eyes  of  all  who  traverse  the  fields  of  Sk&ne 
1  One  plant  was  dedicated  subsequently  to  Jussieu. 


J84     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

and  the  meadows  of  Upland  in  early  spring,  did  not 
occur  during  my  whole  journey  till  after  I  had  ascended 
the  Lapland  Alps ' — here  it  was  as  the  face  of  a  friend. 
<  The  time  passed  unperceived  away,  and  my  inter- 
preter was  obliged  to  remind  me  that  we  had  still  five  or 
six  miles '  [Swedish]  '  to  go  to  the  nearest  Laplander, 
and  that  if  we  had  a  mind  for  any  reindeer  meat  we 
ought  to  bestir  ourselves  quickly.'  They  had  been  re- 
freshed by  the  snow-water  running  down  in  streams. 
They  hastened  on  and  reached  the  summit  of  the  ridge, 
standing  on  the  brow  of  Vallivari,  '  from  hence  the  ver- 
dant appearance  of  Norway,  lying  far  beneath  us,  was 
very  delightful.  The  whole  country  was  perfectly  green, 
and,  notwithstanding  its  vast  extent,  looked  like  a  garden 
in  miniature,  for  the  tallest  trees  appeared  not  above  a 
span  high.  Our  calculations  were  very  inadequate  to 
what  we  found  its  actual  distance.  At  length,  however, 
we  reached  the  plains  of  which  we  had  enjoyed  so 
stupendous  a  prospect.  Nothing  could  be  more  de- 
lightful to  my  feelings  than  this  transition  from  all 
the  severity  of  winter  to  the  warmth  and  beauty  of 
summer.  The  verdant  herbage,  the  sweet-scented 
clover,  the  tall  grass,  reaching  up  to  my  arms,  the 
grateful  flavour  of  the  wild  fruits,  and  the  fine  weather 
which  welcomed  me  to  the  foot  of  the  alps,  refreshed  me 
both  in  mind  and  body.' 


<  LACHES  IS  LAPP  0  NIC  A  185 

1  NORWAY. 

'At  the  place  where  I  stopped  to  rest  after  my 
fatiguing  journey  they  gave  me  sword-fish  l  to  eat,  which 
much  resembled  salmon  in  flavour. 

'  Here  I  found  myself  close  to  the  sea-coast.  I  took 
up  my  abode  at  the  house  of  a  shipmaster,  with  whom  I 
made  an  agreement  to  be  taken  in  a  boat  the  following 
day  along  the  coast.  I  much  wished  to  approach  the 
celebrated  whirlpool  called  the  Maelstrom,  but  I  could 
find  nobody  willing  to  venture  near  it.  We  set  sail  next 
morning,  according  to  appointment,  but  the  wind  proved 
contrary,  and  the  boatmen  were  after  a  while  exhausted 
with  rowing.  Meanwhile  I  amused  myself  in  examining 
various  petrifactions,  principally  medusae,  zoophytes,  and 
submarine  plants  of  the  Fucus  tribe,  which  occupied 
every  part  of  the  coast.  I  was  kindly  received  at  the 
house  of  the  pastor  of  Torfiorden,  who  had  an  extremely 
beautiful  daughter,  Sarah  Rask,  eighteen  years  of  age.  I 
must  not  omit  to  write  to  him  hereafter ;  for,  according  to 
his  account,  he  never  expected  to  see  an  honest  Swede.' 
[By  the  Norwegians  the  Swedes  were  always  accounted 
fair  and  false,  as  Scott  says  of  the  Scots.]  '  Next  day 
we  proceeded  further  on  our  voyage  and  returned  to  our 
place  of  departure,  the  wind  being  still  contrary.'  [They 
could  get  no  further  than  Rorstad  church,  near  the 
mouth  of  the  fiord.]  '  On  the  following  morning  I  climbed 
one  of  the  neighbouring  mountains  With  the  intention 
1  Xiphias  gladiut. 


i86     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

of  measuring  its  height.  While  I  was  reposing  tran- 
quilly on  the  side  of  the  hill,  busied  only  in  loosening  a 
stone  which  I  wanted  to  examine,  I  heard  the  report  of 
a  gun  at  a  small  distance  below.  I  was  too  far  off  to 
receive  any  hurt,  but  perceiving  the  man  who  had  fired 
the  gun,  I  pursued  him  to  a  considerable  distance  in 
order  to  prevent  his  charging  his  piece  a  second  time. 
I  could  get  no  explanation  of  this  attack. 

1 1  saw  no  flies  in  Lapland,  but  in  Norway  the  houses 
are  full  of  them.  I  was,  however,  no  longer  infested 
with  swarms  of  gnats.1 

4  On  July  15  we  set  out  on  our  return,  and  that 
whole  day  was  employed  in  climbing  the  mountains 
again,  the  ground  being  extremely  steep  as  well  as  lofty. 
It  is  customary  for  those  in  our  part  of  Sweden  who 
fancy  themselves  indisposed  to  frequent  watering-places 
or  mineral  springs  during  the  heat  of  summer.  For  my 
own  part  I  have,  thank  God,  for  several  years  enjoyed 
tolerable  health ;  but,  as  soon  as  I  got  upon  the  Alps  I 
seemed  to  have  acquired  a  new  existence.  I  felt  as  if 
relieved  from  a  heavy  burthen ;  and  after  having  spent 
a  few  days  in  the  low  country  of  Norway,  though  with- 
out having  committed  the  least  excess,  I  found  my 
languor  or  heaviness  return.  When  I  again  ascended 
the  Alps  I  revived  as  before.  The  Lapland  water,  too, 


1  Du  Chailln  says  « until  the  end  of  June  there  are  no  gnats.'  I 
suspect  they  are  local,  for  I  have  seen  them  in  swarms  on  May  29, 
and  I  have  passed  in  previous  and  following  weeks  through  many 
provinces  of  Sweden  without  seeing  any  gnats  at  all. 


' LAC HE 'SIS  LAPPONICA*  187 

is  uncommonly  grateful  to  the  palate.  Since  I  set  out 
on  my  journey  I  have  become  able  to  walk  four  times  as 
far  as  I  could  at  first,  yet  I  could  not  but  wonder  at 
my  two  Laplanders — one  of  them  upwards  of  seventy — 
who  had  accompanied  me  during  the  whole  of  this  day's 
tedious  walk.  While  I  was  resting  they  played  and 
frisked  about.  This  set  me  seriously  to  consider  the 
question  put  to  me  by  Dr.  Rosen  :  "  Why  are  the  Lap- 
landers so  swift-footed  ?  "  To  which  I  answer  that  it 
arises  not  from  any  one  cause,  but  from  the  co-operation 
of  many.  1.  They  wear  no  heels  to  their  half-boots' 
[2,  3,  4,  and  5  are  also  very  good  reasons,  but  foreign  to 
our  present  purpose]. 

1  Every  Laplander  constantly  carries  a  sort  of  pole, 
tipped  with  a  ferule,  and  furnished  with  a  transverse 
bar  of  wood.  When  he  is  tired  he  leans  his  arms  and 
nose  against  it  to  rest  himself.'  Linnaeus  gives  a  drawing 
of  their  snowshoes,  as  also  of  their  chessboard,  and 
describes  at  length  the  rules  of  their  elaborate  game. 
Their  chess  king  has  a  castle  and  eight  Swedes  his 
subjects ;  sixteen  Muscovites  are  their  adversaries. 
Several  games  are  common  among  these  people,  who, 
for  all  their  hard  climate  and  circumstances,  are  by  no 
means  always  at  work. 

1  We  turned  our  course  towards  the  alps  of  TorneS, 
which  were  described  to  me  as  about  forty  (Swedish) 
miles  distant'  [270  English  miles].  <  What  I  endured 
in  the  course  of  this  journey  is  hardly  to  be  described. 
How  many  weary  steps  was  I  obliged  to  set  to  climb 


1 88     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS   WITH  LINNAEUS 

the  precipices  that  came  in  my  way !  Sometimes  we 
were  enveloped  with  clouds '  [the  greatest  danger  in 
Lapland  travel,  because  of  the  unseen  precipices],  'some- 
times rivers  impeded  our  course  and  obliged  us  to  choose 
a  very  circuitous  path,  or  to  wade  naked  through  the 
snow-cold  water. 

'  Without  the  fresh  snow-water,  our  only  drink,  we 
should  never  have  been  able  to  encounter  the  excessive 
heat  of  the  weather.1 

c  Having  nearly  reached  the  Lapland  village  of  Cai- 
tuma,  the  inhabitants  of  which  seemed  perfectly  wild, 
running  away  from  their  huts  as  soon  as  they  perceived 
us  approaching  from  a  considerable  distance,  I  began  to 
be  tired  of  advancing  further  up  into  this  inhospitable 
country.  "We  had  not  tasted  bread  for  several  days,  our 
stock  being  exhausted,  and  the  rich  milk  of  the  reindeer 
is  too  luscious  to  be  eaten  without  bread.  I  was  de- 
sirous of  having  my  linen  washed,  but  the  people  under- 
stood my  request  as  little  as  if  I  had  spoken  Hebrew,  not 
a  single  article  of  their  own  apparel  being  made  of 
linen. 

'  The  dwarf  birch  bears  very  small  leaves  in  those 

1  Du  Chaillu  records  his  experience  on  the  same  line  of  travel : — 
'  Of  all  the  bleak  landscapes  I  had  seen  on  the  journey  this  seemed 
the  most  dreary  ;  it  was  absolutely  grand  in  its  desolation.  There 
was  an  indescribable  charm  in  the  loneliness  and  utter  silence ;  bare 
mountains  of  granite  and  gneiss  formed  the  setting  of  the  picture, 
and  all  around  were  stones  of  all  sizes  and  shapes,  piled  in  heaps. 
Over  these  we  had  to  wind  our  way  for  hours,  jumping  from  one  to 
another  almost  continuously.  All  the  hard  pedestrian  exercise  I  had 
ever  taken  was  as  nothing  compared  to  this.' 


1  LACHES IS  LAP  PO  NIC  A*  189 

elevated  regions.  In  this  part  of  the  country  the  crake- 
berry  (Empetrum)  serves  for  firing ;  otherwise  the  most 
common  fuel  is  the  dwarf  birch  and  the  willow,1  with 
white  hairy  leaves,  so  abundant  on  the  Lapland  Alps.' 

In  the  *  Flora  Lapponica '  he  describes  one  of  these 
night  journeys,  when  the  low-focussed  central  light  was 
sending  the  long  oblique  shadows  in  dense  blue  bands 
round  a  crimson  world.  l  While  I  was  walking  quickly 
along  over  the  celebrated  mountain  of  Vallivari,  facing 
the  cold  wind  at  midnight — if  I  may  call  it  night 
when  the  sun  was  shining  without  setting  at  all — I 
perceived,  as  it  were,  the  shadow  of  this  plant  (Andro- 
meda tetragona),  but  did  not  stop  to  examine  it,  taking 
it  for  the  Empetrum.  But  after  going  a  few  steps 
farther,  an  idea  of  its  being  something  I  was  unac- 
quainted with  came  across  my  mind,  and  I  turned 
back,  when  I  should  again  have  taken  it  for  the 
Empetrum  had  not  its  greater  height  caused  me  to 
consider  it  with  more  attention.  I  know  not  what  it 
is  that  so  deceives  the  sight  in  our  Alps  during  the 
night  as  to  render  objects  far  less  distinct  than  in 
the  middle  of  the  day,  although  the  sun  shines  equally 
bright.  The  sun,  being  near  the  horizon,  spreads  its 
rays  in  such  a  horizontal  direction  that  a  hat  can 
scarcely  protect  our  eyes ;  besides,  the  shadows  of  the 
plants  are  so  infinitely  extended,  and  so  confounded 
with  each  other  from  the  tremulous  agitation  caused 
by  the  blustering  wind,  that  objects  very  different  in 
1  Salix  Laj)2onum. 


IQO    THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN^US 

themselves  are  scarcely  to  be  distinguished  from  each 
other.  Having  gathered  one  of  these  plants,  I  looked 
about  and  found  several  more  in  the  neighbourhood, 
all  on  the  north  side,  where  they  grew  in  plenty ;  but 
I  never  met  with  the  same  in  any  other  place  after- 
wards. As  at  this  time  they  had  lost  their  flowers,  and 
were  ripening  seed,  it  was  not  till  after  I  had  sought 
for  a  very  long  time  that  I  met  with  a  single  flower, 
which  was  white,  shaped  like  a  lily  of  the  valley,  but 
with  five  sharper  divisions.' 

'  July  24. — This  night  I  beheld  a  star,  for  the  first 
time  since  I  came  within  the  arctic  circle.  Still  I 
could  see  to  read  or  write  easily  enough.' l 

Linnasus  now  determined  to  return  towards  Quick- 
jock,  a  journey  of  about  forty  Swedish  miles.  In  the 
course  of  this  journey  he  met  with  an  accident  which 
might  have  been  serious.  Walking  over  the  snow, 
he  broke  through  the  icy  crust  covering  a  deep  hole. 
This  cavity  was  very  steep,  and  so  hollowed  out  by  the 
water  that  it  surrounded  our  traveller  like  a  wall.  The 
guides  could  not  release  him  until  they  had  procured  a 
rope,  when  he  was  drawn  out,  with  no  other  injury  than 
a  hurt  on  the  thigh,  which  continued  to  be  felt  for  a 
month  afterwards. 

'  July  25. — The  lakes  in  this  part  of  the  country 

1  Du  Chaillu  travelling  here  about  the  same  time  in  July  and 
August  says,  « I  was  gladdened  by  the  view  of  a  star,  the  first  I  had 
seen  for  .about  three  months.  It  was  Vega,  twinkling  bright,  an  old 
friend,  who  had  often  helped  me  to  find  my  way  through  the  African 
jungle.' 


'  LA  CHE  SIS  LAP  PO  NIC  A  '  i  g  i 

did  not  afford  me  so  many  plants  as  those  further  south. 
Their  bottoms  were  quite  clear  and  destitute  of  vege- 
tation. The  shores  were  no  less  barren.  No  water- 
lilies,  no  water-docks,  &c.,  grew  about  their  borders, 
but  the  surface  of  the  water  itself  was  covered  with  the 
water  ranunculus,  bearing  round  as  well  as  capillary 
leaves,  and  whitening  the  whole  with  its  blossoms.  I 
could  not  but  marvel  to  see  these  broad  patches  of 
white  spread  over  the  lakes,  as  when  I  passed  up  the 
country  only  a  fortnight  before  I  had  not  perceived  the 
least  appearance  of  even  the  herbage  of  the  ranunculus 
that  composed  them ;  now  its  branches,  an  ell  in  length, 
swam  on  the  surface.  The  growth  of  the  stem  must  be 
very  rapid,  as  it  often  proceeded  from  a  depth  of  three 
fathoms. 

'At  sunset  we  reached  Parkjaur,  where  we  vainly 
attempted  to  procure  a  boat.  We  had  no  resource  but 
to  make  ourselves  a  float  or  raft,  on  which  we  com- 
mitted our  persons  and  our  property  to  the  guidance 
of  the  current  of  the  river.  The  night  proved  very 
dark — in  consequence  of  a  thick  fog,  insomuch  that  we 
could  not  see  before  us  to  the  distance  of  three  fathoms. 
After  a  while  we  found  ourselves  in  the  middle  of  the 
stream,  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  force  of  the 
water  separated  the  timbers  of  our  raft,  and  we  were 
in  imminent  danger  of  our  lives.  At  length,  however, 
with  the  greatest  difficulty,  we  reached  a  house  situated 
on  an  island,  after  a  voyage  of  half  a  mile '  [Swedish] 
'  from  where  we  had  embarked. 


192     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN&US 

1  The  next  day  I  was  conducted  to  the  river  of 
Calatz,  to  see  the  manner  of  fishing  for  pearls,'  from 
the  then  nearly  exhausted  bed  of  pearl-mussels.  He 
carried  thence  the  germ  of  an  idea  of  pearl-making  with 
him,  brooding  over  it  for  years. 

6  July  28. — Several  days  ago  the  forests  had  been 
set  on  fire  by  lightning,  and  the  flames  raged  at  this 
time  with  great  violence,  owing  to  the  drought  of  the 
season.  In  many  different  cases,  perhaps  in  nine  or  ten 
that  came  under  my  notice,  the  devastation  extended 
several  miles  '  [Swedish]  i  distance.  I  traversed  a  space 
three  quarters  of  a  mile '  [Swedish]  '  in  extent  which  was 
entirely  burnt ;  so  that  Flora,  instead  of  appearing  in  her 
gay  and  verdant  attire,  was  in  deep  sable — a  spectacle 
more  abhorrent  to  my  feelings  than  to  see  her  clad  in 
the  white  livery  of  winter.  The  fire  was  nearly  extin- 
guished in  most  of  the  spots  we  visited,  except  in  ant- 
hills and  dry  trunks  of  trees.  After  we  had  travelled 
about  half  a  quarter  of  a  mile  across  one  of  these  scenes 
of  desolation  the  wind  began  to  blow  with  more  force 
than  it  had  done,  upon  which  a  sudden  noise  arose  in 
the  half-burnt  forest,  such  as  I  can  only  compare  to 
what  may  be  imagined  among  a  large  army  attacked  by 
an  enemy.  We  knew  not  whither  to  turn  our  steps. 
The  smoke  would  not  suffer  us  to  remain  where  we  were, 
neither  durst  we  turn  back.  It  seemed  best  to  hasten 
forward,  in  hopes  of  speedily  reaching  the  outskirts  of 
the  wood  ;  but  in  this  we  were  disappointed.  We  ran 
as  fast  as  we  could  in  order  to  avoid  being  crushed  by  the 


<LACHESIS  LAPPONICA'  193 

falling  trees,  some  of  which  threatened  us  every  minute. 
Sometimes  the  fall  of  a  huge  trunk  was  so  sudden  that 
we  stood  aghast,  not  knowing  whither  to  turn  to  escape 
destruction,  throwing  ourselves  entirely  on  the  protec- 
tion of  Providence.  In  one  instance  a  large  tree  fell 
exactly  between  me  and  my  guide. 

c  This  day  I  observed  the  harvest  beginning.  The 
corn  now  cutting  at  TorneS,  though  sown  but  a  few 
days  before  midsummer,  was  nevertheless  quite  ripe. 

{  On  July  30  I  arrived  at  LuleS.  I  visited  the  Lax- 
holms,  islands  so  called  from  the  salmon-fishery.1  Those 
who  fish  for  salmon  come  to  this  place  about  a  fortnight 
before  midsummer,  and  remain  till  St.  Bartholomew's 
Day,  August  28,  as  during  that  space  of  time  the 
salmon  keep  ascending  the  river.  Few  of  the  fish 
escape  being  taken  so  as  to  return  down  the  river. 
At  Michaelmas  the  fishermen  come  here  again,  when 
they  catch  a  smaller  sort  of  salmon. 

'  I  rested  for  a  day  or  two,  and  then  proceeded  to 
Tornea1. 

'  August  3. — At  sunrise  the  marshes  were  all  white 
with  hoar-frost.  In  the  preceding  night  winter  had 
paid  his  first  visit  and  slept  in  the  lap  of  the  lovely 
Flora. 

<  On  leaving  Sangis  I  left  my  mother-tongue  behind 
me.  At  Saris  I  met  with  native  Finlanders  only, 
whose  language  was  unintelligible  to  me.  Between 
this  and  Tornea*  are  three  ferries  to  pass. 

1  Salmo  solar ,  named  Lax  by  the  Swedes. 

VOL.  I.  O 


T94     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS   WITH  LINNAEUS 

'  August  7. — The  town  of  TorneS,  stands  on  a  small 
island — I  call  it  an  island  because  it  is  bounded  on  the 
north  by  a  swamp,  on  the  south-east  by  the  great  river 
of  TorneS,  and  on  the  west  and  south-west  by  a  shallow 
arm  of  the  sea.  No  kind  of  plough  is  used  at  Tornea1, 
the  ground  being  turned  over  with  the  spade.' 

Linnaeus  detected  the  cause  of  a  dreadful  disease 
among  the  reindeer  of  North  Lapland  :  some  had  died 
in  the  winter,  but  more  in  the  spring  when  turned  out 
to  grass.  He  discovered  the  water-hemlock,1  one  of 
the  most  virulent  of  vegetable  poisons,  growing  in  the 
marshes.  By  pointing  out  the  plant  he  enabled  the 
people  to  guard  against  the  danger  ever  after.  He  re- 
commended the  Torneans  to  employ  people  to  root  it  out. 

'  Not  understanding  the  Finnish  language,  I  found 
it  inconvenient  to  proceed,  and  preferred  returning.  I 
made  several  excursions  to  an  adjacent  island. 

'  September  4. — I  went  to  Biorknas  in  order  to  be 
instructed  in  the  art  of  assaying.  Here  I  stood  sponsor 
to  the  son  of  the  burgomaster  (or  mine-master)  Swan- 
berg,  who  was  born  in  the  preceding  night.'  In  the 
summary  of  his  travels  he  mentions  how,  on  his  return 
through  Lulea",  he  learned  the  art  of  assaying  from 
the  mine-master  Swanberg,  at  Calix,  in  two  days 
and  a  night ;  and  having  suffered  extreme  fatigue, 
lie  reposed  himself  at  the  house  of  M.  Hoyer,  the 
magistrate. 

'  September  14. — I  took  my  leave  of  Biorknas.  The 
1  Cicuta  virosa. 


' LACHES 'IS  LAPPONICA*  195 

weather  was  cold  and  rainy.  Such  of  the  forest  trees  as 
are  of  a  deciduous  nature  had  now  assumed  a  pallid  hue 
in  consequence  of  the  cold  nights,  but  the  evergreens ' 
[that  is,  the  pines]  '  were  rendered  conspicuous  by  their 
dark  green  colour.  The  hills  appeared  sandy,  and  such 
places  as  had  been  burnt  were  now  perfectly  white  with 
reindeer  moss. 

c  September  15. — I  received  one  hundred  dollars,  of 
copper  money,  from  the  chief  clergyman  at  TorneaV 
[This  seems  to  have  been  left  here  in  deposit  for  him  by 
the  Academy.] 

( Having  noted  the  Finnish  names  for  such  articles  as 
I  should  be  most  likely  to  want  at  the  inns,  I  ventured 
once  more  to  enter  East  Bothland,  in  order  to  pursue 
my  journey  that  way  homeward.  I  considered  that  in 
a  new  country  there  is  always  something  new  to  be 
seen,  and  that  to  travel  the  same  road  I  had  come 
would  probably  afford  but  little  entertainment  or  in- 
struction. I  had  still  less  inclination,  at  this  advanced 
season  of  the  year,  to  encounter  the  hazard  of  a  sea 
voyage.  I  therefore  pursued  my  way  along  the  coast 
through  East  Bothland  and  Finland,  visiting  UleS, 
Brakestad,  Old  and  New  Carleby — the  latter  is  as  big 
as  Wexio — Wasa,  a  handsome  little  town,  the  residence 
of  the  governor,  Christinestad,  Biorreberg,  and  Abo, 
seat  of  the  Finland  university,  remaining  four  days  at 
the  place  last  mentioned.  I  then  went  by  the  post-yacht 
to  Aland,  crossed  the  Sea  of  Aland,  and  at  one  in  the 
afternoon  on  October  10  arrived  safe  at  Upsala.  To 

o  2 


196     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN&US 

the  Maker  and  Preserver  of  all  things  be  praise,  honour, 
and  glory  for  ever  ! 

c  The  whole  extent  of  my  journey  amounts  to  633 
Swedish  miles '  [about  3,798  English  miles]. 

Linnaeus  speaks  very  modestly  of  this  journey  in 
his  diary.  '  On  his  arrival  at  home  he  delivered  to  the 
Academy  of  Sciences  an  account  of  his  expedition, 
which  obtained  their  approbation,  and  they  returned 
him  112  silver  dollars  (not  more  than  10Z.  sterling),1  his 
travelling  expenses.  They  also  elected  him  one  of 
their  members/  He  considered  his  labour  amply  re- 
paid by  the  payment  of  his  expenses,  the  information 
he  had  gained,  and  the  discovery  of  new  plants  upon 
the  higher  mountains.  He  has  eulogised  the  country 
in  the  c  Flora  Lapponica '  as  all  that  could  be  desired ; 
happy  and  smiling,  free  from  many  diseases  and  the 
scourge  of  war,  and  possessing  plentiful  resources  in  it- 
self ;  while  the  inhabitants  are  said  to  be  innocent  and 
primitive,  displaying  the  greatest  hospitality  and  kind- 
ness to  a  stranger.2  c  See  what  pure  nature  could  do  for 
these  men,'  cries  Linnaeus;  but  this  was  the  memory 
of  a  Swede  in  Holland.  The  journal  shows  us  the 
seamy  side. 

It  is  amusing  to  read  in  Smith's  preface,  c  So  valu- 
able was  the  MS.  of  the  Lapland  tour  considered,  that 
on  Linnaeus's  whole  collection  and  library  being  sold, 

1  Pulteney.     Mr.  Jackson,  Secretary  to  the   Linngean   Society, 
reckons  these  112  dollars  as  less   ban  251.  sterling. 

2  Sir  W.  Jardine. 


<LACHESIS  LAPPONICA*  197 

after  the  death  of  his  son,  it  was  remarked  that  these 
papers  at  least  ought  to  have  been  retained  in  Sweden 
as  a  national  property,  the  journey  which  they  record 
having  been  undertaken  at  the  public  expense,  and  the 
objects  illustrated  thereby  being  necessarily  more  im- 
portant to  the  author's  countrymen  than  to  any  other 
people.' 


198     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

ROSEN  VICTOR. 

I  am  as  earnest  as  a  bee, 

But  savage  as  a  hornet. — FARRAH. 

AFTER  his  tour.  Linnaeus  again  felt  the  pressure  of 
poverty,  as  one  cannot  live  only  upon  fame.  Imme- 
diately after  his  return  from  Lapland  he  made  applica- 
tion for  Wrede's  exhibition,  called  Ofverskotts  medlen, 
which  he  obtained  chiefly  by  the  kind  assistance  of 
Professor  Valraves.  From  this  he  enjoyed  the  first 
year  30  plStar  (about  5L  sterling).  I  can  discover  no 
other  university  prize  obtained  by  Linnaeus  while  an 
undergraduate. 

He  was  no  longer  tutor  to  Kudbeck's  sons,  nor 
could  he  live  with  Rudbeck  as  before,  on  account  of 
the  aforementioned  feminine  influence.  But  Menander, 

Q 

afterwards  Bishop  of  Abo,  was  at  that  time  a  student, 
and  assisted  Linnaeus  considerably  with  money :  the 
latter  taught  him  natural  history  in  return. 

Having  learnt  the  art  of  assaying  metals  during  his 
ten  days'  residence  at  the  mines  of  Biorknas,  near  Calix, 
in  the  course  of  his  Lapland  tour,  Linnaeus,  early  in 


ROSEN  VICTOR  199 

1733,  began  a  private  course  of  lectures  on  this  subject. 
The  novelty  of  his  information,  the  vivacity  of  his  style, 
and  the  grace  of  his  delivery  soon  gained  him  celebrity 
in  this  line  also.  Linnaeus  had  a  general  elegance  of 
manners  in  common  with  most  Swedes;  but  beyond 
this,  as  was  said  of  our  Dr.  Johnson,  l  few  persons  quitted 
his  company  without  perceiving  themselves  wiser  and 
better  than  they  were  before';  while,  as  a  lecturer, 
he  had  the  faculty  of  expressing  what  he  meant  to 
convey  in  clear  incisive  words,  in  sentences  vigorous 
and  full,  from  his  complete  mastery  of  the  subject. 
One  relished  hearing  him  as  one  enjoys  seeing  a  master 
workman  use  his  tools. 

He  was  above  his  age  in  the  same  sense  that  the 
flower  is  above  the  plant,  that  the  sunflower  crowns  the 
stem.  In  him  the  natural  arrogance  of  youth  was  not 
the  arrogance  of  a  fool  swollen  with  conceit  and  vapour, 
but  the  arrogance  of  Aristotle's  i  man  of  lofty  soul,1 
who,  being  of  great  merit,  knows  that  he  is  so  and 
chooses  to  be  so  regarded.' 2  He  had  passions — '  passions 
in  general  lofty  and  generous,  but  still  passions/  Though 
entirely  free  from  malice,  he  was  impulsive  and  vehe- 
ment in  temper,  and  when  roused  to  indignation  could 
be  very  fierce. 

Few  persons  have  all  kinds  of  merit  belonging  to 
their  character ;  '  a  fallible  being  will  fail  somewhere :  as 

1  Froude. 

2  '  It  is  the  heroic  arrogance  of  some  old  Scandinavian  conqueror ; 
it  is  his  nature  and  the  untamable  impulse  that  has  given  him  power 
to  crush  the  dragons.' — M.  FULLEB,  speaking  of  Carlyle. 


2co     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

Johnson  says,  '  It  is  well  where  a  man  possesses  any 
strong  positive  excellence.'  Rosen,  his  old  rival,  whose 
position  as  adjunctus  to  the  chair  of  Anatomy  and 
Physics  l  gave  him  great  weight  in  the  university,  owing 
to  Professor  Roberg's  advanced  age  and  weakness,  had 
his  envy  roused  by  Linnaeus's  rising  fame;  he  was 
not  above  taking  mean  measures  to  rob  the  brilliant 
young  lecturer  of  his  reputation,  and  even  threatened 
to  stop  his  lectures  as  illegal.  All  this  made  Linnasus 
very  bitter.  '  There  is  no  precedent  for  this,  as  I  am 
the  first  person  who  has  ever  lectured  in  this  way,'  said 
Linnaeus  when  one  day  he  called  on  Rosen,  hoping  to 
settle  the  matter  in  talk.  Rosen,  sitting  grumpy  as  a 
polar  bear,  eyed  him  with  suspicion  and  distrust,  c  and 
would  not  come  forth  into  open  parley  at  all.' 

f  There  is  a  rule  against  such  lectures,'  said  Rosen. 
4  An  obsolete  regulation,'  retorted  Linnaeus.  The  con- 
stant opposition  his  natural  bent  met  with  on  all  hands 
had  doubtless  its  result  in  deepening  in  Linnaeus  a 
certain  irascibility  of  temper  that  often  underlies  the 
sweetness  of  the  Swedes.  The  old  Goth  peeps  out,  the 
Berserk  spirit  of  the  Saga  heroes. 

That  he  in  the  fulness  of  his  strength  should  not  be 
let  to  use  it  were  unreasonable  and  unnatural.  Work 
had  to  be  done,  ideas  to  be  enlarged  :  was  he  not  to  be 
permitted  to  do  these  things  and  to  maintain  himself? 
It  was  a  manifest  injustice,  under  which  he  could  not 
but  smart.  His  clever  tongue  had  a  sting  in  it  too,  as 
1  Physiology  and  physics  were  formerly  considered  as  synonymous. 


ROSEN  VICTOR  201 

we  can  tell  from  a  letter  of  Haller's.  'The  man  is 
active,  I  cannot  deny,  and  a  zealous  lover  of  nature,  for 
which  I  love  him  ;  but  his  character  has  for  me  a  some- 
thing— I  know  not  what  to  call  it — of  asperity,  fickle- 
ness, and  unevenness.'  The  fact  was,  his  vanity  clashed 
against  their  vanity.  Unless  very  first-class  men  them- 
selves, they  were  afraid  to  measure  tongues  with  him  ; 
they  were  fearful,  too,  lest  he  should  spy  out  and  expose 
the  poverty  of  their  land. 

Linnaeus  shall  now  state  his  own  case  in  an  extract 
from  his  diary. 

1  In  the  year  1733  Linnaeus  began  a  course  of 
lectures  in  the  art  of  assaying,  which  had  never  been 
before  taught  in  this  university.  He  delivered  them 
for  2  pl§, tar '  [about  7s.]  '  each  person,  on  which  account 
he  gained  a  great  number  of  pupils.  Rosen,  observing 
that  Linnaeus  came  forward  more  and  more,  and  fearing 
lest  he  should  at  last  become  a  dangerous  competitor,  re- 
quested Linnaeus  to  lend  him  his  MS.  lectures  on  botany, 
which  he  had  himself  composed,  and  which  he  valued 
more  than  anything  that  belonged  to  him ;  and  when 
Rosen  found  he  could  not  attain  them  by  fair  means  he 
held  out  threats  to  Linnaeus,  who  then  gave  up  to  him 
a  part  of  them ;  but  as  soon  as  he  was  informed  that 
Rosen  copied  the  MS.  no  intimidation  could  induce 
him  to  deliver  into  Rosen's  hands  the  remainder.  In 
the  meantime  Rosen  had  taken  by  the  hand  a  young 
Master  of  Arts,  named  Gottskalk  Wallerius,  who  had 
studied  medicine  under  him  almost  a  year.  The  office 


202     THROUGH   THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

of  adjunctus  in  the  medical  faculty  at  Lund  was  now 
instituted,  and  Linnaeus  endeavoured  to  obtain  it  at 
the  urgent  desire  of  Professor  Rudbeck.  Rosen  was  at 
this  time  (1733)  practising  at  Wiksberg,  where  people 
went  to  drink  the  mineral  waters.  The  chancellor  of 
the  university,  Count  Carl  Gyllenborg,  was  of  the 
number,  and  consequently  Linnaeus  stood  no  chance 
against  Wallerius,  who  obtained  the  office  of  adjunctus, 
though  it  was  of  less  advantage  to  him  than  it  would 
have  been  to  Linnaeus.' 

Disappointed  in  his  views  of  medical  advancement, 
Linnaeus  turned  his  attention  to  mineralogy,  one  of  the 
kingdoms  of  his  universal  empire.1 

Being  prohibited  from  publicly  lecturing,  Linnaeus 
accepted  the  invitation  of  some  of  his  former  pupils  to  ac- 
company them  to  the  mines  of  Falun  and  other  places. 

£  On  his  return  from  Lapland  Linnaeus  paid  par- 
ticular attention  to  mineralogy,  which  was  the  prin- 
cipal reason  of  his  visiting  the  district  of  mines — a 
spot  the  most  favourable  of  all  others  for  acquiring  that 
knowledge  of  minerals  which  could  alone  enable  him  to 
form  a  correct  system.'2  He  was  impressed,  besides, 
with  the  interdependence  of  the  natural  sciences. 

At  the  end  of  the  year  1733  Linnaeus  went  to  the 
mine  district — called  in  Sweden  Bergslag,  in  a  dreary 
desolate  country  resembling  the  bleak  high  Cornish 

1  In  1733  he  studied  mineralogy  and  the  docimastic  art.  —Encyl. 
Brit.,  eighth  edition. 

2  Diary. 


ROSEN  VICTOR  203 

mining  districts — for  the  purpose  of  investigating  and 
arranging  the  minerals  of  his  native  country,  where  he 
visited  Norberg,  Bispberg,  Afvestad,  Garpenberg,  a  sort 
of  quadrilateral  of  mines,  and  the  iron-foundries,  mines, 
and  town  of  Falun,  which  place  he  has  memorialised 
by  his  Lichen  Faluniensis,  a  production  more  resem- 
bling some  ramifications  of  the  neighbouring  copper 
ores  than  anything  of  vegetable  origin.  Linnaeus  was 
received  in  this  rich  but  desolate  mining  district  with 
the  most  flattering  distinction,  and  attentions  were 
paid  him  which  were  heard  of  in  Upsala.  He  was  in- 
troduced to  Baron  Reuterholm,  the  governor  of  the 
province,  who  requested  Linnaeus  to  undertake,  at  his 
(Reuterholm's)  expense,  a  journey  all  over  Dalecarlia, 
with  other  naturalists,  to  survey  the  physical  produc- 
tions of  that  province.1 

Reuterholm  delighted  in  the  study  of  nature,  and 
chiefly  spent  his  leisure  hours  with  the  productions  of 
the  mines.  His  charge  as  director  of  the  mines  became 
more  lucrative  in  proportion  to  his  knowledge  of  their 
produce.  He  also  wished  his  sons  to  learn  these  things, 
and  he  rejoiced  in  their  rapid  liking  for  the  gifted  young 
stranger,  and  encouraged  their  intimacy.  Baron  Reu- 
terholm was  himself  charmed  with  the  enthusiastic 
young  man  who  descended  the  mines  by  day  and  passed 
the  night  in  the  foundries  by  the  furnaces.  So  practical, 
too,  he  was,  that,  not  satisfied  with  discovery,  he  at 
once  sought  to  put  every  material  to  use.  '  It  is  not  the 
'Diary. 


204     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

finding  of  a  thing,  but  the  making  something  out  of  it 
after  it  is  found,  that  is  of  consequence/  l 

Reuterholm  meant  to  put  Linngeus  to  use  likewise. 
He  persuaded  him  to  undertake  the  travelling  tutorship  of 
his  two  sons  through  Dalecarlia  and  over  the  Dalecarlian 
Alps  to  Norway — an  idea  which  soon  after  enlarged 
itself  into  having  a  complete  survey  of  the  province,  in 
every  department  of  its  natural  history,  undertaken  at 
the  governor's  expense — a  patriotic  work,  by  which 
also  Baron  Beuterholm  expected  largely  to  profit.  But 
nothing  was  definitively  settled  about  the  undertaking, 
and  the  idea  went  to  sleep  during  the  night  of  the 
Swedish  winter. 

Linnasus  remained  a  whole  month  at  Falun,  and 
then  returned  to  Upsala. 

'  The  very  distinction  he  had  so  justly  acquired  turned 
out  to  his  prejudice.  Envy  and  rivalship  combined  with 
self-interest  gave  rise  to  all  the  violence  of  animosity. 
Linnasus  had  not  taken  his  degree,  which  according  to 
the  Swedish  custom  must  always  be  taken  abroad,  and 
Linnaeus  was  too  poor  to  travel.  This  excluded  him  from 
the  right  of  delivering  public  lectures,  which  is  the  exclu- 
sive privilege  of  doctors.  He  was  too  obnoxious  to  his  com- 
petitors, who  were  determined  to  check  his  rising  fame.'2 

The  applause  which  he  received  was  unendurable  to 
Rosen,  now  (in  1734)  become  a  more  formidable  enemy 
through  his  marriage  with  the  niece  of  the  Archbishop  of 
Upsala.3  Rosen,  conceiving  that  the  genius  and  reputa- 

1  J.  E.  Lowell.  2  Stoever.  s  Turton. 


ROSEN  VICTOR  205 

tion  of  Linnaeus  stood  in  the  way  of  his  own  fame,  and 
attracted  to  the  new  doctrines  some  of  Rosen's  own  pupils, 
determined  to  suppress  his  competitor.  Sir  J.  E.  Smith, 
who  also  speaks  strongly  on  the  mean  jealousy  of  Rosen  in 
surreptitiously  copying  Linnaeus's  botanical  manuscripts, 
of  which  he  had  the  forced  loan,  mentions  as  '  the  basest 
action  of  Rosen,  and  which  proved  envy  to  be  the  sole 
source  of  his  conduct,  this,  that,  having  married  the 
niece  of  the  archbishop,  he  obtained  through  his  lord- 
ship's means  an  order  from  the  chancellor  to  prohibit 
all  private  medical  lectures  in  the  university.  This,  for 
which  there  could  be  no  motives  but  conscious  inferiority 
and  malice,  deprived  Linnaeus  of  his  only  means  of  sub- 
sistence, and  the  students  of  any  information  which 
might  endanger  their  reverence  for  his  rival.'  Smith  is 
very  bitter  on  the  prosperous  nephew  of  an  archbishop. 

c  Rosen  procured  an  edict  from  the  Chancellor 
Cronhjelm,  that  a  medical  teacher  should  never  be 
received  in  the  university  of  Upsala  to  the  prejudice 
of  the  adjunctus.' 1 

There  was  no  precedent,  it  would  seem,  concerning 
private  lectures.  Linnaeus  in  his  tabular  summary  says : 
'  1733.  Lectured  privately  on  mineralogy — he  was 
the  first  person  who  had  done  so — at  Upsala.' 2  The  re- 
gulation concerning  public  lectures,  it  appears,  existed 
before,  but  had  fallen  into  abeyance  or  been  forgotten 
through  there  being  no  outsider  competent  to  lecture, 
as  we  hear  that  Rosen  informed  against  his  rival  c  before 
1  Diary.  2  Notes  made  by  Linnaeus  for  his  biography. 


206     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

the  senate  of  the  university,  and  insisted  that  in  virtue 
of  the  academical  statute  Linnaaus  should  be  no  longer 
suffered  to  give  public  lectures.' 1  He  thus  meanly  sought 
to  strangle  the  reputation  of  Linnseus  and  deprive  the 
world  of  the  benefit  of  his  knowledge  because  it  was 
not  sanctioned  by  academic  forms. 

The  proud  spirit  of  Linnaeus  had  to  submit  to  all  the 
vexations  and  restrictions  entailed  on  him  by  his  poverty 
— griefs  more  galling,  perhaps,  to  bear  than  were  his  actual 
hardships  when  an  undistinguished  student.  Poverty 
is  a  mighty  strengthener  as  well  as  tamer  and  chastiser  ; 
but  for  this  discipline  at  Upsala  Linnaeus  would  probably 
never  have  vanquished  the  world  with  his  system.  He 
had  now  nothing  but  private  lectures  to  depend  upon. 
'Ah ! '  cries  Dante  (in  the  '  Paradiso '),  'if  the  world  but 
knew  the  heart  of  him  who  goes  from  trouble  to  trouble, 
begging  his  life ! ' 

Linnaeus  was  summoned  to  appear  before  the  senate. 
Many  of  the  members  were  anxious  to  waive  the  pro- 
hibition in  consideration  of  the  virtues  and  talents  of 
him  at  whom  it  was  now  pointed  ; 2  but  Rosen  pleaded 
the  inviolability  of  the  statutes,  which  the  senate  was 
bound  to  enforce,  and  Linnaeus  was  forbidden  to  con- 
tinue his  lectures.  Rosen  was  prepared  with  his  special 
edict,  pointed  directly  against  Linnaeus  and  his  lectures, 
public  or  private,  in  case  of  the  votes  going  against 
him. 

This  was  a  dreadful  blow  to  Carl.  His  ambition 
1  Stoever.  2  Ibid. 


ROSEN  VICTOR  207 

hemmed  in  the  sphere  of  its  operations,  no  outlook  was 
open  to  him.  l  The  bitterest  of  griefs  is  to  know  much 
and  accomplish  nothing.' l  Linnaeus  was  terribly  sore, 
and  no  wonder.  It  was  his  ruin.  c  When  roused  I  am 
like  a  furious  bard  of  ancient  days.  I  poured  forth  such 
a  dreadful  torrent  of  sarcasm  and  truth  that  I  shook 
him  to  death,'  says  our  English  painter,2  when  likewise 
chafing  under  ill-treatment. 

No  wonder  if  the  wrath  of  Linnaeus  burst  forth  in  a 
most  unbounded  manner.  The  wild-beast  vein  of  the 
ancient  Goth  rose  in  him.  In  the  tempest  of  his  pas- 
sion he  forgot  himself,  his  future  happiness,  and  every 
moral  consideration,  but '  who  ever  saw  far  in  a  storm '  ? 
Boiling  with  pugnacity  and  rage,  with  flaming  eyes  more 
piercing  than  his  knife,  he  swore  '  By  all  the  Valkyrs  ! ' 
he  would  slay  his  foe. 

When  Rosen  left  the  senate  Linnaeus  waited  for 
him,  and  with  desperate  fury  drew  his  sword,  and  would 
have  run  it  through  the  body  of  his  enemy  had  not  the 
bystanders  fortunately  wrested  it  from  him.  He  flew  at 
Rosen's  throat  and  grappled  with  him  in  a  fierce  struggle. 
He  was  with  difficulty  separated  from  his  prey.3  Rosen, 
who  was  a  member  of  the  academy,  complained  of  this 
gross  assault  and  of  this  daring  violation  of  the  laws  of 
public  safety.  The  rigour  of  the  law  threatened  Lin- 
naeus with  proscription,  and  he  could  never  afterwards 
have  made  his  appearance  at  Upsala.  Dean  Celsius 
interposed,  allayed  the  resentment  caused  by  this  event, 
1  Herodotus.  2  Haydon.  *  Stoever. 


208     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

and  brought  round  matters  so  far  that  punishment  was 
changed  into  a  bare  reprimand.  Linnaeus  was  now 
spared  penalty,  but  he  still  cherished  the  idea  of  ven- 
geance. His  fiery  temper  almost  drove  him  to  despera- 
tion. Rising  to  a  white  heat,  he  still  meditated  the 
design  of  stabbing  Rosen  if  he  met  him  in  the  streets. 

I  can  realise  the  transports  of  fury  of  Linnaeus  because 
I  have  twice  seen  men  of  these  Northern  nations  give 
way  to  fits  of  frenzy  of  the  like  sort.  Once  it  was  a  gentle- 
man who  had  quarrelled  with  some  of  his  countrymen  in  a 
railway-carriage  about  a  mere  trifle.  Rendered  speechless 
by  his  own  fury,  all  trembling  with  passion,  he  became  an 
amusing  spectacle  of  pantomimic  rage.  The  other  case 
was  a  more  serious  affair,  and  likely  to  become  tragic.  It 
was  a  common  man  in  the  island  of  Gothland,  who,  in 
an  outburst  of  savage  wrath  only  comparable  to  that  of  an 
ancient  Berserk,  hurled  the  huge  stones  that  lay  about 
the  cliff  in  his  madness  at  his  enemy,  who  fled  terrified 
into  a  house  near  by.  A  woman  came  out  and  faced 
the  seeming  maniac,  crossing  her  arms  proudly  as  if  she 
said, i  You  pass  this  threshold  only  over  my  body.'  I  must 
do  the  furious  Goth  the  justice  to  say  that  in  his  wildest 
transports  he  hurled  no  stone  against  the  woman — a 
noble-looking  creature — though  at  every  minute  the 
demon  repossessed  him ;  and  he  flung  his  body  and  the 
great  boulders  about  blindly  and  with  renewed  vehemence 
as  the  thought  of  his  wrongs  rushed  over  him  again.  Such 
was  Linnaeus  at  this  time ;  a  renewed  personal  struggle 
with  Rosen  would  have  been  like  Molin's  fine  statue  of 


ROSEN   VICTOR  209 

the  belt-wrestlers  l  at  Stockholm,  which  represents  the 
jealous  wrestlers  struggling  to  the  death  with  their  sharp 
short  knives,  such  as  are  used  among  these  Northmen 
to  this  day,  and  bound  together  by  a  strong  leathern 
belt  in  order  that  the  fight  may  only  end  with  the  death 
of  one  or  both  of  them. 

But  that  history  says  it  was  a  sword,  I  should  think 
it  more  probable  that  Linnaeus  rushed  on  Rosen  with 
the  stout  sharp  two-edged  weapon,  the  tolle-knife,  that 
the  Scandinavians  so  generally  wear  in  an  ornamented 
sheath  at  their  thigh ;  though,  as  the  trial  was  a  cere- 
monial occasion,  dress  swords  may  have  been  worn. 

Duelling,  to  which  severe  penalties  were  attached 
by  a  law  of  1682,  had  long  been  unknown  in  Sweden. 
It  was  advantageously  replaced  in  the  universities  by 
( national ' 2  quartette-singing,  in  which  Linnaeus  seldom 
or  never  joined. 

Thus  cruelly  deprived  of  resources  which  promised 
an  ample  reward  for  his  studies,  and  reduced  again  to 
indigence,  which  he  had  too  keenly  experienced  formerly 
to  render  this  a  matter  easily  forgiven,  Linnaeus  con- 
tinued inflamed  with  rage  against  Rosen,  who  had  stood 
•in  his  way  from  his  first  entrance  upon  life.  Nature 
could  not  heal  his  wounds,  nor  Friendship,  for  Artedi 
was  away  in  England.  No  faithful  sympathy  could  be 
found  to  soothe  him,  for  mere  fellowship  in  science  does 
not  serve  us  at  the  hardest  pinch  ;  nor  could  he  disarm 

1  Bdltespdnnare. 

2  In  allusion  to  the  thirteen  «  nations  '  of  the  University. 

VOL.  I.  P 


210     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN&US 

the  deserved  blame  of  his  elder  friends.  Although  a 
good  man  and  a  pious,  Linnaeus  was  no  saint.  Heaven 
helped  him,  however. 

While  his  desperate  resolution  lasted  ferociously  as 
ever,  he  awoke  one  night  in  agonising  consternation 
from  a  hideous  dream ;  he  dreamt  he  had  killed  Rosen. 
He  gave  serious  reflection  to  the  horrid  idea,  and  at  length 
reason  and  religion  calmed  his  violent  passions,  '  What 
an  awful,  wonderful  thing  a  violent  death  is,  even  in  a 
dumb  beast ! '  says  Kingsley  anent  the  shooting  of  a 
horse.  Oh,  had  he  killed  Rosen!  The  very  thought 
was  now  agony  to  him.  He  felt  he  must  go  away  and 
hide  his  face,  his  Cain-branded  head,  and  (the  Berserk 
fever  over)  sob  out  his  thanksgiving  that  both  of  them 
had  been  saved. 

From  that  hour  he  forgave  Rosen ;  he  even  began  to 
see  that  they  two  should  be  brothers  in  science.  '  Shall 
God  make  us  brother  poets,  as  well  as  brother  men, 
and  we  refuse  to  fraternise  ? '  In  grateful  recollection 
of  the  impression  made  upon  his  conscience  he  wrote 
in  after  years  a  particular  diary,  called  '  Nemesis 
Divina,'  illustrating  the  words  '  Vengeance  is  mine,  I 
will  repay,  saith  the  Lord.'  This  is  a  small  octavo 
pamphlet,  written  in  Latin.1  It  contains  meditations 
on  texts  of  Scripture,  Seneca,  &c.,  and  the  self-search- 
ing of  a  penitent  soul.  That  this  penitence  was  not  a 
mere  passing  impression  is  shown  by  the  date  of  the 
'Nemesis'  pamphlet,  August  31,  1739.  The  motto  of 
1  Price  seventy-five  ore. 


ROSEN   VICTOR  211 

the  book  is  Innocue  vivito  :  Numen  adest,  which  at 
this  time  replaced  his  personal  motto,  Tantus  amor 
florum.  But  Rosen  himself  could  not  be  reconciled  : 
perhaps  had  they  had  an  evening's  chat  or  f  a  morning 
walk  together  on  their  heathery  moors,  it  would  have 
brought  their  hearts  miles  nearer  to  each  other,  and 
their  heads  too.' 

And  so  Linnseus  and  he  still  lived  apart,  both  in- 
spired with  the  same  lofty  aims,  each  following  his  star 
— the  polar  star — *  Se  tu  segui  la  tua  stellaj  1  success  is 
sure — the  essential  is  to  see  the  star.  They  were  to 
meet  again.  Carr  tells  us  that  Rosen,  towards  the 
close  of  his  life,  was  glad  of  the  medical  aid  of  Linnaeus  : 
and  the  great  botanist  acknowledges  frankly  that  he 
owed  his  life  to  the  skill  of  Rosen.  But  much  was  to 
happen  between  this  and  then. 

Linnaeus  does  not  in  the  diary  mention  having 
drawn  his  sword  upon  Rosen,  though  in  the  '  Nemesis 
Divina '  he  speaks  of  it  befittingly.  But  he  goes  on  in 
the  diary  to  tell  us,  4  By  this  edict  Linnaeus  was  de- 
prived of  his  only  means  of  subsistence,  and  Rosen 
made  up  his  mind  to  believe  that  he  had  now  totally 
ruined  him ;  but  the  following  week  there  came  a  letter 
from  Baron  Reuterholm,  with  a  bill  of  exchange  en- 
closed, and  a  request  that  Linnaeus  would  set  out  on 
his  travels  in  Dalecarlia.' 

No  sooner  was  the  door  shut  than  the  window  was 
opened.     Linnseus  flew  out  of  it  like  a  bird.     He  was 
1  Dante. 

p  2 


212     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

not  of  those  who  lose  an  opportunity.     The  man  who* 
habitually  loses  his  opportunities  is  sure  to  fail. 

Here  was  the  world  opened  to  him  again,  the  very 
best  part  of  it,  and  life  according  to  his  liking.  <  Be- 
cause, though  the  whole  earth  is  given  to  the  children 
of  men,  none  but  we  jolly  fishers  get  the  plums  and 
raisins  of  it,  the  rivers  which  run  among  the  hills,  and 
the  lakes  which  sit  a-top  thereof.' 1  For  jolly  fishers 
read  naturalists, 

1  Kingsley. 


213 


CHAPTER  IX. 

ITER   DALECARLIUM1 — THE  FAIR  FLOWER  OF  FALUN. 

Up  a  thousand  feet,  Tom, 

Round  the  lion's  head, 
Find  soft  stones  to  leeward 

And  make  up  our  bed. 
Eat  our  bread  and  bacon, 

Smoke  the  pipe  of  peace, 
And,  ere  we  be  drowsy, 

Give  our  boots  a  grease. 
Homer's  heroes  did  so, 

Why  not  such  as  we  ? 
What  are  sheets  and  servants  ? — 

Superfluity. — KINGSLEY. 

IT  took  some  time  to  organise  the  expedition,  which  was 
no  single-handed  affair  like  the  Lapland  journey.  This 
was  a  caravan  of  naturalists,  to  be  furnished  with  due 
scientific  and  all  other  requirements — for  the  two  young 
barons,  Reuterholm's  sons,  could  not  be  expected  to 
travel  without  a  certain  amount  of  luxury.  But  to  take 
servants  and  equipage  were  to  imperil  the  objects  of  the 
journey ;  and  Linnaeus's  fascinating  tongue  soon  won 
over  barons  and  all  to  trust  to  chance  for  their  creature 

1  The  adjective  Dalecarlian  is  better  Latinised  Dalecarlicus,  -a, 
-um ;  but  as  Linnaeus  wrote  of  his  journey  as  Iter  Dalecarlium,  I 
have  adopted  his  title.  In  Flora  Dalecarlica  the  same.  Linnaeus  wrote 
it  Flora  Dalecarlia.  Jackson  also  follows  Linnaeus  in  this. 


214     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

comforts,  and  carry  only  tools  and  necessaries.  '  Know- 
ledge is  easily  borne  about,'  said  Nasman,  the  proverbial 
philosopher  of  the  party. 

For  organisation  Linnaeus  had  a  masterly  talent, 
applying  it  to  the  arts  of  peace.  He  classified  men  as 
he  classified  other  natural  history  specimens — by  their 
qualities  and  capacities.  He  set  about  his  work  in  a 
workmanlike  manner. 

He  was  accompanied  by  seven  young  naturalists, 
whom  he  selected  from  a  crowd  of  volunteers.  He  enacted 
the  laws  and  regulations  of  their  course,  and  he  ap- 
pointed to  every  member  his  functions,  to  each  one  his 
manual  and  scientific  as  well  as  his  administrative 
work.  To  each  one  a  distinct  department  was  assigned, 
and  a  report  was  given  in  at  the  end  of  every  day's 
journey  according  to  written  rules  which  had  been  pre- 
pared before  starting,  for  the  due  observance  of  which 
every  member  made  himself  answerable. 

No  writers  of  Linnaeus's  life  have  given  us  his 
travels ;  written  in  Latin  or  in  Swedish,  they  have  never 
been  translated,  except  a  few  of  them  into  German,  and 
the  Lapland  journey  into  English.  The  unpublished 
journal  of  this  Dalecarlian  tour  still  exists,  locked  up, 
lying  asleep,  hitherto,  in  the  Swedish  tongue. 

Honest  old  Stoever  never  professed  to  work  upon 
the  Swedish  records,  but  he  toiled  diligently  through 
the  Latin  (excepting  what  he  could  not  get  at  in  Sir 
J.  Smith's  collection),  and  with  true  German  pains- 
takingness — which  seems  a  right  German  sort  of  word 


ITER  DALECARLIUM  215 

— -he  has  gathered  together  everything  that  was  to  be 
found  in  his  time,  and  rolled  it  out  in  fine,  respectable, 
nay  more,  genteel  language,  grandiose  and  flowery  in 
the  roundabout  grammar  of  the  period,  when  the 
ornate  Louis  Quinze  style  in  rhetoric  was  thought  the 
only  thing  fit  for  print.  He  gives  this  account  of 
Linnseus's  travelling  companions  and  their  functions, 
taken  from  the  '  Hamburg  News,'  published  some 
months  later. 

c  Nasman,  who  had  made  himself  known  by  a  good 
dissertation  on  the  Dalecarlian  language,  was  to  act  as 
geographer ;  to  give  an  accurate  description  of  all  the 
villages,  mountains,  lakes,  rivers,  roads,  districts,  &c.  ; 
to  say  morning  and  evening  prayers ;  and  to  preach  on 
Sundays. 

'  Ciewberg,  as  naturalist,  was  to  make  observations 
on  the  four  elements,  such  as  on  the  quality  of  the 
water,  on  mineral  springs,  on  sources,  on  the  snow 
which  never  melts  in  the  Alps  in  summer;  on  the 
height  of  the  mountains,  the  weather,  the  fruitfulness 
or  sterility  of  soil,  &c.,  and  to  act  as  secretary. 

'  Faldstedt  as  metallist,  besides  collecting  stones, 
minerals,  earths,  and  all  kinds  of  petrifactions  (more 
.generally  loved  in  those  days  than  now — Reuterholm 
especially  affected  them)  &c. :  as  groom  he  was  to  saddle, 
water,  and  attend  the  horses. 

4  Sohllerg,  an  able  student  of  physic,  as  botanist  or 
herbalist,  was  to  examine  and  preserve  as  well  as  pos- 
sible all  the  trees,  plants,  herbs,  grasses,  and  fungi. 


216     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS   WITH  LINNAEUS 

He  was  also  to  precede  the  company  as  quartermaster, 
to  procure  them  good  lodgings,  and  to  provide  every 
necessary  for  their  reception. 

'  Emporelius  was  zoologist,  to  describe  and  depict 
the  quadrupeds,  and  all  the  animals  living  as  well  in  the 
water  as  on  land ;  also  to  shoot  the  game  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  company,  likewise  to  fish. 

'  Hedenblad  was  to  act  as  economist :  to  examine  the 
dress  of  the  Laplanders,  their  dwellings,  way  of  pre- 
paring provisions,  matrimonial  and  funeral  rites,  their 
knowledge  of  medicine,  mode  of  living,  diet,  &c. ;  and 
to  describe  all  this  with  pen  and  pencil'  [Linnaeus 
laid  great  stress  on  such  graphic  illustrations].  'He 
was  also  to  act  as  adjutant ;  to  distribute  the  president's 
orders ;  to  call  the  company  together  whenever  it  was 
required,  especially  in  the  evening,  when  an  account 
was  always  given  of  the  day's  transactions  ;  and  to  see 
that  they  went  to  bed  and  rose  at  the  proper  time. 

t  Sandel,  an  American,  born  at  Pennsylvania,  was 
steward  and  treasurer :  he  had  the  chief  care  of  the 
fodder,  cattle,  wood-buying,  and  selling.'  * 

This  worked  well.     Tn  the  space  of  a  few  weeks  it 

1  C.  Linnagus,  Smaland,  Prseses,  publics  in  privatum. 
Reinh.  Nasman,  Dalekarl.,  Geographus,  Pastor. 
Carl  Clewberg,  Helsingland,  Physicus,  Secretarius. 
Ingel  Faldstedt,  Dalekarl.,  Mineralogus,  Stallmeister. 
Claud.  Sohlberg,  Dalekarl.,  Botanicus,  Quartermeister. 
Eric  Emporelius,  Dalekarl.,  Zoologus,  Jirgmeister. 
Petr.  Hedenblad,  Dalekarl.,  Domesticus,  Adjutant. 
Beraain  Sandel,  Americ.,  (Economus,  Korntmeister. 

Iter  Dal.  July  3,  1734,  Fahlun. 


ITER  DALECARLIUM  217 

seemed  as  if  they  had  been  accustomed  to  this  life  whole 
years  together. 

The  regulations  are  less  remarkable  than  the  fact 
that  they  carried  them  out  to  the  end  of  the  journey. 

1  The  "  Transactions  "  are  printed  (?)  on  forty-eight 
written  sheets  containing  many  important  observations 
and  discoveries.  In  the  geographical  part  is  a  faithful 
description  of  the  DalelfVen,  the  largest  river  of  Dale- 
carlia,  with  all  its  arms  and  sources ;  also  a  geography 
of  the  Alpine  mountains.  ...  In  mineralogy  there 
exists  a  description  of  120  different  curious  sorts  of 
minerals  and  fossils,  most  of  which  are  to  be  found  in 
the  district  of  Rattvik.  In  the  botanical  part  is  a  list 
of  all  the  plants  growing  in  the  whole  province,  called 
Flora  Dalecarlia,  with  the  synonyma  and  their  eco- 
nomical and  pharmaceutical  virtues,  written  l  by  Baron 
Reuterholm.' 2 

Although  Gieseke  wrote  as  above,  the  '  Iter  Dale- 
carlium '  never  really  seems  to  have  been  printed  under 
the  superintendence  of  its  authors.  It  was  consulted 
in  MS.  by  Linnasus's  pupils,  and  the  botanical  re- 
marks were  inserted  in  his  own  printed  works.  The 
journal  seems  to  have  been  used,  artist  fashion,  as  a 
quarry  for  materials.  One  particular  fruit  of  this  journey 
was  a  list  of  the  pasture  herbs  of  Sweden,  published 
under  the  title  of  '  Pan  Suecus.' 3 

1  Collated  and  transcribed. 

2  Article   on  the  Iter  Dal.  in  the  Hamburg  News,  written  by 
Gieseke. 

*  In  Pan  Suecus  are  recorded  over  two  thousand  experiments  to 


218     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS   WITH  LINNALUS 

'  When  the  president  discovered  a  village  it  was  not 
necessary  for  all  the  company  to  ride  thither,  but  the 
geographer  alone  was  sent  to  enter  it.  If  some  par- 
ticular stone  or  fossil  was  found  on  the  way  the  metal - 
list  was  directed  to  alight ;  at  the  sight  of  some  curious 
plant  or  insect  the  botanist  or  zoologist  did  his  duty. 
They  took  the  respective  objects  with  them,  and  pre- 
pared a  description,  to  be  inserted  at  night  in  the  "  Trans- 
actions," besides  the  name  of  the  place  where  they  had 
been  found.  At  night  they  all  met  together ;  the  presi- 
dent then  dictated  to  the  secretary l  the  memoranda 
collected  by  each  companion  in  a  regular  turn,  from  the 
geographer  to  the  steward  ;  and  if  he  happened  to  for- 
get any  remark,  the  companion  to  whose  office  that 
part  of  the  science  belonged  refreshed  his  memory.' 

This  division  of  labour  was  found  easily  practicable 
by  the  party.  All  did  not  precipitate  themselves  on  a 

ascertain  what  plants  are  eaten  and  what  are  rejected  by  horned 
cattle,  goats,  sheep,  horses,  and  hogs.  Linnaeus  conceived  the 
design  of  instituting  these  experiments  when  he  was  travelling  in 
Dalarne.  Horned  cattle  ate  of  the  plants  offered  to  them  276 
species,  and  rejected  218 ;  goats,  of  449  kinds,  refused  126;  sheep, 
of  387  kinds,  refused  141 ;  horses,  of  262,  refused  212 ;  swine  ate 
of  those  offered  72  kinds,  and  refused  171.  Three-fourths  of  these 
(Swedish)  plants  are  the  same  as  ours  in  England.  The  utility  of  such 
experiments  is  evident,  as  they  lay  the  foundation  of  further  im- 
provements in  the  economy  of  cattle.  Our  hay  might  be  much 
improved ;  for  although  cattle  will  eat  in  hay  those  herbs  which  they 
reject  while  green  and  growing,  yet  it  does  not  follow  that  all  in 
their  dried  state  are  equally  nutritive  and  wholesome. 

1  Gieseke.  This  may  have  been  the  original  plan,  but  in  the 
journal  each  man's  observations  are  recorded  in  his  own  hand- 
writing. 


ITER  DALECARLIUM  219 

plant,  nor  was  there  a  struggle  to  obtain  the  best  or 
only  quarters  for  the  night,  as  I  have  seen  a  party  of 
thirty  '  geologues '  in  France  simultaneously  claiming 
the  only  rooms  to  be  had  in  small  French  townlets,  and 
clearing  the  neighbourhood  of  its  cafe  au  lait ;  jolly, 
very,  but  verily  unsystematic.  This  was  likewise  a  '  jolly- 
gizing  '  trip,  as  the  livery-stable  keepers  called  Professor 
Sedgwick's  adventurous  rides  with  his  train  of  pupils. 
Linnaeus  set  the  fashion  of  such  excursions,  picnic 
jaunts,  in  which  he  and  his  pupils  enjoyed  nature,  capping 
verses  or  quotations  as  they  rode,  keeping  their  eyes, 
minds,  and  hearts  open.  Youth  and  health  are  never 
at  a  loss  for  laughter.  Young  Faldstedt,  the  athlete  of 
the  party,  who  groomed  their  horses,  acting,  as  he  said,  as 
Master  of  the  Horse,  was  a  playful,  impudent,  careless, 
jovial,  capital  fellow,  always  keeping  their  energies  up  to 
the  mark  ;  Nasman  was  graver,  as  befitted  his  pastoral 
character,  but  always  ready  with  a  Swedish  proverb, 
which  Sandel,  the  Pennsylvanian,  capped  by  a  world- 
wide or  smart  American  saying.1  Linnaeus  ruled  his 
little  troop  well,  being  by  nature  superior  to  the  rest 
of  them,  who  were,  however,  of  a  high  average.  These 
young,  pliant,  susceptible  natures  had  their  lives 
coloured  by  his  friendship,  and  their  minds  moulded  to 
his  by  contact  with  his  clear  thought  and  elevated  feeling. 
The  air,  too,  is  so  fine  in  these  inland  parts  of  Sweden 

1  I  have  thrown  the  dry  materials  of  the  reports  somewhat  into 
narrative,  and  even  ventured  to  introduce  an  occasional  dialogue, 
founded  always  on  the  substance  of  the  journal,  unless  it  is  for  the 
purpose  of  introducing  a  Swedish  proverb. 


220     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

as  to  brace  and  stimulate  the  faculties,  and  produce  that 
state  of  wholesome  intoxication  which  affords  its  pleasures 
without  its  penalties.  Guthrey  says  that  '  the  inhabi- 
tants live  so  long  as  to  find  life  tedious,  and  therefore 
go  to  other  climes  of  less  salubrity.'  Never  mind,  they 
would  find  less  inconveniently  fine  air  in  some  of  the 
mining  districts  where  they  were  going ;  mayhap  they 
would  even  find  diseases.  Their  object  was  to  go  to 
RoraSs,  high  up  in  the  dreary  mountain  range  dividing 
Sweden  from  Norway,  where  they  might  chance  to  die 
of  cold  and  privation,  aided  by  mining  dangers,  arse- 
nical fumes,  and  others.  Though  the  copper  exhala- 
tions are  so  deleterious  to  vegetation,  they  seem  to  offer 
some  hygienic  advantages  to  mankind.  Falun,  like 
Swansea,  has  always  been  exempt  from  cholera  and 
other  pestilence,  and  this  immunity  is  attributed  to  the 
smelting  of  the  copper  ores.  This  is  considered  an 
excellent  disinfectant. 

Sohlberg,  a  former  pupil  of  Carl's  at  Upsala,  one  of 
the  Dalecarlians  of  the  party,  led  the  way,  because  he 
knew  it,  and  because  his  office  was  to  quarter  the  troop 
comfortably  on  their  arrival  at  the  end  of  the  day's 
journey.  The  rest  rode  more  at  ease,  making  busy 
notes  for  the  journal,  whose  early  pages  are  naturally 
the  fullest  and  neatest.  There  are  different  hand- 
writings in  each  leaf,  and  a  broad  margin  on  the  outside 
of  each  page,  which  Linnasus  fills  with  his  comments, 
which  show  how  carefully  he  read  every  day's  report. 

The  papers  each  day  begin  with  the  geographer's 


ITER  DALECARLIUM  221 

report,  then  the  botanist's  (Sohlberg,  whose  day's  public 
work  is  over  early).  The  American  c  economist '  makes 
the  most  drawings,  even  more  than  Hedenblad,  whose 
especial  function  it  is  ;  he  makes  sketches  of  tools, 
appliances,  and  anything  that  hits  his  fancy  as  a 
c  notion.'  The  first  day's  report  is  the  neatest  of  all. 
It  is  a  general  experience  ;  one  writes  most,  the  fullest 
diary,  on  the  day  of  leaving  home ;  one's  blood  is  up 
and  one  is  not  yet  tired ;  all  is  hope  and  expectation. 
Nasman,  the  geographer,  made  a  large  careful  map  on 
time-browned  paper,  marking  in  water-colour  the  streams 
where  they  rise  from  lakes  looking  like  leaves  at  the  end 
of  branches.  The  churches  are  all  marked  as  far  as  Idre. 
The  map  itself  goes  no  farther  up. 

They  left  Falun  on  July  3,  1734,  the  seven  Dale- 
carlians  (including  the  two  young  Eeuterholms)  as 
eagerly  on  the  watch  as  the  others  for  natural  objects 
as  yet  unobserved  by  them.  They  were  eager  to  dis- 
tinguish themselves  in  the  diary.1  The  high  road  to 
Leksand 2  just  after  leaving  Falun,  covered  with  masses 
of  mineral  refuse,  and  bare  of  vegetation,  presents 
much  the  aspect  of  the  bleaker  Cornish  mining  dis- 
tricts, with  the  range  of  the  Stora  Kopparberg  forming 
a  dreary  barrier  between  it  and  the  pleasanter  parts  of 
the  world.  There  is  a  luxuriant  vegetation  outside 
Falun  beyond  the  range  of  the  fumes  from  the  smelting- 
works.  The  mines  of  these  '  big  copper  hills  '  have  been 

1  The  Reuterholms  never  write  in  the  journal. 
8  Spelt  Lixan  in  the  MS. 


222     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

worked  over  six  hundred  years.  For  the  more  complete 
exploration  of  the  province  they  occasionally  divided 
themselves  into  two  bands.  Some  of  them  now  took 
the  northern  road  by  way  of  Biursa's  on  the  Rogsjo. 
The  rest  travelled  by  way  of  Junsta  and  the  lakelet  of 
Innsjo.  The  peculiar  and  primitive  population  of  these 
valleys  are  among  the  handsomest  of  the  Swedish  race ; 
they  still  retain  their  national  dress,  and  are  proudly 
independent  in  their  faithful  adherence  to  their  ancient 
customs.  This  was  less  remarkable  to  Linnaeus  than  it 
is  to  us,  as  at  that  time  the  Swedes  in  general  resembled 
in  costume  and  manners  the  Dalecarlians  of  the  present 
day.  A  long  boat  loaded  with  about  seventy  of  the 
Dalfolk,  coming  across  the  Innsjo  to  Brednas  with  a 
wedding-party,  seemed  a  signal  for  a  halt,  and  our 
travellers  joined  the  holiday-makers  in  the  spirited  and 
delightful  Dalecarlian  dances. 

The  four  most  interesting  parishes  of  Dalecarlia  are 
Leksand  at  the  southern  and  Mora  at  the  northern  end 
of  the  Siljan  Lake ;  Rattvik,  at  the  end  of  the  large 
bight,  extending  north-easterly  ;  and  Orsa,  on  the  lake 
of  that  name,  which  is,  in  fact,  a  part  of  the  Siljan 
before  its  volume  is  increased  by  the  tribute  of  the 
Ost-Dal  River.  The  population  of  these  valleys  is 
about  170,000.  Besides  their  farm-work  they  make 
extensively  (in  their  own  houses)  basket-work,  clocks, 
watches  and  tools  ;  likewise  bells,  furniture,  grindstones, 
&c. ;  in  all  of  which  Sandel  the  oeconomus  was  vastly 
interested — possibly  because  some  of  the  appleblossom- 


ITER  DALECARLIUM  223 

complexioned  female  workers  were  so  pretty!  The 
diary  does  not  say  so,  however.  The  frequent  farms 
and  villages  of  red  and  white  painted  houses  set  in  the 
sylvan  scenery  of  wood  and  dale,  and  the  numerous 
boats  on  the  silvery  lake,  make  the  soft  and  beautiful 
scenery  animated  and  still  further  interesting.  The 
costumes  of  the  people  are  charming.  The  red  bodices 
of  the  women  rowing  the  long  boats,  reflected  in  the 
glassy  Siljan  Lake,  are  delightful  in  colour.  Linnaeus's 
whole  party  were  hard  at  work  observing,  collecting, 
and  taking  notes,  alternately  riding  and  boating.  The 
country,  being  nearly  one-quarter  of  it  covered  with 
water,  seemed  to  leave  to  Emporelius,  the  fisherman 
and  zoologist,  the  lion's  share  of  the  work  of  observa- 
tion. Still,  the  remaining  fourth,  intersected  with 
brooks  and  feeders  to  the  lake  was  'just  the  sort  of 
country  to  learn  something  in.'  The  yellow  anemones 
were  over,  and  all  in  seed,  but  the  delicate  perfume  of 
the  Linncea  borecdis  filled  the  air.  The  youths  saluted 
this  graceful  plant  l  by  the  name  it  was  thenceforward 
to  bear,  though  the  name  was  only  printed  on  their 
hearts  as  yet.  Wild  strawberries  and  raspberries  grew 
abundantly  for  their  refreshing. 

So  they  passed  by  in  their  joy,  like  a  dream,  on  the  murmuring 
ripple. 

Some  of  the  party  rode  round  the  north  bank  of  the 
lake,  passing  through  Kattvik,  leaving  Clewberg,  Empo- 

1  Campanula  serpyllifolia. 


224     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN&US 

relius  the  fisherman,  and  Sohlberg  the  quarter-master, 
who  could  not  obtain  horses,  to  come  on  by  boat.  The 
gay  costume  of  the  Rattvik  women  is  as  pretty  as 
any — white  sleeves,  blueish  skirt  with  green  border 
and  dark  waistband,  a  woollen  apron  with  transverse 
bands  of  white,  green,  yellow,  and  blue,  embroidered 
leggings,  the  cap  black  with  red  trimmings,  or  some- 
times of  linen,  with  two  balls  falling  on  the  back. 
One  frequently  sees  this  costume  in  Stockholm  now, 
as  well  as  other  varieties  of  the  Dalecarlian  national 
dress. 

The  first  four  stages  of  their  journey  lay  through  a 
hilly  well-wooded  country,  of  which  Wickarby,  lying 
beyond  the  handsome  church  of  Rattvik,  is  the  most 
delightful  district  in  point  of  scenery.  The  views  from 
the  hill-range  called  Bergsangsbackarna  are  extensive, 
and  present  with  great  attraction  the  varied  charms  of 
wood  and  water,  the  scenery  becoming  wilder  as  one 
penetrates  the  valley  to  Ofvanmyre  and  Boda,  where 
there  is  a  lofty  waterfall  (200  feet).  The  party  formed 
a  junction  at  the  copper-roofed  church  of  Mora,  where 
the  scenery  becomes  tame,  and  travelling  tiresome  on 
the  sandy  road.  Linnaeus  with  most  of  the  party  again 
turned  off  at  Mora  Noret,  where  the  Orsa  Lake  in  a 
broad  stream  empties  itself  into  the  Siljan ;  then  took 
the  eastward  road  to  Orsa,  forming  a  junction  with  the 
others  where  the  roads  join  before  Garberg,  keeping 
the  East  Dal  River  to  the  left.  He  did  not  wish  the 
young  Reuterholms  to  be  fatigued  with  the  longer  ex- 


1TER  DALECARLIUM  225 

ploring  rides,  so  he  left  the  boys  in  Nasman's  and 
Sohlberg's  care  to  travel  by  the  shorter  road. 

The  active  well-grown  handsome  farmers  of  these 
parts  interested  Sandel,  the  American,  particularly; 
they  can  turn  their  hands  to  anything,  having  generally 
a  trade — such  as  blacksmith,  tailor,  or  what  not — in  ad- 
dition to  their  farming.  Hedenblad  made  notes  of  their 
costumes.  The  men  wear  short  coats  of  white  home- 
spun cloth,  generally  two  of  these  at  a  time,  the  under 
one  being  sleeveless  ;  they  have  white  leather  breeches 
and  blue  stockings.  The  women  wear  bodices  of  scarlet 
wool,  showing  their  long  white  linen  sleeves,  a  dark 
blue  cloth  shirt,  and  a  yellow  apron  with  a  black  border, 
white  stockings,  and  shoes  with  a  peg-like  heel  in  the 
centre.  These  people  are  tall  and  well-grown,  and  alto- 
gether a  fine  race,  which  makes  it  the  more  remarkable 
that  they,  the  men  in  particular,  are  said  to  seldom  out- 
live thirty  years  of  age.  This  is  partially  explained  in 
several  ways.  In  the  notes  on  domestic  medicine  in 
the  journal  pleurisy  is  mentioned  as  a  distemper  of  an 
epidemical  nature  in  that  country ;  it  is  alleged  that  it 
arises  from  the  excess  which  the  inhabitants  commit  by 
gorging  themselves  with  a  kind  of  porridge  made  of  flour. 
Hedenblad  alludes,  besides,  to  their  mastication  of  a  cer- 
tain kind  of  rosin,  and  describes  their  burying  in  the  earth 
a  certain  species  of  rotten  fish,  called  Lunsfisk,  which 
they  dig  out  again  to  prepare  it  for  their  food.  They 
also  drink  the  strong  Norwegian  wine  made  of  berries. 
Linnaeus  is  of  opinion,  with  regard  to  the  early  deaths 

VOL.  I.  Q 


226     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

at  Orsa,  that  the  mortality  is  due  to  hectic  fever  arising' 
from  the  pernicious  exhalations  of  the  mines.  He  thought 
he  found  a  still  better  explanation  of  the  disease  when 
riding  through  the  narrow  streets  of  Orsa  Kyrkoby, 
where  sixty  or  seventy  farms  lie  very  close  together,  and 
the  close  unwholesome  stabling  attracts  swarms  of  flies. 
He  was  inclined  to  think  here  lay  the  root  of  the  eviI7 
the  extreme  closeness  of  the  dwellings  and  the  sudden 
exposure  to  cold  air  precipitating  the  disorder.  Lun- 
den,  a  hamlet  by  the  shores  of  Orsa,  is  a  wholesomer, 
pleasant er  place  than  Orsa  Kyrkoby  (church  town), 
where  the  dazzingly  white  and  clean  parish  church  is  a 
fine  example  set  to  the  householders.  The  people  here 
are  poorer  than  at  Leksand.  It  is  good  and  pleasant, 
for  them  to  get  away  for  the  summer  months  to  the 
fahodar  (saeters),  where  the  marshy  pasture-lands  afford 
rich  feeding  for  the  cattle,  and  the  ponds,  fringed  with 
horsetail,1  are  filled  with  clean  water,  while  the  air  is 
filled  with  the  fragrance  of  the  pines.  One  hears  the 
girls  calling  the  cattle  with  a  horn,  or  sees  them  knit- 
ting stockings,  surrounded  by  the  herd,  which  they  lead 
readily  by  means  of  a  pocket  of  salt  at  their  waists. 

For  their  own  part  the  exploring  squadron  preferred 
to  sleep  in  a  barn  on  new  hay,  or  on  bags  filled  with  the 
dry  Dalarne  moss.  l  These  mosses  of  the  Dalarne  woods 
are  all  in  some  way  remarkable.  Fontinalis  antipyretica, 
the  longest  of  the  tribe,  is  much  used  by  the  peasantry 
as  a  remedy  in  their  chest  complaints,  also  as  a  preserva- 
tive against  fire.  The  farmers  place  it  between  the  stones 
1  Equisetum. 


ITER  DALECARLIUM  227 

and  wooden  walls  of  their  houses ;  like  asbestos,  it  will 
neither  light  nor  retain  light.'  The  young  men's  evenings 
spent  quietly  in  the  barns  were  as  pleasant  as  those  occu- 
pied in  dancing.  *  With  them  talk  was  what  it  ought  to 
be — an  exchange  of  information,  thought,  and  argument.' 
The  party  exchanged  their  news,  having  again  formed  a 
junction  :  the  eager  enjoyment  of  novelty  was  still  felt  by 
all.  While  waiting  eagerly  for  their  turn  to  write  their 
notes  in  the  journal  they  came  outside  and  left  the  place 
silent  and  undisturbed  to  the  immediate  writer,  while 
they  relished  that  greatest  enjoyment  in  life,  '  intercom- 
munion of  equal  minds  and  sympathetic  hearts.'  They 
had  passed  a  studious  winter,  and  '  headwork  demands 
physical  relaxation.' l  How  to  develop  the  physical 
powers  sufficiently  for  making  the  very  best  of  life's  work 
'  without  engendering  brutality  and  coarseness,'  is  the 
puzzle  of  this  age.  Linnaeus,  the  Kingsley  of  his  time, 
seems  early  to  have  solved  it.  t  Plant-hunting  was  to 
him  what  sports  are  to  other  persons.' 2  While  himself 
'  in  ecstasies  of  observant  study,'  '  this  robust  genius, 
born  to  grapple  with  the  whole  army  of  nature  and  to 
marshal  it,'  was  yet  able  to  train  the  young  men  who 
formed  his  school — an  anticipation  of  his  future  court — 
to  guide  rather  than  to  rule  them  by  the  life,  the  plea- 
sure, the  intensity  of  interest  he  infused  into  every 
object,  and  by  his  sympathy  with  the  opening  of  this 
revelation  to  them,  and  with  their  new  enjoyment  of  the 
'  magnificent  smile  of  mother  nature,  most  genial  but 
1  Kingsley.  2  Bain  on  Mill. 

Q  2 


228     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS   WITH  LINN^US 

most  silent.'  In  view  of  his  after  career,  the  experi- 
ence that  Linnaeus  now  gained  in  training  the  attention 
and  winning  the  affection  of  young  men  was  the  most 
valuable  result  of  the  Dalecarlian  tour.  When  the 
young  Reuterholms  complained  of  the  great  length 
of  the  Swedish  summer  days,  Linnaeus  was  prompt  to 
show  them  how  much  their  country  was  to  be  envied 
for  this  very  thing  :  how  two  great  batches  of  work  could 
be  worked  off  in  each  year  in  Sweden,  such  as  could  not 
be  steadily  performed  where  time  was  more  broken  into. 
They  had  the  long  summer  days  for  discovery,  the  long 
winter  nights  for  classification.  At  least  this  is  what 
he  seems  to  mean  when  he  speaks  of  the  dark  winter 
days  as  such  an  advantage  of  the  Swedish  climate. 
Linnaeus  had  pre-eminently  the  faculty  of  being  wide 
awake — not  the  highest  endowment  by  any  means,  but 
the  most  useful  for  his  purpose.  Linnaeus  never  lost 
himself  in  dreams :  he  was  always  more  in  the  body 
than  in  the  spirit.  He  never  thought,  like  the  poets, 
of  seeing  the  invisible  things,  but  he  kept  a  keen  look 
out  for  things  visible  but  as  yet  undiscovered,  while  his 
ears  were  awake  to  Clewberg's,  and  more  especially  to 
Emporelius's  and  Sohlberg's,  tales  of  discovery,  related 
with  all  the  fire  of  youth.  *  Every  fly  that  lit  upon  the 
boat  side,  every  bit  of  weed  that  we  fished  'up,  every 
note  of  wood-bird,  was  suggestive  of  some  pretty  bit  of 
information  on  the  habits,  growth,  and  breeding  of  the 
thousand  unnoticed  forms  of  life  around.' l 
1  Capt.  W.  Congreve. 


ITER  DALECARLWM  229 

They  changed  horses  at  the  pretty  hamlet  of  Gar- 
berg,  '  pleasant  with  red  houses,  verdant  fields,  and 
groves,  and  a  stream  of  clear  water.' *  The  next  hamlet 
of  importance  is  Elfdal,  near  which  are  now  celebrated 
porphyry  works.2  Faldstedt  made  a  special  report  upon 
them,  while  Hedenblad's  attention  was  drawn  to  the 
signs  of  Lapp  ancestry  among  the  people,  who  are  short 
and  ugly,  at  only  fifteen  miles'  distance  from  the 
finely-peopled  parishes  of  Orsa  and  Mora.  The  scenery 
round  Elfdal  is  very  picturesque.  The  numerous  falls 
and  cataracts  formed  by  the  Dal  river  add  much  to  the 
beauty  of  the  landscape.  Henceforward  traces  of  human 
industry  become  less  frequent ;  mountain,  ravine,  cata- 
ract, and  pine-forest  follow  each  other  in  endless  suc- 
cession. The  shooting  in  these  forests  is  highly  spoken 
of — bear  and  elk,  capercailzie  and  hazel-hen,  and  most 
kinds  of  game.  Emporelius's  gun  was  constantly  at 
work  for  specimens ;  he  fed  the  party  well  besides. 

O 

Ten  miles  farther  up  is  Asen,  with  a  chapel,  where  the 
pastor  received  them  for  the  night. 

They  crossed  the  East  Dal  at  a  ferry  near  Asen, 
keeping  the  river  on  the  right  hand,  and  after  a  long  ride 
they  rested  at  a  large  hay-house.  From  Asen  to  Sarna  3  it 
is  six  Swedish  miles,  with  no  hamlet  or  post-station  be- 
tween these  places.  This  long  march  from  Elfdalen  to 

1  Du  Chaillu  highly  praises  this  landscape. 

2  Linnaeus's  monument  in  Upsala  Cathedral  is  made  of  the  red 
porphyry  of  Elfdal. 

8  Spelt  Serna  in  the  MS.  diary.     The  spelling  of  proper  names 
is  unsettled  throughout. 


zjo     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN.-EUS 

Sarna  is  cheered  by  the  fact  of  the  road  passing  through 
the  wildest  and  mgst  magnificent  scenery  of  the  whole 
pass.  The  cattle-bells  tinkled  and  the  herd-maidens 
played  delightfully  o-n  the  horn.  While  Emporelius  was 
fishing  in  the  Elf,1  and  having  the  eatable  specimens  he 
had  shot  prepared  for  their  supper,  Sandel,  the  American  7 
and  the  young  Reuterholms  amused!  themselves  with 
improvising  a  concert  and  improving  their  own  method 
of  calling  the  party  together  by  the  sound  of  the  horn . 
This  instrument,  however  badly  played,  never  failed  of 
its  effect  about  meal  times ;  at  bed  and  getting-up  times 
it  was  less  successful.  The  boys  said  Hedenblad  had 
feeble  wind — he  must  practise  longer  to  strengthen  it ; 
and  they  wondered  what  profession  would  admit  of  their 
lying  in  bed  the  longest.  They  had  to  be  up  early  on 
the  morrow,  for  they  had  loitered  a  good  deal  on  their 
way.  Not  until  July  14  did  they  arrive  at  Sarma.  They 
set  their  three-quarters  of  a  dozen  watches  and  went  to 
bed.  Linnaeus  alone  had  no  watch  ;  he  knew  the  time 
of  day  or  night  by  the  birds  and  flowers.  '  Hasten  them 
up,  it  is  late/  said  the  leader  on  the  morrow  :  '  it  is  five 
o'clock ;  the  yellow  mountain  poppy  has  just  unfolded, 
The  blue-throated  robin  woke  the  day  three  hours 
ago.' 

Sarna  is  prettily  situated  on  the  river,  which  here 

widens  into  a  lake.     The  pastor  housed  part  of  them  in 

the  parish  church,  the  inn — even  then  a  good  one — being 

full  on  account  of  a  fair  that  was  about  to  open.     Sarna 

1  Or  Dal,  or  Dai-elf,  river  of  the  dale. 


ITER  DALECARLIUM  231 

Lake  was  on  their  right,  but  they  crossed  the  river 
again  above  Sarna,  keeping  the  Idre  Lake  on  the  left  and 
the  Stadjan  Mount  on  their  right.  It  is  three  Swedish 
miles  hence  to  Idre — a  poor  hamlet,  with  scattered  farms. 
The  present  carriage-road  ends  here.  It  was  merely  a 
bridle-path  in  Linnseus's  time.  The  forest  path  leading 
to  Norway  was  then  the  roughest  of  tracks.  They  could 
not  make  much  headway  on  horseback  through  the 
forest ;  they  found  it  easier  to  dismount  and  lead  the 
animals. 

'  Better  so  for  my  trade,'  said  Claes  Sohlberg  the 
botanist,  holding  up  a  prize  specimen  of  Andromeda 
florecceruleo.  This  was  on  July  16. 

f  He  who  is  afraid  of  leaves  must  not  come  into  a 
wood,'  said  Nasman  the  proverbial  philosopher. 

*  I  expected  to  find  so  many  more  birds  as  we  came  to 
the  deeper  forests,'  said  Emporelius  ;  4  we  never  hear  a 
song  here.' 

'  That  is  because  autumn  is  coming  on,'  said  several 
of  them.  i  Sweden  is  always  silent  in  autumn  :  one  hears 
only  whisperings  from  the  wood.' 

c  It  is  a  general  mistake,'  said  their  leader,  '  to  expect 
to  find  song-birds  in  the  deep  forests  :  they  cannot  find 
their  food  there ;  while  their  enemies  the  larger  birds — 
hawks  and  owls,  that  feed  on  flesh — are  more  abundant.1 
The  song-bird  is  the  friend  of  man,  and  loves  his  neigh- 
bourhood, which  includes  his  corn-fields  and  fruit- 
gardens.' 

1  Lowell  also  notices  this. 


232     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

c  A  thousand  probabilities  cannot  make  one  truth,' 
observed  the  sententious  Nasman. 

Pine  woods  are  generally  said  to  be  silent,  never- 
theless Sweden  in  spring  is  highly  musical,  indeed 
quite  orchestral,  with  birds. 

They  came  out  to  an  open  space  where  were  willow- 
grouse  in  abundance.  Close  time  was  not  then  and 
there  thought  of ;  Emporelius  had  levelled  his  gun  for  a 
shot,  when  he  was  stopped  by  the  sight  of  an  unfamiliar 
species  of  kite  poised  motionless  above.  He  wavered 
and  missed  everything. 

'  All  covet,  all  lose,'  quoth  Nasman. 

'  I  wonder  we  never  see  the  red  grouse  of  England 
and  Scotland  here,'  said  'Sandel,  who  had  stayed  in 
England  on  his  way  from  America.  '  The  feeding 
would  be  much  the  same.' 

f  It  may  be  the  same  bird  as  our  grouse,  changed 
somewhat  by  the  conditions  of  our  climate,'  said 
Linnaeus.1 

The  red  grouse  of  the  Scotch  and  Welsh  hills  are 
the  only  large  and  conspicuous  creatures  entirely  con- 
fined to  the  British  Isles.  All  our  other  animals  have 
come  to  us  from  somewhere  else,  but  the  red  grouse  is 
found  nowhere  else  than  in  Britain.  The  only  bird 
at  all  closely  resembling  it  is  the  willow-grouse  of  the 
Scandinavian  peninsula,  which  changes  its  plumage 

1  Linnasus  classed  several  species  of  birds  in  the  genus  Tetrao. 
Dr.  Bree  considers  that  the  affinities  of  the  willow-grouse  '  are  more 
wita  the  ptarmigan  than  the  red  grouse,  but  it  is  distinct  from  both.' 


ITER  DALECARLIUM  233 

annually  with  the  approach  of  white  winter.  It  is  pro- 
bable our  bird  closely  represents  the  common  ancestor 
of  both  species,  which  must  have  come  north  >vard  into 
the  unoccupied  hills  of  Scotland  and  Norway  when  the 
vast  glaciers  of  the  great  ice  age  began  to  melt  off 
the  face  of  sub-arctic  Europe.  In  proportion  as  each 
northern  grouse  grew  lighter  and  lighter  during  the 
winter  season  would  its  chances  of  escape  in  the  struggle 
for  existence  grow  ever  greater.  The  darker-coloured 
individuals  would  thus  at  last  entirely  disappear,  being 
one  by  one  weeded  out  and  annihilated,  while  the  white 
alone  were  left  to  form  the  parent  stock  for  future 
generations.1 

The  dark  fringe  of  the  pine-forest  rested  on  the 
white  cloud-masses  above  the  snow-topped  hills  of  the 
lofty  Slerol  Stadet. 

How  sharp  the  silver  spear-heads  charge 
When  Alp  meets  heaven  in  snow  ! 

The  mountain  precipices  at  times  overhung  their  narrow 
pathway  as  the  discoverers  followed  each  other  in  line, 
some  looking  professionally  upwards  to  the  hills  above, 
some  downwards  to  where  the  clouds  floated  in  dense 
masses  below  their  path  on  the  left  hand,  others  curiously 
investigating  the  walls  of  rock  on  the  right,  which  were 
as  if  fresco-painted  by  the  variously  coloured  lichens  that 
climbed,  holding  tight  by  their  tiny  teeth,  while  other 

1  Condensed  from  Times,  September  5,  1885— 'Grouse  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland.' 


234     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN.-EUS 

mosses  seated  on  higher  crags  expanded  themselves  and 
wrote  their  history  in  capitals  on  those  giant  walls. 
'  Wit  in  a  poor  man's  head  and  moss  in  a  mountain 
avail  nothing,'  said  the  poor  curate  Nasman.  Linnaeus 
contested  this. 

'  The  stag's-horn  club-moss  ceased  to  straggle  across 
the  turf  and  the  tufted  alpine  club-moss  takes  its  place  : 
for  they  were  now  in  a  new  world — a  region  whose 
climate  is  eternally  influenced  by  some  fresh  law  (after 
which  Clewberg  vainly  guesses,  with  a  sigh  at  his  own 
ignorance)  which  renders  life  impossible  to  one  species 
possible  to  another.' l  The  scenery  and  its  solitude 
would  have  been  oppressively  magnificent  had  it  not 
been  for  the  stimulating  quality  of  the  air,  which  raised 
their  energies  to  meet  the  demands  made  upon  them. 
Their  minds  were  set  in  full  tension  of  receptivity,  a 
new  intellectual  World  seemed  to  unfold  itself  before 
them,  wooing  them  to  its  conquest.  It  was  like  awaken- 
ing out  of  a  night  of  ignorance ;  and  they  were  at 
the  end  of  the  day's  ride,  and  Faldstedt,  who  had  dis- 
burdened his  pockets  of  their  mineral  collection,  was 
already  leading  off  the  horses  to  shelter  before  they  had 
exhausted  their  questions  to  Nature  and  their  leader. 
Without  actually  expanding  in  verse — an  instrument  few 
of  them  had  cared  to  practise — the  grandeur  of  the  land- 
scape, and  the  excitement  of  being  the  first  to  examine 
it,  set  these  ten  young  fellows  all  glowing  into  poetry  at 
once  in  the  joy  of  discovered  relationship  with  infinity. 
1  Glancus. 


ITER  DALECARLIUM  235 

Are  not  the  mountains,  waves,  and  skies  a  part 

Of  me  and  of  my  soul,  as  I  of  them  ? 
Is  not  the  love  of  these  deep  in  my  heart 

With  a  pure  passion  ?  ' 


'  We  sprang  from  earth,  the  first  and  last  home  of  our 
bodies,  our  souls  (the  habitation  of  the  spirit)  evaporate 
to  the  skies  ;  our  whole  nutriment  is  drawn  from  earth.' 
And  these  young  men  were  now  first  winning  their 
mental  nutriment  likewise  from  the  lap  of  Nature. 

The  sun  was  hidden :  the  pine-tops  against  the  blue 
and  white  clouded  sky  became  a  view  in  black  and 
white  as  the  light  went  out.  The  sun  burst  forth 
again :  the  picture  became  a  painting.  The  lyrist 
Clewberg,  the  only  actual  versifier  of  the  party,  was 
putting  his  feelings —gifts  from  the  greater  world,  he 
called  them — into  tender  sonorous  words,  when  the  horn 
sounded  and  Linnaeus  called  them  to  a  demonstration 
on  the  material  aspect  of  the  world  immediately  about 
them.  Perhaps  this  was  even  more  poetical  than  Clew- 
berg's  unwritten  poem,  which  began  as  an  invocation  to 
divers  forest  nymphs.  '  Pooh  !  nymphs  ?  We  want  no 
nymphs,'  said  Linnaeus ;  '  our  mother  Nature's  beauty 
and  beneficence  are  enough  for  us.  Let  us  keep  fast 
hold  of  her  apron-string,'  Modesty  and  deference — 
1  virtues  of  sacred  obligation,'  inculcated  by  Nasman,  who, 
insisting  upon  good  manners,  always  said,  i  Do  on  the 
hill  as  ye  would  in  the  hall ' — prevented  the  younger  men 
laughing  at  the  idea  of  Linnaeus  never  intending  to  fall 
in  love,  nor  having  yet  done  so. 


236     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

'  He'll  find  out  by-and-by  that  it  is  the  nature  of 
man  to  fall  in  love,  and  then  he  will  have  that  sort  of 
nature  to  study,'  whispered  the  elder  of  the  two  Keuter- 
holm  boys,  who  fancied  himself  grown  up,  to  Hedenblad, 
who  had  prepared  some  careful  notes  on  the  matrimonial 
rites  of  the  Laplanders.  Hedenblad  again  wound  his 
horn  for  the  lecture. 

Linnaeus  was  standing  on  a  rock  making  observa- 
tions on  the  weather  from  the  movements  of  the  birds 
and  beasts.  There  had  been  a  long  drought,  and  now 
evidently  something  was  taking  place  betokening  a 
change.  The  creatures  were  restless  yet  not  shy.  The 
golden  plover  piped  loud  and  long.  The  swallows  were 
skimming  the  Idre  Lake  quite  close  to  its  glassy  surface. 
i  We  need  carry  no  barometer,'  said  the  leader ;  '  there  is 
always  one  ready  to  our  hands  on  these  fells.  The  tools 
are  always  here  ;  we  have  to  learn  to  use  them.  How- 
ever the  clergy  may  construe  it  that  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  within  us,  the  kingdom  of  earth  certainly  is 
so,  and  education's  business  is  to  open  up  this  kingdom 
to  us.  There,  Emporelius's  shot  has  broken  up  my 
barometer.'  The  sharp  report  sent  with  a  start  thousands 
of  winged  things  all  into  the  air  at  once.  The  sports- 
man took  up  bleeding  and  still  palpitating  one  poor 
little  willow-grouse  in  its  summer  dress,  but  with  its 
wings,  breast,  and  legs  still  unusually  white.  'The 
rest  are  more  frightened  than  hurt,'  said  Nasman 
sarcastically. 

It  seemed  as  if  the  shot  had  brought  down  the  rain 


ITER  DALECARLIUM  237 

with  the  bird,  for  a  heavy  shower,  '  raining  grass  and 
gold,'  came  down,  diluting  Clewberg's  ink  and  driving 
the  young  men  to  shelter.  The  hut,  though  dark,  was 
anything  but  weathertight :  the  chinks  and  crannies 
were  i  all  squirts  and  whistles.' 

1 A  child  may  have  too  much  of  his  mother's  blessing, 
eh,  Nasman/  said  Clewberg,  laughing  as  the  candle 
hissed  and  went  out,  and  he  could  not  see  to  put  his 
ink  under  cover.  Two  bats — one  the  Vesp.  borealis,  the 
other  a  long-eared  bat — whirled  inside  the  hut.  They 
were  caught  that  night. 

1  Change  of  weather  finds  discourse  for ' 

'  Englishmen,'  finished  the  youth,  merrily  snatching 
the  rude  Gothic  proverb,  which  says  '  fools,'  out  of 
Nasman's  mouth,  who  was  peevish  at  having  his  pro- 
vince of  proverbial  philosophy  invaded. 

*  After  clouds  comes  clear  weather/  said  Nasman,  re- 
covering his  temper,  and  the  two  left  the  hut  together. 

They  saw  a  strange  sight.  The  short  shower,  which 
had  been  local,  and  focussed  in  their  immediate  neigh- 
bourhood, was  over,  but  in  the  distance  the  vast  moun- 
tain wall  was  partially  illuminated  by  jets  of  flame, 
spouting  upwards,  or  running  about  waywardly  on  the 
ground,  and  now  and  then  shooting  or  darting  forward 
like  fireworks.  '  It  is  the  wildfire,' — '  It  is  the  ignis  fatuus 
playing  over  those  deep  marshes/  were  the  utterances, 
awed  or  philosophic,  as  they  watched  these  phantom 
fires.  The  thickening  darkness  intensified  the  effect, 
which  was  amazing,  and  at  times  horrible.  Every  now 


238     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNsEUS 

and  then  an  explosion  would  be  heard  from  a  newly 
lighted  flame,  and  each  explosion  brought  down  a  burst 
of  rain.  They  listened  for  thunder,  but  only  cracking 
reports  were  heard,  no  long  thunder-rolls.  All  at  once 
the  great  mountain  mass  of  the  Slerol  Stadet  stood  out 
black  and  terrific  against  a  background  of  blue  flame, 
and  meteoric  stones  shot  hissing  into  the  pools  of  the 
marshes.  '  Is  it  the  Aurora  Borealis  ? '  whispered  one  of 
the  young  Keuterholms — they  had  all  gathered  round 
Linnaeus  for  safety.  He  could  not  tell,  he  had  never 
seen  anything  like  it  before ;  it  was  some  awful  con- 
vulsion of  nature,  but  it  was  not  that.  They  must 
trust  God's  mercy  for  protection. 

One  great  clap  was  heard,  thunder  at  last — real 
thunder  this  time — following  a  blaze  of  lightning  so 
vivid  as  almost  to  obscure  the  deluge  of  blue  flame  now 
rolling  round  the  base  of  the  mountain,  and  down  came 
the  rain  in  torrents,  driving  them  all  to  the  shelter  of  the 
hut.  The  drought  had  broken  up  in  a  fearful  storm. 

But  the  storm  could  not  explain  to  Linnaous  the 
meaning  of  those  wayward  fires,  whose  terrors  were 
seemingly  soon  forgotten  by  the  rest.  He,  who  alone 
had  appeared  calm  among  them,  could  not  conceal  from 
himself  that  here  were  real  terrors,  and  something 
more  than  met  the  careless  eye.  The  storm  was  over. 
He  wandered  out  into  the  valley  all  alone,  carrying 
a  lantern  which  cast  a  fitful  ray  over  the  warm,  vapoury 
silent  wilderness.  He  was  the  only  moving  object. 
There  were  neither  stars  nor  moon,  only  the  moist 


1TER  DALECARLIUM  239 

steamy  dusk  of  a  Lapland  summer  night  when  the  air 
is  still  but  not  clear.  With  cautious  steps  he  moved 
downward  to  the  marshes  :  he  could  not  return  to  the 
hut  to  rest,  for  he  felt  on  the  eve  of  a  discovery.  This 
is  what  he  says  of  what  he  saw  as  morning  light  helped 
him  on  his  search — he  says  it  later  on  in  life,  to  the  crowd 
of  listening  students  at  his  first  lecture  l  as  a  professor  : 
'  You  will  scarcely  believe  me  when  I  tell  you  that  there 
are  whole  mountains  full  of  petroleum  in  Dalecarlia. 
Yet  doubt  not.  This  thing,  hitherto  unheard  of,  unseen, 
I  myself  saw  with  these  eyes,  and  was  surprised.'  The 
terrors  of  the  frown  of  nature  were  over  ;  only  the  aspect 
of  her  bounty  remained.  l  God  is  always  opening  His 
hand,'  said  Nasman,  who  had  also  come  out  to  view  the 
scene.  This,  then,  was  the  explanation  of  the  terrific 
explosions  of  last  night.  The  great  heat  had  kindled 
the  fire  which  fed  upon  the  parched  surface  of  the 
peaty  ground.  The  thunderstorm  had  gathered  force  in 
time  to  prevent  a  vast  general  conflagration. 

The  account  of  these  petroleum  discoveries  is  scarcely 
to  be  read  in  the  pale  and  panic-stricken  writings  of 
July  17  ;  on  the  20th  they  blackened  the  ink  down,  or 
procured  some  more  from  a  priest ;  and  Sohlberg's  nerves 
were  by  this  calm  enough  to  classify  his  plants  and  cata- 
logue the  vegetable  products  of  these  parts — including 
Campanula  serpyllifolia^  the  Linncea  borealis  that  graces 
these  wilds — as  well  as  to  note  the  great  size  of  the  trees 
forming  the  log-huts,  those  at  least  whose  engraven  runic 

1  0 ratio  de  Percgrinationum  intra  Patriam  Necessitate. 


240     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

characters  showed  them  to  be  very  old.     Trees  seldom 
grow  to  such  dimensions  now  in  Scandinavia. 

The  river  is  divided  into  three  branches,  two  of  them 
flowing  from  lakelets  or  mere  ponds ;  the  third  branch, 
which  the  travellers  followed,  flows  from  the  Faemund 
Lake.  Logs  placed  side  by  side  across  the  bogs  enabled 
their  horses  to  pass  the  swampy  tracts.  They  halted  at  a 
small  farm  on  the  shore  of  the  Elgsjo  (Elk  Lake),  which 
they  reached  by  a  ferry  across  the  stream,  which  is 
here  unusually  deep.  '  Be  ye  the  last  to  go  over  a  deep 
river,'  said  the  proverbial  philosopher,  more  cautiously 
following  Clewberg,  who  had  the  ill-luck  to  be  soused  ; 
and  there  he  stood,  '  all  shivering  and  shaking,  and  the 
water  a-squish-squashing  in  his  shoes,  and  his  trousers 
all  sticking  slimsey-like  to  his  legs,'  as  with  fumbling 
feet  he  crawled  and  splashed  out,  a  magpie  all  the 
while  eyeing  him  keenly,  with  the  instinctive  humour 
of  animals.  The  magpie  was  a  find.  It  was  a  Dale- 
carlian  magpie  never  described  before,  '  whose  feet  are 
not  armed,  like  those  of  other  magpies,  with  four  claws, 
but  have  only  three — two  before  and  one  behind,  which 
is  rather  stronger  than  those  in  front.1  '  He's  laughing 
at  you,  Clewberg,'  said  Sandel ;  '  he's  asking  you  about 
the  quality  of  the  water.'  Emporelius's  gun  had  already 
made  an  end  of  the  poor  magpie  who  had  presumed 
to  quiz  a  philosopher,  and  that  very  night  he  was  pre- 
pared as  a  specimen.  But  the  sportsman's  triumph 
was  of  no  long  duration — his  ammunition  had  run  out. 
1  Lowell. 


FTER  DALECARLWM  241 

He  had  left  a  large  depot  at  Sarna  to  take  up  on  their 
return  journey,  and  could  only  depend  upon  a  chance 
supply  until  they  should  reach  Kora^s.  Hungry  as 
they  were,  they  must  live  on  fish  till  then.  The  higher 
up  the  mountains  they  came  the  hungrier  they  grew, 
and  the  keener  the  relish  they  had  for  animal  food. 

c  It  is  too  provoking,  just  as  we  come  upon  the  line 
of  the  reindeer,  that  we  can't  get  it  now  while  it  is  so 
nice  and  fat,'  grumbled  the  hungry  ones. 

1  Dearths  foreseen  come  not,'  said  Nasman  re- 
proachfully to  Emporelius. 

1  We  have  a  proverb  in  Sm&land  too,'  said  Linnaeus ; 
*  that  "  one  is  sure  of  a  supper  if  there's  plenty  in  the 
knapsack."  Now  let  us  all  go  out  and  fish.' 

'  The  river  is  swarming.  They  are  flopping  and 
smacking  about  in  all  directions ;  but,  oh,  dear !  why 
did  Heaven  make  midges  ?  *  said  Reuterholm  major,  com- 
plaining (like  our  Kingsley)  of  Nature's  inexhaustible 
opulence. 

'  For  our  collections,  to  be  sure,'  said  Emporelius, 
the  zoologist. 

'  Nasman  says  nothing,'  remarked  Clewberg.  < He 
is  thinking  of  "  After  meat,  mustard."  ' 

1 A  close  mouth  catches  no  flies,'  mumbles  Nasman, 
drawing  on  his  gauze  cap.' 

Emporelius  was  no  busier  than  the  rest  of  the  party 

in  completing  his  insect  collection.    Before  supper  each 

one  of  them  had  slain  a  hecatomb  of  pertinacious  flies. 

The  insect  collection  made  in  this  expedition  is  very 

VOL.  I.  R 


242     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS   WITH  LINNAEUS 

fine.  In  Linnaeus's  tours  in  Lapland  and  Dalecarlia 
he  gathered  1,000  species  of  insects,  which  are  neatly 
pasted  on  paper ;  among  them  are  sixty-five  different 
specimens  of  flies,  including  the  large  fly  the  oestorus, 
which  makes  such  havoc  among  the  reindeer  in  Lapland. 

The  Linnasan  Society  possesses  Linnasus's  insect 
collections.  They  are  in  damaged  condition,  as  Sir  J. 
Smith  was  less  of  an  entomologist  than  a  botanist, 
so  that  there  was  no  care  given  to  arranging  the 
specimens.1 

6  Nature  seems  exhaustless  in  her  invention  of  new 
insects  hostile  to  vegetation.' 2  Sohlberg  found  none 
but  imperfect  specimens  of  leaves,  which  disturbed  him, 
as,  to  his  surprise,  he  found  the  leaves  of  broad-leafed 
plants,  such  as  plane,  and  maple,  and  some  poplars, 
become  much  larger  as  they  journeyed  northward,  while 
the  trees  themselves  were  unusually  small.3  Linnasus 
accounted  for  this  phenomenon,  which  he  had  himself 
observed  in  the  north  of  Norway,  by  the  long  duration 
of  the  daily  light  in  summer. 

They  passed  Fiellen,  continuing  their  way  through 
the  forest,  the  refreshed  mountains  being  now  '  silver- 
veined  with  rills.'  The  clouds  on  the  highest  mountain, 
Slerol  Stadet,  which  had  first  appeared  below,  now  ap- 
proached the  travellers,  writes  Clewberg  in  the  journal. 
They  skirted  the  reed-fringed  Storbosjo  and  came  to 

1  There  are  reckoned  to  be  112  species  of  butterflies  in  Norway, 
Sweden,  Lapland,  and  Finland. 

2  Lowell. 

3  Much  of  this  country  belongs  to  the  willow  and  birch  region. 


ITER  DALECARLIUM  243 

Norvig,  at  the  head  of  the  Fasmund,  which  is  a  swollen 
stream,  called  here  a  lake.  Near  this  point  there  is  a 
pass  to  the  left,  '  where  a  rough  path  leads  to  the  high 
road  to  RoraSs  from  Hudviksvall  on  the  Baltic.'  Here 
they  crossed  the  Norwegian  frontier. 

The  Faemundsjo  is  2,150  feet  above  the  sea  and 
35  miles  long.  This  beautiful  sheet  of  water  has  peculiar 
scenery  not  possessed  by  any  other  Norwegian  or  Swedish 
lake  ;  its  shores  are  not  abrupt,  and  in  many  places  they 
are  thinly  clad  with  fir,  and  birch,  and.  fine  reindeer 
moss.  The  clear  water  swarms  with  fish,  and  wild  rein- 
deer browse  upon  its  shores.1  Its  outlet,  the  Klara 
(clear)  river,  flows  into  Lake  Venern.  The  exploring 
party  made  their  way  through  the  defiles  of  the  moun- 
tains and  looked  upon  the  sister  kingdoms. 

On  July  30  the  geographer,  Nasman,  gives  a  mar- 
ginal sketch  of  the  rivers  and  lakes  and  Dalecarlia  gen- 
erally, as  he  ' pervestigated  it'  (1734,  Dalekarliam 
occidentalem  et  orientalem  pervestigavit).  On  July  31 
Emporelius,  the  *  zoologus,'  makes  a  sketch  of  a  rein- 
deer— as  if  they  first  saw  reindeer  that  day.  The  youths 
all  shouted  as  they  saw  the  comical  portrait  in  the  book. 
The  intense  stillness  was  broken  into  echoes  by  their 
shouts.  Emporelius  modestly  admitted  he  was  no  great 
artist  as  the  others  were.  He  drew  the  lichens  and  the 
reindeer-moss — these  much  more  carefully  and  delicately 
in  the  diluted  ink.  They  now  stood  on  that  highest  point 
where  there  are  no  more  hills,  but  one  looks  below  into  a 
1  Du  Chaillu. 

B   2 


244     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN&US 

vast  hollow  fringed  with  blue,  the  border  of  which  basin 
sometimes  rises  into  a  purple  battlemented  wall.  They 
soon  began  the  descent.  Here  man  stepped  into  the 
scenery  and  set  his  huts  among  the  great  gables  of  the 
mountains.  How  dwarfed  and  ugly  are  all  human  works 
in  a  place  where  even  the  Parthenon  would  look  like  a 
packing-case  !  The  huts  at  RoraSs  are  infinitely  mean 
and  ugly.  It  is  a  poverty-stricken  Falun  tossed  2,000 
feet  into  the  air. 

The  interiors  are  more  comfortable  to  view,  and 
here  men  resume  their  natural  proportions.  Du  Chaillu 
describes  them  as  '  men  in  knee-breeches,  white  woollen 
stockings,  double-breasted  waistcoat  with  shiny  brass 
buttons,  and  red  Phrygian  caps/  The  hut  that  housed 
him  holds  '  old  porcelain  dishes  and  cups — heirlooms  ; 
a  lantern  hung  from  a  beam  in  the  ceiling ;  an  old  clock 
near  the  bed.'  Hedenblad  and  Sandel  take  no  notice  of 
these  every-day  details.  The  copper  mines  at  RoraSs  have 
been  worked  since  1644.  The  town  is  2,000  feet  above  the 
sea  level ;  the  Storvarts  mines  2,800  feet.1  The  Hitter 
River  flows  through  the  centre  of  the  town,  the  two  parts 
of  which  are  connected  by  wooden  Norwegian  bridges. 
The  large  church  was  not  built  in  bur  travellers'  time  ; 
but  the  woods  were  then  more  abundant  and  the  climate 
milder.  The  wolf  and  the  glutton,  the  reindeer's  greatest 
enemies,  were  common  in  these  woods.  At  present  the 
country  round  Roma's  is  remarkably  bare  and  bleak. 

The  young  naturalists  found  the  Norwegians  dirty 
1  H.  Marryatt. 


ITER  DALECARLIbM  245 

and  grasping.  '  Bread  with  eyes  and  cheese  without 
eyes,'  quoth  Nasman.  He  recommended  his  companions 
to  'be  ready  with  the  hat,  but  slow  with  the  purse.' 
*  A  small  sum,'  said  he,  i  will  pay  a  short  reckoning.' 
He  tried  it  in  vain. 

The  sturdy  Norwegian  laughed  at  his  civilities  and 
held  stoutly  to  his  bargain.  <  Take  it  or  leave  it,  but 
1  won't  take  an  ore  less.'  Yet  a  minute  afterwards  he 
good-naturedly  offered  the  whole  hospitality  of  his  house 
to  Faldstedt,  the  metallist,  limping  beneath  the  weight 
of  his  specimens.  The  party  remained  four  days  at 
Roma's,  examining  the  ores  and  mining-works,  and 
after  making  an  expedition  of  one  Swedish  mile  to 
Grufum,  they  began  their  homeward  route.  The  birds, 
too,  were  all  preparing  a  farewell  to  RoraSs.  The  expe- 
dition, however,  did  not  follow  the  swallows'  flight  due 
south,  but,  re-entering  Sweden  at  Sverige,  they  followed 
the  rough  uneasy  tracks  of  the  West  Dal,  so  difficult 
to  find  one's  way  in.  They  rejoiced  when  the  evenings 
drawing  in  enabled  them  to  travel  by  the  polar  star, 
called  by  the  nomad  Turcomans  the  Iron  Peg,  because 
it  holds  so  firm.  On  August  4  the  botanist  Sohlberg 
speaks  with  some  surprise  of  the  large  potatoes :  an  ex- 
ception to  the  general  rule  here,  where  '  potatoes  usually 
grow  so  fast  that  the  tubers  are  small,  all  the  strength 
going  into  the  stem.' l  On  the  5th  he  rejoiced  to  find  the 
stately  plant  (Pedicula/rls)  called  the  Sceptrum  Carolinum. 
Linnaeus  had  already  met  with  it  in  Lapland. 
1  Du  Chaillu. 


246     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN&US 

On  August  7  the  reports  are  all  very  short,  hurried, 
and  so  cramped  as  to  be  almost  illegible.  It  was  a  hard 
day  that,  as  the  6th  had  likewise  been.  They  came  to 
the  Sarna  Lake,  where  the  East  and  West  Dais  rejoin 
and  again  diverge.  The  first  church  on  the  return 
journey  is  Transstrand.  Here  the  road  begins  ;  a  mere 
track  it  was  then.  Then  comes  Lyma  Kyrkia ;  Makings 
and  Eppleboda  (Appelbo)  are  the  next  hamlets.  The 
inhabitants  of  the  West  Dal  are  a  quicker  and  more 
lively  race  than  those  of  the  East  Dal — so  much  so 
that  they  seem  to  be  of  different  origin.  The  travel- 
lers still  keep  up  the  journal  with  its  observations, 
but  it  has  lost  the  spirit  of  the  earlier  record.  They 
were  all  tired,  by  day  only  eager  to  get  on,  at  dusk  only 
eager  to  turn  in.  The  Lapland  bunting  with  his  single 
call-note  failed  to  waken  them  early.  Linnaeus  alone  stood 
ever  on  the  watch,  like  Columbus  on  the  prow  of  his 
vessel,  eager  for  fresh  discoveries,  patient,  brave.  But  this 
was  easy  work  to  him  after  his  toil  in  the  Lapland  Alps. 
As  they  get  on  lower  and  lower  ground  the  days  draw 
in  perceptibly.  l  The  sun's  rim  dips,  the  stars  rush  out. 
At  one  stride  comes  the  dark.' 

They  all  wind  their  watches,  implying  by  their 
action  that  they  have  well  filled  that  day  and  may  roost 
content.  Their  leader  is  watching  the  sun  and  moon, 
the  mighty  timekeepers.  He  is  never  contented  with 
himself,  as  the  world  in  general  is  never  content  with 
things  outside.  An  early  frost  has  blackened  the  potato 
patches  and  tinged  the  beautiful  flowing  hair  of  the 


1TER  DALECARLIUM  247 

birch  trees  with  pale  gold.  The  game-birds  crowd 
into  the  sunny  spots  in  the  early  morning  to  warm 
and  dry  their  wings.  The  roads  are  soft  and  very  bad. 
Next  morning  a  sharper  frost  strung  the  boughs  of 
the  birch  trees  with  icy  pearls.  Each  leaf  was  out- 
lined in  white  hoar-frost  crystal ;  sharp  splinters  of 
frozen  dew  turned  the  pine-needles  to  rays  of  light, 
glittering  like  spar;  while  by  the  riverside  the  wet 
willow  branches  and  the  alders  were  hung  with  icicles, 
which  shook  and  rung  against  each  other  like  frost-fairy 
bells  above  the  blackened  river,  which  was  covered  in 
smooth  places  with  ice  quarter  o'f  an  inch  thick.  The 
road,  however,  was  good  for  travelling  on. 

I  [winter]  make  causeways,  safely  crost, 
Of  mud,  with  just  a  pinch  of  frost. 

Lowell's  phrase  applies  to  Sweden  still — '  Winter  is  the 
mender  of  the  highways :  every  road  in  Europe  was  a 
quagmire  during  a  good  part  of  the  year,  unless  it  was 
bottomed  on  some  remains  of  Roman  engineering.' 

With  the  changing  of  the  sun's  crimson  into  yellow 
and  then  into  intense  white,  vanished  also  the  fairy-like 
appearance  of  the  crystallised  groves  of  birches ;  the  air 
first  grew  steamy  and  then  hot.  The  ground  was  em- 
purpled with  the  heather. 

The  returning  party  kept  the  way  down  the  noble 
valley  watered  by  the  West  Dal  River  to  its  junction 
with  the  East  Dal  at  DjursSs  (Djura)  on  one  side  of  the 
river  and  Gagnef  on  the  other ;  they  followed  back  the 


248     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

O 

East  Dal  to  Ahl,  or  Al,  on  the  Innsjo,  and  there  took 
the  high  road  to  Falun.  The  last  date  in  the  journal  is 
August  17.  The  mountains  of  Dalecarlia  had  now  been 
twice  explored  fully  on  both  sides.  They  and  their  leader 
had  triumphed  over  many  secrets  '  wrung  from  nature's 
close  reserve.'  '  At  the  end  of  life  La  Gloria  is  sung/ 
quoth  Nasman. 

Linnaeus  gives  a  list  of  the  parish  priests  who  enter- 
tained them.  This  in  itself  incidentally  shed  a  valuable 
light  over  the  province ;  the  priests  could  not  fail  of  being 
illumined  by  his  conversation.  Linnaeus  always  held  that 
priests  should  study  botany,  for  use  in  medicine  in  their 
out-of-the-way  parishes,  and  science  to  enliven  their  own 
solitude ;  for  use,  besides,  in  their  gleber  said  Nasman,. 
for  '  good  husbandry  is  good  divinity.' 

c  Good  courage  breaks  ill-luck  to  pieces,'  was  his  final 
proverb.  The  whole  party  arrived  safe  and  well  at, 
Falun  after  a  journey  of  over  seventy-nine  Swedish 
(or  553  English)  miles  by  the  direct  road.*  To  this. 

1  Distances  in  Swedish  j  miles. 

Fahlun     .        .        Biursls 1 

Eattvik 12 

Oret  .    .    .        .        .        .10 

Orsa 13 

Mora 5| 

Elfdahl 14 

Sarna        .        .        Serna 30 

Idre 16 

Fielten     .        .        Fiellen  .  6 

Norwegian  frontier  Norvige 19 

Bora's 20 

Grufum  .  4 


ITER  DALECARLIUM  249 

we  must  probably  add  one-third  for  circuits  and 
explorations. 

Linnasus  put  into  the  governor's  hands  the  journal 
he  had  directed  and  superintended  of  all  the  observa- 
tions made  on  the  journey  ;  l  at  the  same  time  he  de- 
livered to  the  Baroness  Reuterholm's  care  her  two  sons 
in  blooming  health  and  high  spirits. 

Linnaeus  remained  on  his  return  from  this  journey 
at  Falun,  where  he  established  a  little  college  under  the 
auspices  of  Baron  Reuterholm,  giving  lectures  on  assay- 
ing and  mineralogy.  In  a  remote  town  like  Falun  the 
novelty  of  these  instructions  excited  interest.  He  be- 
came rich,  so  to  speak,  in  friends  and  money. 

'  Returned  from  my  journey,'  says  Linnasus  later  in  a 
letter  to  Haller,2  '  I  took  up  my  residence  at  Falun,  the 
capital  of  Dalecarlia,  began  to  give  lectures  on  mine- 


Swedish  frontier 

Sverige     .... 

.     19 

Tokogne  .... 

.     12 

Transstraad 

Serna        .... 

.     16 

Lima 

.     32 

Malung    .... 

.     12 

Appelbo  . 

Nas           .... 

.     24 

Terna 

Floda       .... 

.       8 

Gagnef     .        . 

Gagne 

.      8 

Gagneahl  . 

Ahl           .... 

.      4 

Fahlun 

12 

Linnaeus  wrongly  reckons  this  total  as  313 
It  is  really  307$. 

1  The  Flora  Dalecarlia  has  been  lately  edited  by  Dr.  Ewald 
Ahrling  of  Arboga.  —  Jfrioi/cl.  Brit.,  ninth  edition. 

2  Dated  Stockholm,  Sept.  12,  1739. 


250     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

ralogy  and  was  universally  beloved.'  In  his  diary  he 
says,  (  Linnaeus  here  at  Falun  found  himself  in  quite  a 
new  world,  where  everybody  loved  and  assisted  him,  and 
he  acquired  considerable  medical  practice.' 

He  had  now  completed  his  mineralogical  system,  and 
read  it,  greatly  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  miners.  Brou- 
wallius,  at  that  time  chaplain  to  the  Governor  Reuterholm, 
and  tutor  to  his  children,1  conceived  a  particular  regard 
for  Linnaeus,  and  wished  to  be  taught  by  him  the  art 
of  assaying,  mineralogy,  botany,  &c.  Linnaeus  therefore 
began  a  course  of  lectures  on  assaying  at  Falun,  and  for 
this  purpose  obtained  permission  to  make  use  of  the 
laboratory  belonging  to  the  mine  district.  A  consider- 
able audience  attended  him. 

One  thing  marred  his  good  fortune.  On  his  return 
from  Norway  he  found  the  sad  news  awaiting  him 
of  his  mother's  death,  at  the  early  age  of  forty-four. 
This  was  a  heavy  stroke  to  him,  and  all  the  more  so 
that  he  had  not  been  a  comfort  to  her — that  his  career 
had  hitherto  been  a  source  of  continued  disappointment 
to  her,  or  at  best  of  hope  deferred. 

Now  that  he  was  beginning  to  flourish  she  was 
dead  and  could  not  enjoy  the  knowledge  of  his  rising 
fame.  One  can  only  have  one  mother.  He  wore 
deeper  mourning  for  her  in  his  heart  than  on  his  per- 
son— wore  it  with  a  repentant,  prayerful  feeling  like 
Johnson's  '  Forgive  me  whatever  I  have  done  unkindly  to 
my  mother,  and  whatever  I  have  omitted  to  do  kindly.' 
1  Diary. 


ITER  DALECARLIUM  251 

The  memory  of  all  her  unrepaid  kindness  to  him  was  a 
sad  yet  loved  relic.  Let  him  now  pay  her  the  honour  she 
would  most  care  for — in  making  her  the  mother  of  a 
distinguished  son. 

The  softened  frame  of  mind  into  which  the  tender 
memory  of  his  loss  threw  him  made  him  the  more  sus- 
ceptible to  impressions  of  feminine  grace  and  beauty, 
and  gave  him  a  longing  for  woman's  more  intimately  sym- 
pathetic companionship.  '  His  friend  Brouwallius,  after- 

O 

wards  professor  and  Bishop  of  Abo,1  saw  no  means  of  his 
getting  forward  in  the  world  without  going  abroad  and 
taking  a  doctor's  degree,  in  which  case  he  could,  on  his 
return,  settle  where  he  chose  with  advantage ;  and  as 
money  was  necessary  for  all  this,  there  seemed  to 
his  friend  to  be  no  alternative  but  for  Linnaeus  to  pay 
his  addresses  to  some  young  lady  of  fortune,  whom 
he  might  render  as  happy  as  she  might  render  him. 
Linnaeus  approved  theoretically  of  this  advice ;  but  not- 
withstanding several  plans  were  proposed,  no  one  was 
just  then  adopted.'  Linnaeus,  in  the  previously  quoted 
letter  to  Haller,  speaks  of  his  first  and  only  serious 
love  affair.  '  The  physician  of  that  district '  [Falun] 
'  passed  for  a  rich  man.  Considering  the  poverty  of 
the  province,  he  could  justly  be  deemed  opulent.  His 
name  was  Moraeus,  eminent  for  his  learning  and  skill 
among  the  Swedish  physicians.  Physic,  especially  prac- 
tical medicine,  was  the  science  which  he  esteemed  and 
preferred  above  all  others.  He  grew  fond  of  me.  I  visited 
1  Diary. 


252     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

him  frequently,  and  always  met  with  an  amicable  re- 
ception. He  had  two  daughters.  Sara  Elizabeth,  the 
elder  one,  was  a  beautiful  girl.  A  certain  baron  had  paid 
his  addresses  to  her,  though  without  success.  I  saw  her, 
was  amazed,  smitten,  and  fell  in  love.  My  caresses  and 
representations  won  her  heart.  She  promised  her  con- 
sent and  vowed  to  be  mine.  But,  as  a  poor  man,  I  was 
much  perplexed  to  ask  her  of  her  father.  At  last  I 
ventured.  Moraeus  consented — and  refused.  He  loved 
me,  but  not  my  uncertain  and  adverse  fate.  He  finally 
declared  that  his  daughter  should  remain  unmarried 
three  years  longer,  and  at  the  expiration  of  that  time 
he  would  give  his  ultimate  decision.' 

The  diary  gives  the  account  of  this  affair  with  a 
slight  variation.  For  both  we  have  Linnaeus's  own 
authority.  In  one  place  he  is  speaking  to  an  acquaint- 
ance, in  the  other  to  himself,  or  to  posterity. 

'  Dr.  John  Moraeus,  physician  of  the  town,  who  was 
looked  up  to  as  a  man  of  considerable  fortune  (for  his 
situation  in  life),  and  who  saw  the  progress  of  Linnaeus 
both  with  astonishment  and  jealousy,  had  determined 
never  to  bring  up  any  one  of  his  children  to  the  practice 
of  medicine.  Linnaeus,  however,  in  spite  of  all  this, 
and  though  a  mere  student,  after  having  spoken  to  the 
eldest  daughter,  presented  himself  to  her  father,  and 
asked  his  consent  to  marry  her,  which  Moraeus,  to  the 
great  surprise  not  only  of  Linnaeus  but  of  others, 
agreed  to ;  however,  he  could  not  obtain  the  consent  of 
her  mother.' 


ITER  DALECARLIUM  253 

1  Voluit  et  noluit,'  he  would,  and  yet  he  would  not, 
writes  the  impatient  lover  to  a  friend  of  Dr.  Moraeus. 
Himself  a  successful  doctor,  Morseus  could  not  bear  the 
notion  of  marrying  his  daughter  to  a  man  of  science,  in 
its  broad  sense,  without  any  fixed  and  definite  line  of 
practice.  He  counselled  Linnaeus  to  take  the  degree  of 
doctor  of  medicine,  which  necessarily  involved  his  going 
abroad,  as  at  that  epoch  the  university  of  Upsala 
granted  no  degrees  to  her  own  students.1  Swedish 
students  at  that  time  used  to  graduate  in  some 
foreign  university,  and,  like  most  of  his  countrymen, 
Linnaeus  fixed  upon  Harderwyk  in  Holland,  as  the 
cheapest  place.  But  cheap  as  it  was,  he  had  not  the 
capital  to  sink  in  the  preliminary  expenses,  including 
the  journey  thither.  He  was  in  possession  of  thirty- 
six  golden  ducats,2  earned  and  saved.  His  Wrede 
pension  amounted  to  sixty  dollars,3  reckoned  at  5Z.,  per 

1  The  university  of  Upsala  does  not  (now)  confer  degrees  unless 
the  recipient  of  the  honour  has  proved  his  capacity  by  passing  a 
searching  examination,  no  exception  being  made  in  the  stringent 
enforcement  of  this  wise  regulation. — Du  CHAILLU. 

1  Linnaeus  speaks  of  having  36  nummi  aurei — meaning  ducats, 
the  usual  gold  currency  of  Sweden.  Nummus  aureus,  the  single  ducar, 
nearly  as  large  as  a  sovereign,  but  thinner  and  lighter  than  our 
IQs.  piece;  value  9s.  of  our  money.  It  weighs  54  grs.  troy;  our 
half  -sovereign  weighs  60  grs.  The  Swedish  gold  coins  were  double, 
single,  and  half-ducats.  '  Exivi  patria  triginta  sex  nummis  aureis 
dives  '  are  Linnaeus's  own  words. 

8  Charles  XII.  struck  large  pieces  of  copper  and  called  them 
copper  dollars.  They  went  down  immediately  in  value.  This 
causes  great  difficulty  in  reckoning  the  money  values  of  that 
century.  The  large  copper  pieces  in  general,  but  more  particularly 
the  two-dahler  pieces,  are  called  plates  (plStar). 


254     THROUGH  THE   FIELDS    WITH  LINNsEUS 

annum.  He  strained  every  nerve  to  obtain  a  continu- 
ance of  this,  but  failed.  '  He  had  enjoyed  it  one  year, 
but  after  that  nothing,  and  as  soon  as  he  went  abroad 
he  lost  this  exhibition  through  his  enemies.' l 

Falun  had  materially  altered  in  its  aspect  for  Lin- 
naeus since  he  had  been  absent.  Sara  Elizabeth,  the 
elder  of  the  two  handsome  daughters  of  Dr.  Moraeus, 
had  come  from  Sveden,  her  father's  country  seat  at 
some  distance  from  Falun,  and  she,  like  the  rest  of  the 
world  in  the  Dalecarlian  capital,  was  curious  to  see  the 
interesting  traveller  who  had  recently  returned  suc- 
cessful at  the  head  of  an  adventurous  band  of  explorers. 
In  fancy  I  can  see  their  introduction  to  each  other ; 
they  first  shook  hands,  then  she  bobbed  a  curtsey,  and 
he  lifted  off  his  hat.  This  is  the  order  of  the  usual 
salutation  in  Sweden.  The  little  girls  and  young 
women  always  dip  a  curtsey  to  everyone  in  the  company  ; 
even  the  youngest  boys  never  omit  to  take  off  their  hats 
separately  to  each  person.  *  I  was  struck  when  I  first 
saw  her/  writes  Linnaeus  to  his  friend  Haller,  '  and  felt 
my  heart  assailed  by  new  sensations  and  anxieties. 
Nature  is  nature  wherever  you  find  it,'  whether  in  the 
land  of  Romeo  or  of  Linnaeus.  Elizabeth,  too,  seems 
at  once  to  have  felt  the  strange  power  of  eyes  made  to 
discover  truth  ;  and  here  was  a  truth  entirely  new  to 
him — that  the  charm  of  a  beautiful  maiden  is  the 
most  exquisite  thing  in  the  world.  He  who  had  coun- 
selled the  young  men,  his  companions,  to  keep  their 
1  Diary. 


ITER  DALECARLIUM  255 

heads  free   of  love — was  science  all-sufficient  for  him 
now? 

In  the  fact  of  Elizabeth  Moraea's  habitual  residence 
at  her  father's  country  house  is  the  simple  solution  of 
what  has  been  a  difficulty  to  Linnaeus's  biographers.  In  a 
small  place  like  Falun — a  town  not  then  a  hundred  years 
old,1  and  not  then  mustering  half  its  present  number  of 
7,000  inhabitants — it  must  otherwise  have  been  difficult 
for  the  Beauty  of  the  place,  called  the  '  Fair  Flower  of 
Falun,'  to  remain  unknown  to  a  handsome  and  accom- 
plished young  man  whose  society  was  sought  by  all  the 
leading  men,  her  father  included,  and  who  went  about 
investigating,  studying,  and  making  himself  known  in 
all  the  separate  villages  which  then  composed  the  town 
of  Falun. 

Sara  Elizabeth  had  never  seen  anyone  like  Linnasus 
before ;  he  ousted  the  '  certain  baron '  completely  from 
his  place  in  her  fancy.  His  ideas  were  an  outlook  from 
the  sordid,  mercenary  views  of  the  mere  speculators  in 
copper  with  whom  she  was  acquainted,  her  father  at 
the  head  of  them  for  shrewdness  and  tightness  in 
grasping.  She  could  not  help  admiring  this  bright 
being  who  despised  the  gods  of  her  family — cash  and 
comfort — who  showed  her  fresh  forms  of  wealth  sur- 
rounding her,  and  beauty  even  here  in  barren,  blighted 
Falun;  and  he  loved  her  partly  for  her  beauty,  but 
chiefly  for  her  sympathy.  He  loved  her  because,  as 
Mahomet  said  of  Fatima,  *  She  believed  in  me  when 
1  It  was  founded  by  Queen  Kristina  in  1645. 


256     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS   WITH  LINN&US 

none  else  would.'  Her  father  could  not  be  expected  to 
do  the  same ;  much  as  he  liked  Linnaeus  personally,  it 
was  difficult  to  win  him  over  to  accept  the  student  as  a 
suitor  for  his  daughter.  But  finally,  after  infinite  per- 
suasion, it  was  arranged  that  if  Linnaeus  would  take  a 
doctor's  degree,  and  if  he  could  succeed  in  making  a 
sufficient  fortune  during  a  three  years'  probation  in 
absence  abroad,  at  the  end  of  that  time  he  should  be 
accepted  as  a  son-in-law,  and  settle  down  in  Falun  as  a 
practical  physician  under  Dr.  Moraeus. 

So  closely  was  Carl  wrapped  in  the  romance  of 
love's  young  dream  that  he  did  not  feel  this  to  be  a 
clipping  of  his  wings,  nor  suspect  that  in  this  way  the 
parents  might  calculate  on  being  fairly  rid  of  him,  and 
the  baron  might  come  on  again  undisturbed.  Hard  as 
the  conditions  were,  with  his  usual  impetuosity  Carl  ac- 
cepted them  at  once,  and,  to  the  astonishment  of  Dr. 
Moraeus  and  his  wife,  he  undertook  to  set  out  at  once 
for  Harderwyk  to  fulfil  the  first  article — the  obtaining  of 
the  doctor's  degree.  They  would  have  been  still  more 
surprised  had  they  known  that  their  daughter,  their 
prudent  Elizabeth,  brought  him  the  savings  of  her 
pocket-money,  one  hundred  dollars,1  and  gave  them  to 
him.  How  exquisite  this  Elizabeth  was,  thus  to  further 
his  views,  and  make  more  precious  the  sacrifice  she  was 
ready  to  make  for  him,  inspiring  him  with  emotions  of 
gladness  and  gratitude  too  deep  for  any  words !  Elizabeth, 

1  Stoever  considers   this   sum,  with  his  own  thirty-six  ducats, 
made  about  six  hundred  copper  dollars. 


ITER  DALECARLIUM  257 

as  she  handed  him  the  purse  (that  bore  Linnaeus's  for- 
tunes), pleasantly  cautioned  him  to  be  careful  of  his 
money.  This  care  for  him  sounded  divine :  such  playful 
lectures  are  sweet  from  the  lips  of  a  lovely  girl  who  is 
beloved. 

In  early  life  Linnaeus  acquired  habits  of  very  strict 
economy  and  frugality — the  habits  only  (in  which  poor 
people  often  seem  to  overvalue  money) ;  but  the  love  of 
riches  was  not  a  passion  with  him,  as  has  been  untruly 
said.  Indeed  he  was  rather  thoughtless  in  spending, 
and  needed  someone  to  manage  his  purse  for  him. 
Linnaeus's  one  great  passion  hitherto  had  been  for  truth, 
for  which  in  all  respects  he  ever  showed  the  most 
sacred  regard.  Elizabeth  had  been  brought  up  to 
value  money  for  its  own  sake. 

She  now  equipped  her  lover  in  the  spirit  in  which 
ladies  sent  forth  the  warrior  knights  of  old.  They 
kissed  and  parted. 

My  own  affections,  laid  to  rest  awhile, 

Will  waken  purified,  subdued  alone 

By  all  I  have  achieved.    Till  then— till  then  .  .  . 

Paracelsus. 

Our  philosopher  went  forth  trustful,  cheered,  and  stimu- 
lated, love-healthy,  not  love-sick.  The  words  holy  and 
healthy  are  both  derived  from  the  same  old  German 
word  heilig.  ( That  old  etymology,  what  a  lesson  it  is 
against  certain  gloomy,  austere,  ascetic  people  ! '  ! 

Having  spent  the  winter   months  in  visiting  his 

1  Carlyle. 
VOL.  I.  S 


258     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

friends  and  relations,1  in  preparing  his  academical  dis- 
sertations, and  arranging  the  collections  of  his  materials 
of  reform,  which  he  considered  his  most  valuable 
treasures,  Linnaeus  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight  began, 
in  April  1735,  his  travels  in  foreign  countries — the 
Wander jahr  which  '  ancient  custom  rendered  necessary, 
and  which  became  pleasant  by  the  happy  prospects  of 
his  further  improvement  and  the  enterprises  he  had 
planned.'  He  was  not  one  of  those  who  wait  to  do 
great  things  till  they  are  rich  and  have  time. 

It  seems  from  what  Stoever  says,  that  Linnaeus  could 
not  resist  making  a  hurried  farewell  visit  to  Falun.  I 
fancy  Elizabeth  forgave  him  this  pardonable  misuse  of 
some  of  her  copper  dollars. 

1  So  says  Pulteney,  but  as  Stoever  asserts  he  left  Falun  in  April, 
and  as  we  know  he  visited  Stenbrohult  in  his  southward  journey,  it 
is  most  probable  he  spent  the  winter  in  Upsala,  as  he  went  there  to 
look  after  his  Wrede  pension,  which,  he  says,  his  enemies  caused 
him  to  lose. 


259 


CHAPTER  X. 

TAKES  HIS  DOCTOR'S  DEGREE  IN  HOLLAND. 

Enter  ALMA  MATER  as  a  Hag. 
'  Powers  ! '  she  cried,  with  hoarse  devotion, 
'  Give  my  son  the  clearest  notion 
How  to  compass  sure  promotion 
And  take  care  of  Number  One. 

'  Let  his  college  course  be  pleasant, 
Let  him  ever,  as  at  present, 
Seem  to  have  read  what  he  hasn't, 
And  to  do  what  can't  be  done. 

•  Of  the  philosophic  spirit 
Richly  may  my  son  inherit ; 
As  for  Poetry,  inter  it 

With  the  myths  of  other  days. 

'  Cut  the  thing  entirely,  lest  yon 
College  Don  should  put  the  question, 
Why  not  stick  to  what  you're  best  on  ? 
Mathematics  always  pays.' 

JAMES  CLERK  MAXWELL. 

THE  tree  of  all  others  that  our  botanist  had  now  to 
study  was  the  money-tree — how  to  make  that  bear,  or 
'rather  how  to  sow  his  600  copper  dollars  (about  15Z. 
English,  according  to  Smith)  so  as  to  yield  the  best 
return. 

Linnaeus  left  Falun   in   April   1735,  some  say  in 
company  with  Claudius,  or  Claes,  Sohlberg,  one  of  his 

s  2 


260     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

earliest  Upsala  pupils,  the  botanist  of  the  Dalecarliais 
journey,  a  medical  student  also  proceeding  to  Harderwyk 
to  take  his  degree ;  but  as  Class  Sohlberg  was  now  at 
Lund,  Linnaeus  would  more  probably  have  met  him 
there  or  on  the  coast.  We  do  not  hear  if  he  had  as- 
many  or  more  copper  dollars  than  Linnasns,  bnt  he 
does  not  seem  to  have  been  a  vastly  interesting  com- 
panion ;  at  any  rate  no  kindred  soul  like  Artedi.  But 
Artedi  was  in  England  trying  to  transmute  his  learning 
into  gold.  Perhaps  he  and  Carl  hoped  to  meet  some- 
where abroad. 

Carl  sailed  down  the  rough  blue  Lake  Vetter  to 
Jonkoping.  He  did  not  linger  to  enjoy  the  pleasant 
promenades  of  Jonkoping  by  the  lake,  nor  to  ascend 
Dunkellar  Hill  with  its  beautiful  views,  where  now  are 
numerous  villas  with  well-planted  gardens,  testifying 
to  the  profits  of  the  roofing-paper  and  match-making 
trades ;  nor  was  he  tempted  by  the  merely  picturesque 
charms  and  waterfalls  of  Husquarna.  But  the  famous 
iron-mountain  of  Taberg  did  not  lie  much  out  of  his 
way — at  least  not  in  his  mode  of  travelling,  which  was 
very  frequently  on  foot.  So  leaving  the  high-road, 
which  even  at  that  date  we  may  assume  to  have  been 
a  bridle-path,  he  bore  away  westward,  following  the 
course  of  the  stream  flowing  from  Taberg  into  the 
Vetter,  and  ascended  Taberg  at  about  eight  English 
miles  south  of  Jonkoping,  from  which  height,  1,096 
feet,1  he  gained  a  grand  survey  of  the  forests  of  SmSland, 
1  It  is  1,129  feet  above  the  sea. 


TAKES  HIS  DOCTOR'S  DEGREE  IN  HOLLAND  261 

and  investigated  the  iron-mines,  which  had  a  special 
interest  for  him  after  his  mining  studies  in  Dalecarlia. 
This  celebrated  iron-mountain,  with  a  few  others  found 
in  Lapland,  are  the  only  ones  in  Europe  where  the  ore 
is  broken  or  blasted  above  ground.  Taberg  was  doubt- 
less the  attraction  that  determined  his  route  to  Holland 
this  way ;  and  also  the  wish  to  revisit  his  home,  to 
which  his  memory  always  affectionately  clung. 

He  travelled  on  southward  by  way  of  Eckersholm 
and  Lindefors,  following  down  the  Laga  stream  to 
Wernano,  where  it  expands  itself  •  into  the  fiord-like 
lake  of  Widastern.  Wernano,  on  account  of  its  well- 
attended  annual  fair,  has  good  roads  leading  to  it  from 
all  four  quarters;  but  to  ease  his  walking  Linnaeus 
took  a  boat  down  the  Widastern  beyond  Berga,  where 
the  lake  contracts  as  far  as  Ljungby.  Here  a  walk  of  ten 
English  miles  through  a  familiar  country  brought  him 
to  Lake  Mockeln,  where  he  was  at  home,  and  where 
any  fisherboy  would  gladly  give  him  a  lift  to  Stenbro- 
hult. 

His  father  was  a  lonely  man  now,  being  a  widower ; 
his  two  elder  sisters  were  married,  and  his  brother 
Samuel  was  away  studying  for  the  ministry.  For  all 
his  mother's  careful  wish  that  he  should  not  enter  the 
garden,  husbandry  and  natural  science  remained  ever 
Samuel's  favourite  lore.  He  shone  later  as  an  author  and 
one  learned  in  entomology,  which,  he  flattered  his  con- 
science, was  a  branch  of  farming,  in  his  heart  classify- 
ing farming  as  a  branch  of  entomology.  Carl  felt  a 


262     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

renewal  of  his  sadness  at  not  having  been  able  to  see 
his  mother  before  her  death,  but  his  letters  had  arrived 
so  long  after  the  event.  Distances,  too,  are  so  huge  in 
Sweden,  and  poverty  forbids  the  indulgence  of  grief,  a 
luxury  permitted  only  to  the  rich ;  but  revisiting  the 
scenes  of  his  childhood  brought  his  mother  doubly  near 
to  him. 

'  His  mother  was  not  permitted  to  see  the  successes 
and  honours  which  her  eldest-born  was  destined  to 
achieve.  Poor  mother  !  Her  sun  had  gone  down 
when  it  was  yet  midday ;  she  had  borne  the  burden 
and  heat  of  the  noon,  but  the  season  of  rest,  of  in- 
gathering and  rejoicing  she  tasted  not  in  this  life,  for 
she  is  laid  in  her  lowly  grave  in  the  shadow  of  the 
church  of  Stenbrohult,  and  thither  her  son  repairs  to 
shed  in  secret  the  tear  of  filial  love  and  regret.  Per- 
haps he  has  never  more  longed  for  the  sympathy  of  a 
mother's  heart  than  now,  when  he  feels  the  anxieties 
and  fears  of  hope  deferred — and  to  whom  could  he  have 
so  unreservedly  communicated  the  thousand  hopes,  joys, 
fancies,  and  desires  that  throng  around  his  heart  as  to 
her  who  lies  there  ?  Ah !  in  vain  he  sighs  and  longs 
for  some  response  ;  there  is  no  sound  save  that  of  the 
murmuring  breeze  that  waves  the  harebells  which 
cluster  over  the  green  sod  beneath  which  she  lies. 
"Alas,  my  mother ! "  and  again,  "  Alas,  alas,  my  mother ! " 
he  cries,  and  bitter  tears  fall  fast.  But  soon  he  has 
dried  them  ;  he  may  not  yield  longer  to  grief ;  the  day 
of  life  is  yet  before  him,  and  he  must  gird  himself  and 


TAKES  HIS  DOCTOR'S  DEGREE  IN  HOLLAND  263 

go  on  his  way,  and  do  his  work  ere  it  be  night,  and  he 
too  shall  lie  down  and  sleep.' l 

He  walked  over  to  Wirestad,  where  his  sister,  the 
lively  young  Anna  Maria,  was  petted  and  beschool- 
mastered  by  her  Gabriel  in  a  tender  and  clerical  way. 
From  Stenbrohult  the  forest  road  to  Traheryd  2  again 
follows  the  course  of  the  Laga  to  Markaryd,  where 
Carl  had  cousins.  Here  the  river  flows  off  westward  to 
the  Kattegat  and  the  bridle-path  works  southward,  only 
turning  off  westward  at  an  elbow  when  within  a  few  miles 
of  Qvidinge,3  where  there  are  recently  discovered  and 
extensive  coal-fields.  Had  Linnasus  any  suspicion  of 
these  valuable  stores  lying  beneath  his  feet  ?  Fame  and 
fortune  were  both  lying  unrecognised  beneath  his  tread. 

Modern  power,  stored  in  the  coal,  and  mediaeval 
power  as  represented  by  the  ancient  picturesque  Herre- 
badskloster,  meet  on  this  spot,  and  several  railway-lines 
now  open  up  this  district  to  common  knowledge.  Coal- 
mines and  a  popular  bathing-place  bring  money  into 
this  corner  of  Sweden.  Of  Helsingborg  Castle — grey 
ancestor  of  the  town — on  the  hill,  only  a  picturesque 
ruined  watch-tower  now  remains.  The  tower  of  the  old 
church  is  even  more  delightful,  its  scaled  gable  rising 
with  lanceolate  openings  at  each  step.  Here  it  is  most 
likely  Carl  met  his  travelling  companion,  as  Helsingborg 

1  Brightwell. 

2  Which  must  not  be  confounded   with   Traveryd  near   Lake 
Ralangen,  where  the  floating  islands  are. 

8  Where  the  Crown  Prince  Carl  August  died  suddenly  in  1810 
and  changed  the  dynasty. 


264     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN  AC  US 

is  at  no  great  distance  from  Lund ;  and  in  less  than  half 
an  hour  the  two  students  are  in  another  country. 

Elsinore  had  no  especial  attraction  for  Linnaeus ;  ht? 
cared  nought  for  the  traditions  of  Holgar  the  Dane,  and 
he  had  not  read  Shakespere.  It  is  doubtful  if  c  Hamlet r 
had  then  been  translated  into  Swedish.  It  is  translated 
into  Danish  now — I  am  told  by  Norwegians,  who  think 
it  clever  (!),  that  many  readers  hold  it  even  second  to 
Ibsen.  Hamlet's  and  Ophelia's  graves  had  not  ther. 
been  invented. 

These  tombs  were  unknown  to  Hans  Andersen,  who 
lived  at  Elsinore — not  in  his  childhood,  I  think,  though 
Hare  says  so,  but  when  he  was  nineteen  and  studying 
with  the  rector  of  Marienlyst.  The  Kronberg  has  really 
little  to  do  with  any  poetical  prince  of  Denmark,  for 
'  Hamlet  had  in  fact  no  especial  connection  with  Elsi- 
nore :  he  was  the  son  of  a  Jutland  pirate  in  the  insignifi- 
cant island  of  Mors.' l  Still  the  platform  of  the  Kronberg 
will  be  famous  as  long  as  Danish  history  lasts ;  and  no 
Danish  history  will  be  accepted  as  complete  without 
Shakespere's  c  Hamlet '  and  his  woful  tale. 

Carl's  journey  hence,  probably  the  easiest  he  ever 
took,  is  the  most  difficult  of  any  to  his  biographer. 
Turton  says  he  travelled  across  Denmark  to  Hamburg. 
Stoever  of  Altona,  his  personal  friend  in  later  life,  who 
had  abundant  means  of  knowing  all  about  his  hero's  life 
in  these  parts,  says  he  went  through  Jutland,  Schleswig, 
and  Holstein ;  most  writers  say  he  visited  Copenhagen ; 
1  Hare. 


TAKES  HIS  DOCTOR'S  DEGREE  IN  HOLLAND  265 

and  as  Linnaeus  says  he  did  so  at  one  time  of  his  life, 
there  seerns  but  one  other  time  when  he  had  the  oppor- 
tunity, which  was  when  he  travelled  in  Sk&ne,  the  sixth 
and  last  of  his  tours.  Linnaeus's  own  diary  says  '  he 
continued  his  journey  through  Helsingborg  to  Elsinore, 
thence  by  sea  to  Travemunde  and  Liibeck,  thence  to 
Hamburg,'  which  seems  clear  and  positive ;  but  Pulteney, 
who  edits  the  diary,  coolly  sets  it  aside,  saying  he  passed 
through  part  of  Denmark.  One  can  hardly  call  touching 
at  Elsinore  travelling  in  Denmark.  Indeed  Linnaeus 
himself  mentions  elsewhere  (and  previously  to  the  SkSne 
journey)  that  he  travelled  in  Denmark.  There  is  some- 
thing rotten  in  the  state  of  biography  when  discrepancies 
like  these  exist.  We  often  find  Linnaeus  in  far-off  places. 
Where  he  dropped  from  we  cannot  always  ascertain. 
We  make  light  of  this  in  cursory  reading,  but  in  actual 
travel  the  distances  are  enormous — much  too  long  to 
hop  or  skip.  It  is,  as  Fuller  remarks,  '  easie  for  a  writer 
with  one  word  of  his  pen  to  send  an  apostle  many  miles 
by  land  and  leagues  by  sea,  into  a  country  wherein 
otherwise  he  never  set  his  footing.' l 

Either  view  of  the  biographers  gives  Linnaeus  a 
strangely  roundabout  and  expensive  journey  to  Hamburg, 
where  they  all  meet  on  neutral  ground.  For  my  part,  I 
believe  Linnaeus's  statement  in  all  its  simplicity,  con- 
sidering the  scarcity  of  copper  dollars ;  but  as  written 
history  is  so  positive  the  other  way,  I  have  constructed 
a  neat  little  hypothesis  to  meet  their  views,  which  has 
1  The  Church  Historic  of  Britain. 


266     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

the  merit  of  reconciling  all  their  statements.  It  is  too 
plausible  to  be  true,  and  1  do  not  think  he  took  this  line, 
unless,  indeed,  he  went  to  look  for  some  little  weed  in  its 
native  habitat ;  but  as  George  Eliot  says, '  I  am  beginning 
to  lose  respect  for  the  petty  acumen  that  sees  difficulties.' 
He  says  he  went  by  sea  from  Elsinore ;  well,  he  took 
ship  from  Elsinore  to  Aarhus,  the  capital  of  Jutland, 
where  Pulteney  finds  him ;  thence  he  went  by  land  to 
Neustadt,  where  Stoever  picks  him  up,  and  by  boat  to 
Travemunde  and  Liibeck,  where  truth,  history,  and  all 
the  biographers  make  sure  of  him.  He  made  the  journey 
through  the  north  of  Jutland  on  his  return,  as  he  went 
by  sea  from  Rouen  to  the  Cattegat,  where  the  wind  went 
contrary  and  his  farther  voyage  that  way  was  stopped ; 
therefore  I  urge  that  he  travelled  from  Fredrikshaven 
by  land  to  Aarhus,  whence  he  returned,  as  we  know  he 
did,  to  Elsinore.  And  this  is  the  route  I  took  in  order 
to  follow  him  according  to  my  hypothecated  plan  of 
his  travels.  I  speak  as  Chorus,  and  shall  describe  the 
country  as  I  saw  it. 

Aarhus  is  a  large  town  with  fine  streets — Lone  of 
them  raised  on  a  viaduct  after  the  manner  of  our  Hoi- 
born — several  handsome  churches  with  carillons,  and  an 
old  romanesque  brick  cathedral  with  a  remarkable  tower. 
This  church  is  frescoed  and  painted  elegantly  inside. 
Here  the  two  medical  travellers  landed,  we  must  suppose, 
and  proceeded  southward  with  all  speed.  The  evening 
mists  hung  heavy  on  the  fields,  and  the  climate  felt 
milder  and  moister  than  in  Sweden.  More  barley  than 


TAKES  HIS  DOCTOR'S  DEGREE  IN  HOLLAND  267 

rye  is  grown  here,  and  at  Aarhus  one  meets  with  vege- 
tables cheap  and  in  plenty.  I  have  bought  for  next  to 
nothing  the  juiciest  radishes  I  ever  ate  ;  when  at  Chris- 
tiania,  they  were  tough  as  fir-cones,  and  at  famine  price. 
It  feels  warm,  but  there  are  snow-scoopers  to  all  the 
trains;  it  looks  peaceful,  but  the  Danish  camp  is  arrayed 
with  banners  before  a  large  square  castle,  built  in  the 
aggravated-barn  style.  The  black  and  white  cross-barred 
thatched  houses  of  the  peasantry  look  more  comfortable, 
and  group  prettily  into  villages,  among  which  the  storks 
move  about  with  stately  familiarity. 

How  soon  one  sees  proofs  of  the  greater  prosperity, 
in  actual  coin,  of  the  people  here  over  the  Northern 
Scandinavians  !  They  wear  much  more  j  ewellery — if  the 
Danish  filigree  can  be  called  jewellery — than  the  further 
Hyperboreans  wear :  many  more  rings  and  bracelets — 
trash,  if  you  will,  and  these  things  look  like  it — messing 
is  their  name  for  it ;  but  even  trash  shows  money  to 
spare,  and  all  appearance  breathes  of  Jutland's  mo- 
notonous fertility  and  middle-class  ease ;  not  amounting 
to  wealth,  with  its  splendour,  its  picturesqueness  and 
wickedness.  This  is  such  a  virtuous-looking  land,  dull 
with  the  decorous  domestic  virtues,  upon  which,  how- 
ever, a  fine  building,  or  a  fine  character,  shows  to  the 
greatest  advantage.  The  people  are  withal  as  fearful  as 
the  Germans  of  fresh  air,  even  now  in  June.  The  lake 
scenery  of  northern  Scandinavia  is  continued  through 
Denmark,  though  the  banks,  set  in  sunny  colza  meadows, 
are  softer  and  more  sleepy.  But  here  the  fir  trees  are 


268     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

Christmas  trees,  in  Norway  and  Sweden  they  are  pines. 
We  often  read  of  richly  timbered  Denmark,  and  here 
are  some  wind-tossed  oaks  of  small  size ;  but  in  all  this 
region  I  have  not  seen  a  beech  tree  of  respectable 
girth.  Jahns,  speaking  of  the  pre-historic  ages,  says, 
1  In  Denmark  their  division  is  marked  even  by  the 
vegetation.  The  stone  age  lies  buried  under  the  fir 
tr-ees,  the  oak  stratum  conceals  the  bronzes,  and  the 
iron  age  is  covered  by  the  birch  and  elders ' — a  capti- 
vating idea,  though  I  don't  quite  see  the  drift  of  it,  or  I 
would  begin  to  dig  at  once.  The  four  sorts  of  trees 
are  all  here  closely  side  by  side.  It  is  one  of  those 
deep  German  ideas  that  mean  anything  you  please. 

Here  is  a  pretty  fiord  near  Veile,  with  bulrushes  in 
the  foreground,  set  in  undulating  country  covered  with 
golden  broom,  backed  by  beech-clothed  hills ;  but  these  are 
woods,  not  forests.  When  people  talk  admiringly  of  the 
beech  forests  of  Denmark,  it  is  more  often  Holstein  they 
are  thinking  of.  Here  is  Fredericia  on  the  belt  of  sea 
dividing  Jutland  from  Funen.  The  strait  (a  silver  streak) 
and  a  weed-fringed  foreground  stream  winding  among 
the  black  peat-pits,  give  light  to  a  pretty  Danish  picture. 
The  peat-pit  is  everybody's  own  private  coal-cellar.  Be- 
yond another  fiord,  with  a  pretty  hamlet  on  its  border, 
one  sees  Kolding  with  its  high-placed  ruined  castle,  of 
which  one  battlemented  tower  remains  solid,  while  all 
the  rest  is  gutted — a  mere  shell.  The  canal  now  makes 
the  timber-station  of  more  importance  than  the  proud 
castle,  which  stands  all  solitary  but  for  the  heavy 


TAKES  HIS  DOCTOR'S  DEGREE  IN  HOLLAND  269 

heron's  flapping  flight.  Here  we  cross  the  borders  of 
what  is  now  part  of  Germany.  Slesvig  was  Danish 
in.  Linnaeus's  time.  Here  are  women  working  in  the 
fields — a  sight  seldom  seen  in  Sweden.  The  yellowing 
barley  and  blue-green  waving  blades  of  wheat  have 
superseded  the  browner  blooming  rye  of  the  north. 
Here,  too,  are  thistles — a  rarity  to  Linnaeus,  there  are  so 
few  thistles  in  his  country.  Here  they  fix  the  heads  of 
the  cows  and  sheep  in  a  long  heavy  wooden  framework 
to  keep  them  from  migrating  over  the  border.  It  is  a 
most  uncomfortable  form  of  collar.1  There  are  goats 
(collarless)  and  various  other  animals  about.  The  ground 
is  level  here  and  boggy  ;  not.  so  well  farmed  as  Jutland, 
nor  so  well  peopled  ;  a  dismal,  swampy,  flat,  unprofitable 
country.  I  marvel  at  the  Germans  coveting  it.  They 
did  not  need  it  even  to  complete  their  ring  fence. 
Perhaps  if  they  had  left  it  under  the  government  that 
does  not  require  so  many  soldiers — '  Death's  staunch  pur- 
veyors ' — it  would  have  been  better  for  the  land.  c  One 
sighs  to  think  how  these  unproductive  consumers  of 
Wurst,  with  all  their  blue  and  scarlet  broadcloth,  are 
maintained  out  of  the  pockets  of  the  community.2 ' 

The  country  is  all  but  emptied  for  military  service ; 
otherwise  it  might  be  good  land  if  cultivated.  We 
hear  nothing  of  compulsory  military  service  for  the 
young  men  in  Linnaeus's  time — in  Scandinavia,  that  ia. 
The  land  improves  as  we  travel  on,  but  it  is  still  flat  as 

1  What  is  their  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Animals 
about  ?  2  G.  Eliot. 


270     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

a  board,  and  with  no  woods.  The  towns  crowd  about 
the  broken  ground  where  it  rises  anywhere ;  one  is  so 
glad  of  a  rising  line  as  a  relief  to  the  eye.  One  is 
scarcely  satisfied  by  the  molehills  nature  here  provides 
as  a  substitute  for  mountains.  Man,  feeling  a  need  for 
more  upright  lines,  built  spiry  steeples  about  here.  We 
find  this  refreshment  to  the  eyes  in  pretty  Flensborg,  with 
its  spire  set  off  by  four  small  round  spirelets  clustered  at 
the  tapering  point,  its  tiled  gables  and  general  diversity 
of  level,  its  gardens  and  roods  of  yellow  water-lilies,  and 
its  fiord,  which  is  not  visible  from  the  railway.  There 
is  a  small  branch  line  into  Flensborg.  Friends  gather 
in  numbers  on  the  platform  to  enact  the  moving  scenes 
of  real  life  and  to  wave  the  tear-bedewed  (?)  handker- 
chief at  starting.  It  is  quite  a  lounge  for  the  town. 
Outside  we  find  haymaking  going  on,  and,  for  objects 
of  interest,  oats  and  white  lambs,  men  in  white  ducks, 
broad-beans  in  flower,  and  pease-blossom,  moth,  and 
mustard-seed. 

How  summer  crowds  upon  us  in  this  journey  down  ! 
the  season  changes  so  rapidly.  Beyond  a  beech  planta- 
tion is  some  rising  ground,  and  here  is  a  railway  cutting 
at  last !  A  great  square  barrack  of  a  castle  looms  to 
the  left,  set  in  undulations  and  green  hedges,  and  the 
mixed  cultivation  so  refreshing  after  the  monotonous 
vegetation  of  the  north,  and  kitchen-gardening  beauti- 
fied with  purple  cabbages. 

Schleswig  on  the  Schlei — a  scattered  town  with 
spired  churches  cresting  banks  of  pink  campion  and 


TAKES  HIS  DOCTORS  DEGREE  IN  HOLLAND  271 

genista  in  full  blaze.  I  do  not  see  why  Linnseus  should 
have  been  so  astounded  at  the  furze-gold  on  Putney 
Heath.  This  yellow  broom  is  just  as  full  of  sunshine. 

I  am  bringing  you  down  express  through  the 
country,  that  I  may  efface  myself  the  sooner :  to  be 
personally  conducted  is  a  bore. 

Level  again  ;  the  undulations  sweep  away  to  the 
westward.  Many  fine  bay  horses  are  grazing  in  this 
part  of  the  country.  Another  river,  or  fiord  rather,  is 
overwaved  by  tall  ash  trees  at  Rendsborg,  whose  Dutch 
aspect  shows  how  far  southward  we  have  moved ;  the 
canals  reflecting  its  brick  church  with  lance-like  spire, 
and  its  Gothic  and  modern  Gothic  buildings  ;  the  level 
land  melting  off  blue  in  the  distance  on  one  hand,  and 
dimpling  into  dune-like  hillocks  on  the  other. 

Hedges  again,  and  wild  roses,  and  girls  binding 

June  lilies  into  sheaves 

To  deck  the  bridge-side  chapel,  dropping  leaves 
Soiled  by  their  own  loose  gold  meal.— Sordello. 

After  all  one  misses  a  good  deal  by  living  in  the 
North.  One  misses  summer;  it  is  all  spring  or 
autumn  there.  My  closer  calculation  is  that  in  Sweden 
June  is  spring,  July  summer,  August  autumn,  and  all 
the  rest  winter.  One  is  glad  to  see  rich  and  varied 
vegetation  again,  and  roses  twining  over  porches,  and 
to  smell  the  sweet  syringa.  The  hay,  the  flowers,  the 
breath  of  the  whole  land  comes  up  in  great  wafts  of 
fragrance — a  scent  of  summer  bloom,  of  clumps  of  pinks 
and  picotees,  and  tall  fiery  tiger  lilies,  with  cows  licking 


272     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN&US 

each  other  all  so  friendly  in  the  shade  of  great  umbels 
of  elder,  such  as  must  have  made  Linnaeus  think  of  his 
former  comrade  Artedi,  now  gone  to  England.  This 
sudden  drop  into  summer  is  very  striking  in  coming  from 
the  North,  and  must  have  been  especially  so  to  the  born 
Swede  Linnaeus.  It  is  like  the  descent  into  Italy  from 
the  Alps,  or  into  Damascus  from  Mount  Hermon 

whitened  with  eternal  sleet, 
While  summer  in  a  vale  of  flowers  lies  sleeping  rosy  at  her  feet. 

There  is  less  length  of  daylight  to  see  it  by,  however : 
the  sun  sets  three  half-hours  earlier  here.  One  is 
startled  to  see  the  distance  purpling  under  the  golden 
light,  with  sunset  reflected  in  the  eastern  banks  of  rose- 
tipped  pearly  clouds ;  and  to  feel  the  humid  airs  of  grate- 
ful evening  mild  distilling  from  the  greenery  of  fat  and 
fertile  Holstein — a  land  of  plenty  and  prosperity,  with 
hedges  deep  in  barley  and  long  grass  to  mow,  and 
yonder  towers  and  spires  of  Kiel  all  grey  under  the  veiled 
misty  golden  moon. 

The  blossoming  gardens  here  are  turned  to  fairy- 
land, as  it  would  have  seemed  to  Linnasus ;  to  us  it  is 
more  like  the  opera  stage,  with  groups  of  girls,  with 
faces  more  of  the  pretty  Danish  type  than  like  the 
plainer  Germans,  dressed  in  short  full  skirts  of  plum- 
coloured  velveteen,  or  of  dark  stuff  with  a  coloured 
velvet  band  round  the  hem,  tight-fitting  basque  bodices 
of  black  velveteen  with  very  short  puffed  sleeves,  showing 
the  arm  bare  high  above  the  elbow,  and  white  bib  aprons — 
altogether  absurdly  like  the  theatre,  and  quite  as  pretty. 


TAKES  HIS  DOCTOR'S  DEGREE  IN  HOLLAND  273 

A  tiny  white  net  cap,  the  size  and  shape  of  a  pork 
sausage,  made  of  a  quilling  of  net  round  five  inches' 
length  of  lace,  is  stuck  on  at  the  back  of  the  head. 
This  costume  is  generally  worn  by  maidens  of  the  in- 
dustrious orders  in  this  part  of  the  world,  and  very  neat 
and  maidenly  it  is. 

Timber-wharves  show  the  speciality  of  Kiel,  besides 
the  men-of-war  laid  up  in  the  harbour,  and  the  numerous 
officers  and  seamen,  whose  capping  of  each  other  and 
the  military  reminds  an  Englishman  of  Portsmouth,  as 
he  walks  along  Kiel  Strand. 

Morning  sunshine  shows  the  lake  scenery  of  Holstein 
to  advantage.  It  is  very  pretty  country  from  Preetz 
to  Greemsmiihlen  with  their  fine  beech  woods  encircling 
their  lakes.  But  Eutin  seen  in  a  heavy  rainfall  looks 
like  a  failure,  which  is  disappointing,  as  Baedeker  praises 
it  so  highly.  The  sea-gulls  only  can  venture  out ;  but  the 
varied  landscape  of  hill  and  dale,  with  streams  and  happy 
thatched  homesteads,  looks  pleasing  in  the  worst  of 
weather,  as  one  sits  in  a  sheltered  window  eating  white 
bread  and  the  white  butter  given  by  the  brown  cows 
feeding  in  the  black  bog-beplastered  fields.  The  people 
look  rosier  and  prettier,  and  in  fact  more  Swedish,  about 
here  than  elsewhere  in  Germany;  so  Linnaeus  was  the 
less  pained  by  the  contrast.  Our  hero  went  by  sea  from 
Neustadt  to  Travemunde,  thence  up  the  sleepy  river 
Trave  to  Liibeck.  Here  we  are  certainly  on  his  foot- 
steps. Stoever,  Turton,  Pulteney,  Fee,  and  the  '  Ham- 
burg Courant '  all  agree  with  Linnaeus  himself  in  this. 

VOL.  I.  T 


274     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN^US 

The  duodecimo  biographers  who  never  think,  but  only 
copy,  of  course  agree  likewise.     Exit  Chorus. 

A  spiry  place  is  peeping  above  yonder  hill.  It  must 
be  Liibeck.  It  is  so.  Now  it  looks  like  a  dozen  or  so 
of  spear-pointed  steel  pens  with  their  points  upwards 
as  onr  two  Swedes  arrive  at  the  bridge  by  the  gate  of 
this  quaint  and  ancient  city  ;  an  old,  and  what  young 
persons  who  sketch  call  a  most  rapturous,  gateway, 
dated  1477,  bent  with  its  age  and  weight,  with  a  sheaf 
of  spire-like  lances  rising  behind  it — the  shield  and 
spears  of  the  city.  Above  the  portal  arch  is  the  legend 
CONCORDIA  DOMI  FORIS  PAX.  This  heavy  pile  is  shaped 
into  two  round  towers,  cone-spired,  with  a  burgomaster's 
house  betwixt  them,  from  under  which  the  broad  low 
portal  has  been  hollowed.  The  gate  is  brick-built  in 
stripes  of  black  and  red,  the  black  bricks,  being  vitrified, 
look  white  and  lustrous  at  a  distance,  giving  altogether 
a  peculiar  effect  as  of  a  large  mineralogical  specimen. 
It  is  all  sunken  in  the  ground,  which  has  been  excavated 
to  leave  its  roadway  clear. 

Friends  were  busy  at  the  wharfs  and  coach-offices 
meeting  friends ;  but  no  one  knew  Linnaeus  and  his 
companion,  bewildered  with  their  first  experience  of 
encountering  an  entirely  foreign  language.  The  two 
Swedes  carried  their  chattels  up  the  hilly  street,  where 
now  the  tramcars  climb  ;  and,  oh  !  they  did  indeed  find 
views  and  architectural  surprises.  Linnaeus  was  as  yet 
a  novice  in  architectural  criticism,  and  I  find  no  com- 
ments so  far  in  his  diaries.  It  was  all  what  he  might 


TAKES  HIS  DOCTOR'S  DEGREE  IN  HOLLAND  275 

have  expected  in  the  South.  But  even  more  experienced 
travellers  than  he  have  never  seen  any  town  so  odd,  so 
quaint,  so  Gothic,  so  riotous  in  invention,  so  queerly 
coloured,  and  so  charming.  Red-brick  buildings,  shiny 
black-brick  arcades,  and  Gothic  frontages,  all  crying 
out  '  No  dinner  for  you  to-night ;  so  long  as  twilight 
lasts  come  out  and  look  at  me ' ;  Renaissance  and  florid 
architecture  of  all  styles  retiring  only  to  await  their  turn 
for  attention.  Other  Gothic  towns,  even  Bremen,  subside 
into  commonplace  before  the  luxuriance  of  Liibeck.  The 
shields  on  the  buildings  are  gilt,  coloured,  and  slung 
sideways — anything  for  extravagant  effect.  Here  are 
spires  of  all  sizes,  and  gable-forms  from  great  A  to  little  z, 
and  as  the  city  lies  on  a  slope  they  can  all  be  seen  together, 
like  the  diagram  at  the  South  Kensington  Museum  of  the 
typical  buildings  of  the  world  and  their  relative  heights, 
from  Cheops'  pyramid  down  to  a  drinking-fountain. 
The  drapers  in  this  part  of  Germany  have  a  way  of 
arranging  the  basement  cellar  window  beneath  the  shop 
in  the  same  manner  as  the  shop  above.  In  Denmark  the 
cellar  window  is  also  dressed,  but  it  usually  belongs  to  a 
different  establishment,  and  generally  vends  vegetables 
or  beer. 

The  best  way  to  see  Liibeck  is  to  do  as  Linnaeus 
most  probably  did,  as  he  was  a  great  one  for  hill-climb- 
ing— that  is,  to  take  an  evening  walk  up  a  forest-covered 
hill  called  Chimborasso,  just  outside  the  town,  and  so 
gain  a  concrete  idea  of  the  place,  that  one  may  the 
better  relish  afterwards  the  full  and  bewildering  effect  of 

T  2 


276     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

all  its  oddity  and  bustle,  and  realise  the  old-world  scene 
in  full  perfection  in  the  morning  when  the  market- 
places are  overflowing  and  streaming  with  colour  and 
picturesque  confusion.    On  the  hill-top  is  erected  a  sort 
of  scaffold  staircase  with  benches,  whence  one  can  enjoy 
the  view.     The  prospect  from  Chimborasso  is  of  a  mass 
of  bright  red  roofs  on  the  opposite  hill,  individualised 
by  the  white-gabled  window-dotted  fronts  of  houses, 
set  in  a  forest  of  leafage   melting   into  blue   distant 
meadows,  where  two  rivers — the  Trave  and  its  tributary 
— meet  as  they  mingle  with  the  verdure.    The  spires  and 
pinnacles  rise  out  from  among  the  foliage  and  the  town- 
roofs  to  the  sky.    Plenty  of  life  and  activity  is  going  on 
below,  its  buzz  mingled  with  murmur  of  windmills  and 
sounds  of  trains  and  carts,  of  birds,  and  bells,  and  boats. 
Now  we  may  recross  the  river  to  the  town,  ascending 
the  hill,  first  on  the  side  of  the  well-nigh  deserted  cathe- 
dral, which  is  always  under  repair,  and  always  needs  it. 
Its  tall  thin  spires  are  so  much  out  of  the  perpendicular 
that  they  would  look  atrocious  in  a  drawing ;  for  one's 
reputation's  sake  one  must  straighten  them  and  make 
them  more  untruly  true.     To  stand  under  these  spires 
is  one  of  the  risks  of  travel.     It  feels  less  dangerous 
-  inside,  where  one  does  not  see  them.     There  are  some 
•remains  of  early  coloured  glass  by  the  painter  of  the 
cathedral  windows  of  Florence — 'that   most   singular 
master  who,  in  this  art,  was  known  in  the  world,'  who 
was  brought  for  this  purpose  '  from  distant  Liibeck  on 
the  Northern  seas.' 


TAKES  HIS  DOCTOR'S  DEGREE  IN  HOLLAND  277 

Most  of  the  monuments  take  the  form  of  portraits, 
chiefly  with  ruffs  round  the  neck,  and  many  of  them 
well   painted.     There   are    some   pictures   of  the   old 
German   school    also,   and   an   interesting   medley   of 
ornaments   disposed   about — a    kind    of  ecclesiastical 
trinkets.     There  is  a  quaint  clock  set  on  an  inner  rood- 
screen  of  carved  wood  with  coloured  figures,  of  which 
those  above  the  clock  strike  the  hours.    Death  turns  his 
hour-glass  upside  down,  strikes  on  the  bell  the  number 
of  the  hour,  and  shakes  his  head.     Life,  a  figure  in 
green,  strikes  the  half-hours  and  the  warning  before 
the  hours.     The  face  in  the  centre  rolls  its  eyes  at  every 
tick.     These  old  mechanical  clocks  are  among  the  few 
things  belonging  to  the  towns  that  Linnaeus  remarks  in 
his  diary.     The  clock  in  St.  Mary's  sumptuous  church 
is  still  more  elaborate  than  this,  and  the  market-people 
crowd  in  to  see  the  procession  of  figures  as  the  clock 
strikes  twelve  at  noon.   The  wealthy  burghers  of  Liibeck 
meant  to  outdo  the  cathedral  by  building  a  finer  church, 
with  finer  monuments  of  themselves.    St.  Mary's  Church 
is  bewilderingly  rich  in  monuments  in  gold  and  colour, 
and  Renaissance  ornaments.     The  whole  church  seems 
a  co-operative  monument  of  family  pride. 

The  market-place  on  market  morning  ranks  high 
among  the  sights  of  Ltibeck.  The  square  and  the 
surrounding  colonnades  are  all  crowded.  The  market- 
women  wear  straw  hats  tilted  like  bonnets,  set  on  hind 
part  before,  with  a  broad  ribbon  of  bright  colour  hanging 
behind  in  a  loop.  The  hat  fits  over  the  little  sausage- 


278     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

shaped  cap,  which  sometimes  has  two  narrow  bands  across 
it.  The  fishwives  have  blue  ribbons  on  their  hats,  the 
fruit  and  vegetable  sellers  wear  green,  or  both  occasion- 
ally wear  purple.  They,  and  their  customers  likewise, 
carry  pairs  of  baskets  of  vegetables,  each  a  yard  long, 
hung  horizontally  from  a  yoke.  The  butchers'  market  is 
held  under  the  longest  of  the  pointed-arched  colonnades 
that  divide  the  market-place  from  the  busy  interesting 
High  Street  and  from  St.  Mary's  Place. 

From  Liibeck  Linnaeus  went  to  Hamburg,  a  city 
at  least  as  ancient  as  Ltibeck :  it  is  said  to  have  been 
founded  by  Charlemagne,  but,  oh,  how  different  from 
Liibeck !  a  splendid  great  modern  republic  of  a  town, 
interesting  to  the  student  of  social  economy,  made  by 
commerce  for  commerce  only,  with  its  two  diiferent 
quarters  inhabited  by  the  masters  and  servants  of  com- 
merce. The  landscape  leading  to  it  from  Liibeck  is  more 
varied  in  type  than  the  rest  of  the  vast  monotonous  plain 
of  Northern  Europe,  and  more  happy-looking,  having 
here  and  there  a  turfy  slope  covered  with  beech  trees. 

In  Hamburg  the  market-women  wear  very  short 
ungraceful  petticoats,  and  their  black  hats  have  stiff 
black  buckram  bows  at  the  back  beneath  the  brim, 
Strawberries  come  in  early  here,  and  roses.  This  is  a 
land  of  summer.  Sweden  is  the  land  of  spring,  and 
Norway  the  land  of  winter.  The  overhanging  houses 
in  the  maritime  and  commercial  quarters  of  Hamburg 
are  gabled  and  quaint,  tile-roofed  and  cross-patterned 
with  wood,  looking  old  and  very  German.  The 


TAKES  HIS  DOCTORS  DEGREE  IN  HOLLAND  279 

tall  church  towers,  bulbous  or  spiry,  most  of  them 
copper-sheathed,  and  green  with  oxide,  stand  boldly  up 
above  the  great  city.  The  rich  residential  part  of  Ham- 
burg by  the  Alster  Bassin  is  handsome,  new,  and 
Parisian.  Stoever  would  be  the  safest  guide  to  Lin- 
naeus's  history  here,  as  besides  being  an  Altona  man,  he 
was  acquainted  with  Gieseke  and  the  newspaper- writers, 
and  all  the  persons  interested  in  Linnaeus's  stay  in 
Hamburg,  where  he  created  a  sensation  of  rather  a  Mr. 
Verdant  Green  sort.  But  Carl's  own  diary  is  quite  full 
enough  here,  and  more  moderate  in  tone  than  one 
would  expect  of  a  greenhorn. 

Professor  Kohl  and  Dr.  Janisch,  and  the  licentiate- 
in-law  Sprekelsen,  who  held  correspondence  with  the 
best  naturalists  and  botanists  of  the  age,  and  who  had  a 
beautiful  garden,  all  showed  him  great  civilities.1  Here 
Linnaeus  employed  his  whole  time  inspecting  the  fine 
gardens,  museums,  and  everything  else  worthy  of 
attention.  '  It  was  like  coming  suddenly  into  a  large- 
inheritance  of  unknown  treasures ' :  he  had  to  settle  down 
to  enjoy  his  new  property.  In  a  private  library  at 
Hamburg  he  found  the  botanical  work  of  Ray,  which  he 
had  long  wished  to  see.2  Among  other  things  he  was 
shown  the  museum  of  the  burgomaster  Andersson,  and 
a  monster  which  Hamburg  gloried  in  possessing — the 
famous  Siren  lacertina,  or  stuffed  Hydra  with  seven  heads, 
belonging  to  Andersson's  brother.  This  rare  master- 
piece of  nature  had  formerly  been  exhibited  on  an  altar 
1  Diaiy.  2  Brightwell. 


28o     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

in  a  church  in  Prague.1  '  Linnasus  was  the  first  per- 
son who  discovered  that  this  wonder  was  not  a  work  of 
nature  but  of  art.' 2  Of  course  he  proclaimed  it.  The 
price  of  the  monster  at  once  fell  from  750Z.  to  less  than 
5Z.  Carl  examined  the  heads  and  found  in  them  the  jaw- 
bones of  seven  weasels.  I  dare  say  he  crowed  and  was 
cock-a-hoop  and  overbearing  like  many  young  scientific 
men,  of  whom  one  prophesies  that  they  will  be  charm- 
ing at  forty.  The  youngster  never  minds  where  he 
places  his  uncomfortable  truths,  nor  whose  idol  he 
shatters.  The  owner  of  the  Hydra,  in  true  mercantile 
style,  had  fixed  an  enormous  hypothetical  value  on  the 
manufactured  article.  It  was  pledged  to  Anders  son  for 
the  sum  of  ten  thousand  marks.  The  Anderssons  were 
furious,  an  outcry  was  raised,  and  it  was  insisted  on 
that  the  calumniator  should  prove  in  academical  form, 
in  public  dispute,  that  the  serpent  was  not  a  pheno- 
menon, or  that  he  should  own  his  error.3  Dr.  Janisch  gave 
Linnaeus  the  friendly  advice  to  quit  Hamburg  with  all 
possible  speed  to  avoid  litigation.  He  did  so  and  avoided 
the  discussion,  leaving  the  Hydra  master  of  the  field. 
He  often  said  afterwards,  <I  had  only  one  friend  at 
Hamburg ;  this  was  Dr.  Janisch  :  he  was  a  true  friend 
to  me.'  Carl  had  made  the  place  too  hot  to  hold 
him  during  the  month  he  stayed  at  Hamburg.  The 
poor  student  could  not  compete  with  rich  proprietors. 
The  earthen  pot  would  have  been  smashed  to  pieces  by 
these  heavy  brazen  pots.  His  vanity  had  made  him 
1  Brightwell.  2  Diary.  8  Stoever. 


TAKES  HIS  DOCTORS  DEGREE  IN  HOLLAND  281 

over-display  his  learning  in  a  place  where  his  country- 
men and  their  books  had  already  the  reputation  of  being 
too  pedantic.  He  showed  off,  and  they  took  him  down 
a  peg. 

The  object  of  his  journey  was  as  yet  unachieved,  and 
Carl's  copper  dollars  were  melting  away :  he  had  not 
been  sufficiently  careful  of  his  money.  We  do  not  hear 
what  Claes  Sohlberg  said  to  all  this — whether  he  had 
gone  on  good-humouredly  playing  second  fiddle  to 
Linnaeus,  or  if  he  had  already  proceeded  to  Harderwyk ; 
but  Linnaeus  took  boat  at  Altona  for  Amsterdam. 
Shore  and  harbour  were  full  of  masts  and  spires, 
bristling  with  them.  Linnaeus  had  nowhere  seen  such 
wealth  as  here ;  it  was  marvellous  to  him  when  he  first 
saw  it.  He  had  thought  Upsala  and  Aarhus  grand. 
What  were  these  to  Hamburg  ?  Surely  this  must  be  the 
finest  place  in  the  world.  No,  he  had  read  of  Paris  and 
of  London.  Should  he  ever  see  them  ?  He  had  no 
previous  notion  of  the  greatness  of  the  carrying  trade. 
Here  men  and  cattle  and  all  sorts  of  goods  embark  and 
disembark,  coming  in  from  Harburg  and  all  quarters  to 
be  shipped  off  to  Holland  and  to  England.  Here  is  a 
fleet  of  fishing-smacks  drying  their  nets,  yonder  are 
luggermen  wetting  their  tan  sails  by  sprinkling  them 
with  their  oars.  Linnaeus  takes  the  cheapest  passage 
he  can,  and  bargains  hard  for  that — with  difficulty,  as  he 
can  speak  neither  German  nor  Dutch.  The  captain  is 
his  own  pilot,  and  cautiously  threads  his  way  among 
the  multifarious  craft,  and  the  ice-breaking  vessels,  with 


282     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

strong  rams,  laid  up  out  of  use  beneath  the  Seamen's 
Home,  close  by  where  are  now  the  fine  hotels  built  on 
green  pedestals  of  hillocks,  where  the  sheaf  of  light- 
green  bronze  spires  tower  above  the  tall  and  narrow 
warehouses  at  Altona.  The  ship  sails  down  the  broad 
Elbe,  past  the  fine  suburb  of  Blankenese,  where  the 
merchant  princes  dwell,  and  out  to  sea  by  Heligoland. 
During  this  voyage  Carl  says  '  he  was  exposed  to  great 
peril ' ;  in  other  words,  he  had  a  rough  passage.  Stress 
of  weather  caused  them  to  run  in  to  Emden  to  avoid 
being  driven  on  the  shoals  that  are  so  numerous  between 
the  outer  islands  and  the  coast. 

Emden  is  a  pretty,  picturesque  town,  and  the  '  Weis- 
sen  Haus  Inn '  gives  a  good  view  of  the  town-hall,  the 
river  and  bridges,  and  the  prettily  grouped  and  coloured 
houses.  Emden  is  a  thoroughly  German  place,  where 
they  know  nothing  whatever  of  English  people.  The  beds 
are  a  droll  experience.  The  top  sheet,  buttoned  on  the 
quilt,  is  only  meant  to  reach  halfway  down ;  one  sheet  cut 
in  two  makes  a  pair.  The  rest  of  the  bed  is  ultra-German 
in  its  manifold  discomforts ;  but  it  is  all  so  soft  and  downy 
that  it  feels  like  going  to  bed  in  a  batter  pudding. 

At  Amsterdam  Linnaeus  stayed  eight  days,  and  saw 
all  the  splendour  and  expense  bestowed  on  that  city.1 
He  then  went  by  sea  to  Harderwyk,  one  of  the  dead  cities 
of  the  Zuyder  Zee,  where,  having  undergone  the  requi- 
site preliminary  examinations  and  defended  his  inaugural 
thesis  on  the  '  Causes  of  the  Cold  Intermittent  Fever,' 
1  Diary. 


TAKES  HIS  DOCTOR'S  DEGREE  IN  HOLLAND  28.3 

he  was  admitted  to  the  doctor's  degree  on  the  \\  th  of 
June.  I  dare  say  the  aspect  of  the  ground  in  Holland 
and  on  the  journey  down  added  many  ideas  to  his  thesis, 
already  prepared  in  Sweden.  Linnaeus  had  a  keen  eye 
for  country  and  climate  from  the  hygienic  point  of  view. 
In  the  dedication  of  the  '  Hypothesis  Nova  de  Febrium 
Intermittentium  Causa,'  among  his  Maecenates  and 
Patrones  we  find  the  names  of  Rudbeck,  Rothman, 
Stobaeus,  Morgeus,  &c.,  and  Rosen.  The  hypothesis 
here  advanced,  most  correctly  so  denominated,  is  truly 
Boerhaavian.1 

Here  Linnaeus  won  his  doctor's  hat,  which  is  still 
preserved  in  his  house  at  Hammarby,  near  Upsala.  It 
is  of  greenish  drab  felt  that  once  was  green,  turned  up 
on  three  sides,  with  a  pinkish  bow  that  once  was  a  red 
cockade.  The  university  of  Harderwyk,  now  long  since 
swept  away,  was  founded  in  1372.  In  1441  it  contained 
more  than  three  hundred  foreign  students.  Harderwyk 
University  gained  a  justly  merited  celebrity  before  it 
disappeared ;  Boerhaave  and  Linnaeus,  who  have  adorned 
the  whole  human  race,  graduated  here.2  The  marble  bust 
of  Linnaeus  stands  in  a  niche  in  a  red-brick  octagonal 
tower  3  standing  by  the  site  of  the  former  botanic  garden 
(not  that  of  an  ancient  cloister,  as  Havard  asserts), 
beneath  a  grove  of  tall  trees  which  play  ^Eolian  har- 
monies at  eventide  as  the  inland  sea  breeze  wakes  the 
memories  of  Harderwyk's  palmy  days. 

Harderwyk,  a  town  of  5,000  inhabitants,  now  the 
1  Smith.  2  Havard.  *  Called  the  Linnaeus  Tower. 


284     THROUGH   THE  FIELDS   WITH  LINNAEUS 

depot  and  training-school  for  recruits  in  the  Dutch 
East  Indian  army,  styled  an  unruly  and  violent  class  of 
youths — they  seemed  quiet  enough  at  the  time  I  was 
there — was  formerly  c  the  shepherds'  refuge,'  whence 
its  name.  When  the  Zuyder  Zee  extended  itself 
beyond  its  actual  limits,  the  wide  meadows  on  its 
borders  were  sometimes  suddenly  flooded,  and  the 
shepherds  with  their  flocks  had  to  seek  in  higher 
ground  a  shelter  against  the  encroaching  waters. . 
They  built  several  huts,  and  were  soon  joined  here  by 
the  fishermen.  In  1229  the  shepherds'  refuge,  become 
by  the  grace  of  Count  Otho  the  town  of  Harderwyk, 
held  rivalry  with  Hamburg.1 

It  has  now  chiefly  a  seafaring  population.  As  one 
wanders  by  the  shore  of  what  here  looks  boundless  as  an 
ocean,  the  seamen  of  the  one  or  two  vessels  which  at  most 
enter  the  little  port  together,  larking  among  themselves, 
alone  ruffle  the  tranquillity  of  the  scene,  a  peaceful 
Dutch  landscape  of  a  low  coastline,  a  few  trees,  roofs, 
and  a  little  jetty  set  on  the  verge  of  an  expanse  of 
lustrous  silver  sea,  flushed  with  the  pink  after-glow  of 
day.  Only  an  occasional  fanfaron  from  the  East  Indian 
military  depot  wakens  faint  melancholy  echoes  round 
the  quiet  shore.  The  turf  near  the  sea  is  rosy-lilac  with 
the  thrift,  as  if  reflecting  the  tender  pink  of  the  sky. 

The   academic   quiet  was   as   deep  when  Linnaeus 
paced  up  and  down  here  in  thought.      He  had  cause 
for  thought  if  not  for  anxiety.     He  tells  us  himself:2 
1  Havard.  2  Diary. 


TAKES  HIS  DOCTOR'S  DEGREE  IN  HOLLAND  285 

'  Now  all  the  money  he  had  carried  with  him  from 
Sweden  was  expended,  and  being  unwilling  to  trouble 
his  father-in-law  (that  was  to  be),  whose  disposition  he 
well  knew  on  this  score,  he  accompanied  Claes  Sohlberg 
from  Harderwyk  to  Amsterdam.' 

Thoughts   of    his   doubtful   future   would   obtrude 
themselves  even  during  his  eager  study  of  the  natural 
objects  round   him  in  a  country  where  he   found  so 
much  food  for  reflection.      In  Sweden  he  had  seen  how 
subordinate  a  part   man  plays  in  fashioning   the   ap- 
pearance of  the  country,  whereas   at  Amsterdam  the 
mighty  works  of  man's  device — a  miracle  of  human  in- 
dustry— had    literally   made   the   land.      It   was    the 
reverse  in  this  place.     On  looking  at  the  wilds  round 
the  Zuyder  Zee  it  was  difficult  to  realise  their  possible 
transformation  into  a  prosperous  country.     The  magic 
wand  of  capital  had  never  touched  them.    Yet  there  was 
hope  even  for  these  natural  dykes  and  banks  shielding 
the  salt  marshes  and  crossing  the  dull  flats ;  for  the  c  good 
God  was  watching  them  as  carefully  as  He  did  the  plea- 
sant hills  inland ;  perhaps  even  more  carefully,  for  the 
uplands  He  has  completed  and  handed  over  to  man  that 
he  may  dress  and  keep  them ;  but  the  tide  flats  below 
are  still  unfinished — dry  land  in  process  of  creation,  to 
which  every  tide  is  adding  the  elements  of  fertility.'  J 

And  God  would  care  for  the  student  too,  for  he  had 
it  in  him  to  be  industrious  and  patient.    Linnaeus  looked 
at  the  tender  flowers ;  the  thrift  beneath  his  feet  and 
1  Kingsley,  Glaucus. 


286     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

the  orchis  of  the  sands  of  Zeeland  were  consolation,  ay, 
and  wealth.  Harder wyk  calmed  his  mind — it  was  in 
harmony  with  his  poverty ;  but  he  could  not  remain  there 
making  no  money.  His  talent  now  confirmed  by  his 
doctor's  hat,  he  must  display  it  to  the  world  and  see 
what  price  the  world  would  pay  for  the  article  it  symbo- 
lised. It  were  easier  to  live  upon  the  hat  than  upon 
talent  such  as  he  had  displayed  at  Hamburg.  After  a 
breakfast  of  bread  and  raw  eggs,  as  they  love  them  in 
Holland,  and  coffee  sipped  from  egg-shell  china,  such  as 
the  Dutch  learnt  early  to  encourage  the  making  of,  in 
imitation  of  the  fine  imported  Oriental  ware,  the  learned 
young  Swedes  set  out  on  foot  for  Amsterdam. 

Linnaeus  had  already  walked  out  Zwolle  way,  through 
a  desolate  country  of  white  sand-hillocks  with  sparse  fir 
trees,  where  he  might  well  expect  the  vegetation  to  have 
a  character  of  its  own,  as  none  but  the  fittest  could 
survive.  Here  he  admitted  the  truth  of  what  a  patriotic 
Dutchman  told  him,  one  who  conceded  that  there  are 
no  mountains  in  Holland,  but  hills,  he  declared,  there 
were  in  plenty.  Here  are,  indeed,  sand-hillocks  where 
the  dunes  have  spread  in  from  the  sea,  extending  for 
miles  inland  and  along  the  coast  of  the  Zuyder  Zee. 
Inland  the  ground  we  travel  over  gradually  rises,  and  is 
sprinkled  with  fir  trees,  brooms,  and  newly-set  beeches. 
The  land  being  in  process  of  creation,  the  fir-crested 
dunes  impinge  upon  the  old  chaos  of  black  waste  with 
dark  tussocky  grass,  like  evil  heather ;  by  degrees  the 
sand  will  fill  and  dry  the  pits  of  bog  and  reclaim  the 


TAKES  HIS  DOCTOR'S  DEGREE  IN  HOLLAND  287 

gelatinous  peat.  The  view  is  bounded  by  a  range  of 
dark  purple  hills — Dutch  hills,  that  is — scantily  clothed 
with  firs  and  occasional  beech  and  birch  saplings,  but 
no  subsistence  for  man  or  beast.  The  land  is  not 
prepared  to  receive  them  yet.  There  is  nobody  moving 
about  here,  but  further  on  we  find  a  few  old  women 
wearing  their  silver  heirlooms  helmetwise  upon  their 
heads,  and  some  '  mannikins '  (small  boys)  watching  that 
the  birds  do  not  make  off  with  the  occasional  blades  of 
barley.  The  land  gradually  gets  less  sterile  ;  cattle, 
trees,  and  grass  appear  at  Hatten,  near  which  are  flooded 
marshy  meadows,  and  a  bridge  over  a  river,  and  Holland, 
as  we  know  it  best,  appears  again  at  Zwolle.  But  it  is 
mostly  a  flat  treeless  country,  with  less  capital  laid 
out,  and  fewer  inhabitants,  than  in  West  Holland,  which 
is  so  much  better  situated  for  commerce.  One  looks 
out  for  the  tumuli,  or  giants'  graves,  that  one  has  heard 
of,  but  one  only  sees  herons  standing  patient  as  monu- 
ments. The  cottages  are  thatched,  the  few  that  exist, 
among  the  swamps  and  black  peaty  wastes,  reminding 
an  Englishman  that  the  Frisians  are  his  nearest  re- 
lations. No  wonder  the  Frisians  and  Saxons  came  to 
England ;  it  is  a  vastly  more  tempting  country  to 
settle  in.  This  is  a  desert  of  bog  and  sand,  dotted 
with  a  few  long-woolled  sheep ;  the  horizon  is  a  dark 
indigo  purple  stripe,  the  middle  distance  a  stripe  of 
dead  brown,  the  foreground  a  stripe  of  mottled  drab ; 
it  is  as  dismal  a  country  as  one  can  see,  with  clouds 
lowering  over  it,  few  hands  to  labour,  and  no  capital. 


288     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

It  shows  what  all  Holland  would  be  but  for  the  capital 
supplied  by  commerce.  At  Krops  Wolds  the  land 
improves  into  pasture ;  but  these  wolds  and  fens  are  no 
better  farmed  than  ours  were  in  the  days  of  the  Hep- 
tarchy. I  clo  not  suppose  Linngeus  wandered  as  far  as 
Krops  Wolds,  perhaps  not  farther  than  Zwolle,  of  whose 
nine  gates  only  the  picturesque  Sassenpoort  remains. 

All  this  was  rambling  for  pleasure  and  research  in 
the  interval  of  waiting  till  he  knew  whether  he  were 
an  M.D.  or  not.  Now  he  had  to  travel  in  real  earnest 
and  for  his  life.  Scarcely  a  copper  dollar  remained — he 
says  not  one ;  therefore  we  may  conclude  he  had  only 
some  very  small  change.  The  Swedes  packed  their 
papers  and  trophies,  slung  their  new  showy  green-and*- 
pink  hats,  put  on  their  old  ones  for  use,  and  tramped 
to  Amsterdam. 

'  Men  think  to  mend  their  condition  by  a  change  of 
circumstances.  They  might  as  well  hope  to  escape  from 
their  shadows.' 1  The  very  countrywomen,  with  their 
gold  ornaments  and  broad-frilled  lace  caps,  were  too 
wealthy  for  our  young  doctors  to  consort  with.  Nobody 
knew  them  to  be  learned  men,  unless  by  recognition  of 
the  dazzling  doctors'  hats :  they  knew  nothing  of  the 
mental  treasures  these  poor  tramps  carried  with  them. 

They  followed  on  the  road  lined  with  brushwood, 
behind  which  a  silvery  line  proclaims  the  Zuyder  Zee, 
until  the  land  breaks  into  hedges  and  falls  into  water- 
meadows,  and  meres  replace  the  bogs.  The  land  here 
1  Froude. 


TAKES  HIS  DOCTORS  DEGREE  IN  HOLLAND  289 

is  more  varied  in  its  produce  ;  there  are  standard  fruit 
trees  with  currant  bushes  growing  beneath  them  ;  and 
there  are  more  silver-helmed  peasant  women  about,  and 
grander  females  with  gold  frontlets  and  engraved-plate 
head-bands  and  earrings ;  and  here  sound  the  sweet  caril- 
lons of  Sint  Joriskerk  at  Amersfoort,  where  the  young 
men  rested  to  eat  bread  beside  the  canal  rippling  through 
the  pretty  town.  On  again  across  the  sandhills,  beyond 
which  lies  good  ploughed  land  tilled  with  varied  cereal 
crops,  and  the  river  Eem  glides — for  rivers  never  run  in 
Holland — gently  through  a  wood.  The  ground  is  slightly 
undulating  here,  so  it  is  able  to  glide ;  otherwise  it  would 
become  a  *  mere '  like  the  rest  of  the  rivers.  Beyond 
this  again  the  land  is  sandy  and  in  all  stages  of  re- 
clamation, with  fir  plantations  and  beech.  Linnaeus 
6  saw  all  that,  and  saw  all  that  lay  behind  it — a  miracle 
of  human  industry,  two  millenniums  of  human  history.5 1 
What  a  good  description  of  the  country  hereabout  is 
given  in  the  name  Watergrassmeer !  The  man  was  a 
genius  who  coined  the  word ;  the  village  here,  with  its 
pretty  pleasure-houses  set  in  bowers  and  ornamental 
waters,  is  an  oasis  among  the  sand-dunes ! 

Beyond  the  further  marshy  ground  is  a  blaze  among 
the  colza.  What  a  smoke !  It  is  a  damp  reed-hut  on 
fire.  The  travellers  rested  again  at  Weesp — a  town 
fortified  with  grass  terraces,  and  set  as  usual  in  a  mere 
— and  they  arranged  their  travel-soiled  dress  and  put  on 
the  gay  green  hats  that  they  might  enter  Amsterdam  with 
1  Froude. 

VOL.  i.  u 


290     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN^US 

becoming  dignity.  How  fine  is  the  view  of  Amsterdam 
seen  beyond  the  watery  landscape  on  entering  the  city 
by  the  Y,  and  how  profuse  is  the  distribution  of  gold 
jewellery  among  the  well-to-do  womenfolk !  Alas  for 
these  poor  young  doctors,  who  can  hardly  muster  a 
stiver  between  them,  and  who  cannot  even  exercise 
their  new  profession  for  want  of  knowing  Dutch! 
They  must  look  out  for  learned  patients  who  can  con- 
verse fluently  of  their  ailments  in  the  Latin  tongue. 
A  poor  prospect  for  Linnaeus. 

The  pressing  questions  are,  How  can  he  work  his 
passage  home  to  Sweden  ?  and  How  will  his  Elizabeth's 
papa  receive  him  when  he  gets  there  ?  He  faced  both 
questions  like  a  man.  It  seems  Class  Sohlberg  had  cash 
enough  left  to  go  home  with,  for  we  hear  no  more  of  him, 
nor  of  any  difficulty  in  his  finances.  Probably  a  remit- 
tance awaited  him  at  Amsterdam.  Linnaeus  may  not  have 
been  so  good  a  man  of  business  as  Sohlberg,  but  then  he 
had  more  to  do  and  to  see  wherever  he  went,  and  sight- 
seeing in  towns  involves  fees.  Perhaps,  too,  he  was 
more  unskilful  in  paying  and  giving  away.  Goldsmith, 
writing  in  1759,  'Would  you  believe  that  in  Sweden 
highway  robberies  are  not  so  much  as  heard  of?  For 
my  part,  I  have  not  seen  in  the  whole  country  a  gibbet 
nor  a  gallows ! '  Linnaeus,  used  to  his  own  truthful 
people,  was  possibly  often  taken  in. 


291 


CHAPTER  XI. 

LEYDEN — THE  FAT  OF  THE  LAND. 

When  lands  are  gone  and  money  spent, 
Then  Learning  is  most  excellent. 

CARL'S  first  business  was  to  see  if  anything  had  turned 
up  since  his  previous  eight  days'  stay  in  Amsterdam, 
where  he  had  tried  to  place  the  MS.  of  his  '  Sy sterna 
Naturae '  to  advantage,  and  to  present  his  letters  of 
introduction  to  the  rulers  of  the  scientific  world.  He 
was  anxious  to  make  himself  known  to  the  leading 
Dutch  naturalists  before  he  returned  home.  Wearing 
his  gay  hat,  he  waited  on  the  professor  of  botany,  Dr. 
Burmann,  with  no  immediate  result ;  but,  as  Carlyle 
says,  l  Hope  diminished  burns  not  the  less  brightly,  but 
like  a  star  of  hope.' 

He  afterwards  proceeded  through  Haarlem  to  Ley- 
den,  where  he  visited  the  botanical  garden  and  Professor 
van  Royen ;  but  of  all  the  persons  Linnaeus  met  with 
in  Holland  none  paid  him  more  attention  than  J.  Fred 
Gronovius,  doctor  of  medicine.1  Carl  having  paid  him 
a  visit,  Gronovius  returned  it,  and  saw  the  sketch  of 

1  Diary. 

u  2 


292     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN&US 

his  '  System  of  Nature '  in  MS.,  which  so  astonished 
him  by  its  novelty,  that  he  requested  Linnseus's  permis- 
sion to  get  it  printed  at  his  own  expense. 

What  a  triumph  for  the  youthful  doctor  !  His 
talents  were  to  be  recognised  at  last.  What  mattered 
poverty  or  even  hunger  now  ?  He  was  to  be  known  as 
the  author  of  the  New  System !  He  forgot  that  few 
people  saw  the  necessity  for  a  new  system,  or  indeed 
for  any  system  in  botany  at  all. 

The  publication  of  the  work  was  accordingly  com- 
menced— a  matter  of  immense  importance  to  his  after 
fame,  and  really  better  than  bread  and  Dutch  cheese  in 
the  present.  But  an  engraved  work  finely  got  up  on 
fourteen  folio  pages  l  takes  some  time  to  prepare,  and  to 
distribute  it  profitably  takes  still  longer. 

Though  Carl  wanted  so  little,  it  seemed  as  if  his 
life  were  always  to  be  '  a  progress  from  want  to  want, 
not  from  enjoyment  to  enjoyment ' ;  that  he  must  still 
cast  about  him  to  make  something  out  of  nothing, 
daily  to  twine  his  rope  of  sand.  Still  the  greater, 
harder  work,  the  chain  of  linked  thought,  was  in  pro- 
cess of  production,  and  it  was  the  first  time  he  had 
tasted  the  exquisite  cup  of  realising  his  dreams. 

It  was  hard  that  he  could  not  afford  to  remain  in 
Holland  till  the  birth  of  the  great  System,  but  he  could 
not  live  without  work,  and  paying  work  had  yet  to  be 
"ound. 

In  this  year,  1735,  he  published  the  first  edition  of 
1  Twelve  folio  pages,  says  Sir  W.  Jardine. 


LEYDEN—THE  FAT  OF  THE  LAND        293 

his  '  Systema  Naturae,'  consisting  of  eight  large  sheets, 
in  the  form  of  tables ; l  this  edition  is  now  a  great  biblio- 
thecal  curiosity.  It  contained  a  view  of  the  animal, 
vegetable,  and  mineral  kingdoms,  and  was  the  germ  of 
that  scheme  of  natural  history  which  was  a  few  years  after- 
wards adopted  throughout  the  world.  '  In  this  way  was 
the  foundation  laid  of  that  system  upon  which  almost  all 
those  of  the  present  day  are  in  many  ways  most  inti- 
mately connected,  and  by  which  the  arrangements  of 
the  older  systematists  were  almost  at  once  superseded.' 2 

By  the  advice  of  Gronovius,3  Linnseus  waited  on 
Boerhaave  in  Leyden.  Carl  had  particularly  wished  to 
see  this  eminent  man,  who  was  renowned  throughout 
the  world,  so  that  a  letter  reached  him  from  the  Emperor 
of  China,  directed  simply,  '  To  Boerhaave,  the  famous 
physician  in  Europe.'  Not  so  very  long  after  this  it 
was  Linnaeus's  own  turn  to  meet  with  similar  recogni- 
tion.4 Bjoernstahl  saw  at  Therapia,  in  Turkey,  a  Greek 
walking  in  a  field  reading  a  book ;  the  man  (formerly 
first  physician  to  the  Pasha)  told  him  it  was  by  '  the 
great  man  in  Europe.'  It  was  Linnaeus's  c  System  of 
Nature.' 

Boerhaave,5  through  press  of  occupation,  had  great 
difficulty  in  granting  audiences  even  to  his  friends.  Peter 
the  Great  had  waited  several  hours  in  an  antechamber 
for  an  interview : 6  how  could  Linnaaus,  poor  and  a 

1  Carr.  2  Sir  W.  Jardine.  3  Diary. 

4  Carr.  5  Ibid. 

6  This  was  many  years  before — in  1716,  or  perhaps  in  the  Czar's 
earlier  visit  to  Holland,  in  1697. 


294     THROUGH   THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

stranger,  hope  for  admittance  ?  He  awaited  in  anxiety 
the  result  of  his  application.  l  He  who  had  lived  in 
Hamburg  too  high  for  his  means,  in  Leyden  had  to  live 
low.'  He  was  wiser  and  therefore  humbler  now.  His 
lesson  in  Hamburg  had  taught  him  that  a  novus  homo 
must  not  be  arrogant  when  he  enters  the  society  of 
the  scieritocracy,  and  that  he  must  not  run  himself 
rashly  against  vested  interests.  Yet  for  all  his  poverty, 
Carl  Linnasus  seems  to  have  lived  in  intimacy  with 
the  scientocrats  of  Leyden — Van  Koyen,  Van  Swieten, 
Lieberkuhn,  Lawson,  and  Gronovius.  Turton  shrewdly 
says,  { Among  the  causes  which  contributed  to  enlarge 
the  views  and  ripen  the  judgment  of  Linnaeus  may 
be  reckoned  the  facility  with  which  he  made  himself 
known  and  regarded  by  the  most  learned  men  of  his 
time.  Wherever  he  came  he  found  a  friend,  and  that 
friend  generally  of  the  first  reputation  in  the  sciences 
he  studied.' 

Days  passed  on,  and  Linnaeus,  having  exhausted  the 
sights  of  the  '  Athens  of  the  West,'  was  on  the  eve  of 
leaving  Leyden,  when,  on  the  eighth  day  after  his  first 
call  upon  Boerhaave,  he  was  admitted  to  the  physician's 
presence  suddenly,  and  out  of  his  turn,  for  several  great 
people  had  been  waiting  longer  than  he.  Learning  was 
power  here  in  Holland :  whatever  it  may  have  been  in  his 
own  country,  here  he  was  not  without  honour.  It  is  true 
that  in  Holland,  where  one  had  only  to  '  invent  a  shovel 
and  be  a  magistrate,'  a  new  theory  was  certain  to  obtain 
respect,  especially  when  it  was  about  plants,  which  then 


LEYDEN-THE  FAT  OF  THE  LAND        295 

meant  tulips,  which  they  adored.  It  seems  that  Gro- 
novius  had  sent  to  Boerhaave  a  copy  (or  more  likely  the 
original  MS.)  of  the  '  System  of  Nature,'  which  made 
the  great  physician  desire  an  interview  with  the  young 
Swede.  Boerhaave,  then  in  his  sixty-seventh  year, 
received  Carl  with  the  greatest  cordiality,  and  invited 
him  to  his  country  seat,  a  mile  out  of  Ley  den.1  All 
elderly  men  relished  the  vigorous  and  far-reaching 
conversation  of  young  Linnaeus,  and  the  freshness  of  his 
views,  so  well  calculated  to  rouse  their  own  flagging 
enthusiasm.  Boerhaave,2  one  of  the  richest  men  in 
Leyden,  was  extremely  plain  and  active,  and  a  thorough 
Dutchman.  His  whole  wardrobe  consisted  of  two  suits, 
which  he  wore  till  threadbare.  His  Dutch-built  figure, 
standing  in  his  old  shoes,  with  his  loose  hair,  and  the 
large  crab-stick  which  he  carried,  made  him  look  like 
a  common  man.  He  was  parsimonious,  having  been 
brought  up  in  a  frugal  school ;  but  he  was  very  bene- 
ficent to  the  poor.3 

He  had  a  botanic  garden,  and  collection  of  exotics, 
among  which  he  pointed  out  one  of  the  hawthorn  family 
(Cratcegus  aria),  and  asked  Carl  if  he  knew  that  tree, 
which  seemed  to  be  remarkable  in  Holland.  Linnaeus 
said  he  knew  it  well  in  Sweden,  where  it  was  common.4 
As  Boerhaave's  garden  was  stocked  with  all  kinds  of 
trees  that  would  bear  the  climate,  Linnaeus  had  an 

1  Boerhaave  was  born  at  Voorhout,  two  miles  from  Ley  den. 
His  father  was  minister  there. 

2  Stoever.  *  Carr.  4  Diary. 


296     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN&US 

opportunity  of  manifesting  his  skill  in  the  science  and 
history  of  botany.  Boerhaave,  observing  this,  advised 
him  not  to  leave  Holland  immediately,  as  he  had 
intended,  but,  on  the  contrary,  to  take  up  his  abode 
there.  Linnaeus  admitted  he  had  not  the  means  of 
remaining  a  single  day  longer.  As  Carl  proposed 
passing  through  Amsterdam  on  his  way  home,  Boer- 
haave, who  wished  to  serve  him,  gave  him  a  warm 
letter  of  recommendation  to  his  pupil,  Professor  John 
Burmann,  and  desired  him  to  present  it  with  his  com- 
pliments. 

This  altered  the  aspect  of  affairs :  Carl's  third  visit  to 
Professor  Burmann  was  no  failure.  Next  day  Linnaeus 
called  to  see  the  professor,  who  personally  conducted 
him  over  his  collection,  asking  him  which  particular 
plants  he  wished  to  inspect. 

' Which  of  my  plants  do  you  wish  to  examine?' 
1  The  greatest  number,  and  even  all  of  them,'  said  Carl, 
'  but  I  do  not  know  which  plants  you  possess.' l 

The  botanic  garden  of  Amsterdam,  formerly  so 
celebrated,  is  now  scarcely  worth  the  notice  of  an 
English  botanist.  It  is,  however,  neatly  kept,  and  con- 
tains some  good  specimens.  The  Dutch  in  general  seem 
still  to  retain  that  extravagant  rage  for  buying  rarities 
at  an  exorbitant  price,  for  which  they  have  long  been 
famous.2  A  fine  street  in  Amsterdam,  leading  to  the 
botanical  garden  quarter,  is  named  the  Linnaeus  Street, 
and  a  mile  beyond  the  Muiderport  is  the  Linnaeus 
1  Diary.  2  Sir  J.  E.  Smith. 


LEYDEN-THE  FAT  OF  THE  LAND         297 

Garden,  a  school  of  horticulture  and  forestry,  where  the 
glass-houses  are  kept  in  fair  working  condition,  but 
not  in  apple-pie  order  for  show. 

To  return  to  our  friends,  '  This  is  very  rare,'  said 
Bunnann,  pointing  out  a  plant  in  his  herbal.  Linnaeus 
asked  for  a  single  flower ;  he  softened  it  in  his  mouth, 
examined  it,  and  pronounced  it  to  be  a  species  of  laurus. 
1  It  is  not  a  laurus,'  said  Burmann.  '  But  it  is,'  said 
Linnaeus ;  '  it  is  the  cinnamon  tree.'  '  It  certainly  is  the 
cinnamon,'  rejoined  the  other.  Linnaeus  then  convinced 
him  that  this  tree  was  a  species  of  laurus,  and  also  cor- 
rected his  classification  of  other  plants. 

Burmann  was  at  this  time  preparing  his  '  Thesaurus 
Zeylanicus,'  a  great  work  on  the  plants  of  Ceylon,1  and 
he  was  so  charmed  with  Linnaeus  that  he  offered  him  a 
handsome  apartment,  with  attendance  and  his  table,  if 
he  would  be  his  guest  and  help  him  with  his  book.2 
Linnaeus  availed  himself  of  these  advantages  until  the 
following  year.  Burmann  had  a  fine  collection  of  natu- 
ral curiosities,  and  a  well-chosen  library.  Carl  took 
the  opportunity  of  studying  them  to  complete  and 
publish  his  own  'Fundamenta  Botanica,'3  a  small  octavo 
volume  of  thirty-six  pages,  in  the  form  of  aphorisms, 
which  contains  the  very  essence  of  botanical  philosophy.4 
Linnaeus  says  he  amused  himself  with  looking  over 


1  The  Flora  of  Ceylon,  though  rich,  has  scarcely  proved  so  volu- 
minous as  was  expected  ;  yet  it  comprises  3,000  plants.  Ireland,  a 
somewhat  larger  island,  has  only  800  kinds  of  plants. 

8  Diary.  s  Signed  C.  Linn.,  Stipend,  Wredian.  4  Carr. 


298     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN^US 

Burmann's  works  on  the  plants  of  Ceylon,  and  fre- 
quently visiting  the  botanic  garden. 

Mr.  George  Clifford,1  J.U.D.,  burgomaster,  banker, 
and  one  of  the  directors  of  the  Dutch  East  India  Com- 
pany, was  at  this  time  the  most  enterprising  botanist 
and  horticulturist  in  Europe.  He  had  a  fine  country 
seat  and  garden  at  Hartecamp,  near  Haarlem. 

He  was  out  of  health,  and  applied  to  Boerhaave  for 
advice.  The  doctor  recommended  Linnasus  to  him  ae 
one  capable  of  looking  after  his  health,  and  who  would 
also  be  able  to  arrange  his  fine  collection  of  foreign 
plants  and  form  his  garden,  which  cost  the '  banker 
12,000  florins  annually,  and  was  his  hobby  and  his 
pride.  All  Dutchmen  love  their  gardens,  but  Clifford 
was  no  common  tulip-fancier,  but  an  ambitious  man  of 
scientific  aims — one  of  the  men,  Motley's  republican 
Dutchmen,  the  makers  of  Holland,  who  made  their  small 
country  a  leader  in  European  history.  Hartecamp 
was  no  ordinary  lusthaus,  as  Boerhaave  well  knew  ;  he 
also  rightly  judged  that  the  eager  enthusiastic  young 
Swede  was  no  mere  classifier  of  plants  in  a  herbal,  but 
one  who  would  tend  and  keep  in  order  a  paradise.  We 
are  not  to  suppose  that,  for  all  Carl's  science,  l  a  prim- 
rose by  the  river's  brim,'  a  '  monopetalous  hypogynous 
Pentandria  monogynia  '  was  to  him,  and  it  was  nothing 
more  :  on  the  contrary,  he  was  first  and  above  all  things 
a  florist.  He  kept  the  dried  flowers  in  his  herbal  and 

1  Stoever  and  his  copyists,  following  the  German  pronunciation, 
write  the  name  Cliffort.  Dutch  books  spell  it  Clifford. 


LEYDEN—THE  FAT  OF  THE  LAND        299 

wrote  a  descriptive  epitaph  upon  them,  as  we  embalm 
the  memory  of  our  friends  and  adorn  their  graves. 

And  'tis  and  ever  was  my  wish  and  way 
To  let  all  flowers  live  freely  and  all  die, 
Whene'er  their  genius  bids  their  souls  depart, 
Among  their  kindred  in  their  native  place. 
I  never  pluck  the  rose  ;  the  violet's  head 
Hath  shaken  with  my  breath  upon  its  bank, 
And  not  reproacht  me  ;  the  ever- sacred  cup 
Of  the  pure  lily  hath  between  my  hands 
Felt  safe,  unsoiled,  nor  lost  one  grain  of  gold.1 

Clifford  visited  Linnaeus  at  Burmann's,  and  invited 
them  both  to  come  to  Hartecamp  and  see  his  hothouses 
and  his  Cape  plants.  This  was  a  real  pleasure  to 
Linnaeus,  as  after  the  dead  levels  about  Amsterdam,  the 
more  undulating  country  round  Hartecamp  afforded  an 
enjoyable  change  of  scene.  He  roamed  through  the 
gardens  with  a  boy's  delight,  and  examined  the  hot- 
house treasures,  describing  those  that  were  known,  and 
speculating  on  those  that  were  new ;  while  many  a  truth 
fell  from  his  lips,  f  contained  within  the  concise  limits  of 
a  passing  jest,'  in  sportive  vein,  wreathed  in  dimpling 
laughter,  showing  in  all  simplicity  his  enjoyment  of  the 
holiday.  He  was  one  of  the  most  loveable  of  young 
men.  Clifford  was  equally  delighted  with  him  and  his 
agreeable  way  of  imparting  knowlege — which  argues  a 
familiar  knowledge  of  Latin  on  Clifford's  part. 

Burmann  took  up  in  the  library  the  second  part 
of  Sir  H.  Sloane's  '  History  of  Jamaica.'  '  I  have  two 

1  Fasulan  Idyl,  W.  S.  LANDOB. 


300    THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

copies  of  it,'  said  the  banker,  laughing,  '  and  you  shall 
have  this  if  you  will  give  me  Linnasus  in  exchange.' 
The  proposal  thus  made,  apparently  in  jest,  soon  led  to  a 
serious  one,  and  Clifford  invited  Linnseus  to  live  with 
him  as  his  physician  and  botanist,  and  offered  him  a 
salary  of  1,000  florins  per  annum.1 

Linnaeus  was  dazzled  and  captivated  by  this  new 
experience.  Never  had  he  met  with  a  sort  of  life 
so  tucked  in  with  velvet  curtains,  such  sumptuous 
appearances  of  equipage  and  well-laid  table,  and  every- 
thing so  rich  and  bankery :  but  these  things  alone 
would  never  have  tempted  him  had  there  not  been  ample 
liberty  and  the  garden  at  command,  and  unlimited 
powers  given  him  to  use  both  to  the  best  advantage. 
He  could  here  cultivate  science  without  restriction. 
He  was  truly  happy.  Hear  himself :  *  Thus  Linnaeus 
moved  to  Clifford's,  where  he  lived  like  a  prince  ;  had 
one  of  the  finest  gardens  in  the  world  under  his  in- 
spection ;  with  commission  to  procure  all  the  plants  that 
were  wanting  in  the  garden,  and  such  books  as  were  not 
to  be  found  in  the  library ;  and  of  course  enjoyed  all  the 
advantages  he  could  wish  for  in  his  botanical  labours,  to 
which  he  devoted  himself  day  and  night.'  His  energy 
had  a  tremendous  impulse  now  that  he  was  settled  and 
at  leisure.  He  was  an  excellent  companion  too.  He c  had 
an  immense  fund  of  articulate  gaiety  in  his  composition, 
beautiful  light  humour,'  never  flying  off  into  folly,  '  yet 

1  Turton  says  800  florins  a  year;  Fee  says  1,000  florins.  We 
must  take  that  sum  which  is  nearest  a  ducat  a  day. 


LEYDEN—THE  FAT  OF  THE  LAND        301 

full  of  tacit  fires  which  spontaneously  illuminated  all 
his  best  hours.'  This,  which  in  his  wife  was.  such  a 
charm  to  even  the  serious  Carlyle,  is  a  good  description 
of  the  gay  gleams  which  Carl  Linnaeus  flung  over  a  life 
which  other  scientific  men  contrived  to  render  dry  as 
dust.  He  could  throw  himself  into  wildest  spirits  in 
off-work  hours.  He  would  imitate  the  contortions, 
grimaces,  and  incantations  of  the  Laplanders  until  his 
audience  thought  his  acting  equal  to  his  science. 
Clifford  felt  he  could  never  do  enough  for  a  youth  who 
regilt  life  for  him,  wreathing  it  with  flowers  the  while, 
and  bringing  back  all  the  best  aspirations  of  his  younger 
days.  The  golden  head  brought  back  summer  to  the 
rich  man,  whose  hair  was  already  just  flecked  with  snow, 
and  showed  him  he  still  could  enjoy  '  more,  indeed,  than 
at  first  when  unconscious,  the  life  of  a  boy.'  He  loved 
Carl  like  a  son,  and  gave  him  (what  Carl  most  valued)  his 
duplicate  dried  plants.1  Does  this  seem  a  bathos  ?  It  is 
really  none.  Now  was  Carl's  time  to  bring  forward  his 
*  Critica  Botanica,' 2  his  '  Genera  Plantarum,'  and  to 
commence  a  fine  folio  volume  called  '  Hortus  Cliffor- 
tianus ' — a  complete  catalogue,  splendidly  illustrated,  of 
the  garden  at  Hartecamp. 

Tulips  do  not  seem  to  have  been  of  much  account  at 
Hartecamp,  though  I  dare  say  the ;  Admiral  Enkhuizen,' 
valued  at  4,000  florins,  the  5,000  florin  <  Admiral  Lief- 
kenshoek,'  and  the  famous  l  Semper  Augustus,'  costing 
13,000  florins,  displayed  their  splendour  in  the  conser- 
1  Diary.  2  In  one  vol.  8vo.  This  book  is  very  rare. 


302     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

vatory ;  but  the  mania  of  a  century  before,  1636,  when 
tulip-roots  passed  from  hand  to  hand  like  bank  notes, 
could  never  be  revived. 

The  Jacobea  lily  (Amaryllis  formosissima)  now  first 
blossoming  in  Europe,  was  a  gem  of  the  cool  greenhouse 
and  '  nature  herself  favoured  Linnaeus  in  causing 
through  his  diligence  and  care  the  fine  plantain  tree,1 
also  to  bloom  in  Holland  for  the  first  time,  which  was 
looked  upon  through  the  whole  country  as  a  wonder.2 
Even  Boerhaave  himself  came  to  Hartecamp  to  get  a 
demonstration  of  this  musa  ;  described  for  posterity  in 
the  treatise  that  was  afterwards  published  under  the 
name  of  Musa  Cliffortiana,  whereby  every  gardener  has 
been  enabled  to  bring  forward  its  flowers.' 3  Linnaeus 
here  acquired  great  practical  knowledge  of  plants,  in- 
cluding palms,  which  he  called  the  princes  of  vegetation.4 
He  visited  every  month  the  gardens  of  Amsterdam, 
Utrecht,  and  Leyden,  but  every  day  that  of  Hartecamp.5 

The  situation  of  Hartecamp  is  the  pleasantest  in 
Holland ;  it  has  the  sandhills  of  the  North  Sea  for  its 
horizon  on  the  west,  from  which  quarter  the  breeze 
blows  during  the  greater  part  of  the  year  and  bends  the 
trees  landward.  The  young  Swede  rejoiced  in  the  sea 

1  Musa  paradisaica.  2  Stoever. 

3  This  tree  flowers  at  Kew  Gardens  Oct.  to  Dec.    The  fruit 
begins  to  set  in  April. 

4  *  Man  dwells  naturally  within  the  tropics,  and  lives  on  the 
fruit  of  the  Palm  tree  ;  he  exists  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  and 
there  makes  shift  to  feed  on  com  and  flesh.'— LINN^US  on  Palms. 
'  Honour  the  date-tree,  for  she  is  your  mother.' — MAHOMET'S  com- 
mandment. 5  Diary. 


LEYDEN—THE  FAT  OF  THE  LAND         303 

wind,  from  which  his  garden,  however,  was  protected  by 
the  lines  of  overarching  elm-trees,  and  the  sand-dunes 
piled  high  beyond  the  water-meadows  stocked  with  black- 
and-white  cattle.  Carl,  though  he  had  a  carriage  and  four 
horses  at  his  command,  I  dare  say  went  oftenest  to  and 
fro  between  Hartecamp  and  Leyden  by  the  barge,  in  the 
canals  narrowed  by  the  rapidly  growing  sedges,  water- 
flags,  and  lilies ;  where  the  labour  is  ever  going  on  of 
dredging  black  mud  into  boats,  then  filling  it  into 
trough-shaped  carts,  or  else  plastering  it  upon  the 
banks — the  canals  covered  with  white  water-lilies  ex- 
panding their  unsullied  flowers  to  the  morning  sun,  and 
intermixed  with  the  yellow-fringed  water-lily,  which  is 
very  uncommon  in  England.  The  silence  that  accom- 
panies the  Dutch  (canal-boat)  mode  of  travelling,  so 
different  from  the  grating  of  a  turnpike  road,  increases 
in  no  small  degree  the  pleasure  of  a  journey.1 

One  can  now  go  to  Hartecamp  from  Leyden  by  train 
to  Vogelenzang,  and  then  inquire  the  way  to  Benne- 
brock.  It  is  best  to  follow  the  peasant  girls  who  get 
out  at  the  station ;  they  are  most  likely  going  to  pass 
the  Hartecamp,  as  it  lies  on  the  main  road  to  Haarlem. 
From  what  I  had  read  I  expected  to  find  Hartecamp  a 
pair  of  iron  gates,  a  swamp,  and  perhaps  an  avenue ; 
but  it  is  by  no  means  the  howling  wilderness  that  writers 
represent  it.  The  ground  at  Vogelenzang  rises  in  pleas- 
ing undulations,  chiefly  of  reclaimed  sandhills  clothed 
with  fir  trees,  which  wave  refreshing  scent  beneath 
1  Smith. 


304     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

the  silvery  cloud-banks  rolled  up  massively  to  show  the 
blue ;  the  rich  low  ground  all  laid  out  in  bulb  gardens. 
German  goes  next  to  no  way  in  Holland,  and  no  one 
understood  that  I  wanted  to  see  the  place  where  Linnaeus 
once  lived — how  should  they  ?   Luckily,  a  young  gentle- 
man came  up  who  spoke  a  little  German.     He  showed 
me  the  way  to  Hartecamp  (he  lived  in  the  next  villa 
but  one  himself),  and  he  spoke  to  the  gardener  for  me. 
He  pointed  out  the  name  '  Te  Hartecamp '  on  the  gates 
and  told  me  this  was  the  actual  and  nearly  unaltered 
house  of  Clifford.       The  plant-house  or   architectural 
conservatory — something  like  the  one  they  house  orange 
trees  in  at  Kew — was  also  Clifford's,  and  the  fine  vine 
with  the  thick  stem  was  here  in  Linnaeus's  time.    A  row 
of  fine  bushy  and  aged  Portugal  laurels  grows  in  front  of 
the  architectural  conservatory.   There  are  grand  timber- 
like  oleanders,  which  look  as  if  they  might  have  seen 
the  great  botanist,  and  ancient  orange  trees  in  tubs,  and 
purple  clematis  twines  about  the  pilasters.     We  hear  it 
is  an  easy  walk  to  Haarlem,  which  makes  us  independent 
of  trains  and  able  to  enjoy  the  lovely  garden. 

The  guide-books  are  wrong  in  saying  it  is  a  waste 
place  or  wilderness ;  though  the  glory  of  Hartecamp 
perished  with  Clifford,  it  is  a  fine  garden  still,  with  alleys 
and  avenues  in  all  directions,  and  winding  sea-shell- 
sanded  paths  by  the  ornamental  water,  enlivened  by 
swans  and  crossed  by  a  fanciful  bridge.  Baedeker  says, 
1  the  beautiful  gardens  attached  to  the  house  have  long 
since  disappeared.'  He  must  be  either  extremely  curious 


LEYDEN—THE  FAT  OF  THE  LAND         305 

in  gardens  or  else  he  visited  Hartecamp  through  an 
agent.  It  is  a  delightful  place,  not  being  on  such  a 
dead  level  as  the  rest  of  Holland.  The  house  is  shut 
up  during  half  the  year,  while  its  owner  lives  at  the 
Hague. 

In  the  pleasant  deep  bay-window  of  the  central 
ground-floor  room,  at  the  back  of  the  house,  or  on  the 
great  balcony  above,  Linnaeus  often  worked,  and  looked 
out  upon  the  lawns  and  lakelet  encircled  with  great 
purple  and  copper  beeches,  and  variegated  horse-chest- 
nuts, which  have  white  leaf-masses  near  the  trunk  and 
thick  stems,  though  the  rest  is  green,  being  able  to 
suck  in  the  sunshine  better  from  being  exposed.  The 
windows  command  views  through  glades  right  away  to 
the  dykes  and  dunes. 

The  flower-border  verges  are  left  fringed  with  wild 
plants  of  all  sorts,  spreading  into  and  embroidering  the 
lush  spring  lawns.  How  we  enjoy  the  delicious  coun- 
trified look  of  all  the  plants  and  trees  (we  hail  from 
London  and  Ley  den),  and  having  it  all  to  ourselves  like 
this ! — for  the  young  gentleman  told  the  gardener  to  leave 
us  alone  to  sketch.  This  civilised  verdure — if  one  may 
so  express  it — is  enchanting.  From  the  avenue  where 
I  sit  I  see  a  brilliantly  coloured  vista  of  foliage  beyond 
some  emerald  green  elms,  and  one  tree  all  over  white 
blossoms,  an  oak  with  golden-tufted  buds,  and  then  an 
amber-coloured  tree,  and  beyond  again  a  clump  of  crim- 
son beeches.  The  trees  all  round  are  grouped  with  great 
taste — some  of  them  knew  Linnaeus;  the  borders  are 

VOL.  I.  x 


3o6     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

botanically  arranged,  as  if  tlie  Linnaean  traditions  still 
held  sway.  The  path  leading  from  the  front  of  the  house 
to  the  conservatory  has  a  border  set  amphitheatre-wise 
with  lines  of  rare  plants  in  sunken  pots,  sheltered  by  a 
pine  grove.  The  foregrounds  are  massed  with  clumps  of 
gunnera  scabra  and  lady  fern.  The  air  is  full  of  sounds 
of  birds,  the  swans  float  by  and  halt,  and  lose  themselves 
again  in  the  thickets.  The  lawn  in  front  of  the  house 
is  planted  like  a  park  with  various  trees,  well  arranged 
with  an  eye  to  colour.  The  road,  itself  invisible,  crosses 
the  view,  so  that  one  can  see  the  picturesque  passers-by, 
who  animate  the  scene  at  just  the  distance  an  artist 
would  set  them  in  his  .picture  ;  beyond  the  road  the 
park  sweeps  upward  to  a  belvedere,  high-raised  (for 
Holland,  that  is)  at  the  end  of  the  vista.  An  immense 
oval  bed  of  roses  is  spread  just  before  the  house. 

'  One  should  think  that  the  proprietor  of  all  this 
must  be  happy.'  l  Nay,  sir,'  said  Johnson.  i  All  this 
excludes  but  one  evil — poverty.'  So  Clifford  felt  till 
Linnaeus  came.  Carl  enjoyed  it  all  without  the  cares 
attaching  to  ownership.  I  like  to  picture  him  with  this 
pleasant  background  about  him.  The  front  door,  as 
usual  in  houses  of  that  age,  is  in  the  centre  of  the 
house  ;  the  steps  are  flanked  with  large  ornamentally 
painted  tubs  of  palms,  aloes,  and  masses  of  New  Zealand 
flax.  The  inlaid  marble  pavement  before  the  house  is 
so  deeply  buried  in  sand,  the  driftings  of  the  last  few 
months,  that  it  shows  how  important  a  factor  the  wind 
is  in  the  making  of  Holland.  It  has  a  far  quicker  action 


3 


LEYDEN—THE  FAT  OF  THE  LAND         307 

than  Darwin's  earth-worm  works.    This  pavement  would 
be  buried  and  grass-grown  in  a  year. 

A  deer,  the  Harte  of  the  Hartecamp,  points  the  vane 
above  the  clock  on  the  top  of  the  house.  The  enamelled 
white  furniture  of  the  villa  is  partially  the  same  as  in 
Clifford's  time.  It  is  about  four  miles  to  Haarlem,  and 
we  proposed  to  walk  there.  Seeing  a  baker's  cartlet  drive 
up  to  the  house,  I  rushed  to  buy  bans  and  fancy  bread 
for  luncheon,  but  the  housekeeper,  wife  of  the  gardener, 
waved  a  teacup  at  us,  beckoning  us  into  the  basement, 
which  I  had  supposed  to  be  cellars.  Here  was  a  range 
of  low-roofed  but  most  comfortable  kitchens,  unaltered 
since  Linnaeus  lived  here ;  the  brick-paved  floors,  skirted 
with  white  tiles,  had  raised  wooden  movable  floors  laid 
on  the  bricks,  and  at  the  doors  large  mats  of  thick 
basketwork  or  fine  hurdle  work  :  and  many  hints  and 
contrivances  for  comfort,  showing  how  they  successfully 
resist  the  subsoil  dampness  of  even  humid  Holland ;  and 
showing  how  comfortable  daily  life  was  in  Holland,  over 
a  century  ago,  when  we  had  far  fewer  of  the  minor 
luxuries.  The  good  woman  gave  us  bowls  of  coffee  and 
milk,  and  then  unlocked  a  side  gate  beyond  the  wood  to 
show  us  the  '  kooter  way  to  loopen  na  Haarlem.' l 

It  is  a  pleasant  walk  through  the  pretty  woodland, 
on  a  good  road  lined  with  country  houses  and  closely 
paved  with  small  bricks,  nice  to  '  loop '  on,  as  is  usual 
in  the  main  country  roads  hereabout.  These  roads 
must  have  been  made  at  a  frightful  expense,  but  they 
1  Not  pure  Dutch,  I  fancy,  but  as  it  sounded  to  us. 

x  2 


3o8     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

were  worth  making.     The  ground  about  here  is  broken 
and  uneven,  with  fir  trees  on  the  hillocks,  all  of  which 
gives   it    a   picturesqueness    Holland   generally   lacks. 
The  next  house  to  Hartecamp,  which  is  now  one  of  a 
series  of  villas  (!),  has  a  lodge  with  statues  and  other 
ornaments,  in  the  questionable  taste  of  the  eighteenth 
century.     Near   this   is  an  obelisk  to  the  memory  of 
Count  Floris  van  Zoon  van  Holland,  and  others  who 
fought  and  fell  with  him.    The  way  still  passes  between 
gay  villa  gardens  with  a  woodland  background.     The 
character  of  the  country  is  quite  different  from  what  it 
is  about  Leyden,  though  it  seems  to  be  only  reclaimed 
dunes.   This  road,  lined  here  with  florists'  bulb  gardens, 
enters  Haarlem  close  by  a  tall  modern  church,  a  turnpike, 
and  the  Flora  Park,  whence  the  tramway  goes  directly 
through  the  town  to  the  railway-station.     In  Linnaeus's 
time  all  the  Haarlem  world  was  talking  of  the  great 
organ  erected  in  the  cathedral  in  1.735,  this  very  date, 
at  the  town's  expense.      Linnseus  never  mentions  it, 
but,  as  we  know,  he  was  not  fond  of  music. 

In  the  Teyler  library  and  museum  is  the  original 
portrait  of  Linnaeus  in  his  Lapland  dress,  which  was 
painted  from  life  at  Clifford's.  Several  copies  were  exe- 
cuted, and  a  print ]  of  it  is  in  the  Linnaean  Society's 
rooms  in  London.  It  represents  him  with  boots  of 
reindeer-skin ;  about  his  body  is  a  girdle,  from  which  is 
suspended  a  Laplander's  drum,  a  needle  to  make  nets, 
a  straw  snuff-box,  a  cartridge-box  and  a  knife,  a  grey 
1  Not  a  copy,  as  has  been  erroneously  asserted. 


LEYDEN—THE  FAT  OF  THE  LAND        309 

(or  brown)  round  hat,  and  brown  wig.     He  wears  Lap- 
lander's gloves.      This  portrait  shows  a  wart  on  the 
right  cheek.    It  is  altogether  the  most  pleasing  portrait 
of   him   that   we   have,   representing   a   good-looking 
brown-eyed  young  man,  of  serious  but  intelligent  ex- 
pression, aged  twenty-eight.     The  lively  colours  of  his 
garments  are  a  blue  collar  lined  with  red,  and  a  yellow 
worked  yoke  below  the  collar,  a  blue  pouch,  red  watch- 
bag  with  yellow  top,  brown  dress,   green  and  yellow 
scalloped  leather  case  for  tools  or  collections,  for  which 
purpose  he  doubtless  utilised  also  the  Laplander's  drum. 
He  holds  the  pink  flower,  which  had  just  been  pub- 
lished under  the  name  of  Linncea  borealis  by  his  friend 
Gronovius.     An  engraving  of  this  plant  is  given  in  the 
twelfth  plate  of  the  *  Flora  Lapponica,'  which  Linnaeus 
had  succeeded  in  getting  printed  by  means  of  a  society 
at  Amsterdam  of  which  Burmann  was  a  member,  and 
which  Linnaeus  had  often  visited,  the  society  offering  to 
advance  the  twelve  plates,1  which  are  interleaved  with 
verses  as  mottoes.     Some  of  these  are  in  Swedish,  but 
they  are  chiefly  from  Ovid  and  other  Latin  poets.     The 
andromedas  figure  in  the  first  plate.    The  first  page  has 
some  gushingly  complimentary  verses  from  Brouwallius, 
dated  from  Fahlun  in  Suecia,  November  24,  1736,  to 
his  '  peerless  friend  Carolus  Linnaeus,  Med.  Doc.'     The 
frontispiece  to  Smith's  edition  of  the  book  is  a  Lap- 
landish  willow-pattern-plate  sort  of  landscape  :    some 
precipices,  like  ruined  steeples  set  in  substantial  clouds, 
1  Diary. 


310     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN&US 

are  nearly  upset  by  the  solid  rays  of  the  midnight  sun ; 
Laplanders  are  rushing  about  in  wildest  action  with  their 
canoes,  tents,  and  other  attributes  ;  a  reindeer  coucliant 
in  the  foreground  supports  a  Laplander  dining  off  his 
drum.  The  Linncea  lorealis,  a  dried  specimen,  is  in  the 
right-hand  corner.  Linnaeus  divides  Lapland  into  two 
regions — Alpes  Lapponicse  and  Desertum  Lapponicum. 
Preparing  this  work  had  been  Carl's  recreation  amidst  his 
severer  studies.  Oppressed  at  times  by  the  weight  of 
luxury  around  him,  and  by  the  heavy  climate  of  Holland, 
he  revelled  in  the  recollection  of  the  Lapland  Alps — for 
the  memory  of  hardships  had  now  become  a  pleasure. 
Except  in  the  immediate  society  of  Clifford  and  the 
scientific  men  who  gathered  round  his  table,  Carl  was 
very  much  thrown  inwards  upon  himself.  One  wonders 
he  had  not  shrunk  narrower,  thus  dwelling  in  a  small 
coterie  of  persons  of  one  turn  of  mind  exclusively, 
among  whom  he  early  took  a  leading  part ;  and  he 
would  have  done  so  had  he  not  taken  the  whole  range 
of  natural  history  for  his  province,  and  held  fast  his 
idea  of  benefiting  his  own  Sweden  by  his  researches. 
'  Suddenly  cast,'  as  Gibbon  phrases  it,  '  on  a  foreign 
land,  he  found  himself  deprived  of  the  use  of  speech  and 
hearing ;  incapable,  not  only  of  enjoying  the  pleasures 
of  conversation,  but  even  of  asking  or  answering  a 
question  in  the  common  intercourse  of  life  ' ;  for,  as  of 
old,  Linnaeus,  the  inventor  of  words,  never  could  learn 
words  for  words'  sake.  Like  our  Johnson,  he  only 
knew  one  Dutch  word — roes-knopies,  rosebuds.  '  And 


LEYDEN—THE  FAT  OF  THE  LAND        311 

that  is  Swedish  too — roes,  rose,  knopie,  knob.'  When 
the  rich  banker's  gardens  became,  as  they  sometimes 
were,  the  playground  of  a  brilliant  circle  of  fashionables 
from  the  Hague  and  Amsterdam :  when  the  lawns  and 
groves  were  crowded  with  modish  folks  with  bright 
complexions,  powder  and  patches,  smiles,  toques  and 
turbans,  tall  ample-ribboned  hats,  trains  and  hooped 
petticoats,  and  all  the  paraphernalia  of  a  breakfast 
party  in  the  afternoon :  the  interesting  but  dumb  young 
Swede  at  first  shunned  the  band  of  youth  and  wit,  and 
mingled  with  the  fusty  celebrities  exclusively. 

Although  '  endowed  by  art  or  nature  with  those 
happy  gifts  of  confidence  and  address  which  unlock 
every  door  and  every  bosom,'  and  solid  learning  be- 
sides, to  give  these  airy  graces  weight,  what  could 
these  things  avail  him  outside  the  learned  and  mascu- 
line circle  ?  Clifford  enjoyed  Carl's  society  intensely, 
and  elderly  men  admired  him.  '  His  gifts  were  just 
what  Holland  needed ;  here  he  was  brilliantly  successful.' 
Young  men  envied  him.  from  a  distance,  but  women 
held  him  in  too  much  awe.  He  possessed  '  that  flexi- 
bility of  manner  and  readiness  of  gentle  repartee  '  which 
would  have  made  him  delightful  to  young  women,  but 
that  his  talk  was  all  in  Latin.  What  a  pity !  Other- 
wise he  could  have  talked  quite  as  much  nonsense  as 
other  people.  What  avails  even  a  firework  of  wit  if  it 
is  all  in  Swedish  or  Latin  ?  But  they  did  not  know 
that  the  young  mute  with  the  bright  eyes,*  expressive 
1  '  His  eyes,  of  all  the  eyes  I  ever  saw,  were  the  most  beautiful, 


312     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

countenance,  and  splendid  reputation  was  engaged  to 
a  young  lady  living  near  the  Arctic  Circle.  They  might 
have  won  him  from  dry  botany,  but  not  from  '  the  fair 
flower  of  Falun.'  He  was  as  polished  and  graceful  as 
the  best  of  their  adorers,  even  in  that  time,  when  a 
French  and  finished  manner  was  accounted  the  acme  of 
everything. 

I  love  to  see  in  all  their  fitting  places 

The  bows,  the  forms,  and  all  you  call  grimaces. 

I  heartily  could  wish  we'd  kept  some  more  of  them, 

However  much  we  talk  about  the  bore  of  them. 

Fact  is,  your  awkward  parvenus  are  shy  at  it, 

Afraid  to  look  like  waiters  if  they  try  at  it. 

But  after  a  while  Carl  relished  his  leafy  silences  being- 
broken  by  music,  his  tranquil  lilies  splashed  by  yawl 
and  gondola  amid  the  glancing  water.  He  eked  out 
his  words  of  broken  Dutch  with  frolic  grace  as  he 
threw  off  the  dominie  for  the  time,  and  showed  he  too 
could  laugh  and  enjoy  youth  and  life  among  gladsome 
things,  as.  he  and  Bartsch,  his  friend,  the  only  other 
youth  among  the  savans,  led  the  way  among  the  glades 
and  groves,  with  a  lively  following  of  beings  all  frivolity 
and  fun.  Yet  all  this  while  he  carried  next  his  heart 
his  little  pocket-book  with  his  name  and  Elizabeth's, 
mysteriously  written  so  that  none  else  could  read  them.1 


says  Fabricius,  speaking  of  him  at  fifty.  What  rmist  they  have  been 
now  at  twenty-eight  ? 

1  The  little  almanack  he  used  in  Holland,  containing  his  name 
and  his  love's  name  inverted  and  intertwined,  is  now  bound  in 
crimson  velvet  and  prized  as  a  treasure  by  the  Linnsean  Society. 


LEYDEN—THE  FAT  OF  THE  LAND        313 

These  diversions  never  caused  a  break  in  his  work  : 
they  only  added  to  his  difficulty  in  finding  time. 
*  Creative  genius  is  not  a  passive  quality  that  can  be 
laid  aside  or  taken  up  as  it  suits  the  convenience  of  the 
possessor.' l 

One  day,  while  walking  in  the  streets  of  Leyden, 
passing  round  the  Jioek 2  by  the  '  informatory,'  as  they 
translate  a  school,  Carl  unexpectedly  met  his  own  loved 
friend,  his  second  self,  Artedi,  who  had  just  come  from 
England ;  and  oh,  what  an  outpouring  in  the  dear  old 
mother-tongue !  So  much  to  hear  and  tell  ;  such 
struggles  and  successes,  and  on  Artedi's  side  such  con- 
tinual disappointment.  He  told  Linnaeus  '  he  had 
spent  all  his  money  in  London,  and  he  was  in  want  of 
more  to  purchase  clothes  and  books,  and  also  for  the 
purpose  of  obtaining  his  degree  and  returning  home, 
and  he  knew  no  means  of  raising  it.'3  Poor  Artedi, 
with  his  golden  dreams  vanished !  Not  only  alchemy 
had  failed,  as  Linnaeus  had  foretold  it  would,  but  learn- 
ing too,  though  everyone  had  prophesied  it  wouldn't. 
In  the  phraseology  of  those  days,  he  saw  Linnaeus, 
who  had  climbed  the  steps  of  the  temple  of  fame,  while 
he  stood  below  on  the  muddy  level  of  adversity.  The 
prosecution  of  his  studies  had  reduced  him  to  beggary- 
life  cost  so  dear  in  England.  Could  Carl  put  him  in 
the  way  of  earning  any  money  ? 

*  Linnaeus  comforted  him  with    the  assurance  that 
as  he  was  not  now  under  the  confined  circumstances 
1  B.  K.  Haydon.  2  Corner.  8  Diary. 


314     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

and  the  persecutions  to  which  he  was  exposed  at 
Upsala,  he  would  take  care  that  his  friend  should  be 
assisted.'  l  He  quickly  cast  about  him  for  the  means, 
first  and  foremost  ordering  out  the  coach-and-four.  He 
thought  of  Burmann's  '  Thesaurus,'  which  had  been  the 
beginning  of  his  own  prosperity.  But  no  :  another  man 
had  also  a  i  Thesaurus ' — Thesauri  were  the  fashion.2 
*  Albertus  Seba,  a  German  apothecary  at  Amsterdam, 
had  a  short  time  before  requested  Linnasus  to  assist 
him  in  completing  the  third  volume  of  his  £  Thesaurus  ' ; 
but,  being  then  employed  at  Clifford's,  LinnaBus  could 
not  accept  this  offer  ;  and  besides,  this  third  volume 
intended  to  be  printed  related  to  fishes,  which  Linnasus 
liked  least  of  all  the  branches  of  zoology.'  Linnaeus 
went  to  Seba  with  Artedi,  with,  I  dare  say,  no  little 
complacency  at  having  a  coach-and-four  at  his  com- 
mand ;  a  troublesome  equipage  for  going  round  the 
hoeks,  but  well  calculated  to  assist  the  views  of  his 
friend — as  doors  open  wide  to  admit  a  coach-and-four. 
'  He  recommended  Artedi  to  Seba  as  the  first  man  in 
ichthyology.  The  work  was  accordingly  put  in  Artedi's 
hands,  with  the  promise  of  a  handsome  recompense.' 3 

Carolus  found  it  is  so  pleasant  to  be  called  Carl 
again  in  the  old  familiar  tongue,  that  he  often  went  to 
see  his  friend,  to  chat  with  him  of  old  happy  miseries, 
which  talk  revived  yet  more  his  longing  to  go  home — 
to  Sweden,  home  and  beauty.  While  Artedi  was  pain- 
fully contrasting  their  lots  Linnseus  was  beginning  to 
1  Diary.  2  Ibid.  8  Ibid. 


LEYDEN—THE  FAT  OF  THE  LAND        315 

feel  satiated  with  luxury,  and  loved  best  to  talk  of 
other  things  in  life  than  wealth  can  buy.  '  To  live,  in 
the  true  sense  of  the  word,  is  to  feel,  love,  desire, 
admire,  and  not  to  breakfast,  dine,  sleep,  and  yawn.' 
For  the  first  time  Linnaeus  cared  to  study  the  phe- 
nomena of  human  emotion.  He  longed  for  liberty  and 
home,  and  did  not  feel  he  was  so  greatly  to  be  envied. 
To  himself  he  seemed  like  a  lap-dog  on  a  velvet  cushion, 
who  would  prefer  straw  with  its  wholesome  friction,  and 
Artedi,  though  he  now  lived  comfortably  at  Amsterdam 
and  liked  his  work,  yet  felt  it  was  not  for  his  own  fame, 
and  looked  forward  likewise  to  his  own  return  to  Sweden. 
Artedi  was  out  of  heart  about  himself  and  doubtful  of 
his  own  powers.  His  reception  in  England  had  been 
freezing.  He  felt  '  remote,  unfriended,  melancholy, 
slow.'  He  had  not  the  animal  spirits  of  Linnaeus ; 
and,  as  Carlyle  says,  'there  is  no  fairy  gift  like  this  for 
helping  a  man  to  fight  his  way.'  To  his  countryman's 
chagrin,  he  kept  without  the  pale  of  the  gay  circle 
which  welcomed  the  brilliant  paradoxes  of  his  exu- 
berant and  irresistible  friend,  and  he  seldom  visited 
Hartecamp. 

'No  sooner,'  says  Linnaeus  in  his  diary,  'had  I 
finished  my  "  Fundamenta  Botanica  "  than  I  hastened 
to  communicate  them  to  Artedi.  He  showed  me  on 
his  part  the  work  which  had  been  the  result  of 
several  years'  study — his  "  Philosophia  Ichthyologica," 
and  other  MSS.'  On  these  Artedi  had  built  his 
hopes,  and  these  he  could  not  bring  to  light  for  lack  of 


316     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

the  gold  he  had  failed  alchernically  to  make.    He  began 
now  to  think  of  himself  rather  than  his  aims — 

To  dare  let  down 

My  strung,  so  high-strung  brain,  to  dare  unnerve 
My  harassed  o'ertasked  frame,  to  know  my  place, 
My  portion,  my  reward,  even  my  failure, 
Assigned,  made  sure  for  ever  !     To  lose  myself 
Among  the  common  creatures  of  the  world, 
To  draw  some  gain  for  having  been  a  man. 

BROWNING'S  Paracelsus. 

c  I  was  delighted  with  his  familiar  converse,'  says 
Linnaeus,  '  yet  meanwhile,  overwhelmed  with  business, 
I  grew  impatient  at  his  detaining  me  too  long.  Alas, 
had  I  known  that  this  was  the  last  visit,  the  last  words 
of  my  friend,  how  fain  would  I  have  tarried  to  prolong 
his  existence ! '  It  was  September  25.1  Artedi  had  at 
length  so  far  completed  his  undertaking  for  Seba  that 
only  six  fishes  remained  to  be  described.  This  even- 
ing he  was  in  company  at  Seba's,  and  on  leaving 
Seba  to  return  to  his  own  home  he  fell  into  a  canal  and 
was  drowned.  The  night  dark,  unknown  the  way,  he 
came  to  the  brink  of  a  canal  not  enclosed  by  rails. 
His  calls  for  help  unheard,  next  day  his  body  was 
found.2  As  soon  as  Linnaeus  heard  of  this  he  went  to 
Amsterdam  to  see  what  could  be  done  to  honour  the 
name  of  his  poor  dead  friend  and  save  the  ichthyo- 
logical  MSS.,  to  which  he  was  heir  according  to  the 

1  Diary. 

2  Preface    to    Artedi's    PJiilosopliia    Ichtliyologica,    edited     by 
Linnasus. 


LEYDEN—THE  FAT  OF  THE  LAND         317 

will  Artedi  had  executed  before  both  the  friends  left 
Upsala. 

'  The  landlord,  however,  having  made  out  a  bill  to 
the  amount  of  more  than  200  guilders,  Linnaeus  went 
to  Seba  and  tried  to  prevail  on  him  to  redeem  the 
MSS. ;  but  the  latter  would  give  only  fifty  guilders 
towards  the  burial  of  Artedi.  Linnaeus  then  persuaded 
Clifford  to  advance  the  money ' ;  and  himself  afterwards 
raised  the  best  monument  to  his  friend's  memory  by 
finishing  and  publishing  Artedi's  work  on  ichthyology, 
with  a  pathetic  account  of  his  drowning  in  a  foreign 
country  in  the  preface. 

Ill-fated  youth  I  on  whose  unclouded  brow 
Hope  faithless  gleamed,  to  lure  thee  to  thy  doom ; 
And  made  thy  various  busy  race  below 
But  a  more  speedy  transit  to  the  tomb  1 

And  art  thou  gone  ?     Are  all  thy  virtues  dead  ? 
Oh,  no  !  for  Heaven's  eternal  justice  reigns  I 
Thy  buds  of  Hope,  though  plucked,  shall  never  fade; 
Their  fruit  shall  ripen  in  celestial  plains  1 * 

The  death  of  his  bosom-friend  was  a  bitter  loss 
to  Linnaeus,  who  now  began  to  feel  the  cruelty  and 
silence  of  exile. 

1  Translated  from  a  poem  oil  the  death  of  Pehr  Artedi. 


3iS     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN, -E US 


CHAPTER  XII. 

A      VISIT      TO     ENGLAND. 

Wearily  stretches  the  land  to  the  surge,  and  the  surge  to  the  cloud- 
land; 

Wearily  onward  I  ride,  watchins:  the  water  alone. 

Not  as  of  old,  like  Homeric  Achilles,  Kvde'i  yaiotv, 

Joyous  knight-errant  of  God,  thirsting  for  labour  and  strife, 

No  more  on  magical  steed  borne  free  through  the  regions  of  ether, 

But,  like  the  hack  which  I  ride,  selling  my  sinew  for  gold. 

Fruit-bearing  autumn  is  gone ;  let  the  sad  quiet  winter  hang  o'er 
me — 

What  were  the  spring  to  a  soul  laden  with  sorrow  and  shame  ? 

Blossoms  would  fret  me  with  beauty ;  my  heart  has  no  time  to  be- 
praise  them ; 

Grey  rock,  bough,  surge,  cloud,  waken  no  yearning  within. 

Sing  not,  thou  skylark  above  !     Even  angels  passed  hushed  by  the 
weeper. 

Scream  on,  ye  sea-fowl !  my  heart  echoes  your  desolate  cry. 

Sweep  the  dry  sand  on,  thou  wild  wind,  to  drift  o'er  the  shell  and 
the  seaweed : 

Seaweed  and  shell,  like  my  dreams,  swept  down  the  pitiless  tide. 

Elegiacs,  EINGSLEY. 

LlNNJSUS's  longing  for  Sweden  and  the  Lapland  Alps 
was  smothered  for  a  while  in  a  change  of  scene  that 
occurred  to  him  in  the  spring  of  1736,  turning  his 
thoughts  away  from  the  North.  Clifford,  ever  kind  to 
him,  saw  his  depression,  and  thought  change  of  air 
would  be  beneficial  to  his  favourite.  Accordingly,  his 


A    VISIT  TO  ENGLAND  319 

employment  at  Hartecamp  was  varied  by  a  journey  to 
England,  at  Clifford's  expense,  to  see  the  nursery-grounds 
of  London  and  Oxford,  and  the  North  American  plants 
cultivated  in  both  places.  This  scheme  promised  him 
an  interesting  comparison  of  plants  growing  in  the  same 
latitude  and  the  same  hard  climate  as  Sweden,  as  well 
as  the  sight  of  some  newly-imported  specimens  of  a 
vastly  richer  Flora  in  the  juxta-tropical  zone  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic. 

Sir  Hans  Sloane  was  at  the  head  of  natural  history 
in  England,  and  to  him  Linnaeus  carried  a  warm  recom- 
mendation in  a  letter  of  introduction  from  Boerhaave, 
couched  in  flattering  terms — an  unusual  thing  as  coming 
from  Boerhaave.  It  was  written  in  Latin,  in  this  style : 
'  Linnasus,  who  will  deliver  to  you  this  letter,  is  alone 
worthy  of  seeing  you  and  of  being  seen  by  you.  They 
who  witness  your  meeting  will  behold  two  men  whom 
the  world  can  scarcely  equal.'  This  elegant  letter  may 
still  be  seen,  by  anyone  who  takes  a  good  deal  of  trouble 
about  it,  in  the  British  Museum. 

Carrying  the  precious  letter  in  his  pocket,  Linnasus 
embarked  at  Rotterdam  for  Harwich.  The  run  down  to 
Rotterdam  shows  some  ultra-Dutch  landscape  scenery, 
with  bright  gleams  of  Cuyp-like  sunshine  upon  it. 
In  Holland  one  always  thinks  of  the  painters;  yet 
perhaps  as  pretty  a  scene  as  any,  and  as  truly  Dutch, 
although  no  old  master  has  translated  it,  is  the  view  on 
the  Boompjes,  looking  across  the  moon-lighted  river  to 
the  willowy  bank  on  the  other  side ;  the  whole  seen 


320    THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

through  a  veil  formed  of  the  rigging  of  the  shipping, 
mingled  with  the  darker  branches  of  the  trees.  Carl 
thought  to  cross  over  to  London  in  one  day,  and  ex- 
pected to  be  away  eight  days  altogether ;  but  he  had  to 
wait  for  a  vessel,  and,  owing  to  rough  weather,  he  only 
reached  Harwich  in  eight  days  after  leaving  Eotterdam. 
Linnaeus  was  never  sea-sick,  which  accounts  for  his 
being  able  to  talk  so  much  about  the  heathen  gods — 
unless,  indeed,  it  is  Stoever  who  here  shows  off  his 
mythological  knowledge  on  this  appropriate  occasion. 
From  Harwich  Carl  went  by  land  to  London — by  coach 
probably ;  or  did  he,  being  in  funds,  enjoy  the  learned 
luxury  of  a  post-chaise  ?  The  coach-road  runs  by  the 
river  Stour  to  Colchester,  by  Tiptree  Heath — Tiptree  of 
Mechi  fame  (how  the  experimental  farming  there  would 
have  interested  our  Swede !) — by  Witham  and  Chelms- 
ford,  by  Ingatestone,  Brentwood,  Romford,  and  Stratford. 
Entering  London  by  way  of  Bow,  and  passing  by  that 
1  strange  anarchy  of  a  place,  the  Stock  Exchange  '- 
Carlyle's  Domdaniel — he  reached  Charing  Cross,  then,  as 
now,  the  flood-tide  of  human  existence.  i  The  London 
street  tumult  has  become  a  kind  of  marching  music  to 
me,'  says  Carlyle.  Linnaeus  spoke  of  London  in  the 
only  language  he  knew  besides  Swedish,  which  counts 
for  nothing  out  of  Sweden,  as  '  Punctum  saliens  in 
vitello  orbis.' 

With  neatly-arranged  dress — bloom  colour,  no  doubt 
— ruffles,  and  dress  sword,  and  the  pretty  letter  in  his 
bosom,  Carl  soon  found  his  way  westward  to  Chelsea. 


A    VISIT  TO  ENGLAND  321 

Notwithstanding  his  stylish  appearance  Sir  Hans  Sloane 
received  him  none  too  warmly.  He  had  been  king  of 
natural  history  too  long  to  care  about  welcoming  a 
possible  successor,  especially  one  who  would  try  to  upset 
all  his  arrangements.  Fascinating  men  l  are  apt  to  dis- 
turb the  world.' 

Sir  Hans  was  getting  too  old  to  enter  into  new 
theories,  and  Linnasus's  bold  attempts  (for  he  had  heard 
of  him  otherwise  than  through  Boerhaave)  to  introduce 
a  new  system  of  nomenclature  excited  in  him  more 
jealousy  than  admiration.1 

Cake  and  wine  of  course  were  offered — such  was 
then  the  fashion  for  morning  visits ;  but  Latin,  as  it  is 
spoken,  is  hard  to  be  understood  between  speakers  using 
a  different  pronunciation.  It  is  easy  enough  to  those 
already  used  to  Italian;  but  although  the  Latin  lan- 
guage is  much  easier  for  scientific  intercommunication 
than  French  or  German,  talk  is  still  uneasy  to  Eng- 
lish Latinists.  There  is  nothing  more  absurd  than  the 
modern  crusade  against  Latin  or  Greek  by  people  who 
deem  science  the  only  useful  education.  Considering  that 
with  every  science  we  have  to  learn  its  terminology,  it  is 
absurd  to  think  we  can  do  better  than  learn  those 
languages,  which  are  the  alphabet  of  all  science.  Who 
can  even  read  a  book  on  anatomy  unless  he  has  studied 
Greek  and  Latin  ?  The  same  with  chemistry  or  mine- 
ralogy :  every  third  word  is  in  an  unknown  tongue. 
Any  foreigner  who  knows  Latin  can  read  an  English 

1  Stoever. 
VOL.  I.  Y 


322     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN^US 

book  on  science  easier  than  an  Englishman  who  knows 
no  Latin.  Every  French  and  German  book  worth  reading- 
is  translated,  but  into  a  language  founded  altogether 
on  Greek  and  Latin,  and  only  the  words  of  one  syllable 
are  changed.  Never  have  Latin  and  Greek  been  more 
useful  than  now,  if  not  absolutely  essential :  the  first 
chapter  of  any  scientific  book  will  prove  this.  Latin 
and  Greek  represent  less  the  language  of  the  classics 
than  the  language  of  science.  And  for  this  we  have  to 
be  grateful  that  the  great  nomenclator  of  science  was 
a  Swede,  whose  language  does  not  pass  current  out  of 
Sweden.  Had  so  great  a  man  been  either  English, 
French,  or  German,  he  would  have  tried  to  impose  his 
own  language  on  a  rebellious  world,  and  science  would 
have  had  no  neutral  ground.  A  confusion  of  tongues 
would  have  been  an  infinite  loss  to  science.  What  term 
would  have  had  exactly  the  same  shade  of  meaning  in 
another  tongue  ?  There  was  never  a  time  when  Greek 
and  Latin  were  more  needful  to  be  learnt  than  now  ;  not 
as  grammatical  exercises,  but  for  the  words  themselves. 
Without  them  one  must  be  dumb  or  childish,  asking  the 
meaning  of  every  other  word.  Without  them  one  can- 
not add  a  word  to  the  scientific  vocabulary.  The  lan- 
guage of  learning  is  studied  not  so  much  to  read  ancient 
lore  as  to  understand  and  create  modern  science.  The 
dead  languages  were  never  more  alive  than  now — since 
Linnaeus  began  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  languages. 
'  Of  all  professions,  the  medical  profession  is  most 
scientific,  but  if  you  read  a  modern  medical  book  you 


A    VISIT  TO  ENGLAND  323 

find  a  hundred  new  terms,  Greek  all  of  them,  all  of 
them  incomprehensible  to  Anglo-Saxon  readers.  Why  do 
they  warn  us  off  the  "  dead  languages,"  as  they  call 
them,  and  then  wrap  up  all  their  wisdom  in  Hellenic 
words?'1 

Although  Carl's  visit  to  Sir  Hans  Sloane  was  a 
failure,  there  was  another  person  in  Chelsea  to  whom  he 
also  carried  an  introduction.  This  was  Philip  Miller,  the 
since  celebrated  gardener  to  the  Society  of  Apothecaries. 
Fee  gives  this  account  of  the  interview  (direct  from 
Linnaeus)  :  '  When  I  paid  Philip  Miller  a  visit,  the 
principal  object  of  my  journey,  he  showed  me  the  garden 
at  Chelsea,  and  named  me  the  plants  in  the  nomenclature 
then  in  use,  as  for  example;  "  Symphytumconsolida  major, 
flore  luteo."  I  held  my  tongue,  which  made  him  declare 
next  day,  "That  botanist  of  Clifford's  does  not  know  a 
single  plant."  I  heard  this,  and  said  to  him  just  as  he 
was  going  to  use  the  same  names :  "  Do  not  call  these 
plants  thus ;  we  have  shorter  and  surer  names — we  call 
them  so-and-so."  Then  he  was  angry,  and  looked  cross. 
I  wished  to  have  some  plants  for  Clifford's  garden,  but 
when  I  came  back  to  Miller's  he  was  in  London.  He 
returned  in  the  evening.  His  ill-humour  had  passed  off. 
He  promised  to  give  me  all  I  asked  for.  He  kept  his 
word,  and  I  left  for  Oxford  after  having  sent  a  fine 
parcel  to  Clifford.' 

Of  this  Chelsea  garden  Hare  says,2  c  The  Botanic 

1  Bishop  of  Oxford  on  Language,  Feb.  11,  1886. 
*  In  his  Walks  in  London. 


324     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN&US 

Garden,  facing  the  river,  is  the  oldest  garden  of  the  kind 
in  existence  in  England,  Gerard's  garden  in  Holborn  1 
and  Tradescant's  garden  at  Lambeth  having  perished.' 
The  Chelsea  ground  was  leased  to  the  Apothecaries' 
Company  (who  still  possess  it)  by  Lord  Cheyne  in  1673, 
and  was  finally  made  over  to  them  by  Sir  Hans  Sloane 
in  1722.  Evelyn  used  to  walk  in  'the  Apothecaries' 
garden  of  simples  at  Chelsea,'  and  admire  '  besides  many 
rare  annuals,  the  tree  bearing  Jesuits'  bark,  which  has 
done  such  wonders  in  quartan  agues.'  A  statue  of  Sir 
Hans  Sloane  was  erected  here  in  1733.  Near  it  is  one 
of  the  picturesque  cedars  planted  in  1683  ;  its  com- 
panion was  blown  down  in  1845.'  They  were  con- 
spicuous objects. 

Our  Carl  found  a  great  deal  to  talk  about  when 
actually  in  the  garden  with  Miller,  concerning  the 
English  Flora.  He  found  a  range  of  plants  new  to  him 
in  those  that  grow  upon  the  chalky  soil  of  England. 
Sweden  is  almost  destitute  of  chalk,  and  the  parts  of 
the  Low  Countries  that  he  knew  have  no  more.  Carl 
had  never  yet  seen  the  line  of  white  cliffs  by  Ostend. 
It  is  vastly  different  talking  in  the  open  air  with 
an  energetic  young  man,  to  sitting  ceremoniously  in 
a  room  with  an  elderly  gentleman  who  is  rather  bored 
than  otherwise  by  having  to  entertain  you.  The  diffi- 
culty with  the  language  was  perhaps  greater ;  but  the 
language  of  signs,  of  play  of  feature,  and,  above  all, 
of  sympathy,  goes  farther  than  neatly-turned  Latin. 

1  Gerard,  called  the  Father  of  English  herbalists. 


A    VISIT  TO  ENGLAND  325 

Miller  knew,  besides,  plenty  of  gardeners'  Latin,  and 
that  first  day  they  do  not  seem  to  have  squabbled. 

They  were  proud  of  their  hothouse  at  Chelsea, 
though  it  was  no  longer  the  unusual  thing  that  it 
was  when  Evelyn  spoke  of  it  as  so  '  very  ingenious, 
that  the  subterranean  heat,  conveyed  by  a  stove  under 
the  conservatory,  all  vaulted  with  brick,  so  as  he 
has  the  doores  and  windowes  open  in  the  hardest 
frost,  secluding  only  the  snow.'  They  were  trying 
ineffectually  to  grow  the  Ricotia  JEgyptmca :  Lin- 
naeus recommended  them  to  mix  Nile  mud  in  the  pot. 
Linnaeus  enjoyed  his  visit  so  well  that  he  repeated 
it  often — not,  I  suppose,  in  his  bloom-coloured  coat, 
but  in  thrifty  work-a-day  dress ;  though  I  dare  say  he 
donned  the  bloom-colour  when  he  went  in  the  evening 
to  Ranelagh  Gardens  close  by,  deemed  by  Dr.  Johnson 
himself  *  a  place  of  innocent  recreation.'  It  must  have 
been  pretty  much  like  the  £  Healtheries  '  and  succeed- 
ing amusements  have  been  in  our  time,  or  like  the 
evening  fetes  at  the  Botanical  Gardens :  not  so  low  or 
lively  as  Cremorne,  as  they  only  danced  the  minuet  at 
Ranelagh. 

Bos  well,  comparing  it  with  the  Pantheon,  of  which 
we  read  so  much  in '  Evelina,'  says,  '  The  first  view  of  it ' 
[the  Pantheon]  '  did  not  strike  us  so  much  as  Ranelagh, 
of  which  he '  [Johnson]  c  said  the  coup  d'oeil  was  the  finest 
thing  he  had  ever  seen.  The  truth  is,  Ranelagh  is  of  a 
more  beautiful  form  ;  more  of  it,  or  rather,  indeed,  the 
whole  rotunda,  appears  at  once,  and  it  is  better  lighted.' 


326     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN&US 

Johnson  expressed  himself  '  a  great  friend  to  public 
amusements,  for  they  keep  people  from  vice.'  Doubt- 
less Linnaeus,  who  was  of  a  lively  social  turn,  relished 
these  things,  and  most  likely  would  have  had  Dr.  John- 
son pointed  out  to  him.  Though  we  never  read  that 
they  met,  they  might  well  have  done  so,  here  or  at  Lady 
Ann  Monson's  house,  and  they  could  have  talked  Latin 
fluently  together.  The  Hunterian  Oration,  which  was 
then  always  delivered  in  Latin,  was  a  subject  of  interest 
for  Linnaeus.  Johnson's  name  was  already  immortal, 
but,  although  John  Hunter  was  even  then  a  distin- 
guished representative  of  British  surgery,  the  world  did 
not  yet  know  that  both  Hunter  and  Linnasua  were  as 
great  as  the  lexicographer  himself. 

Lady  Ann  Monsoii,  herself  a  lady  of  talent,  and  a 
botanist  of  no  mean  order,  was  very  kind  and  attentive 
to  Linnaeus,  who  named  a  beautiful  plant  Monsonia  in 
her  honour. 

There  was  plenty  of  gaiety  going  on  in  London; 
for  May  has  always  been  the  London  season,  and  this 
was  May.  Linnaeus  saw  Garrick  act,  and  he  saw  the 
lions  at  Exeter  Change,  and  on  Sunday  he  went  to  the 
Foundling  Chapel  and  heard  the  Te  Deum,  Jubilate,  and 
an  anthem  (on  occasion  of  the  charity  sermon)  com- 
posed by  George  Frederick  Handel,  Esq.,  and  per- 
formed under  his  direction,  where,  because  of  the 
pressure  of  the  crowd,  'The  gentlemen  are  desired  to  come 
without  swords  and  the  ladies  without  hoops.' 

Linnaeus  seems  greatly  to  have  enjoyed  Chelsea ;  and 


A    VISIT  TO  ENGLAND  327 

that  the  officials  here  appreciated  him  is  shown  by  the 
Chelsea  garden  being  the  first  in  England  arranged 
after  the  Linnaean  system.  'Miller  allowed  me  to 
gather  in  his  Chelsea  garden,  and  gave  me,  besides, 
many  dried  plants,  gathered  in  South  America  by 
Houston,'  says  Linnaeus,  and  he  adds,  i  The  English  are 
certainly  the  most  generous  people  on  earth.' 

There  is  still  a  flavour  of  poetry  about  Chelsea,  as 
if  poets  and  philosophers  had  always  dwelt  there  and 
left  their  impress  on  the  place.  There  are  memories  too 
of  Tudor  sovereigns,  for  it  was  during  several  reigns 
the  resort  of  the  Court  and  fashion,  and  '  Ye  Old  Bun 
House'  and  Don  Saitero  and  his  tavern-museum  in 
Cheyne  Walk.  There  is,  in  the  British  Museum,  a 
long  printed  catalogue  of  the  rarities  to  be  seen  at  Don 
Saltero's  coffee-house,  all  in  glass  cases  numbered —  a 
parent  of  the  South  Kensington  Museum.  The  Don 
was  a  naturalist,  so  Linnaeus  would  certainly  have 
visited  his  collection,  and  not  superciliously,  like  the 

*  Spectator,'  who  talks  of  the  ingenious  Don  Saitero  in 
a  pitying  tone  of  banter.       Our   own    generation  has 
known  Turner,  George  Eliot,  Rossetti,  and  Carlyle,  and 
many  other  lights,  on  Chelsea  river  bank. 

The  very  public-houses  at  Chelsea  and  Fulham  still 
have  the  pretty  signs  they  had  in  Linnseus's  time — the 
1  Hand  and  Flower,' '  the  Rising  Sun,'  the  '  Daffodil,'  the 

*  Brown  Cow,'  the  'Three  Jolly  Gardeners,'  the  'World's 
End,'  &c. ;    and  various   Puritan  sentiments,  as  '  God 
encompasseth  us '  and  others ;    besides  Morland's  own 


328     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

painting  of  '  Ye  Goat  in  Boots.'  Much  of  this  poetic 
odour  has  vanished  with  the  departed  Brompton  stocks. 

Carlyle  describes  Chelsea  as  a  singular  heterogeneous 
kind  of  spot,  very  dirty  and  confused  in  some  places, 
quite  beautiful  in  others,  abounding  with  antiquities 
and  the  traces  of  great  men — Sir  Thomas  More,  Steele, 
Smollett,  &c.  '  Picture  a  parade  running  along  the  shore 
of  the  river  ;  a  broad  highway  with  huge  shady  trees  ; 
boats  lying  moored,  and  a  smell  of  shipping  and  tan ; 
Battersea  Bridge  (of  wood)  a  few  yards  off ;  the  broad 
river,  with  white-trousered,  white-shirted  Cockneys 
dashing  by  like  arrows  in  their  long  canoes  of  boats ; 
beyond,  the  green  beautiful  hills  of  Surrey  with  their 
villages ;  on  the  whole  a  most  artificial,  green-painted, 
yet  lively,  fresh,  almost  opera-looking  business,  such  as 
you  can  fancy.  Stroll  on  the  bank  of  the  river  and  see 
white-shirted  Cockneys  in  their  green  canoes,  or  old 
pensioners  pensively  smoking  tobacco.'  Having  become 
fashionable  again  with  its  new  embankment,  bridges,  and 
its  rose-red  houses,  Chelsea  is  now  more  heterogeneous 
than  ever ;  a  greater  mixture  of  blackness  and  bright- 
ness, of  squalor  and  wealth. 

Linnseus  went  to  Wimbledon  Common  and  to  Kew 
— pretty,  peaceful,  still  graceful,  retired  and  courtly 
Kew,  the  village  of  dowagers,  with  its  lanes  of  elms, 
and  soft  river  scenes  with  mildly- active  life  upon  them, 
of  a  well-to-do  pleasuring  sort,  where  the  tender  grace 
of  a  day  that  has  fled  seems  ever  to  come  back  to  us. 
It  is  like  the  summer  evening  of  life — of  modern  life ;  its 


A    VISIT  TO  ENGLAND  329 

apple-blossomed  market  gardens  gone,  but  all  its  learn- 
ing manifest  in  the  magnificent  scientific  garden  lying 
close  behind  its  river.  Kew  Church  and  the  youthful 
games  on  the  green  fill  up  the  picture.1 

The  first  time  Linnaeus  crossed  Putney  Heath  the 
sight  of  the  gorse  blossom  in  its  blaze  of  May  made  him 
fall  on  his  knees  in  rapture  to  thank  God  for  making 
anything  so  beautiful.2 

Impulsiveness  like  this  must  have  astounded  the  more 
stolid  Englishman  who  saw  the  action.  Foreigners, 
and  particularly  the  Swedes,  are  more  impulsive  in 
their  movements  than  we  are.  An  action  of  this  sort 
with  us  would  be  set  down  to  extravagance  or  affecta- 
tion. But  the  vivacious  Linnaeus,  excited  by  the  long 
unfamiliar  fresh  breeze  of  the  heathland— he,  a  stranger, 
and  well-nigh  a  dumb  creature,  felt  that  the  flowers 
were  his  friends  :  they  spoke  the  language  that  he  knew. 
He  was  touched  by  the  sight  of  this  flowery  wilderness 
as  many  persons  are  moved  by  hearing  grand  organ 
music  in  a  foreign  cathedral,  where  one  can  without 
remark  indulge  the  feeling  of  rapturous  thankfulness 
to  the  Creator  for  making  so  exquisite  an  universal 
language.  If  music  spoke  not  to  Linnaeus  it  was  not 
that  the  grand  music  of  his  time  was  weak  in  the  im- 
pressions it  could  make :  it  was  that  Linnaeus  '  had  not 

1  There  is  a  caricature  portrait  of  Linnaeus  in  the  Museum  at 
Kew,  said  to  have  been  drawn  from  life. 

2  It  should  be  remembered  that  our  common  furze  is  entirely 
confined  to  Western  Europe,  and  Linmcus  had  possibly  never  seen 
it  before. 


330     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

the  sensibility  to  perceive  them.'  Perhaps  it  is  the 
English  lack  of  ready  sympathy  that  causes  what  struck 
Dr.  Arnold  so  strongly  in  travelling  abroad — i  the  total 
isolation  of  England  from  the  European  world.'  Hence 
one  writer  has  found  this  only  to  record  of  Linneeus  in 
England  :  '  Of  his  observations  nothing  is  preserved 
but  the  tradition  of  his  rapture  at  the  golden  bloom 
of  the  furze  on  Putney  Heath.'  Did  he  think  the 
gorse  at  Putney  like  glorified  juniper  buds  of  his  own 
Sm&land  commons  ?  They  should  have  told  him  of 
the  old  saying  that  '  when  gorse  is  out  of  season 
kissing  is  out  of  fashion,'  and  that  is — never.  Though 
the  golden  flood  of  the  Maybloom  is  brightest  and 
sweetest,  there  are  nearly  always  some  blossoms  to  be 
seen  upon  the  gorse.  Linnseus  was  always  an  admirer 
of  the  furze,  and  vainly  tried  to  preserve  it  through  a 
Swedish  winter  in  his  greenhouse.  The  most  likely 
explanation  of  his  extreme  emotion  lies  in  the  fact  of  a 
great  resemblance  of  Putney  Heath  to  some  parts  of 
his  native  country ;  not  SmSland  itself,  but  some  of  the 
Upland  scenery  near  Upsala.  The  numerous  wind-tost 
birches  and  the  heather-clad  waves  of  common-land 
cause  a  great  similarity  of  landscape. 

After  his  being  so  long  used  to  the  flat  fens  and 
sluggish  airs  of  Holland  the  fresh  perfumed  breeze 
playing  direct  from  the  Surrey  hills  would  in  any  case 
have  caused  an  intoxication  of  rapture  and  more  excite- 
ment than  the  sight  of  the  gorse  itself. 


A    VISIT  TO  ENGLAND  331 

LINNAEUS  AND  THE  GORSE.' 

Over  the  heath  the  golden  gorse  is  glowing, 

And  making  glad  the  breeze  ; 
And  lo  !  a  traveller  by  the  wayside  going 

Falls  low  upon  his  knees, 
And  thanks  his  God  for  such  a  glorious  vision, 

And  such  a  rich  perfume, 
As  met  him  in  what  seemed  a  dream  Elysian, 

Far  from  his  northern  home. 

So  felt  the  great  Linnseus,  when  before  him 

The  yellow  gorse  spread  out. 
We  may  not  from  his  far-off  grave  restore  him 

With  us  to  roam  about ; 
But  we  may  drink  in,  too,  that  loving  spirit 

Which  made  him  seek  and  find, 
Even  in  the  humblest  flower  that  grows,  a  merit 

Hid  from  the  common  mind. 

And  we,  like  him,  in  loving  faith  may  linger 

On  many  a  foreign  shore, 
Tracing  the  touch  of  an  Almighty  finger 

In  plants  unknown  before  ; 
And,  while  the  beauty  of  creation  feeling, 

Filled  with  a  new  delight, 
Our  hearts,  before  the  great  Creator  kneeling, 

May  bless  Him  for  the  sight. — EMILY  CARRINGTON. 

Sweden  does  not,  for  all  its  distance  off,  feel  to  us  so 
foreign  a  place  as  Holland,  Belgium,  or  France.  The 
Scandinavians  are  more  like  ourselves.  I  dare  say  Lin- 
naeus felt  the  same  in  England  as  we  do  in  Scandinavia. 
Gladstone  says,  *  I  do  not  know  whether  in  any  foreign 
land  I  ever  felt  so  much  at  home  as  in  Norway.'  He 
was  touched  by  the  universal  kindness  of  the  people. 
We  all  feel  thus  in  Scandinavia.  In  Norway  we  are 
1  Aunt  Judy's  Magazine. 


332     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

among  good-liearted  people  of  our  own  family,  as  it 
were  ;  in  Sweden  we  are  in  polite  yet  friendly  company. 
I  hardly  know  which  I  found  the  more  pleasant :  there 
is  a  charm  in  both. 

Linnasus  had  now  to  present  his  Oxford  credentials, 
and  see  what  could  be  gathered  for  Clifford  there,  and 
to  try  if  he  might  there  plant  his  system.  He  had, 
besides,  to  advertise  it  personally.  These  things  were 
not  then  managed  by  circulars  and  letters  to  the 
Times.  Linnaeus  multiplied  himself  in  travel. 

How  he  must  have  admired  towered  Windsor's 
stately  glory  and  the  rich  vale  of  Thames — c  England's 
golden  eye' — after  the  tedious  flats  of  Holland,  the 
wastes  of  Sweden !  He  had  never  seen  anything  to 
equal  the  scenery  from  Richmond  to  the  spires  of 
Oxford.  It  was  the  very  opposite  to  the  grandest 
scenery  he  knew,  and  in  its  way  as  fine.  This  was 
emerald  magnificence,  that  was  .crystal  splendour. 

( Hark,  the  merry  Christchurch  bells  ! '  These 
*  agreeable  strains  of  aerial  music '  were  as  yet  a  novelty 
to  him  ;  at  Amersfoort  only  had  he  heard  sweet  carillons. 
There  are  few  carillons  in  Holland,  none  in  Sweden. 
Oxford  with  its  domes,  spires,  and  minarets  lay  before 
him,  '  its  rows  of  shady  trees  and  still  monastic  edifices 
in  their  antique  richness  and  intricate  seclusion.  '  I 
never  saw  a  place,'  says  Hay  don  the  painter,  '  that 
has  so  much  the  air  of  opulence  and  ease  as  Oxford. 
After  the  bustle,  anxieties,  fatigue,  and  harass  of  a 
London  life,  the  peace  and  quiet  of  those  secluded 


A    VISIT  TO  ENGLAND  333 

Gothic-windowed  holy  chambers  of  study  come  over 
one's  feelings  with  a  cooling  sensation,  as  if  one  had 
mounted  from  hell  to  heaven  and  been  admitted  on 
reprieve  from  the  tortures  and  fierce  passions  of  the  en- 
raged, the  malignant,  the  ignorant,  and  the  lying  to 
the  beautiful  simplicity  of  angelic  feelings,  where  all  was 
good,  and  holy,  and  pious,  and  majestic.  I  need  not  say 
it  was  vacation'  (July  16).  Learning  was  livelier  ori 
Linnaeus's  visit  in  May,  and  Oxford  is  always  bustling 
in  comparison  with  Upsala.  '  The  soil  of  Oxford  is  dry, 
being  on  a  fine  gravel.  The  north  is  open  to  cornfields 
and  enclosures  for  many  miles  together  without  a 
hill  to  intercept  the  free  current  of  air.' l  This  wide 
undulating  amphitheatre,  filled  with  spires  and  towers, 
must  have  looked  splendid  to  the  young  Swede  enter- 
ing by  the  High  Street,  the  Oxford  road  from  London, 
or  standing  upon  Maudlin  Bridge  over  the  Cherwell. 

At  Oxford  Linnaeus  was  received  in  a  friendly 
way  by  Dr.  Shaw,  who  had  travelled  in  Barbary,  and 
who,  having  read  the  new  system  with  great  pleasure, 
declared  himself  his  disciple.  This  was  encouraging, 
but  the  other  Oxford  professors  were  less  affable.  They 
were  devoted,  and  with  good  reason,  to  the  system  of 
Ray — the  indefatigable  and  learned  Ray,  of  whom  Dr. 
Johnson  says  that  he  reckoned  twenty  thousand  species 
of  British  insects.2 


1  Old  guide-book,  dated  1761. 

2  Ray  died  in  1705,  two  years  before  Linnaeus's  birth ;  a  man  of 
whom  England  may  well  be  proud. 


334     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

F.  J.  Dillenius,  a  German,  born  at  Darmstadt  1684, 
the  botanical  professor  at  Oxford,  received  Linnaeus 
haughtily,  and  with  jealousy  and  dislike,  as  one  who 
woul,d  upset  this  cherished  system  of  Ray.  Dr.  Sherard, 
who  was  to  Dillenius  what  Clifford  was  to  the  Swede, 
was  present  at  their  interview.  It  is  said,  '  The  English 
have  much  to  learn  from  other  nations  not  only  in  the 
arts  of  being  serviceable  and  amiable  with  grace,  but 
of  being  so  at  all.' l  This  is  at  least  equally  true  of 
German  scientific  men. 

Dillenius,  finding  that  Linnaeus  did  not  understand 
English,  spoke  of  him  before  his  face  to  Sherard  as  { the 
young  man  who  would  confound  all  botany.'  But  Lin- 
naeus, though  he  spoke  no  foreign  tongue,  had  invented 2 
a  language,  the  language  of  science,  reviving  a  dead 
language  to  aid  his  purpose.  Confound  and  botany 
being  words  of  Latin  origin,  Linnaeus  understood  the 
purport  of  his  observation,  though  he  remained  silent 
for  a  while.  His  Swedish  politeness  was  a  check  on  his 
fiery  temper. 

Sherard  had  formerly  been  consul  at  Smyrna ;  he 
cultivated  botany  with  ardour,  discernment,  and  princely 
munificence.  His  vast  herbarium  and  library  are  among 
the  literary  treasures  of  Oxford. 

1  The  labours  of  the  Sherards  and  Sir  Hans  Sloane 

1  J.  S.  Mill. 

2  This  must  be  understood  as  a  figure  of  speech,  as  only  in  the 
sense  of  his  having  given  greater  precision  to  the  Latin  and  terms 
of  science  can  Linnaeus  be  said  actually  to  have  invented  the  lan- 
guage of  science. 


A    VISIT  TO  ENGLAND  335 

seemed  to  promise  the  establishment  of  the  botanic 
sceptre  in  England  (Chelsea,  Eltham) ;  but  they  were 
at  a  standstill  for  a  system.' ]  Ray's  as  he  left  it  was 
imperfect,  and  too  complex  for  general  handling.  It 
was  because  the  question  was  so  pressing,  '  How  is  the 
king's  government  to  be  carried  on  ? ' — the  government, 
that  is,  of  Sir  Hans  Sloane — that  Linnaeus,  who  had 
fixed  the  attention  of  all  Europe  with  five  works,  the 
product,  apparently,  of  a  year,  causing  a  revolution  of 
thought  through  the  whole  realm  of  science,  was  re- 
pulsed by  them  as  an  innovator  and  a  radical.  Dille- 
nius  in  his  letter  to  Haller  treated  Linnseus  with  a 
moroseness  of  criticism  and  harshness  of  language 
that  the  young  Swede's  learning  and  endowments  did 
not  deserve.  Disheartened  by  his  cold  reception,  and 
failing  to  conciliate  the  professor's  kindness,  Linnaeus 
called  next  day  to  take  leave.  '  Before  I  go,'  said  he, 
'  I  have  to  request  one  favour :  tell  me  why  you  accuse 
me  of  confounding  botany  ? ' 

Dillenius  perceived  that  the  youth  had  understood 
his  remark  to  Dr.  Sherard,  but  did  not  care  to  explain. 
Linnaeus  persisted,  and  the  professor  produced  from  the 
library  a  part  of  Linnaeus's  own  '  Genera  Plantarum,' 
printed  at  Leyden,  a  copy  of  which  Gronovius  had  sent 
to  Oxford.  Linnaeus  found  N.B.  written  on  almost 
every  page,  and  was  informed  that  those  letters  marked 
the  false  genera.  Linnaeus  denied  this,  and  they  ad- 
journed to  the  garden.  The  professor  referred  to  a 
1  Sir  J.  Smith. 


336     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINAGE  US 

plant  which  he  and  other  botanists  considered  to  have 
three  stamens.  On  examination  it  proved  to  have  only 
one,  as  Linnaeus  had  said.  *  Oh,  it  may  be  so  acciden- 
tally in  a  single  flower,'  said  the  professor;  but  on 
examining  a  number  of  them,  it  was  found  to  be  the 
rule,  as  Linnaeus  had  stated  it.  Dillenius,  though  slow 
to  be  convinced,  was  not  above  learning  truths  he  did 
not  yet  know.  He  detained  Linnaeus  several  days,  and 
promised  him  what  he  had  before  denied — that  he  should 
have  the  plants  Clifford  was  so  anxious  to  procure.1 

The  professor,  now  somewhat  softened,  invited  the 
Swede's  inspection  of  his  own  and  the  Sherardian  col- 
lections, and  here  showed  him  what  would  interest  him 
much. 

The  Linnaean  Society  possesses  a  few  of  Kudbeck's 
blocks,  engraved  on  rough  wood  which  looks  like  pine. 

At  Upsala,  as  we  know,  under  Rudbeck  senior, 
was  laid  the  foundation  of  what  is  justly  called  *  the 
great  Swedish  school  of  natural  history,'  when  in  1702 
a  fire  reduced  almost  all  the  city  to  ashes,  and  the 
works  of  E/udbeck,  with  a  thousand  blocks  already  cut, 
and  the  materials  for  his  work  on  the  natural  history  of 
Lapland,  were  destroyed.  All  that  remained  of  the 
great  work  the  '  Campi  Elysii,'  folio,  were  a  few  copies 
of  the  second  volume,  and  three  only  of  the  first,  one  of 
which  is  in  the  Sherardian  Library  at  Oxford.  The 
work  was  planned  to  be  done  in  twelve  volumes.  The 

1  This  story  is  given,  among  the  anecdotes  related  by  Linnseus 
himself,  written  in  Latin,  by  Dr.  Gieseke. 


A    VISIT  TO  ENGLAND  337 

remains  were  published  under  the  title  of  'Reliquiae 
Rudbeckianse,'  folio,  1789. 

Dillenius  also  took  him  more  carefully  through  the 
botanic  garden,  which  is  thus  described  in  the  Oxford 
guide-book  of  a  little  later  period.1  l  In  the  garden  are 
two  elegant  and  useful  greenhouses,  built  by  the  univer- 
sity for  exotics,  of  which  there  is  as  considerable  a  col- 
lection as  can  be  met  with  anywhere.  One  of  the  large 
aloes,  after  growing  to  the  height  of  twenty-one  feet, 
was  blown  down  in  1750.  In  the  quarters  within  the 
yew  hedges  is  the  greatest  variety  imaginable  of  such 
plants  as  require  no  artificial  heat  to  nourish  them,  all 
ranged  in  their  proper  classes,  and  numbered.  Also 
two  magnificent  yew  trees,  cut  in  the  form  of  pedestals, 
but  of  enormous  size,  with  a  flower-pot  on  the  top,  and 
a  plant,  as  it  were,  growing  out  of  it.  The  pineapples 
raised  in  the  hot-house  have  nearly  (!)  the  same  deli- 
cious flavour  as  those  raised  in  warmer  climates.  The 
Earl  of  Danby  purchased  the  ground  (containing  five 
acres)  of  Maudlin  College,  and  gave  it  to  Oxford  as 
a  physic  garden.'  [The  gateway  is  by  Inigo  Jones.] 
c  This  useful  foundation  has  been  much  improved  by 
the  late  Dr.  Sherard,  who  brought  from  Smyrna  a 
valuable  collection  of  plants.  He  built  and  furnished  a 
library  for  botanical  books.  One  end  of  this  building 
hath  within  a  few  years  been  altered  into  a  convenient 
apartment  for  the  professor,  whose  salary  is  paid  out  of 
the  interest  of  3,0002.,  given  by  Dr.  Sherard  for  that 

1  1761. 
VOL.  I.  Z 


338     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

purpose.     The  assistant  to  the  professor  is  paid  by  the 
university.' 

Linnaeus  went  to  Blenheim  with  Dillenius,  who  was 
now  eager  for  his  conversation ;  also  to  Ditch!  ey  and  Stow. 
They  agreed  to  differ  on  some  points — the  merits  of 
Ray,  for  instance,  which  Dillenius  rightly  held  to  be 
surpassing ;  while  Linnaeus  speaks  thus  jealously  of 
the  great  English  botanist :  c  I  am  at  a  loss  to  divine 
why  nobody  takes  notice  of  the  discoveries  of  Caes- 
alpinus,  and  wishes  to  ascribe  everything  to  Ray.'  This 
quotation  has  been  badly  put  into  English.  Linnaaus 
wrote  it  in  Latin.  Yet  Linnaeus,  as  he  frequently  told 
his  pupils  in  later  years,  never  ceased  to  esteem  Ray,  as 
one  of  the  most  penetrating  observers  of  the  natural 
affinity  of  plants.  And  this  is,  after  all,  the  foundation 
of  the  natural  system — the  only  lasting  one,  being 
based  upon  nature. 

Linnasus,  though  he  cared  little  for  the  pictures  at 
Blenheim,  having  no  feeling  for  works  of  art,  enjoyed 
the  magnificent  gardens,  and  showed  himself  abundantly 
interested  in  nature.  He  was  even  then  making  notes 
and  studies  for  his  '  Flora  Anglica,'  written  in  1754 
(eighteen  years  later),  in  which  he  concisely  describes 
the  climate  of  England  and  its  different  soils  and 
elevations  as  favouring  the  growth  of  particular  plants, 
He  says  that  Sweden  abounds  more  in  alpine,  upland, 
and  forest  plants  than  England,  which  excels  in  marine 
plants  and  such  as  affect  a  chalky  soil.  This  English 
Flora  contains  nearly  a  thousand  plants,  but  the  mosses 


A    VISIT  TO  ENGLAND  339 

and  fungi  are  not  introduced.1  Clifford  and  Linnaeus 
were  not  conversant  with  mosses.  The  Dutch  connois- 
seurs were  all  devoted  to  exotic  plants,  especially  those 
from  America.  LinnaBus  says  of  himself,  '  I  do  not  profess 
to  be  even  a  tyro  in  mosses.  Holland  produces  very 
few  of  this  tribe,  in  which  Sweden  abounds.'  '  Such 
plants  as  are  not  to  be  found  in  Sweden  are  distinguished 
by  the  italic  type,  and  of  these  there  are  nearly  three 
hundred.  A  list  is  subjoined  of  one  hundred,  which  the 
author  could  not  fully  investigate.' 2 

At  Oxford,  it  has  been  well  said,  everything  depends 
upon  the  society  you  fall  into.  If  this  be  uncongenial 
the  place  can  have  no  other  attractions,  besides  its 
scenery,  than  those  of  a  town  full  of  good  libraries.  Dr. 
Arnold  quotes  the  views  of  Oxford  from  'the  pretty 
field,'  or  from  St.  John's  Gardens,  as  among  the  per- 
fectly beautiful  scenes  in  the  earth.  He  was  an  enthu- 
siast on  Thames  scenery,  particularly  specifying  that 
near  Oxford— c  the  streams,  the  copses,  the  solitary  rock 
by  Bagley  Wood,  the  heights  of  Shotover,  the  broken 
field  behind  Ferry  Hincksey,  with  its  several  glimpses 
of  the  distant  towers  and  spires.' 

Like  Dr.  Arnold,  Linnaeus  found  '  some  of  the  scenes 
at  the  junction  of  the  heath  country  with  the  rich  valley 
of  the  Thames  very  striking,'  though  doubtless  more  so 
from  the  rich  variety  of  their  flora  than  on  account  of 
their  merely  picturesque  aspect.  Both  of  these  great 

1  Smith.  *  Ibid. 

z  2 


340     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

men  delighted  to  dig  up  orchis  roots  in  Bagley  Wood, 
and  botanise  by  the  wild  stream  that  flows  down  be- 
tween Billington  and  Cowley  Marsh. 

Linnaeus  in  travelling  abroad  saw  the  best,  as 
ordinary  tourists  abroad  see  the  worst,  specimens  of 
humanity — '  innkeepers,  beggars,  touts,  and  zany  Cock- 
neys.' As  Dr.  Arnold  says,  in  travelling  one  '  gets  an 
unfavourable  impression  of  the  inhabitants  in  spite  of 
one's  judgment.' 

What  with  his  explorations,  and  visits  to  Professors 
Martyn  and  Eand,  and  Dr.  Shaw,  and  Mrs.  Blackburne, 
another  lady  botanist,  besides  an  intimate  and  lasting 
friendship  he  contracted  with  Dr.  Isaac  Lawson  and 
Mr.  Peter  Collinson  of  Mill  Hill,  near  Hendon,  one  of 
those  cultivated  Quakers  who  are  such  fervent  gar- 
deners— a  man  of  various  studies,  a  friend  after  his 
own  heart,  Linnseus's  time  passed  very  agreeably  in 
England,  and  these  friends  added  many  treasures  to 
the  store  he  had  procured  at  Chelsea  of  the  rarest  and 
nondescript  plants  he  was  collecting  for  Clifford. 

Linnaeus,  at  Dillenius's  request,  remained  some  time 
at  Oxford  exploring  the  country,  riding,  or  oftener 
walking,  round  by  what  is  now  the  Firs,  Haddington, 
and  by  Livermore,  where  George  Eliot  describes  c  J.  H. 
Newman's  little  conventual  dwelling,  and  from  whence 
one  gains  in  returning  a  fine  view  of  the  Oxford  towers.' 
He  crossed  the  original  ford  whence  Oxford  took  its 
name,  and  he  saw  New  College,  with  its  gardens,  sur- 
rounded by  the  old  city  wall,  the  chapel  where  William 


A    VISIT  TO  ENGLAND  341 

of  Wykeliam's  crosier  is  kept,  and  the  cloisters,  '  which 
are  fine  but  gloomy,  and  less  beautiful  than  those  of 
Magdalene,'  and  the  lovely  gardens  of  Merton  College. 

Perhaps  best  of  all  Linnaeus  loved  the  Botanical 
Library,  and  that  glorious  Bodleian,  whose  catalogue  he 
would  ransack,  and  eagerly  scan  the  backs  of  the  books ; 
for  the  good  reason  Dr.  Johnson  gives  us — '  Knowledge 
is  of  two  kinds.  We  know  a  subject  ourselves,  or  we 
know  where  we  can  find  information  upon  it/ 

Linnaeus  here  found  out,  to  his  surprise,  that  Le 
Vaillant  was  not  actually  the  first  to  clearly  see  the 
sexes  of  plants,  although  he  had  been  given  the  credit 
of  it.  That  discovery  belongs  to  Sir  Thomas  Millington, 
of  Oxford,  in  the  seventeenth  century.  He  flourished 
about  1670. 

Dillenius,  writing  to  Dr.  Richardson,  says  Linnaeus 
stayed  eight  days  at  Oxford.  This  was  probably  on 
a  first  visit,  for  we  hear  he  remained  at  Oxford  a 
month  altogether. 

Pacing  the  cloistered  Gothic  arch  of  Trinity  lime 
grove,  the  scent  of  the  linden  blossom  recalled  power- 
fully to  his  mind  -the  lime  tree  of  his  native  place. 
Walking  in  the  physic  garden  reminded  him  still  more 
keenly  of  his  Northern  home. 

Linnaeus  remained  at  Oxford  till  Midsummer  Day, 
when  the  ceremonial  much  reminded  him  of  Sweden, 
and  revived  with  extra  force  his  longing  to  get  home. 

The  old  guide-book  before  quoted  says  :  '  It  is 
customary  on  St.  John  Baptist's  Day  to  have  the 


342     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN JE  US 

university  sermon  preached  in  the  stone  pulpit  at  the 
south-east  corner  of  the  first  court  within  the  college 
gate,  the  court  on  that  occasion  being  decked  with 
boughs  and  strewed  with  rushes,  alluding  to  St.  John's 
preaching  in  the  wilderness  and  in  commemoration  of 
the  hospitals  being  dedicated  to  St.  John.  The  most 
advantageous  view  of  the  tower  and  niche  with  the 
head  of  John  Baptist  is  from  the  Physick  Garden. 
The  tower  contains  a  very  musical  peal  of  ten  bells. 
On  May  Day  morning  the  clerks  and  choristers  assemble 
on  the  top  of  it,  and  instead  of  a  mass  of  requiem  for 
King  Henry  VII.  sing  cheerful  songs  and  catches.' 

Music  from  the  tops  of  towers  is  sometimes  heard 
in  Scandinavia  to  this  day.  I  have  heard  Luther's  hymn, 
and  other  solemn  music,  played  on  trumpets  by  men 
standing  up  outside  the  central  tower  of  Roskilde 
Cathedral,  on  Whit  Sunday  after  morning  service.  It 
was  sweet  to  sit  in  the  cathedral  square  and  listen  to 
the  aerial  music  being  played  there  aloft. 

Within  the  circle  of  your  incantation 

No  blight  nor  mildew  falls  ; 
Nor  fierce  unrest,  nor  lust,  nor  low  ambition 

Passes  those  airy  walls.1 

Dillenius,  though  he  never  publicly  adopted  the 
Linnsean  arrangement,  at  length  became  so  partial  to 
the  young  Swede  that  he  would  not  leave  him  for  an 

1  The  Angclus,  Bret  Harte. 


A    VISIT  TO  ENGLAND  343 

hour.  He  was  so  impressed  with  his  talents  that  he 
urged  him  to  reside  at  Oxford  and  share  the  profits 
of  his  professorship  with  him.  Dillenius  frequently 
visited  Eltham  in  Kent,  where  Dr.  J.  Sherard  (William 
Sherard's  brother)  had  a  house  and  garden.  We  are  not 
told  that  Linnaeus  ever  accompanied  him  thither,  but 
several  hints  make  me  opine  that  he  did  so.  William 
Sherard's  aim  was  the  continuation  of  Bauhin's 
4  Pinax.'  i  Such  assistance  as  his,'  Dillenius  said  to 
J.  Sherard,  speaking  of  Linnaeus,  l  in  the  continuation 
of  Sherard's  "  Pinax "  would  be  invaluable.'  '  The 
nature  of  this  Pinax,'  Pulteney  too  rashly  takes  for 
granted,  'is  too  well-known  to  be  explained/  Most 
people  do  not  know  what  a  pinax  is ;  few  dictionaries 
or  cyclopaedias  even  give  the  word — <  yea,  I  know  it 
but  in  two.'  Pinax,  or  synopsis — pinax,  a  picture  of 
the  vegetable  kingdom. 

1  It  was  undertaken  by  Sherard  as  a  continuation  of 
Bauhin's  "  Pinax  Theatri  Botanici,"  and  it  afterwards 
devolved  on  Dillenius  to  carry  it  forward  in  a  similar 
manner.  No  part  of  it,  however,  ever  came  to  the 
press ;  but  the  whole  MS.,  preserved  in  the  Botanical 
Library  at  Oxford,  deserves  to  be  considered  as  an  in- 
teresting monument  of  the  scientific  industry  and 
erudition  of  Sherard  and  his  first  professor.' 

'  When  I  was  at  Oxford,'  writes  Linnaeus  to  Haller 
from  Hartecamp,  April  1737,  'Dillenius  was  finishing 
the  "  Phytopinax "  of  Sherard,  of  which  he  had  then 


344     THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINN A£  US 

entirely  completed  the  fourth  part.'  c  Had  Sir  Hans 
Sloane  been  warmer  Linnaeus  might  have  obtained  an 
establishment  in  England,  which  it  has  been  thought 
was  his  wish.' l  As  it  was,  he  did  not  care  to  stay  there 
helping  Dilleiiius  out  of  his  impossibilities. 

Homesickness  had  come  on — always  a  real  malady 
with  the  Swedes  and  Swiss — and  he  could  no  longer 
combat  the  thought  of  his  Elizabeth  waiting  for  him 
in  far-off  Falun  ;  so  notwithstanding  a  warmth  of 
friendship  on  the  part  of  the  professors  which  no  one 
would  have  expected  from  the  coolness  of  his  welcome, 
Linnaeus  left  Oxford,  and  soon  afterwards  returned  to 
Holland. 

Linnaeus  dedicated  his  '  Critica  Botanica '  to  Dille- 
nius,  of  whom,  in  writing  to  Haller,  he  said,  '  Dillenius 
was  the  only  person  then  in  England  who  cared  about 
or  understood  the  genera  of  plants.' 

Linnaeus  returned  down  the  quiet  silvery  Thames 
to  London.  Even  then  the  west  end  of  the  river  pre- 
sented a  remarkable  contrast  to  the  '  immensity  of 
London  at  the  pool ; '  but  the  full  impression  of  mighty 
London's  vastness  never  fully  struck  Linnaeus  till  he 
was  leaving  it  by  the  Thames. 

1  London  is  the  heart  of  the  world,  wonderful  only 
from  the  mass  of  human  beings.  No  one  has  any 
knowledge  of  London  in  which  he  lives.  It  is  a  huge 
aggregate  of  little  systems,  each  of  which  is  again  a 

1  Turton. 


A    VISIT  TO  ENGLAND  345 

small  anarchy,  the  members  of  which  do  not  work 
together,  but  scramble  against  each  other.'  l  Linnaeus 
felt  this :  the  Swedes  do  not  shove.  Yet  this  saying 
of  Carlyle's  is  not  altogether  true.  Each  individual 
wheel  of  the  mighty  clock  keeps  its  own  round.  The 
philosopher  himself  admits  it.  '  The  baker's  boy  brings 
muffins  to  the  window  at  a  fixed  hour  every  day,  and 
that  is  all  the  Londoner  knows  or  wishes  to  know  on 
the  subject.  But  it  turned  out  good  men.' 2  London 
at  once  elevates  and  humbles  us.  Man  is  not  merely 
an  unit :  he  is  subdivided.  Carlyle  goes  on  to  say, 
'  All  London-born  men,  without  exception,  seem  to  me 
narrow-built,  considerably  perverted  men,  rather  frac- 
tions of  a  man.  Hunt,  by  nature  a  very  clever  man, 
is  one  instance ;  Mill,  in  quite  another  manner,  is 
another.'  But  it  is  in  their  work  they  are  most  sub- 
divided. To  make  the  fraction  of  a  pin  perfectly  is  the 
aim  of  modern  life. 

In  London  lies  '  that  medley  of  experience  of  every- 
thing, great  and  little,  which  a  man  can  scarcely  have 
anywhere  but  in  the  capital ' :  the  very  opposite  of 
Swedish  life,  which  holds  much  that  we  leave  out,  and 
knows  little  of  what  we  most  prize — art,  wealth,  &c. 
Without  art  our  life  were  one  sordid  delirium. 

In  1793  Sir  J.  Smith,  first  president  of  the  Linnaean 

Society,  set  out  for   Holland  to  expatiate  on  ruined 

Hartecamp,  &c.,  '  after  many  an  anxious  look  at  the 

lofty  plane  and   cedar   trees  of  Chelsea  gardens  still 

1  Carlyle.  3  Ibid 

VOL.  I.  A  A 


346  THROUGH  THE  FIELDS    WITH  LINNAEUS 

waving  in  unpropitious  direction.'    Linnaeus  now  looked 
at  them  anxiously  likewise. 

The  Chelsea  planes  and  cedars  at  length  showing  a 
favourable  wind,  after  a  final  week  in  London,  Linnaeus 
sailed  with  the  tide,  winding  slowly  through  the  forest  of 
masts,  the  great  English  forest — a  marvellous  contrast 
to  the  silent  pine-forests  of  Sweden — in  the  Thames. 
1  The  giant  bustle,  the  coal-heavers,  the  bargemen,  the 
ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  sounds  and  movements 
of  that  monstrous  harbour,  formed  the  grandest  object 
I  had  ever  witnessed.  One  man  seems  a  drop  in  the 
ocean  :  you  feel  annihilated  in  the  immensity  of  that 
heart  of  all  the  earth.' l  And  yet  a  few  great  minds 
dominate  it  all. 

In  England  Linnaeus  had  his  mind  opened  wider 
than  he  expected,  and  in  other  lines.  He  knew  of 
Boulton  and  Watt — at  least  as  Wedgwood,  the  '  father 
of  the  Potteries,'  who  was  so  closely  allied  with  them, 
took  a  great  interest  in  the  modelling  of  his  portrait, 
we  may  safely  conclude  he  knew  of  those  iron  chief- 
tains who  sold  power.2  c  What  a  giant  was  Watt !  fit 
to  stand  beside  Gutenberg  and  Columbus  as  one  of  the 
few  whose  single  discoveries  have  changed  the  whole 
course  of  human  civilisation. ' 3  Linnaeus  was  one  of 
the  very  few  men  in  those  days  capable  of  duly  esti- 
mating any  form  of  genius  outside  poetry,  government, 
or  military  art.  Other  literary  men  were  too  closely 

1  Carlyle.  2  Dr.  Johnson. 

3  Frederic  Harrison. 


A    VISIT  TO  ENGLAND  347 

wrapped  up  in  elegant  literature  to  be  able  to  compre- 
hend that  men  of  science  and  men  of  business  could 
revolutionise  a  world. 

Linnaeus  returned  to  Holland  deeply  impressed  with 
the  importance  of  England  as  a  country  well  fitted  to 
forward  the  interests  of  natural  science.1 

1  Sir  W.  Jardine. 


END    OF   THE   FIRST   VOLUME. 


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HISTORY,    POLITICS,    HISTORICAL   MEMOIRS,  Sec. 

Arnold's  Lectures  on  Modern  History.    8vo.  7*.  Gd. 

Bagwell's  Ireland  under  the  Tudors.    Vols.  1  and  2.    2  vols.  8vo.  32*. 

Beaconsfield's  (Lord)  Speeches,  edited  by  Kebbel.    2  vols.  8vo.  32*. 

Boultbee'a  History  of  the  Church  of  England,  Pre-Reformation  Period.  8vo.  1ft*. 

Buckle's  History  of  Civilisation.    3  vols.  crown  8vo.  24*. 

Burro ws's  History  of  the  Family  of  Brocas  of  Beaurepaire  and  Roche  Court. 

Royal  8vo.  42*. 

Cox's  (Sir  Or.  W.)  General  History  of  Greece.    Crown  8vo.  Maps,  7*.  Gd. 
Creighton's  History  of  the  Papacy  during  the  Reformation.    8vo.  Vols.  1  and 

2,  32*.      Vols.  3  and  4,  24*. 

De  Tocqueville's  Democracy  in  America.     2  vols.  crown  8vo.  16*. 
Doyle's  English  in  America  :  Virginia,  Maryland,  and  the  Caroliuas,  8vo.  18*. 

—         The  Puritan  Colonies,  2  vols.  8yo.  36*. 
Epochs  of  Ancient  History  :— 

Beesly's  Gracchi,  Marius,  and  Sulla,  2*.  Gd. 

Capes's  Age  of  the  Antonines,  2*.  Gd. 

—  Early  Roman  Empire,  2*.  Gd. 
Cox's  Athenian  Empire,  2*.  Gd. 

—  Greeks  and  Persians,  2*.  Gd. 

Curteis's  Rise  of  the  Macedonian  Empire,  2*.  Gd. 
lime's  Rome  to  its  Capture  by  the  Gauls,  2*.  Gd. 
Merivale's  Roman  Triumvirates,  2*.  Gd. 
Sankey's  Spartan  and  Theban  Supremacies,  2s.  Gd. 
Smith's  Rome  and  Carthage,  the  Punic  Wars,  2*.  Gd. 
Epochs  of  Modern  History  : — 

Church's  Beginning  of  the^Middle  Ages,  2*.  6<J. 

Cox's  Crusades,  2*.  Gd. 

Creighton's  Age  of  Elizabeth,  2*.  Gd. 

Gardner's  Houses  of  Lancaster  and  York,  2*.  Gd. 

Gardiner's  Puritan  Revolution,  2*.  6d. 

—  Thirty  Years'  War,  2*.  Gd. 

—  (Mrs.)  French  Revolution,  1789-1795,  2*.  6<i. 
Bale's  Fall  of  the  Stuarts,  2s.  Gd. 

Johnson's  Normans  in  Europe,  2*.  Gd. 

Longman's  Frederick  the  Great  and  the  Seven  Years'  War,  2*.  Gd. 

Ludtow's  War  of  American  Independence,  2*.  Sd. 

M'Carthy's  Epoch  of  Reform,  1830-l£>u,  2*.  6d. 

Morris's  Age  of  Queen  Anne,  2*.  6d. 

—       The  Early  Hanoverians,  2*.  Gd. 
Seebohm's  Protestant  Revolution,  2*.  Gd. 
Stubbs's  Earlv  PlautagenetB,  2*.  Gd. 
Warburton'B  Edward  III.,  2*.  Gd. 
Epochs  of  Church  History  :— 

Overton's  The  Evangelical  Revival  in  the  Eighteenth  Century. 
t     Perry's  The  Reformation  in  England,  2.*.  Gd.  [2s.  6d. 

Tucker's  The  English  Church  in  other  Lands,  2*.  Id. 
%*  Other  Volumes  in  preparation. 


London:  LONGMANS,  GKEEN,  &  CO. 


General  Lists  of  Works. 


Freeman's  Historical  Geography  of  Europe.    2  vols.  8vo.  31*.  Bd. 
Froude's  English  in  Ireland  in  the  18th  Century.     3  vols.  crown  8vo.  18*. 

—       History  of  Enarland.    Popular  Edition.    12  ve!?.  crown  8vo.  3*.  £d.  each. 
Gardiner's  History  of  England  from  the  Accession  of  James  I.  to  the  Outbreak 
of  the  Civil  War.     10  vols.  crown  8vo.  60*. 

—  History  of  the  Great  Civil  War,  1G42-1649  (3  vols.)    Vol.  1, 1642-1644, 

8vo.  21.?. 

—  Outline  of  English  History,  B.C.  55-A.D.  1880.     Fcp.  8vo.  2*.  6d. 
Greville's  Joiirnal  of  the  Reign  of  Queen  Victoria,  1837-1852.    3  vols.  8vo.  36*. 
Hickson's  Ireland  in  the  Seventeenth  Century.    2  vols.  8vo.  28*. 

Lecky's  History  of  England  in  the  Eighteenth  Century.    Vols.  1  &  2,  1700-1760, 
8vo.  36*.     Vols.  3  &  4,  1760-1784,  8vo.  36*." 

—  History  of  European  Morals.    2  vols.  crown  8vo.  16*. 

—  —      —  Bationalism  in  Europe.     2  vols.  crown  8vo.  16*. 
Longman's  Lectures  on  the  History  of  England.    8vo.  15*. 

—  Life  aad  Times  of  Edward  III.    2  vols.  8vo.  28*. 
Macaulay's  Complete  Works.    Library  Edition.     8  vols.  8vo.  £5.  5*. 

—          Cabinet  Edition.    16  vols.  crown  8vo.  £4.  16*. 

—  History  of  England  :— 

Student's  Edition.  2  vols.  cr.  8vo.  12*.  I    Cabinet  Edition.  8  vols.  post  8vo.  48* 
People's  Edition.    4  vols.  cr.  8vo.  Ifi*.  \   Library  Edition.  5  vols.  8vo.  £4. 

Macanlay's  Critical  and  Historical  Essays,  with  Lays  of  Ancient  Rome     In  One 
Volume  :— 

Authorised  Edition.    Cr.  8vo.  2*.  Bd.  I   Popular  Edition.    Cr.  8vo.  2*.  Bd. 
or  3*.  Bd.  gilt  edges. 

Macaulay's  Critical  and  Historical  Essays  :— 

Student's  Edition.    1  vol.  cr.  8vo.  6*.  I   Cabinet  Edition.  4  vols.  post  8vo.  24*. 
People's  Edition.    2  vols.  cr.  8vo.  8*.  |   Library  Edition.  3  vols.  8vo.  36*. 

Macaulay's  Speeches  corrected  by  Himself.    Crown  8vo.  3*.  Bd. 
Malmesbury's  (Earl  of)  Memoirs  of  an  Ex-Minister.    Crown  8vo.  7*.  Bd. 
Maxwell's  (Sir  W.  S.)  Don  John  of  Austria.    Library  Edition,  with  numerous 

Illustrations.    2  vols.  royal  8vo.»42*. 
May's  Constitutional  History  of  England,  1760-1870.    3  vols.  crown  8vo.  18*. 

—  Democracy  in  Europe.    2  vols.  8vo.  32*. 
Merivale  ,-  Full  of  the  Roman  Republic.    12mo.  7*.  Bd. 

—  General  History  of  Rome,  B.C.  753-A.D.  476.    Crown  8vo.  7*.  Bd. 

—  History  of  the  Romans  under  the  Empire.     8  vols.  post  8vo.  48*. 
Nelson's  (Lord)  Letters  and  Despatches.    Edited  by  J.  K.  Laughton.    8vo.  16*. 
Outlines  of  Jewish  History  from  B.C.  586  to  C.E.  1885.    By  the  author  of  '  About 

the  Jews  since  Bible  Times.'    Fcp.  8vo.  3*.  Bd. 
Pears'  The  Fall  of  Constantinople.    8vo.  16*. 
Seebohm's  Oxford  Reformers— Colet,  Erasmus,  &  More.    8vo.  14* 
Short's  History  of  the  Church  of  England.  .Crown  8vo.  7*.  (<d. 
Smith's  Carthage  and  the  Carthaginians.    Crown  8vo.  10*.  Bd. 
Taylor's  Manual  of  the  History  of  India.    Crown  8vo.  7*.  Bd. 
Walpola's  History  of  England,  1815-1841.    Vols.  1-3,  8vo.  £2.  14.s.    Vols.  4  &  5, 

8vo.  36*. 
Wylie's  History  df  England  under  Henry  IV.    Vol.  1,  cro^vn  8vo.  10*.  Bd. 


London:  LONGMANS,  OK  KEN,  &  CO. 


General  Lists  of  Works,  3 


BIOGRAPHICAL    WORKS. 

Armstrong's  (E.  J.)  Life  and  Letters.  Edited  by  G.  F.  Armstrong.  Fcp.  8vo.  7*.6d. 

Bacon's  Life  and  Letters,  by  Spedding.    7  vols.  8vo.  £4.  4*. 

Bagehot's  Biographical  Studies.    1  voL  8vo.  12*. 

Carlyle's  Life,  by  J.  A.  Froude.    Vols.  1  &  2. 1795-1835,  8vo.  32*.    Vols.  3  &  4, 

1834-1881,  8vo.  32*. 

(Mrs.)  Letters  and  Memorials.    8  vols.  8vo.  36*. 

De  Witt  (John),  Life  of,  by  A.  C.  Pontalis.    Translated.    2  vols.  8vo.  36*. 
Doyle  (Sir  F.  H.)  Reminiscences  and  Opinions.    8vo.  16*. 
English  "Worthies.    Edited  by  Andrew  Lang.    Crown  8vo.  2.?.  Qd.  each. 

Charles  Darwin.    By  Grant  Allen.   I   Marlborough.    By  George  Saintsbury. 

Shaftesbury  (The  First  Earl).    By     Steele.    By  Austin  Dobson. 

H.  D.  Traill.  Ben  Jonson.    By  J.  A.  Symonds. 

A,jmiral  Blake.  By  David  B  annay.  | 

***  Other  Volumes  in  preparation. 
Fox  (Charles  James)  The  Early  History  of.    By  Sir  G.  0.  Trevelyan,  Bart. 

Crown  8vo.  6*. 

Froude's  Caesar  :  a  Sketch.    Crown  8vo.  6*. 

Hamilton's  (Sir  W.  R.)  Life,  by  Graves.    Vols.  1  and  2,  8vo.  15*.  each. 
Havelock's  Life,  by  Marshman.    Crown  8vo.  3*.  6<i. 
Hobart  Pacha's  Sketch  of  my  Life.    Crown  8vo.  7*.  6d. 
Hullah's  (John)  Life.    By  his  Wife.    Crown  8vo.  6*. 
Macaulay's  (I/)rd)  Life  and  Letters.    By  his  Nephew,  Sir  G.  0.  Trevelyan,  Bart., 

M.P.     Popular  Edition,  1  vol.  crown  8vo.  6*.    Cabinet  Edition,  2  vols.  post 

8vo.  12*.    Libraiy  Edition,  2  vols.  8vo.  36*. 

Mendelssohn's  Letters.    Translated  by  Lady  Wallace.    2  vols.  cr.  8vo.  5*.  eaph. 
Mill  (James)  Biography  of,  by  Prof.  Bain.    Crown  8vo.  5*. 
—  (John  Stuart)  Recollections  of,  by  Prof.  Bain.    Crown  8vo.  2*.  Bd. 

Autobiography.    8vo.  7*.  6d. 
Mozley's  Reminiscences  of  Oriel  College.    2  vols.  crown  8vo.  18*. 

—  —    Towns,  Villages,  and  Schools.    2  vols.  cr.  8vo.  18*. 

Mtiller's  (Max)  Biographical  Essays.    Crown  8vo.  7*.  Gd. 
Newman's  Apologia  pro  Vita  Sua.    Crown  8vo.  6*. 
Pasteur  (Louis)  His  Life  and  Labours.    Crown  8vo.  7*.  6d. 
Shakespeare's  Life  (Outlines  of),  by  Halliwell-Phillipps.  2  vols.  royal  8vo.  10*.  Gd, 
Southey's  Correspondence  with  Caroline  Bowles.    8vo.  14*. 
Stephen's  Essays  in  Ecclesiastical  Biography.    Crown  8vo.  7s.  6d. 
Taylor'p  (Sir  Henry)  Autobiography.    2  vols.  8vo.  32*. 
Wellington's  Life,  by  Gleig.    Crown  8vo.  6*. 

MENTAL  AND    POLITICAL   PHILOSOPHY,    FINANCE,    &C. 

Amos's  View  of  the  Science  of  Jurisprudence.    8vo.  18*. 

—  Primer  of  the  English  Constitution.    Crown  8vo.  6*. 
Bacon's  Essays,  with  Annotations  by  Whately.    8vo.  10*.  6d. 

—  •    Works,  edited  by  Spedding.    7  vols.  8vo.  73*.  6d. 
Bagehot's  Economic  Studies,  edited  by  Button.    8vo.  10*.  6d. 

The  Postulates  of  English  Political  Economy.    Crown  8vo.  2*.  6d. 
Bain's  Logic,  Deductive  and  Inductive.    Crown  8vo.  10*.  6d. 

PART  I.  Deduction,  4*.         |         PART  II.  Induction,  6*.  6d. 

—  Mental  and  Moral  Science.    Crown  8vo.  10*.  6<f. 

—  The  Senses  and  the  Intellect.    8vo.  15*. 

—  The  Emotions  and  the  Will.    8vo.  16*. 

—  Practical  Essays.    Crown  8vo.  4*.  Bd. 

London  :  LONGMANS,  GREEN,  &  CO. 


General  Lists  of  Works. 


Buckle's  (H.  T.)  Miscellaneous  and  Posthumous  Works.    2  vols.  crown  8vo.  21*. 

Crozier's  Civilization  and  Progress.    8vo.  14s. 

Crump's  A  Short  Enquiry  into  the  Formation  of  English  Political  Opinion. 

8vo.  7s.  6d. 

Dowell's  A  History  of  Taxation  and  Taxes  in  England.    4  vols.  8vo.  48*. 
Green's  (Thomas  Hill)  Works.    (3  vols.)    Vols.  1  &  2,  Philosophical  Works.  8vo. 

16$.  each. 
Hume's  Essays,  edited  by  Green  &  Grose.    2  vols.  8vo.  28s. 

—  Treatise  of  Human  Nature,  edited  by  Green  &  Grose.    2  vols.  8vo.  28s. 
Lang's  Custom  and  Myth  :  Studies  of  Early  Usage  and  Belief.    Crown  8vo.  7s.  Qd. 
Leslie's  Essays  in  Political  and  Moral  Philosophy.    8vo.  10s.  Qd. 

Lewes's  History  of  Philosophy.    2  vols.  8vo.  32s. 
Lubbock's  Origin  of  Civilisation.    8vo.  13s. 

Macleod's  Principles  of  Economical  Philosophy.    In  2  vols.    Vol.  1,  8vo.  15s. 
Vol.  2,  Part  I.  12s. 

—  The  Elements  of  Economics.     (2  vols.)    Vol.  1,  cr.  8vo.  7s.  6d.  Vol.  2, 

Part  I.  cr.  8vo.  7s.  6d. 

—  The  Elements  of  Banking.    Crown  Svo.  5s. 

—  The  Theory  and  Practice  of  Banking.    Vol.  1,  Svo.  12s.  Vol.  2, 14s. 

—  Elements  of  Political  Economy.    Svo.  16s. 

—  Economics  for  Beginners.    Svo.  2s.  Qd. 

—  Lectures  on  Credit  and  Banking.    Svo.  5s. 

Mill's  (James)  Analysis  of  the  Phenomena  of  the  Human  Mind.    2  vols.  Svo.  28s. 
Mill  (John  Stuart)  on  Representative  Government.    Crown  Svo.  2s. 

—  —  on  Liberty.    Crown  Svo.  Is.  4d. 

Examination  of  Hamilton's  Philosophy.    Svo.  16s. 

—  —  Logic.    Crown  8vo.'5s. 

—  —  Principles  of  Political  Economy.    2  vols.  Svo.  30s.    People's 

Edition,  1  vol.  crown  Svo.  5s. 

—  —  Subjection  of  Women.     Crown  Svo.  6s. 

—  —  Utilitarianism.    Svo.  5s. 

Three  Essays  on  Religion,  &c.    Svo.  5s. 
Mulhall's  History  of  Prices  since  1850.    Crown  Svo.  6s. 
Sandars's  Institutes  of  Justinian,  with  English  Notes.    Svo.  18s. 
Seebohm's  English  Village  Community.    8vo.  16s. 
Sully's  Outlines  of  Psychology.    Svo.  12s.  6d. 

—  Teacher's  Handbook  of  Psychology.    Crown  Svo.  6s.  6d. 
Swinburne's  Picture  Logic.    Post  Svo.  5s. 

Thompson's  A  System  of  Psychology.    2  vols.  Svo.  36s. 

Thomson's  Outline  of  Necessary  Laws  of  Thought.    Crown  Svo.  6s. 

Twiss's  Law  of  Nations  in  Time  of  War.    Svo.  21s. 

—  —  in  Time  of  Peace.    Svo.  155. 
Webb's  The  Veil  of  Isis.    Svo.  10s.  6d. 
Whately's  Elements  of  Logic.    Crown  Svo.  4s.  Qd. 

—  —       —  Rhetoric.    Crown  Svo.  4s.  6d. 
Wylie's  Labour,  Leisure,  and  Luxury.    Crown  Svo.  6s. 

Zeller's  History  of  Eclecticism  in  Greek  Philosophy.    Crown  Svo.  10s.  6d. 

—  Plato  and  the  Older  Academy.    Crown  Svo.  18*. 

—  Pre-Socratic  Schools.    2  vols.  crown  Svo.  30s. 

—  Socrates  and  the  Socratic  Schools.    Crown  Svo.  10s.  6d. 

—  Stoics,  Epicureans,  and  Sceptics.    Crown  Svo.  15s. 

—  Outlines  of  the  History  of  Greek  Philosophy.    Crowu  Svo.  10s.  6d. 

London :  LONGMANS,  GEEEN,  &  CO. 


General  Lists  of  Works. 


MISCELLANEOUS    WORKS. 

A.  K.  H.  B.,  The  Essays  and  Contributions  of.    Crown  8vo. 

Autumn  Holiaays  of  a  Country  Parson.    3s.  Gd. 

Changed  Aspects  of  Unchanged  Truths.    3*.  Gd. 

Common-Place  Philosopher  in  Town  and  Country.    3s.  Gd. 

Critical  Essays  of  a  Country  Parson.    3*.  Gd. 

Counsel  and  Comfort  spoken  from  a  City  Pulpit.    3*.  Gd. 

Graver  Thoughts  of  a  Country  Parson.    Three  Series.    3*.  Gd.  each. 

Landscapes,  Churches,  and  Moralities.    3*.  Gd. 

Leisure  Hours  in  Town.    3s.  Gd.    Lessons  of  Middle  Age.    3*.  6d. 

Our  Little  Life.    Essays  Consolatory  and  Domestic.  Two  Series.   3*.  Gd. 

Present-day  Thoughts.    35.  Gd.  [each. 

Recreations  of  a  Country  Parson.    Three  Series.    3*.  Gd.  each. 

Seaside  Musings  on  Sundays  and  Week-Bays.    3s.  Gd. 

Sunday  Afternoons  in  the  Parish  Church  of  a  University  City.    3*.  6d. 
Armstrong's  (Ed.  J.)  Essays  and  Sketches.    Fcp.  8vo.  5s. 
Arnold's  (Dr.  Thomas)  Miscellaneous  Works.    8vo.  7s.  6d. 
Bagehot's  Literary  Studies,  edir.ed  by  Hutton.    2  vols.  8vo.  28s. 
Beaconsfleld  (Lord),  The  Wic  and  Wisdom  of.  Crown  8vo.  1*.  boards ;  1*.  Gd.  cl. 
Evans's  Bronze  Implements  of  Great  Britain.    8vo.  25*. 
Farrar's  Language  and  Languages.    Crown  8vo.  6*. 
Froude's  Short  Studies  on  Great  Subjects.    4  vols.  crown  8vo.  24*. 
Lang's  Letters  to  Dead  Authors.    Fcp.  8vo.  6*.  Gd. 
Macaulay's  Miscellaneous  Writings.    2  vols.  8vo.  21*.    1  vol.  crown  8vo.  4*.  Gd. 

—  Miscellaneous  Writings  and  Speeches.    Crown  8vo.  6s. 

—  Miscellaneous  Writings,    Speeches,    Lays  of   Ancient  Rome,  &c. 

Cabinet  Edition.    4  vols.  crown  8vo.  24*. 

—  Writings,  Selections  from.    Crown  8vo.  6*. 

MUller's  (Max)  Lectures  on  the  Science  of  Language.    2  vols.  crown  8vo.  16*. 

—  —     Lectures  on  India.    8vo.  12*.  Gd. 

Smith  (Sydney)  The  Wit  and  Wisdom  of.  Crown  8vo.  1*.  boards ;  1*.  Gd.  cloth. 
Wilkinson's  The  Friendly  Society  Movement.    Crown  8vo.  2*.  Gd. 

ASTRONOMY. 

Herschel's  Outlines  of  Astronomy.    Square  crown  8vo.  12*. 

Nelson's  Work  on  the  Moon.    Medium  8vo.  31*.  Gd. 

Proctor's  Larger  Star  Atlas.    Folio,  15*.  or  Maps  only,  12*.  Gd. 

—  New  Star  Atlas.    Crown  8vo.  5a. 

—  Light  Seience  for  Leisure  Hours.    3  Series.    Crown  8vo.  5*.  each. 

—  The  Moon.    Crown  8vo.  6*. 

—  Other  Worlds  than  Ours.    Crown  8vo.  5*. 

—  The  Sun.    Crown  8vo.  14*. 

—  Studies  of  Venus-Transits.    8vo.  5*. 

—  Orbs  Around  Us.    Crown  8vo.  5*. 

—  Universe  of  Stars.    8vo.  10*.  Gd. 

Webb's  Celestial  Objects  for  Common  Telescopes.    Crown  8vo.  9*. 

THE    'KNOWLEDGE'    LIBRARY. 

Edited  by  RICHARD  A.  PROCTOR. 


How  to  Play  Whist.    Crown  8vo.  5*. 
Home  Whist.    16mo.  1*. 
The  Borderland  of  Science.    Cr.  8vo.  6*. 
Nature  Studies.    Crown  8vo.  6*. 
Leisure  Readings.    Crown  8vo.  6*. 
The  Stars  in  their  Seasons.  Imp.  8vo.  5*. 
Myths    and    Marvels    of    Astronomy. 
Crown  8vo.  6*. 


Pleasant  Ways  in  Science.  Cr.  8vo.  6*. 
Star  Primer.  Crown  4to.  2*.  Gd. 
The  Seasons  Pictured.  Demy  4to.  5*. 
Strength  and  Happiness.  Cr.  8vo.  5*. 
Rough  Ways  made  Smooth.  Cr.  8vo.  6*. 
The  Expanse  of  Heaven.  Cr.  8vo.  61. 
Our  Place  among  Infinities  Cr  8vo.  5*. 


London  :  LONGMANS,  GKEEN,  &  CO. 


General  Lists  of  Works. 


CLASSICAL    LANGUAGES    AND    LITERATURE. 

^schylus,  The  Eumenides  of.      Jext,  with  Metrical  English  Translation,  by 

J.  F.  Davies.    8vo.  75. 

Aristophanes'  The  Acharnians,  translated  by  R.  Y.  Tyrrell.    Crown  8vo.  2s.  fid. 
Aristotle's  The  Ethics,  Text  and  Notes,  by  Sir  Alex.  Grant.  Bart.   2  vols.  8vo.  325. 

—  The  Nicomachean  Ethics,  translated  by  Williams,  crown  8vo.  7*.  Gd. 

—  The  Politics,   Books  I.  III.  IV.  (VII.)  with  Translation,   &c.  by 

Bolland  and. Lang.     Crown  8vo.  7s.  Gd. 

Becker's  Charides  and  Gallus,  by  Metcalfe.    Post  8vo.  7s.  Gd.  each. 
Cicero's  Correspondence,  Text  and  Notes,  by  R.  Y.  Tyrrell.    Vols.  1  &  2,  8vo. 

12«.  each. 
Homer's  Iliad,  Homometrically  translated  by  Cayley.    8vo.  125.  Gd. 

—  —    Greek  Text,  with  Verse  Translation,  by  W.  C.  Green.    Vol.  1, 
Books  I.-XII.    Crown  8vo.  65. 

Mahaffy's  Classical  Greek  Literature.    Crown  8vo.    Vol.  1,  The  Poets,  7s.  Gd. 

Vol.  2,  The  Prose  Writers,  75.  Gd. 

Plato's  Parnienides,  with  Notes,  &c.  by  J.  Maguire.    8vo.  75.  Gd. 
Virgil's  Works,  Latin  Text,  with  Commentary,  by  Kennedy.    Crown  8vo.  Ws.  Gd. 

—  JEneid,  translated  into  English  Verse,  by  Conington.       Crown  8vo.  95. 

—  —  —  —  —     byW.J.Thornhill.  Cr.Svo.75.6d. 

—  Poems,         —  —        —      Prose,  by  Conington.     Crown  8vo.  95. 
Witt's  Myths  of  Hellas,  translated  by  F.  M.  Younghusband.    Crown  8vo.  85.  Gd. 

—  The  Trojan  War,  Fcp.  8vo.  25. 

—  The  Wanderings  of  Ulysses,  Crown  8vo.  85.  Gd. 

NATURAL    HISTORY,    BOTANY,    &c    GARDENING. 

Allen's  Flowers  and  their  Pedigrees.    Crown  8vo.  Woodcuts,  55. 
Decaisne  and  Le  Maout's  General  System  of  Botany.    Imperial  8vo.  315.  Gd. 
Dixon's  Rural  Bird  Life.    Crown  8vo.  Illustrations,  65. 
Hartwig's  Aerial  World,  8vo.  105.  Gd. 

—  Polar  World,  8vo.  105.  Gd. 

—  Sea  and  its  Living  Wonders.    870. 105.  Gd. 

—  Subterranean  World,  8vo.  10s.  Gd. 

—  Tropical  World,  8vo.  105.  Gd. 
Lindley's  Treasury  of  Botany.    2  vols.  fcp.  8vo.  125. 
London's  Encyclopaedia  of  Gardening.    8vo.  215. 

Plants.    8vo.  42*. 
Rivers's  Orchai-d  House.    Crown  8vo.  55. 

—  Rose  Amateur's  Guide.    Fcp.  8vo.  45.  Gd. 

—  Miniature  Fruit  Garden.    Fcp.  8vo.  45. 
Stanley's  Familiar  History  of  British  Birds.    Crown  8vo.  65. 
Wood's  Bible  Animals.    With  11 2  Vignettes.    8vo.  105.  Gd. 

—  Common  British  Insects.    Crown  8vo.  35.  Gd. 

—  Homes  Without  Hands,  8vo.  105.  Gd. 

—  Insects  Abroad,  8vo.  10*.  Gd. 

—  Horse  and  Man.    8vx>.  145. 

—  Insects  at  Home.    With  700  Illustrations.    8vo.  105.  Gd. 

—  Out  of  Doors.    Crown  8vo .  55. 

—  Petland  Revisited.    Crown  8vo.  7*.  6cf. 

—  Strange  Dwellings,    Crown  8vo.  55.    Popular  Edition,  4to.  Gd. 


London:  LONGMANS,  GKEEN,  &  CO. 


General  Lists  of  Works. 


THE    FINE    ARTS    AND    ILLUSTRATED    EDITIONS. 

Dresser's  Arts  and  Art  Manufactures  of  Japan.    Square  crown  8vo.  Sis.  Bd. 
Bastlake's  Household  Taste  in  Furniture,  &c.    Square  crown  8vo.  14*. 
Jameson's  Sacred  and  Legendary  Art.    6  vols.  square  8vo. 
Legends  of  the  Madonna.    1  vol.  21s. 

—  —    —    Monastic  Orders    1  vol.  21*. 

—  —    —    Saints  and  Martyrs.    2  vols.  Sis.  Bd. 

—  —    —    Saviour.    Completed  by  Lady  Eastlake.    2  vols.  42*. 
Macaulay's  Lays  of  Ancient  Home,  illustrated  by  Scharf.    Fcp.  4to.  10*.  Bd. 
The  same,  with  Ivry  and  the  Armada,  illustrated  by  Weguelin.  Crown  8vo.  3*.  Bd. 
New  Testament  (The)  illustrated  with  Woodcuts  after  Paintings  by  the  Early 

Masters.    4to.  21*. 

CHEMISTRY,    ENGINEERING,    8c   GENERAL   SCIENCE. 

Arnott's  Elements  of  Physics  or  Natural  Philosophy.    Crown  8vo.  12*.  Bd. 
Barrett's   English    Q-lees  and    Part-Songs ;    their    Historical    Development. 

Crown  8vo.  7s.  Gd. 
Bourne's  Catechism  of  the  Steam  Engine.    Crown  8vo.  7s.  6d. 

—  Examples  of  Steam,  Air,  and  Gas  Engines.    4to.  70*.  t    - 

—  Handbook  of  the  Steam  Engine.    Fcp.  8vo.  9*. 

—  Recent  Improvements  in  the  Steam  Engine.    Fcp.  8vo.  6*. 

—  Treatise  on  the  Steam  Engine.    4to.  42*. 

Buckton's  Our  Dwellings,  Healthy  and  Unhealthy.    Crown  8vo.  3*.  Bd. 

Clerk's  The  Gas  Engine.    With  Illustrations.    Crown  8vo.  7s.  Bd. 

Crookes's  Select  Methods  in  Chemical  Analysis.    8vo.  24*. 

Culley's  Handbook  of  Practical  Telegraphy.    8vo.  16*. 

Fairbairn's  Useful  Information  for  Engineers.    3  vols.  crown  8vo.  31*.  Bd. 

—         Mills  and  Millwork.    1  vol.  8vo.  25*. 
Ganot's  Elementary  Treatise  on  Physics,  by  Atkinson.    Large  crown  8vo.  16*. 

—  Natural  Philosophy,  by  Atkinson.    Crown  8vo.  7*.  6d. 
Grove's  Correlation  of  Physical  Forces.    8vo.  15*. 
Haughton's  Six  Lectures  on  Physical  Geography.    8vo.  15*. 
Helmholtz  on  the  Sensations  of  Tone.    Royal  8vo.  28*. 

Helmholtz's  Lectures  on  Scientific  Subjects.    2  vols.  crown  8vo.  7s.  Bd.  each. 
Hudson  and  Gosse's  The  Rotifera  or  '  Wheel  Animalcules.'    With  30  Coloured 

Plates.    6  parts.  4to.  10*.  6d.  each.    Complete,  2  vols.  4to.  £3.  10*. 
Hullah's  Lectures  on  the  History  of  Modern  Music.    8vo.  8*.  Bd. 

—  Transition  Period  of  Musical  History.    8vo.  10*.  Bd. 
Jackson's  Aid  to  Engineering  Solution.    Royal  8vo.  21*. 

Jago's  Inorganic  Chemistry,  Theoretical  and  Practical.    Fcp.  8vo.  2*. 

Kerf's  Metallurgy,  adapted  by  Crookes  and  Ebhrig.    3  vols.  8vo.  £4.  19*. 

Kolbe's  Short  Text-Book  of  Inorganic  Chemistry.    (Jrown  8vo.  It.  Bd. 

Lloyd's  Treatise  on  Magnetism.    8vo.  10*.  Bd. 

Macalister's  Zoology  and  Morphology  of  Vertebrate  Animals.    8vo.  10*.  Bd. 

Macf arren's  Lectures  on  Harmony.    8vo.  1 2*. 

Miller's  Elements  of  Chemistry,  Theoretical  and  Practical.    3  vols.  8vo.    Part  I. 

Chemical  Physics,  16*.    Part  II.  Inorganic  Chemistry,  24*.  Part  III.  Organic 

Chemistry,  price  31*.  Bd. 


London:  LONGMANS,  GREEN,  &  CO. 


General  Lists  of  Works. 


Mitchell's  Manual  of  Practical  Assaying.    8vo.  31*.  6d. 

Northoott's  Lathes  and  Turning.    8vo.  18.?. 

Owen's  Comparative  Anatomy  and   Physiology  ef   the  Vertebrate  Animals. 

3  vols.  8vo.  73s.  Gd. 

Piesse's  Art  of  Perfumery.    Square  crown  8vo.  21*. 
Reynoldp's  Experimental  Chemistry.    Fcp.  8vo.    Part  I.  Is.  Gd.    Part  II.  2s.  Gd. 

Part  III.  3*.  Gd. 

Schellen's  Spectrum  Analysis.    8vo.  31s.  fid. 
Sennett's  Treatise  on  the  Marine  Steam  Engine.     8vo.  21*. 
Smith's  Air  and  Rain.    8vo.  24*. 

Stoney's  The  Theory  of  the  Stresses  on  Girders,  &c.    Royal  8vo.  36*. 
Swinton's  Electric  Lighting  :  Its  Principles  and  Practice.    Crown  8vo.  5*. 
Tilden's  Practical  Chemistry.    Fcp.  8vo.  1*.  Gd. 
Tyndall's  Faraday  as  a  Discoverer.    Crown  8vo.  3*.  Gd. 

—  Floating  Matter  of  the  Air.    Crown  8vo.  7*.  Gd. 

—  Fragments  of  Science.    2  vols.  post  8vo.  16s. 

—  Heat  a  Mode  of  Motion.    Crown  8vo.  12*. 

—  Lectures  on  Light  delivered  in  America.    Crown  8vo.  5*. 

—  Lessons  on  Electricity.    Crown  8vo.  2*.  Gd. 

—  Note*  on  Electrical  Phenomena.    Crown  8vo.  1*.  sewed,  1*.  Gd.  cloth. 

—  Notes  of  Lectures  on  Light.    Crown  8vo.  1*.  sewed,  1*.  Gd.  cloth. 

—  Sound,  with  Frontispiece  and  203  Woodcuts.    Crown  8vo.  10*.  Gd. 
Watts's  Dictionary  of  Chemistry.    9  vol?.  medium  8vo.  £15.  2*.  Gd. 
Wilson's  Manual  of  Health-Science.    Crown  8vo.  2*.  fid. 

THEOLOGICAL    AND    RELIGIOUS    WORKS. 

Arnold's  (Rev.  Dr.  Thomas)  Sermons.    6  vols.  crown  8vo.  5*.  each. 

Boultbee's  Commentary  on  the  39  Articles.    Crown  8vo.  6*. 

Browne's  (Bishop)  Exposition  of  the  39  Articles.    8vo.  16*. 

Bullinger's  Critical  Lexicon  and  Concordance  to  the  English  and  Greek  New 

Testament.    Royal  8vo.  15*. 

Colenso  on  the  Pentateuch  and  Book  of  Joshua.    Crown  8vo.  6*. 
Gender's  Handbook  of  the  Bible.    Post  8vo.  7*.  Gd. 
Conybeare  &  Howson's  Life  and  Letters  of  St.  Paul  :— 

Library  Edition,  with  Maps,  Plates,  and  Woodcuts.    2  vols.  square  crown 

8vo.  21*. 
Student's  Edition,  revised  and  condensed,  with  46  Illustrations  and  Maps, 

1  vol.  crown  8vo.  7*.  Gd. 

Cox's  (Homersham)  The  First  Century  of  Christianity.    8vo.  12*. 
Davidson's  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  the  New  Testament.    2  vols.  8vo.  30*. 
Edersheim's  Life  and  Times  of  Jesus  the  Messiah.    2  vols.  8vo.  24*. 

—         Prophecy  and  History  in  relation  to  the  Messiah.    8vo.  12*. 
Ellicott's  (Bishop)  Commentary  on  St.  Paul's  Epistles.    8vo.    Galatians,  8*.  Gd. 
Ephesiaas,  8*.  Gd.    Pastoral  Epistles,.  10*.  Gd.    Philippians,  Colossians  and 
Philemon,  10*.  Gd.    Thessalouians,  7*.  Gd. 

Lectures  on  the  Life  of  our  Lord.    8vo.  12*. 
Ewald's  Antiquities  of  Israel,  translated  by  Solly.    8vo.  12*.  Gd. 

—      History  of  Israel,  translated  by  Carpenter  &  Smith.    Vols.  1-7,  8vo.  £5. 
Hobart's  Medical  Language  of  St.  Luke.    8vo.  16*. 


London :  LONGMANS,  GKREEN,  &  CO. 


Geaeral  Lists  of  Works. 


Hopkins's  Christ  the  Consoler.    Fcp.  8vo.  2*.  Bd. 
Jukes's  New  Man  and  the  Eternal  Life.    Crown  8vo.  6*. 

—  Second  Death  and  the  Restitution  of  all  Things.    Crown  8vo.  3*.  64. 

—  Types  of  Genesis.    Crown  8vo.  Is.  Bd. 

—  The  Mystery  of  the  Kingdom.    Crown  8vo.  3*.  Bd. 

Lenormant's  New  Translation  of  the  Book  of  Genesis.    Translated  into  English. 

8vo.  10*.  Kd. 

Lyra  Germanica  :  Hymns  translated  by  Miss  Winkworth.    Fcp.  8vo.  5*. 
Macdonald's  (G.)  Unspoken  Sermons.    Two  Series,  Crown  8vo.  3s.  Bd.  each. 

The  Miracles  of  our  Lord.    Crown  8vo.  3*.  Bd. 
Manning's  Temporal  Mission  of  the  Holy  Ghost.    Crown  8vo.  8*.  Bd. 
Martineau's  Endeavours  after  the  Christian  Life.    Crown  8vo.  7s.  Bd. 

—  Hymns  of  Praise  and  Prayer.    Crown  8vo.  4*.  Bd.    32mo.  1*.  Bd. 

—  Sermons,  Hours  of  Thought  on  Sacred  Things.    2  vols.  7s.  Bd.  each. 
MonselPs  Spiritual  Songs  for  Sundays  and  Holidays.    Fcp.  8vo.  5*.    18mo.  2*. 
Mailer's  (Max)  Origin  and  Growth  of  Religion.    Crown  8vo.  7s.  Bd. 

—  —     Science  of  Religion.    Crown  8vo.  7s.  Bd. 
Newman's  Apologia  pro  Vita  Sua.    Crown  8vo.  6*. 

—  The  Idea  of  a  University  Defined  and  Illustrated.    Crown  8vo.  7s, 

—  Historical  Sketches.    3  vols.  crown  8vo.  6*.  each. 

—  Discussions  and  Arguments  on  Various  Subjects.     Crown  8vo.  6*. 

—  An  Essay  on  the  Development  of  Christian  Doctrine.    Crown  8vo.  6*. 

—  Certain  Difficulties  Felt  by  Anglicans  in  Catholic  Teaching  Con- 

sidered.   Vol.  1,  crown  8vo.  7s.  Bd.     Vol.  2,  crown  8vo.  5*.  Bd. 

—  The  Via  Media  of  the  Anglican  Church,  Illustrated  in  Lectures,  <fec. 

2  vols.  crown  8vo.  6*.  each 

—  Essays,  Critical  and  Historical    2  vols.  crown  8vo.  12*. 

—  Essays  on  Biblical  and  on  Ecclesiastical  Miracles.     Crown  8vo.  6*. 

—  An  Essay  in  Aid  of  a  Grammar  of  Assent.    7s.  Bd. 
Overton's  Life  in  the  English  Church  (1660-1714).    8vo.  14*. 
Bx)gers's  Eclipse  of  Faith.    Fcp.  8vo.  5s. 

—  Defence  of  the  Eclipse  of  Faith.    Fcp.  8vo.  3*.  Bd. 
Sewell's  (Miss)  Night  Lessons  from  Scripture.    32mo.  3s.  6d. 

—  —     Passing  Thoughts  on  Religion.    Fcp.  8vo.  3.».  Bd. 

—  —     Preparation  for  the  Holy  Communion.    32mo.  3*. 
Smith's  Voyage  and  Shipwreck  of  St.  PauL    Crown  8vo.  7s.  Bd. 
Supernatural  Religion.    Complete  Edition.    3  vols.  8vo.  36*. 

Taylor's  (Jeremy)  Entire  Works.    With  Life  by  Bishop  Heber.    Edited  by  the 
Rev.  C.  P.  Eden.    10  vols.  8vo.  £5.  5*. 

TRAVELS,    ADVENTURES,    &c. 

Alpine  Club  (The)  Map  of  Switzerland.    In  Four  Sheets.    42*.  ' 

Baker's  Eight  Years  in  Ceylon.    Crown  8vo.  5*. 

—      Rifle  and  Hound  in  Ceylon.    Crown  8vo.  5*. 
Ball's  Alpine  Guide.    3  vols.  post  8vo.  with  Maps  and  Illustrations  :— I.  Western 

Alps,  6*.  ed.    IL  Central  Alps,  7s.  Bd.    III.  Eastern  Alps,  10*.  M. 
Ball  on  Alpine  Travelling,  and  on  the  Geology  of  the  Alp?,  1*. 
Bent's  The  Cyclades,  or  Life  among  the  Insular  Greeks.    Crown  8vo.  12*.  Bd. 


London:  LONGMANS,  GKREEN,  &  CO. 


10  General  Lists  of  Works, 


Brassey's  Sunshine  and  Storm  in  the  East.    Library  Edition,  Svo.  21s.     Cabinet 
Edition,  crown  8vo.  7s.  Gd. 

—  Voyage  in  the  Yacht  '  Sunbeam.'     Library  Edition,  8vo.  21s.    Cabinet 

Edition,  crown  8vo.  7s.  6d.    School  Edition,  fcp.  8vo.  2s.    Popular 
Edition,  4to.  Gd. 

—  In  the  Trades,  the  Tropics,  and  the  '  Roaring  Forties.'    Edition  de 

Luxe,  8vo.  £3.  13s.  Gd.    Library  Edition,  Svo.  21$. 
Crawford's  Across  the  Pampas  and  the  Andes.    Crown  8vo.  7*.  Gd. 
Dent's  Above  the  Snow  Line.    Crown  8vo.  7s.  Gd. 
Froude's  Oceana  ;  or,  England  and  her  Colonies.    Crown  8vo.  2s.  boards  ;  2s.  Gd. 

cloth. 

Hassall's  San  Remo  Climatically  considered.    Crown  8vo.  5s. 
Hewitt's  Yisits  to  Remarkable  Places.    Crown  8vo.  7s.  Gd. 
Three  in  Norway.    By  Two  of  Them.    Crown  8vo.  Illustrations,  6*. 

WORKS    OF    FICTION. 

I  Beaconsfield's  (The  Earl  of)  Novels  and  Tales.  Hughenden  Edition,  with  2 
Portraits  on  Steel  and  11  Vignettes  on  Wood.  11  vols.  crown  8vo.  £2.  2s. 
Cheap  Edition,  11  vols.  crown  8vo.  1*.  each,  boards ;  Is.  Gd.  each,  cloth. 


Lothair. 

Sybil. 

Coningsby. 

Tancred. 

Venetia. 


Contarini  Fleming. 
Alroy,  Ixion,  &c. 
The  Young  Duke,  &c. 
Vivian  Grey. 
Endymion. 


Henrietta  Temple. 

Black  Poodle  (The)  and  other  Tales.    By  the  Author  of  '  Vice  Versa.'  Cr.  8vo.  6*. 
Brabourne's  (Lord)  Friends  and  Foes  from  Fairyland.    Crown  8vo.  65. 
Harte  (Bret)  On  the  -Frontier.    Three  Stories.    16mo.  1*. 

—  —      By  Shore  and  Sedge.    Three  Stories.    16mo.  Is. 

—  —      In  the  Carquinez  Woods.    Crown  Svo.  25.  boards  ;  2s.  Gd.  cloth. 
Melville's  (Whyte)  Novels.    8  vols.  fcp.  Svo.  Is.  each,  boards  ;  Is.  Gd.  each,  cloth. 

Digby  Grand.  Good  for  Nothing. 

General  Bounce.  Holmby  House. 

Kate  Coventry.  The  Interpreter. 

The  Gladiators.  The  Queen's  Maries. 

Novels  by  the  Author  of  '  The  Atelier  du  Lys ' : 

The  Atelier  du  Lys ;  or,  An  Art  Student  in  the  Reign  of  Terror.    Crown 

Svo.  2«.  Gd. 

Mademoiselle  Mori:  a  Tale  of  Modern  Rome.    Crown  Svo.  2s.  Gd. 
In  the  Olden  Time :  a  Tale  of  the  Peasant  War  in  Germany.  Crown  Svo.  2s.  Gd . 
Hester's  Venture.    Crown  Svo.  65. 
Oliphant's  (Mrs.)  Madam.    Crown  Svo.  3*.  Gd. 

—  —     In  Trust :  the  Story  of  a  Lady  and  her  Lover.    Crown  Svo. 

2s.  boards  ;  2s.  Gd.  cloth. 
Payn's  (James)  The  Luck  of  the  Darrells.    Crown  8vo.  3s.  Gd. 

—  —       Thicker  than  Water.    Crown  Svo.  -2s.  boards  ;  2s.  Gd.  cloth. 
Reader's  Fairy  Prince  Follow-my-Lead.    Crown  Svo.  5s. 

Sewell's  (Miss)  Stories  and  Tales.    Crown  Svo.  Is.  each,  boards ;  1*.  Gd.  cloth  ; 
2s.  Gd.  cloth  extra,  gilt  edges. 


Amy  Herbert.    Cleve  Hall. 
The  Earl's  Daughter. 
Experience  of  Life. 
Gertrude.    Ivors. 


A  Glimpse  of  the  World. 
Katharine  Ashton. 
Laneton  Parsonage, 
Margaret  Percival.        Ursula. 


London :  LONGMANS,  GREEN,  &  CO. 


General  Lists  of  Works.  11 


Stevenson's  (E.  L.)  The  Dynamiter.    Fcp.  8vo.  Is.  sewed ;  1*.  6d.  cloth. 

—      Strange  Case  of  Dr.  Jekyll  and  Mr.  Hyde.    Fcp.  8vo.  1*. 

sewed  ;  1*.  6d.  cloth. 

Trollope's  (Anthony)  Novels.    Fcp.  8vo.  Is.  each,  boards ;  1*.  6d.  cloth. 
The  Warden  |         Barchester  Towers. 

POETRY    AND    THE    DRAMA. 

Armstrong's  (Ed.  J.)  Poetical  Works.     Fcp.  8vo.  5s. 
—  (G.  F.)  Poetical  Works  :— 


Poems,  Lyrical  and  Dramatic.  Fcp. 

8vo.  6s. 

Ugone :  a  Tragedy.    Fcp.  8vo.  6s. 
A  Garland  from  Greece.  Fcp.  8vo.9,s. 


King  Saul.    Fcp.  8vo.  5*. 
King  David.  Fcp.  8vo.  6*. 
King  Solomon.    Fcp.  8vo.  6s. 
Stories  of  Wicklow.    Fcp.  8vo. 


Bowen's  Harrow  Songs  and  other  Verses.    Fcp.  8vo.  2*.  6d.  •  or  printed  on 

baud-made  paper,  os. 

Bowdler's  Family  Shakespeare.    Medium  8vo.  14*.    6  vols.  fcp.  8vo.  21s. 
Dante's  Divine  Comedy,  translated  by  James  Innes  Minchin.    Crown  8vo.  15s. 
Goethe's  Faust,  translated  by  Birds.    Large  crown  8vo.  12s.  6d. 

—  —      translated  by  Webb.    8vo.  12*.  6d. 

—  —      edited  by  Selss.    Crown  8vo.  5*. 

Ingelow's  Poems.    Vols.  1  and  2,  fcp.  8vo.  12*.    Vol.  3  fcp.  8vo.  5*. 

Lyrical  and  other  Poems.    Fcp.  8vo.  2s.   6d.  cloth,  plain ;  3*.  cloth, 

gilt  edges. 
Macaulay's  Lays  of  Ancient  Rome,  with  Ivry  and  the  Armada.    Illustrated  by 

Weguelin.    Crown  8vo.  3*.  6d.  gilt  edges. 

The  same,  Popular  Edition.    Illustrated  by  Scharf.    Fcp.  4to.  6d.  swd.,  1*.  cloth. 
Header's  Voices  from  Flowerland,  a  Birthday  Book,  2s.  6d.  cloth,  3*.  6d.  roan. 
Southey's  Poetical  Works.    Medium  8vo.  14*. 
Stevenson's  A  Child's  Garden  of  Verses.    Fcp.  8vo.  5*. 
Virgil's  JEneid,  translated  by  Conington.    Crown  8vo.  9*. 

—  Poems,  translated  into  English  Prose.    Crown  8vo.  9*. 

AGRICULTURE,  HORSES,  DOGS,  AND  CATTLE. 

Dunster's  How  to  Make  the  Land  Pay.    Crown  8vo.  5*. 

Fitzwygram's  Horses  and  Stables.    8vo.  5*. 

Lloyd's  The  Science  of  Agriculture.    8vo.  12*. 

London's  Encyclopaedia  of  Agriculture.    21*. 

Miles's  Horse's  Foot,  and  How  to  Keep  it  Sound.    Imperial  8vo.  12*.  6d. 

—  Plain  Treatise  on  Horse-Shoeing.    Post  8vo.  2*.  6d. 

—  Remarks  on  Horses'  Teeth.    Post  8vo.  1*.  6d. 

—  Stables  and  Stable-Fittings.    Imperial  8vo.  15*. 
Nevile's  Farms  and  Farming.    Crown  8vo.  6*. 

—  Horses  and  Riding.    Crown  8vo.  6*. 

Steel's  Diseases  of  the  Ox,  a  Manual  of  Bovine  Pathology.    8vo.  15*. 
Stonehenge's  Dog  in  Health  and  Disease.    Square  crown  8vo.  7*.  8d. 

—          Greyhound.    Square  crown  8vo.  15*. 
Taylor's  Agricultural  Note  Book.    Fcp.  8vo.  2*.  6d. 
Ville  on  Artificial  Manures,  by  Crookes.    8vo.  21*. 
Youatt's  Work  on  the  Dog.    8vo.  6*. 

—         —    —   —  Horse.    8vo.  7*.  6d. 


London :  LONGMANS,  GREEN,  &  CO. 


12 


General  Lists  of  Works. 


SPORTS    AND    PASTIMES. 

The  Badminton  Library  of  Sports  and  Pastimes.  Edited  by  the  Duke  of  Beaufort 
and  A.  B.  T.  Watson.  With  numerous  Illustrations.  Crown  8vo.  10s.  Gd. 
each. 

Hunting,  by  the  Duke  of  Beaufort,  <fec. 

Fishing,  by  H.  Cholmondeley-Pennell,  &c.    2  vols. 

Racing,  by  the  Earl  of  Suffolk,  &c. 

Shooting,  by  Lord  Walsingham,  &c.    2  vols. 

*»*  Other  Volumes  in  preparation. 

Campbell- Walker's  Correct  Card,  or  How  to  Piay  at  Whist.    Fcp.  8vo.  2s.  fid. 
Dead  Shot  (The)  by  Marksman.    Crown  8vo.  10*.  Gd. 
Francis's  Treatise  on  Fishing  in  all  its  Branches.    Post  8vo.  15s. 
Longman's  Chess  Openings.    Fcp.  8vo.  2s.  Gd. 

Pole's  Theory  of  the  Modern  Scientific  Game  of  Whist.    Fcp.  8vo.  2*.  Gd. 
Proctor's  How  to  Play  Whist.    Crown  8vo.  5s. 
Ronalds's  Fly-Fisher's  Entomology.    8vo.  14s. 
Verney's  Chess  Eccentricities.    Crown  8vo.  10s.  Gd. 
Wilcocks's  Sea- Fisherman.    Post  8vo.  6s. 
Year's  Sport  (The)  for  1885.    8vo.  21s. 


EN  CYC  LOP/ED  I  AS,    DICTIONARIES,    AND    BOOKS    OF 
REFERENCE. 

Acton's  Modern  Cookery  for  Private  Families.    Fcp.  Svo.  4s.  Gd. 

Ayre's  Treasury  of  Bible  Knowledge.    Fcp.  Svo.  6s. 

Brande's  Dictionary  of  Science,  Literature,  and  Art.    3  vols.  medium  Svo.  63s. 

Cabinet  Lawyer  (The),  a  Popular  Digest  of  the  Laws  of  England.    Fcp.  Svo.  9s. 

Cates's  Dictionary  of  General  Biography.    Medium  Svo.  28s, 

Doyle's  The  Official  Baronage  of  England.    Vols.  I.-III.    3  vols.  4to.  £5.  5s. ; 

"  Large  Paper  Edition,  £15.  15s. 
Gwilt's  Encyclopaedia  of  Architecture.    Svo.  52s.  Gd. 

Keith  Johnston's  Dictionary  of  Geography,  or  General  Gazetteer.  Svo.  42s. 
M'Culloch'a  Dictionary  of  Commerce  and  Commercial  Navigation.  Svo.  63s. 
Maunder's  Biographical  Treasury.  Fcp.  Svo.  6s. 

—  Historical  Treasury.    Fcp.  Svo.  6s. 

Scientific  and  Literary  Treasury.     Fcp.  Svo.  6s. 

—  Treasury  of  Bible  Knowledge,  edited  by  Ayre.    Fcp.  Svo.  6s. 

—  Treasury  of  Botany,  edited  by  Lindley  &  Moore.    Two  Parts,  12s. 

—  Treasury  of  Geography.    Fcp.  Svo.  6s. 

—  Treasury  of  Knowledge  and  Library  of  Reference.    Fcp.  Svo.  6s. 

—  Treasury  of  Natural  History.    Fcp  Svo.  6.?. 

Quain's  Dictionary  of  Medicine.    Medium  Svo.  31s.  fid.,  or  in  2  vols.  34s. 

Reeve's  Cookery  and  Housekeeping,    Crown  Svo.  7s.  Gd. 

Rich's  Dictionary  of  Roman  and  Greek  Antiquities.    Crown  Svo.  7s.  Gd. 

Roget's  Thesaurus  of  English  Words  and  Phrases.    Crown  Svo.  10s.  6d. 

Ure's  Dictionary  of  Arts,  Manufactures,  and  Mines.    4  vols.  medium  Svo.  £7.  7s. 

Willich's  Popular  Tables,  by  Marriott.    Crown  Svo.  10s. 


London:  LONGMANS,  GKREEN,  &  CO. 


A   SELECTION 


OP 


EDUCATIONAL   WORKS. 


TEXT-BOOKS    OF    SCIENCE. 

Abney'a  Treatise  on  Photography.    Fcp.  8vo.  3s.  Gd. 
Anderson's  Strength  of  Materials.    3*.  Gd. 
Armstrong's  Organic  Chemistry.    3s.  Qd. 
Ball's  Elements  of  Astronomy.    6*. 
Barry's  Railway  Appliances.    35.  Gd. 
Bauerman's  Systematic  Mineralogy.    Gs. 
—         Descriptive  Mineralogy.    6*. 
Bloxani  and  Huntington's  Metals.    5s. 
Glazebrook's  Physical  Optics.    65. 
Glazebrook  and  Shaw's  Practical  Physics.    6s. 
Gore's  Art  of  Electro- Metallurgy.    Gs. 

Griffin's  Algebra  and  Trigonometry.    3s.  Gd.    Notes  and  Solutions,  3*.  Gd. 
Jenkin's  Electricity  and  Magnetism.    3*.  Gd. 
Maxwell's  Theory  of  Heat.    3s.  Gd. 

Merrifield's  Technical  Arithmetic  and  Mensuration.    3*.  Gd.    Key,  3s.  Gd. 
Miller's  Inorganic  Chemistry.    3s.  6d. 
Preece  and  Sivewright's  Telegraphy.    5s. 
Rutley's  Study  of  Rocks,  a  Text-Book  of  Petrology.    4s.  Gd. 
Shelley's  Workshop  Appliances.    4s.  Gd. 
Thome's  Structural  and  Physiological  Botany.    6*. 
Thorpe's  Quantitative  Chemical  Analysis.    4s.  Gd. 
Thorpe  and  Muir's  Qualitative  Analysis.    3*.  6d. 

Tilden's  Chemical  Philosophy.    3*.  Gd.    With  Answers  to  Problems.    4s.  Gd. 
Unwin's  Elements  of  Machine  Design.    Gs. 
^Yatsou's  Plane  and  Solid  Geometry.    3*.  Gd. 


THE    GREEK    LANGUAGE. 

Bloomfield's  College  and  School  Greek  Testament.    Fcp.  8vo.  5*. 
Bolland  Si  Lang's  Politics  of  Aristotle.    Post  8vo.  7s.  Gd. 
Collis's  Chief  Tenses  of  the  Greek  Irregular  Verbs.    8vo.  1*. 

—  Pontes  Graeci,  Stepping- Stone  to  Greek  Grammar.    12mo.  3s.  Gd. 

—  Praxis  Grseca,  Etymology.    12mo.  2s.  Gd. 

—  Greek  Verse-Book,  Praxis  lambioa.    12mo.  4s.  Gd. 
Parrar's  Brief  Greek  Syntax  and  Accidence.    12mo.  4s.  Gd. 

—  Greek  Grammar  Rules  for  Harrow  School.    12mo.  Is.  Gd. 
Hewitt's  Greek  Examination- Papers.    12mo.  Is.  Gd. 

Isbister's  Xenophon's  Anabasis,  Books  I.  to  III.  with  Xotei.    12mo.  3s.  Gd. 
Jerram's  Gracce  Reddenda.    Crown  8vo.  1*.  8d. 


London:  LONGMANS,  GREEN,  &  CO. 


14  A  Selection  of  Educational  Works, 


Kennedy's  Greek  Grammar.    12mo.  is.  Gd. 

Liddell  &  Scott's  English-Greek  Lexicon.    4to.  36«. ;  Square  12mo.  Is.  Gd. 
Linwood's  Sophocles,  Greek  Text,  Latin  Notes.    4th  Edition.    8vo.  16*. 
Mahaffy's  Classical  Greek  Literature.    Crown  8vo.    Poets,  7s.  Gd.    Prose  Writers, 

7s.  Gd. 

Morris's  Greek  Lessons.    Square  18mo.    Part  I.  2s.  Gd. ;  Part  II.  Is. 
Parry's  Elementary  Greek  Grammar.    12mo.  3s.  Gd. 

Plato's  Republic,  Book  I.  Greek  Text,  English  Notes  by  Hardy.    Crown  8vo.  3*. 
Sheppard  and  Evans's  Notes  on  Thucydides.    Crown  8vo.  7s.  Gd. 
Thucydides,  Book  IV.  with  Notes  by  Barton  and  Chavasse.    Crown  8vo.  5s. 
Valpy's  Greek  Delectus,  improved  by  White.    12mo.  2*.  Gd.    Key,  25.  6d. 
White's  Xenophon's  Expedition  of  Cyrus,  with  English  Notes.    12mo.  75.  Gd. 
Wilkins's  Manual  of  Greek  Prose  Composition.    Crown  8vo.  55.    Key,  55. 

—  Exercises  in  Greek  Prose  Composition.    Crown  8vo.  45. Gd.    Key,  25. 6d. 

—  New  Greek  Delectus.    Crown  Svo.  35.  Gd.    Key,  25.  Gd. 

—  Progressive  Greek  Delectus.     12mo.  45.     Key,  25.  Gd. 

—  Progressive  Greek  Anthology.    12mo.  55. 

—  Scriptores  Attici,  Excerpts  with  English  Notes.    Crown  8vo.  75.  Gd. 

—  Speeches  from  Thucydides  translated.    Post  Svo.  65. 
Yonge's  English-Greek  Lexicon.    4to.  215. ;  Square  12mo.  85.  Gd. 


THE    LATIN    LANGUAGE. 

Bradley's  Latin  Prose  Exercises.     12rno.  35.  6d.    Key,  55. 

—  Continuous  Lessons  in  Latin  Prose.    12mo.  5s.    Key,  55.  Gd. 

—  Cornelius  Nepos,  improved  by  White.    12mo.  85.  Gd. 

—  Eutropius,  improved  by  White.    12mo.  25.  Gd. 

—  Ovid's  Metamorphoses,  improved  by  White.    12mo.  4.?.  Gd. 

—  Select  Fables  of  Phaadrus,  improved  by  White.    12mo.  25.  Gd. 
Collis's  Chief  Tenses  of  Latin  Irregular  Verbs.    Svo.  15. 

—      Pontes  Latini,  Stepping-Stone  to  Latin  Grammar.    12mo.  35.  Gd. 
Hewitt's  Latin  Examination-Papers.    12mo.  15.  6-7. 
Isbister's  Caesar,  Books  I.-VII.    12mo.  45. ;  or  with  Reading  Lessons,  45.  Gd. 

—  Cfesar's  Commentaries,  Books  I.-V.    12mo.  35.  Gd. 

—  First  Book  of  Caesar's  Gallic  War.    12mo.  15.  Gd. 
Jerram's  Latine  Reddenda.    Crown  Svo.  15.  Gd. 

Kennedy's  Child's  Latin  Primer,  br  First  Latin  Lessons.    12mo.  25. 

—  Child's  Latin  Accidence.    12mo.  15. 

—  Elementary  Latin  Grammar.    12mo.  35.  Gd. 

—  Elementary  Latin  Reading  Book,  or  Tirocinium  Latinum.    12mo.  25. 

—  Latin  Prose,  Palaestra  Stili  Latini.    l'2mo.  65. 

—  SubsidiaPrimaria,  Exercise  Books  to  the  Public  School  Latin  Primer. 

I.  Accidence  and  Simple  Construction,  ?5.  6rf.    II.  Syntax,  35.  Gd. 

—  Key  to  the  Exercises  in  Subsidia  Primaria,  Parts  I.  and  II.  price  55. 

—  Subsidia  Primaria,  TIT.  the  Latin  Compound  Sentence.    12mo.  If. 

—  Curriculum  Stili  Latini.    12mo.  45.  Gd.    Key,  7,5.  Gd. 

—  Palaestra  Latina,  or  Second  Latin  Reading  Book.    12mo.  5*. 


London:  LONGMANS,  GREEN,  ,fe  CO. 


A  Selection  of  Educational  Works. 


15 


Millington's  Latin  Prose  Composition.    Crown  8vo.  3*.  Gd. 

Selections  from  Latin  Prose.    Crown  8vo.  2s.  6<f . 

Moody's  Eton  Latin  Grammar.    12mo.  2s.  Gd.    The  Accidence  separately,  It. 
Morris's  Elementa  Latina.    Fcp.  8vo.  1*.  6d.    Key,  25.  Gd. 
Parry's  Origines  Romanse,  from  Livy,  with  English  Notes.    Crown  8vo.  4s. 
The  Public  School  Latin  Primer.    12mo.  2s.  Gd. 

—         —         —     Grammar,  by  Rev.  Dr.  Kennedy.    Post  8vo.  7s.  Gd. 
Prendergast's  Mastery  Series,  Manual  of  Latin.    12mo.  2*.  Gd. 
Rapier's  Introduction  to  Composition  of  Latin  Verse.    12mo.  3*.  6d.    Key,  2*.  Gd. 
Sheppard  and  Turner's  Aids  to  Classical  Study.    12mo.  5s.    Key,  65. 
Valpy's  Latin  Delectus,  improved  by  White.    12mo.  2*.  Gd.    Key,  3*.  6d. 
Virgil's  Mneiti,  translated  into  English  Verse  by  Conington.    Crown  8vo.  9*. 

—  Works,  edited  by  Kennedy.    Crown  8vo.  10*.  Gd. 

—      translated  into  English  Prose  by  Conington.    Crown  8vo.  9*. 
Walford's  Progressive  Exercises  in  Latin  Elegiac  Verse.    12mo.  2*.  Gd.    Key,  5s. 
White  and  Riddle's  Large  Latin-English  Dictionary.    1  vol.  4to.  21*. 
White's  Concise  Latin-Eng.  Dictionary  for  University  Students.    Royal  8vo.  12*. 

—  Junior  Students'  Eng.-Lat.  &  Lat.-Eng.  Dictionary.    Square  12mo.  5*. 

+  ,     ( The  Latin-English  Dictionary,  price  3*. 
iteiy  |  The  English-Latin  Dictionary,  price  3*. 
Yonge's  Latin  Gradus.    Post  8vo.  9.?. ;  or  with  Appendix,  12*. 

WHITE'S   GRAMMAR-SCHOOL    GREEK    TEXTS. 


^Esop  (Fables)  &  Palfephatus  (Myths). 

32mo.    1*. 

Euripides,  Hecuba.    2*. 
Homer,  Iliad,  Book  I.   1*. 

—       Odyssey,  Book  I.  1*. 
Lucian,  Select  Dialogues.    1*. 
Xenophon,  Anabasis,  Books  I.  III.  IV. 

V.  &  VI.  1*.  Gd.  each  ;  Book  II.  1*. ; 

Book  VII.  2*. 


Xenophon,  Book  I.  without  Vocabu- 
lary. 3d. 

St.  Matthew's  and  St.  Luke's  Gospels. 
2*.  fid.  each. 

St.  Mark's  and  St.  Jo  .n's  Gospels. 
1*.  Gd.  each. 

The  Acts  of  the  Apostles.     2s.  Gd. 

St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  tue  Komans.  l.».  6d. 


The  Four  Gospels  in  Greek,  with  Greek-English  Lexicon.    Edited  by  John  T. 
White,  D.D.  Oxon.    Square  32mo.  price  5*. 

WHITE'S    GRAMMAR-SCHOOL    LATIN    TEXTS. 


Caesar.  Gallic  War,  Books  I.  &  II.  V. 

&  VI.  1*.  each.     Book  I.  without 

Vocabulary,  3d. 
Csesar,  Gallic  War,  Books  III.  &  IV. 

9d.  each. 

Caesar,  Gallic  War,  Book  VII.    It.  Gd. 
Cicero,  Cato  Major  (Old  Age).    1*.  6d. 
Cicero,  Laelius  (Friendship).    It.  Gd. 
Kutropius,  Roman  Historv,  Books  I. 

&  II.  1*.    Books  III.  &  IV.  Is. 
Hnrace.Odes',  Books  I.  II.  &  IV.  1*.  each, 
Horace,  Odes,  Book  ILL    1*.  6d. 
Horace,  Epodes  and  Carmen  Seculare. 


Nepos,  Miltiades,  Simon,  Pausanias, 
Aristides.  9d. 

Ovid.  Selections  from  Epistles  and 
Fasti.  1*. 

Ovid,  Select  Myths  from  Metamor- 
phoses. 9d. 

Pheedrus,  Select  Easy  Fables, 

Phaedrns,  Fables,  Books  I.  &  II.    1*. 

Sallust,  Bellum  Catilinarium.    1*.  6d. 

Virgil,  Georgics,  Book  IV.    1*. 

Virgil,  ^Bneid,  Books  I.  to  VI.  Is.  each. 
Book  I.  without  Vocabulary,  3d. 

Virgil,  JEneid,  Books  VII.  Vin.  X. 
XL  XII.  U6d.each. 


London:  LONGMANS,  GREEN,  &  CO. 


16  A  Selection  of  Educational  Works, 


THE    FRENCH    LANGUAGE. 

Albites's  How  to  Speak  French.    Fcp.  8vo.  56.  Gd. 

—        Instantaneous  French  Exercises.    Fcp.  2s.    Key,  2s. 
Cassal's  French  Genders.    Crown  8vo.  3.$.  Gd. 
Oassal  &  Karcher's  Graduated    French  Translation    Book.       Part  I.  3*.  6d. 

Part  II.  5».    Key  to  Part  I.  by  Professor  Cassal,  price  5s. 
Contanseau's  Practical  French  and  English  Dictionary.     Post  8vo.  3s.  Gd., 
Pocket  French  and  English  Dictionary.    Square  ISmo.  Is.  Gd. 

—  Premieres  Lectures.     12mo.  2s.  6d. 

—  First  Step  in  French.    12mo.  2s.  Gd.    Key,  3*. 
French  Accidence.    12mo.  25.  Gd. 

—      Grammar.    12mo.  4s.    Key,  3s. 
Contanseau's  Middle-Class  French  Course.    Fcp.  8vo.  :— 


Accidence,  8d. 

Syntax,  Sd. 

French  Conversation-Book,  Sd. 

First  French  Exercise-Book,  8d. 

Second  French  Exercise- Book,  8c 


French  Translation-Book,  8d. 
Easy  Ftench  Delectus,  8d. 
First  French  Reader,  8d. 
Second  French  Reader,  8d. 
French  and  English  Dialogues,  8d. 


Contauseau's  Guide  to  French  Translation.    12mo.  3s.  Gd.    Key,  3s.  Gd. 

—  Prosateurs  et  Poeies  Fran9ais.    12mo.  5s. 
Precis  de  la  Litterature  Fraucaise.    12mo.  3*.  Gd. 

—  Abrege  de  1'Histoire  de  France.    12mo.  '2s.  Gd. 

Feval's  Chouans  et  Bleus,  with  Notes  by  C.  Sankey,  M.A.    Fcp.  8vo.  2*.  Gd. 

Jerram's  Sentences  for  Translation  into  French.    Cr.  8vo.  1*.    Key,  2*.  Gd. 

Prendergast's  Mastery  Series,  French.    12mo.  2s.  Gd. 

Souveitre's  Philosophe  sous  les  Toits,  by  Stievenard.    Square  18mo.  Is.  6d. 

Stepping-Stone  to  French  Pronunciation.    18ino.  Is. 

Stievenard's  Lectures  FranQaises  rrom  Modern  Authors.    12mo.  4s.  Gd . 

Rules  and  Exercises  on  the  French  Language.    12mo.  3s.  Gd. 
Tarver's  Eton  French  Grammar.    12mo.  6s.  Gd. 

THE    GERMAN    LANGUAGE. 

Blackley's  Practical  German  and  English  Dictionary.    Post  8vo.  3s.  Gd. 
Buchheini's  German  Poetry,  for  Eepetition.     18mo.  1*.  Gd. 
Collis's  Card  of  German  Irregular  Verbs.    8vo.  2s. 
Fischer-Fischart's  Elementary  German  Grammar.    Fcp.  8vo.  2*-.  Gd. 
Just's  German  Grammar.    12mo.  Is.  Gd. 

—    German  Reading  Book.     12mo.  3j>.  Gd. 

Longman's  Pocket  German  and  English  Dictionary.    Square  18mo.  2s.  6d. 
Naftel's  Elementary  German  Course  for  Public  Schools.    Fcp.  8vo. 


German  Accidence.    9d. 

German  Syntax.    9d. 

First  German  Exercise-Book.     Sd. 


German  Proee  Composition  Book.    9d. 
First  German  Reader.    9d. 
Second  German  Reader.    9d. 


Second  German  Exercise-Book.  9d. 
Prendergast's  Mastery  Series,  German.    12mo.  2*.  6d. 
Quick's  Essentials  of  German.     Crown  8vo.  3s.  Gd. 
Selss's  School  Edition  of  Goethe's  Faust.    Crown  8vo.  5s. 
—     Outline  of  German  Literature.     Crown  8vo.  4*.  Gd. 
Wirth's  German  Chit-Chat.    Cro\vn  8vo.  2s.  Gd. 


London:  LONGMANS,  GKEEN,  &  CO. 


spottiswoode  &  Co.  Printers,  Xew-street  square,  London. 


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