Linnæus, chosen by the Royal Society of Upsal to travel in Lapland, sets out in May 1732—Enters Lycksele Lapland—A Lapland Beauty—Beds made of Hair-moss—Conversation of a Curate and a Schoolmaster—The Lapland Alps—Their Vegetation—Brief Account of the Rein-deer—Passing over the alpine Region, he enters Norway—Again visits the mountainous Region—Difficulties of the Journey—Pearl-fishery—Forests set on Fire by Lightning—At Lulea he discovers the Cause of an epidemic Distemper among the Cattle—Returns through East Bothland—Concluding Remarks.
Linnæus, chosen by the Royal Society of Upsal to travel in Lapland, sets out in May 1732—Enters Lycksele Lapland—A Lapland Beauty—Beds made of Hair-moss—Conversation of a Curate and a Schoolmaster—The Lapland Alps—Their Vegetation—Brief Account of the Rein-deer—Passing over the alpine Region, he enters Norway—Again visits the mountainous Region—Difficulties of the Journey—Pearl-fishery—Forests set on Fire by Lightning—At Lulea he discovers the Cause of an epidemic Distemper among the Cattle—Returns through East Bothland—Concluding Remarks.
Having received this appointment, he visited his friend Stobæus at Lund, as also his parents, who were now reconciled to him, and returned to Upsal to prepare for his perilous enterprise.
On the 12th May 1732, he set out alone, equipped as follows:—"My clothes," says he, in his Lachesis Lapponica, "consisted of a light coat of West Gothland linsey-woolsey cloth without folds, lined with red shalloon, having small cuffs and collar of shag; leather breeches; a round wig; a green leather cap, and a pair of half-boots. I carried a small leather bag, half an ell in length, but somewhat less in breadth, furnished on one side with hooks and eyes, so that it could be opened and shut at pleasure. This bag contained one shirt; two pair of false sleeves; two half-shirts; an ink-stand, pencase, microscope, and spying-glass; a gauze cap to protect me occasionally from the gnats; a comb; my journal, and a parcel of paper stitchedtogether for drying plants, both in folio; my manuscript Ornithology, Flora Uplandica, and Characteres Generici. I wore a hanger at my side, and carried a small fowling-piece, as well as an octangular stick, graduated for the purpose of measuring. My pocket-book contained a passport from the Governor of Upsal, and a recommendation from the Academy."
Nature wore her most delightful aspect; the dandelion, the violet, and the primrose, unfolded their blossoms to the sun; the skylark chanted its lively song as it soared aloft in the clear sky; and the redwing warbled its love-notes from the lofty pines. How delightful must have been the feelings of the young naturalist, as he advanced toward the scene of those anticipated discoveries, which were to immortalize his name, or at least to increase the sphere of his ideas, and perhaps form the basis of his fortune! As he advanced, "the redwing, the cuckoo, the black-grous, and the mountain-finch, with their various notes, made a concert in the forest, to which the lowing herds of cattle under the shade of the trees formed a bass."
He proceeded through Helsingland, Angermanland, and West Bothland, to Lycksele Lapland, where he embarked on a large river, during his voyage on which he was gratified by the sight of numerous birds. But a succession of cataracts occurring soon after, the owner of the boat, inverting its position, placed it on his head, and "scampered away over hills and valleys, so that the devil himself could not have overtaken him."
By the beginning of June he found himself among swamps, torrents, and woods, occasionally accompanied by a Laplander as guide, and now andthen incurring dangers which would have damped the ardour of a less enthusiastic traveller. On one of these occasions, after wandering a long time in a labyrinth of marshes, he was met by a woman, whom he describes as presenting a very extraordinary appearance: "Her stature was very diminutive; her face of the darkest brown, from the effects of smoke; her eyes dark and sparkling; her eyebrows black; her pitchy-coloured hair hung loose about her head, and on it she wore a flat red cap. 'O thou poor man!' quoth she, 'what hard destiny can have brought thee hither, to a place never visited by any one before? This is the first time I ever beheld a stranger. Thou miserable creature! how didst thou come, and whither wilt thou go?'" Linnæus entreated her to point out some way by which he might continue his journey. "'Nay, man,' said she, 'thou hast only to go the same way back again; for the river overflows so much, it is not possible for thee to proceed further in this direction. From us thou hast no assistance to expect in the prosecution of thy journey, as my husband, who might have helped thee, is ill.'" The traveller begged of her something to eat, and after much difficulty procured a small cheese. He was obliged to retrace his steps through the marshes; and, when almost exhausted by hunger and fatigue, at length reached the house of a poor curate, where his wants were supplied.
The bountiful provision of nature, he remarks, is evinced in providing mankind with bed and bedding, even in this savage wilderness. The great hair-moss (Polytrichum commune), called by the Laplandersromsi, grows copiously in their dampforests, and is used for this purpose. They choose the starry-headed plants, out of the tufts of which they cut a surface as large as they please for a bed or bolster, separating it from the earth beneath; and, although the shoots are scarcely branched, they are, nevertheless, so entangled at the roots as not to be separable from each other. This mossy cushion is very soft and elastic, not growing hard by pressure; and if a similar portion of it be made to serve as a coverlet, nothing can be more warm and comfortable. They fold this bed together, tying it up into a roll that may be grasped by a man's arms, which, if necessary, they carry with them to the place where they mean to sleep the following night. If it becomes too dry and compressed, its former elasticity is restored by a little moisture.
Leaving the town of Lulen, on the 25th June, he embarked on the river, which he continued to navigate for several days and nights in a comfortable boat. At a place called Quickjock he was presented by the "famous wife of the curate, Mr Grot," with provisions sufficient to last a week. At Jockmock, the schoolmaster and the priest tormented him "with their consummate and most pertinacious ignorance." The latter began his conversation with remarks on the clouds, showing how they strike the mountains in their passage over the country, carrying off stones, trees, and cattle. "I ventured," says Linnæus, "to suggest that such accidents were rather to be attributed to the force of the wind, for that the clouds could not of themselves lift or carry away any thing. He laughed at me, saying, surely I had never seen any clouds. I replied, that whenever the weather is foggy I walk in clouds, andwhen the fog is condensed, and no longer supported in the air, it immediately rains. To all such reasoning, being above his comprehension, he only returned a sardonic smile. Still less was he satisfied with my explanation how watery bubbles may be lifted up into the air, as he told me the clouds were solid bodies. On my denying this, he reinforced his assertion with a text of Scripture, silencing me by authority, and then laughing at my ignorance. He next condescended to inform me, that after rain a phlegm is always to be found on the mountains, where the clouds have touched them. Upon my replying that this phlegm is a vegetable called nostoc, I was, like St Paul, judged to be mad, and that too much learning had turned my brain.
"The other, the pedagogue, lamented that people should bestow so much attention upon temporal vanities, and consequently, alas! neglect their spiritual good; and he remarked that many a one had been ruined by too great application to study. Both these wise men concurred in one thing: They could not conceal their wonder that the Royal Academy should have expressly appointed a mere student for the purposes on which I was sent, without considering that there were already as competent individuals resident in the country, who would have undertaken the business. They declared they would either of them have been ready to accept the charge. In my opinion, however, they would but have exhibited a fresh illustration of the proverb of the ass and the lyre."
On the 1st July, the traveller obtained a glimpse of the Lapland Alps, which resembled a rangeof white clouds rising from the horizon. Arriving in the evening at a place named Riomitis, he saw the sun set apparently on the summit of a high mountain,—a spectacle which, although common enough in hilly countries, was so new to him as to excite his utmost surprise, and to induce him to exclaim, "O Lord, how wonderful are thy works!"
Towards the close of day, July 6, accompanied by a native, who acted as his servant and interpreter, he ascended the heights of Wallavari, the first of the range. Here he found himself as in a new world. The forests had disappeared; mountains upon mountains, covered with snow, presented themselves on all sides; no traces of human habitations were to be seen; the plants of the lower districts had ceased, and a vegetation of a peculiar kind occupied their place, presenting such a profusion of new forms to the delighted eye of the naturalist, that he was overcome with astonishment. He observed the silken-leaved alpine lady's-mantle, the deep-green sibbaldia, the little purple-flowered azalea, the diapensia lapponica, the beautiful saxifraga stellaris, rivularis, and oppositifolia, the succulent rose-root, the red lychnis, several ranunculi, and a variety of other species, most of which are found towards the summits of our own Grampians. The more elevated parts were composed of slaty rocks; and from the snow with which they were covered the water was running in copious streams. He caught a young ptarmigan, upon which the parent bird ran so close to him that he might have taken her also. "She kept continually jumping round and round me," says he; "but I thought it a pity to deprive the tender brood of their mother, neitherwould my compassion for the mother allow me long to detain her offspring, which I restored to her in safety."
About the evening of the following day, they reached a secluded spot where a Laplander had pitched his tent. Immediately after their arrival, the herd of reindeer, consisting of seven or eight hundred, came home to be milked. Some of the milk was boiled for the stranger, but it proved rather rich for his stomach. His host furnished him with his own spoon, usually carried in his tobacco-bag, and which he washed by squirting a mouthful of water upon it.
He was here joined by another guide, and after refreshing themselves by sleep they proceeded on their journey. On the sides of the hills were observed in abundance the holes of the lemming-rat; and the alpine hare occasionally presented itself. Scarcely any other fish occurs in the lakes than the char, a beautiful species of trout, with the belly of a bright-red colour. In the evening they sought in vain for one of the native dwellings. Linnæus had walked so much that he could hardly stand; and, being ready to faint with fatigue, lay down, resolving rather to endure the cold and boisterous wind than proceed any farther. But his companions at length found some reindeer-dung, which by smelling they discovered to be fresh; and, perceiving a track in the snow, they advanced till they came to a hut, where they remained all next day, it being Sunday.
It is mentioned that the reindeer of those mountains are innumerable. The herds are brought home night and morning to be milked, and are so tractable as to be easily conducted by a single driverand a dog. The head is of a grayish colour, black about the eyes; the mouth whitish; the tail short and white; the feet encompassed with the same colour above the hoofs. The whole body is gray, darker when the new pile comes on, and lighter before it falls. The hair, like that of some other species of deer, is brittle and easily broken. The horns of the female are upright, or slightly bent backward, furnished with one or two branches in front near the base, the summit sometimes undivided, sometimes cleft. Those of the male are often two feet and a half long, and their points are as far distant from each other. They are variously branched. These animals cast their horns every year; the males about the end of November, the females in May; at first they are hairy, but the pile disappears before Michaelmas.
As the reindeer walks, a crackling noise proceeds from its feet, which is produced by the hooflets striking against each other. When these animals are driven to the place where they are accustomed to be milked, they all lie down, panting violently, and chewing the cud all the while. One of the attendants takes a small rope, and, making a noose, throws it over their heads in succession. The cord is then twisted round the horns, and the other end fastened to a stick thrust into the ground. If the milk does not come readily the udder is beaten sharply with the hand. The nipples are four, very rarely six, and all yield the fluid. After the process was finished, he observed the maid-servant taking up some of the dung, which she kneaded with her hands and put into a vessel. This was for the purpose of smearing the teats, to prevent the fawns from sucking too much.
He remained a few days among the Laplanders, who were occupied in feeding their flocks along the valleys, during which time he had an opportunity of observing their manners. He then proceeded over the range westward.
At length the mountains began to present rocks uncovered by snow, a glimpse of the ocean was obtained, and soon after the scene entirely changed. Arriving upon the abrupt edge of this elevated region, he beheld a vast expanse of forest stretching towards the sea, and presenting the semblance of cultivated fields. As he descended, the alpine plants gradually disappeared, the climate improved, and on reaching the margin of the plain, he sat down to regale himself with wild strawberries. He was struck with the circumstance, that the two natives who accompanied him showed no symptoms of fatigue. He attributes their superiority as walkers to their wearing no heels on their boots, to their being accustomed to running from their infancy, to their exemption from hard labour, to the habitual exercise of their muscles, to their chiefly using animal food, to their not overloading their stomachs, and to their being of small stature. Their continued health he imagines to be owing to the extreme purity of the air, to their eating their meat cold, to the excellence of the water, to their tranquillity of mind, to the absence of spirituous liquors, and to their being inured to cold from their earliest days.
Nothing could be more delightful to the feelings of our traveller than this transition from the severity of winter to the warmth of summer. He now approached the coast, and next day proceeded bysea, examining the various objects that presented themselves. In the evening he arrived at the house of Mr Rask, the pastor of Torfjorden, who received him with much kindness. When day dawned he proceeded on his voyage, but was obliged by a contrary wind to put about and return to the place from which he had sailed. On the following morning, having climbed one of the neighbouring heights, he was resting on its side, when he heard the report of a gun, the ball from which struck a stone quite near him. It was fired by a native, whose intention, it would appear, had been to murder him, although, as he presently took to flight, no information could be obtained respecting his motives.
On the 15th of July he set out on his return from the low grounds of Norway, and began to ascend the snowy mountains, accompanied by an interpreter. He directed his course towards the Alps of Tornea, which were described as about forty miles distant; but having for several days endured the greatest fatigue and privation, he doubted the expediency of advancing farther, especially as he made few discoveries in natural history. He therefore, on the 23d, took leave of the mountainous part of Lapland, and returned by water towards Lulea. In this tract he had abundant opportunities of observing the peculiar characters and manners of the inhabitants, which he cursorily details in his journal. On the 26th he reached a place called Purkijaur, where he in vain attempted to procure a boat to descend the river. His attendants and he were therefore obliged to make a raft, on which they embarked; but they had not proceeded half a mile when the force of the current separatedthe timbers, and with great difficulty they reached a house situated on an island.
Here he hired a man to show him the manner of fishing for pearls. This person made a raft of five logs, two fathoms in length, which he furnished with a stone anchor, a cable of birch-rope, a pole, and a pair of wooden pincers. When he reached a part which he wished to examine, he dropped the anchor, lay down at full length, looked over the edge of the raft, and on perceiving a pearl-mussel laid hold of it with the instrument. This shell is common in many of our own rivers, such as the Tay, the Ythan, the Dee, and the Don; but the pearls which it yields, although frequently large, are inferior in brilliancy to those of the true pearl-oyster, which is a marine, not a fresh-water production.
The forests having been set on fire by lightning, the flames raged with great violence, owing to the drought of the season; hence he and his guide, in crossing a part of the woods, experienced no small danger. The wind beginning to blow, a sudden noise arose, and the travellers, imagining it best to hasten forward, ran with all their might to reach the open ground. Sometimes the fall of a huge tree was so sudden that they looked aghast, not knowing which way to turn; and in one instance a large trunk fell between them, while the space by which they were separated did not exceed six feet. However, they at length effected their escape.
Visiting the Laxholms, or Salmon Islands, in this vicinity, he made observations on the fish, for the taking of which an establishment had been formed. He remarked, that the individuals of which thelower jaw was bent inwards and attenuated, were invariably males. On the 30th July he reached the old town of Lulea, where he was detained a day by a violent storm of thunder and rain; and on the 3d of August arrived at Tornea, which stands on a small island, or rather peninsula, with a swamp for its isthmus. At this place every body was talking of a distemper to which the cattle were subject, and which attacked them principally in spring. On walking to examine the meadows to which they are first turned out, he found them covered with a profusion of the water-hemlock (Cicuta virosa), to which he attributed the malady. "The slightest observation," he says, "teaches us that brute animals distinguish, by natural instinct, such plants as are wholesome to them from such as are poisonous. The cattle, therefore, do not eat this hemlock in summer or autumn, whence few of them perish at those seasons, and such only as devour the herb in question incautiously, or from an inordinate appetite. But when they are first let out in the spring, partly from their eagerness for fresh herbage, partly from their long fasting and starvation, they seize with avidity whatever comes within their reach. The grass is then but short, and insufficient to satisfy them," and they eat up whatever comes in the way. The proper remedy was pointed out by the visiter; and, as from 50 to 100 of their cattle perished annually, the matter was of great importance to the inhabitants.
In the church he saw a memorial of King Charles the Eleventh's zeal for astronomical science. That prince having visited Tornea, on the 14th June 1694 saw from the belfry the solar orb at midnight,and the following year sent Professors Bilberg and Spole to repeat the observation.
Leaving that town on the 9th August, Linnæus proceeded to Kimi, where there was a great salmon-fishery, and continued his journey through East Bothland; but finding that the Finlanders did not, or would not, understand him, he was obliged to return. He next directed his steps to Calix, and made several excursions in the neighbourhood, noting the Finnish names of articles which he might want at the inns, and again ventured to enter East Bothland. He then pursued his way along the east coast, through that district and Finland, visiting Ulea, Brabestadt, Carleby, Christina, and Abo. In the latter place he found one of his class-fellows, Mennander, who was afterwards archbishop of Upsal, and who furnished him with some money as a recompense for instructions in natural history. He then went by the post-yacht to Aland, crossed the sea of that name, and on the 10th October reached Upsal.
The whole extent of the journey was about 3800 English miles. It is quite unnecessary for us to expatiate on the dangers of such an expedition, to extol the courage and perseverance of him who accomplished it, or even to dilate on the important results. "My journey through Lapland," he says in a subsequent notice, "was the most toilsome; and I confess, that I was obliged to sustain more hardship and danger in wandering through this single tract of our northern world, than in all the travels which I undertook in other parts, though these were certainly not without fatigue. But when my journeys were over, I quickly forgot all their dangers anddifficulties, which were compensated by the invaluable fruits obtained on these excursions."
If he turned to such advantage the observations which he had made in a region but scantily supplied with the forms of animal and vegetable life, how much more profitable, it may be thought, would it have been for himself and for the world, had it been his lot to travel in some equinoctial country, teeming with the wonders of creation! Yet, perhaps the multiplicity of objects which would have forced themselves upon his notice in that richer scene, in an age when natural history was only beginning to emerge from its pristine chaos, would have bewildered the most comprehensive mind; whereas the less abundant stores of Lapland and Sweden presented themselves to him in such a way as to afford time to examine each individually, and to note the common and distinctive characters. It seems indeed more than probable, that if he had been a native of one of the warmer regions of the globe, he would not have attained such distinguished merit as a reformer of science.
Linnæus returns to Upsal—Is prevented from lecturing by Rosen, whom he attempts to assassinate—Accompanies some young Men on an Excursion to Fahlun, where he is introduced to the Governor of the Province, with whose Sons he travels to Norway—Returning to Fahlun, he delivers Lectures, falls in Love, is furnished with Money by his Mistress, and prepares to go Abroad for his Degree—He visits Hamburg, detects an Imposture there, and is obliged to make his Escape—Obtains his Degree at Harderwyk—Proceeds to Leyden, where he publishes his Systema Naturæ, and waits upon Boerhaave—Goes to Amsterdam, is kindly received by Burmann, and lodges with him—Is employed by Cliffort, publishes various Botanical Works—Goes to England, visits Sir Hans Sloane, Miller, and Dillenius—Returns to Holland, publishes several Works—Goes to Leyden, and resides with Van Royen—Publishes the Ichthyologia of Artedi, who was drowned in Amsterdam—Becomes melancholy, and falls into a violent Fever—On his Recovery goes to Paris, where he is kindly received by the Jussieus—Returns to Sweden after an Absence of Three Years and a Half.
Linnæus returns to Upsal—Is prevented from lecturing by Rosen, whom he attempts to assassinate—Accompanies some young Men on an Excursion to Fahlun, where he is introduced to the Governor of the Province, with whose Sons he travels to Norway—Returning to Fahlun, he delivers Lectures, falls in Love, is furnished with Money by his Mistress, and prepares to go Abroad for his Degree—He visits Hamburg, detects an Imposture there, and is obliged to make his Escape—Obtains his Degree at Harderwyk—Proceeds to Leyden, where he publishes his Systema Naturæ, and waits upon Boerhaave—Goes to Amsterdam, is kindly received by Burmann, and lodges with him—Is employed by Cliffort, publishes various Botanical Works—Goes to England, visits Sir Hans Sloane, Miller, and Dillenius—Returns to Holland, publishes several Works—Goes to Leyden, and resides with Van Royen—Publishes the Ichthyologia of Artedi, who was drowned in Amsterdam—Becomes melancholy, and falls into a violent Fever—On his Recovery goes to Paris, where he is kindly received by the Jussieus—Returns to Sweden after an Absence of Three Years and a Half.
On returning to Upsal, Linnæus was elected a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences; but this distinction was the only reward which he obtained for having undergone so many fatigues, excepting a small bursary, of which he was soon deprived. Now, however, he expected a more favourable reception in society, and in 1733 began to give public lectures on botany, chemistry, and mineralogy. Unfortunately for his success, he had not yet taken his degree,—a circumstance which legally disqualifiedhim for such an office; and a rival, Dr Nicholas Rosen, professor of anatomy, instigated, it would appear, by motives of envy, denounced him to the senate of the university. He was summoned to appear before that august body; and, although several of its members were disposed to favour him, he was prohibited from continuing his course.
Fortune then seemed bent upon thwarting him in all his projects. Stimulated by revenge, he laid wait for Rosen, and, assailing him with the utmost fury, attempted to run him through with his sword, when the bystanders interfering, wrested the weapon from his hand. For this offence he would have been expelled, had not Celsius interposed, and got him off with no other punishment than a reprimand. Men of quick tempers seldom cherish hatred; but Linnæus was of a peculiar disposition,—ambitious, confident of superiority, irritable, and obstinate. Moreover, he was in desperate circumstances, utterly destitute of all means of subsistence, and the world seemed to have conspired against him. He was still determined to stab his enemy to the heart, should he ever meet him in the streets. The conflict of his mind, under such excitement, must have been truly painful. He awoke one night from a dream of horror, seriously considered what he was about, and resolved, instead of assassinating Rosen, to expel the demon from his own breast.
An assistant-professorship being vacant in the University of Lund, he endeavoured to procure it, but, although his claims were supported by Stobæus and others, was unsuccessful. Prohibited from lecturing, he was only prevented from falling into despair by the consciousness of superior intellect, bycherishing a plan of botanical reform, and by still fixing his eyes on the prospect, however distant, of future independence. In the mean time, some of his former pupils, resolving to make an excursion to Norberg, Bipsberg, Afwestadt, Garpesberg, and Fahlun, solicited the benefit of his knowledge and experience in conducting their researches.
At the last-named town, where he occupied himself assiduously in exploring the mines, he was introduced to Baron Reuterholm, governor of the province of Dalecarlia, who was fond of natural history, and especially of mineralogy. Having two sons whom he was desirous of sending upon a journey, for the purpose of improving themselves in that department of science, he resolved to place them under the guidance of Linnæus. They set out in the spring of 1734, and extended their travels as far as the mines of Roraas in Norway.
Returning to Fahlun, he commenced lecturing on mineralogy, under the patronage of the governor, and found himself in all respects more comfortably situated than he had ever been at Upsal. He also obtained some employment in the medical line, and contracted an intimacy with John Browall, the tutor of the baron's children, who afterwards became bishop of Abo. Although he was now in comparatively easy circumstances, his friend advised him to procure a degree, and settle as a regular practitioner. This, however, being impracticable, on account of his want of funds, he turned his thoughts to matrimony, in the hope of being able to accomplish a suitable establishment.
There was a physician at Fahlun named More, or Moræus, who was reputed rich, and in fact wasone of the wealthiest individuals in the district. He had two daughters, of whom the elder, Sarah Elizabeth, was in all respects to the mind of Linnæus, who became a frequent visitor, and soon ingratiated himself with the family. Finding that the object of his choice was not less pleased with his person and manners, he determined to ask her in marriage; and, summoning all his resolution, made known his views to her father, who, although he had no objection to the character of the suitor, was little satisfied either with his fortune or his prospects. However, he promised that, should he succeed in obtaining his diploma, the young lady should be consigned to him after a period of three years.
It was customary at this time for Swedish students to take their degree at some foreign university, where it could be procured at the least expense. Hitherto Linnæus had been unable to qualify himself in this respect for the practice of his profession; but love now came to the aid of ambition. Miss Moræus, who was thrifty as well as handsome, had saved about 100 dollars of the pocket-money which she had received at various times, and offered them to her lover. To this sum he succeeded in adding a little by his own exertions, though the whole did not amount to more than thirty-six Swedish ducats.
After visiting his friends, weeping over the grave of his mother, who had died some months before, preparing his academical dissertations, and arranging his papers, he set out from Fahlun, in April 1735, accompanied by a young man named Sholberg. Travelling through the southern provinces of Sweden, Jutland, and Holstein, he arrived at Hamburg, where he remained for some time, inspectingthe collections and curiosities which that celebrated city contained. In the museum of John von Spreckelsen was a preparation of great value, presenting the appearance of a serpent with seven heads. It had even been pledged for a loan of 10,000 merks, and was in fact considered one of the most remarkable objects in the cabinets of the curious. Linnæus, however, on minutely inspecting the monster, discovered that the heads consisted of the jaws of a small quadruped covered over with the skin of a serpent. The wonder ceased, Spreckelsen nearly became bankrupt, and the stranger was obliged to leave Hamburg in order to avoid the enmities in which his sagacity had involved him.
Continuing his journey to Holland, he arrived at Harderwyk at the end of May, and made application for his degree, which he received on the 24th June. His thesis was on intermittent fevers, one of the principal causes of which he maintained to be water impregnated with argillaceous substances. Though he had now accomplished his chief object, he resolved, before returning to Sweden, to make himself known to some of the Dutch literati; and for this purpose proceeded to Leyden, where he hired a lodging. Here he made the acquaintance of Professor Royen, Dr Van Swieten, Lieberkuhn, Gronovius, and several others.
By the advice and assistance of the last of these scholars, he published his Systema Naturæ, in fourteen folio pages. This little work, containing a compendious classification of the three kingdoms of nature, was very favourably received. Boerhaave, one of the most illustrious physicians that the world has ever seen, was at the same time the most eminentindividual in the University of Leyden. Linnæus was therefore anxious to see him; but finding an interview impracticable in the ordinary way, on account of the great man's constant occupation, he resolved to send him a copy of his treatise, accompanied with a letter. The consequence was an invitation to meet him at his villa near the city, where he had a botanical garden. On entering into conversation with the young foreigner, the venerable professor, astonished at his knowledge, strongly advised him to remain in Holland, where he might be sure of making a fortune; but the other, prevented by poverty from adopting this counsel, was obliged to set out on the following day.
Arriving at Amsterdam with a recommendation to Professor Burmann, he was kindly received by that gentleman, who was then occupied with his description of the plants of Ceylon. Linnæus himself relates the occurrences which took place during this interview: "'Do you wish to see my plants?' asked Burmann, 'which of them would you inspect?' He held out one, and observed, 'It is very rare.' I begged a single flower, which I examined after softening it in my mouth, and pronounced it to be a species of laurus. 'It is not a laurus,' said Burmann. 'But it is,' said I; 'it is the cinnamon-tree.'—'It certainly is the cinnamon,' rejoined Burmann. I then convinced him that this tree was a species of laurus, and so of other plants. At length he said, 'Will you help me with my work on Ceylon, and you shall lodge with myself?'" To this proposal the other assented, delighted with the prospect of at once adding to his reputation and his knowledge.
In Burmann's house he found a collection of natural objects and an extensive library, both of which were of great use to him. The time passed pleasantly enough, and he deferred his return to Sweden till the following spring; about which period, a circumstance occurred that proved of great advantage to him. Dr George Cliffort, burgomaster at Amsterdam and one of the directors of the Dutch East India Company, who was a zealous lover of natural science, was in need of a domestic physician to take daily care of his health. Boerhaave, who was his medical attendant, recommended Linnæus, whom he represented as being also an excellent botanist, and capable of arranging his botanic garden. Cliffort accordingly invited Burmann and Linnæus to Hartecamp, his villa, where they found many new plants from the Cape of Good Hope. The young Swede pointed out those which had not been described, and evinced so accurate a knowledge of botany, that the burgomaster made him a proposal of free board and lodging, with a salary of 1000 florins. The terms were accepted with no small satisfaction.
This year he published a tract which he had commenced at Upsal,—his Fundamenta Botanica,—in which he exhibited the basis of his new system in 365 aphorisms. About the same time he printed his Bibliotheca Botanica, another small work, the materials of which he had found in the libraries of Spreckelsen, Burmann, Gronovius, and Cliffort. A description of the banana-tree (Musa paradisiaca), which had flowered in the garden of his patron, formed the subject of a third treatise. The Imperial Academy of Naturalists at Vienna admitted him as a member, under the honourable appellationof Dioscorides the Second, and his name began to be known throughout Germany.
Cliffort being desirous of extending his collection by obtaining new species from England, resolved to send Linnæus to that country, which he did in the latter part of July, limiting the period of his absence to twelve days. The passage from Rotterdam to Harwich occupied eight; and the stranger, finding himself surrounded by attractions, was in no haste to return, even to the elysium of Hartecamp. He arrived in London, with a letter of introduction from Boerhaave to the celebrated Sir Hans Sloane. Whether the venerable physician meant to make merry at the expense of the naturalists, or whether he really thought they both deserved the compliment which he paid to them in his note, let the reader determine:—"Linnæus, who will give you this letter, is alone worthy of seeing you, alone worthy of being seen by you. He who shall see you both together shall see a pair, whose like will scarcely be found in the world."
Notwithstanding this high encomium, Sir Hans exhibited no kindliness of feeling towards him. He was in fact a person who had grown old in self-esteem. Cliffort was desirous of procuring some plants from the garden at Chelsea, and his agent accordingly waited upon Mr Miller, who listened to his request with very little respect. At a subsequent visit, however, the Englishman became in some degree sensible of the merits of the young foreigner, and furnished him with the specimens which he had solicited. Proceeding to Oxford, he presented himself before the celebrated Dillenius, professor of botany, who received him much in thesame way as the others had done. "See," quoth Dillenius to his patron Sherard, who happened to be present at the interview, "this is the young man who confounds all botany." Although the Swede was ignorant of the language spoken by these islanders, he readily guessed at the meaning of "confounds," but thought it prudent to take no notice of the accusation. They then went to the garden, but the professor still treated the presumptuous youth with undisguised contempt. Next day, he waited upon Dillenius previous to his departure. "Before I go," said he, "I have one favour to request; tell me why you lately used those words about confounding botany." He refused to explain; but when Linnæus insisted that he should, "Come this way," said he; so the sheets of half of the Genera Plantarum were referred to. On almost every page were the letters N. B. When he asked what they meant, Dillenius said they marked the false genera. He maintained that the genera were not false, and the Oxonian referred to a plant in the garden, which he and other botanists considered as having three stamens. It was found to have only one, as his opponent had alleged. "O!" quoth Dillenius, "it may be so accidentally in a single flower;" but behold, all the flowers were the same; for when they examined a number, all turned out as the Swedish youth had described them. The professor had been slow of belief, it is true; but he now gave due honour to his visiter, detained him several days, and supplied him with all the plants which Cliffort required.
In a letter to his friend Dr Richardson, dated August 25, 1736, Dillenius expresses the followingopinion of him:—"A botanist is arisen in the North, who has founded a new method on the stamens and pistils, whose name is Linnæus. He has published Fundamenta Botanica, Bibliotheca Botanica, Systema Naturæ; and is now printing in Holland his Characteres, and his Flora Lapponica. He is a Swede, and has travelled over Lapland. He has a thorough insight and knowledge of botany, though I am afraid his method will not hold. He came hither, and stayed about eight days, but is now gone back to Sweden."
On his return to Holland, which took place in September, Linnæus continued his researches with increased diligence. In the course of the year 1737, he laid before the scientific world about two hundred printed sheets, not of compilation, nor of fiction, but for the most part completely original. The Genera Plantarum, containing the characters of all the genera of plants according to the number, form, situation, and proportion of their organs of generation, was the first work published by him after his return from England. This treatise exhibited 935 genera, to which were added during the same year sixty others, in a supplement, to which he also appended a concise view of his system. A full account of the plants observed by him in Lapland, arranged according to the method invented by himself, formed his next undertaking. It was dedicated to the Royal Society of Upsal, and contained a brief physico-geographical description of the country. At the solicitation of Gronovius, he permitted one of the productions of that northern region to be named after himself,Linnæa borealis. The great object of his residence at Hartecamp was nowcompleted by the publication of his Hortus Cliffortianus, in which were described all the species of plants cultivated in the burgomaster's garden. The Critica Botanica, in which he attempted to reform the absurd nomenclature that then prevailed, and the Viridarium Cliffortianum, describing the greenhouse-plants of Cliffort's establishment, were the other books published by him during this year.
Boerhaave, who had been in a great measure the author of his good fortune in Holland, now procured for him the appointment of physician in ordinary to the Dutch colony of Surinam, which, however, he declined, both on account of the insalubrity of the climate, and because he could now entertain the prospect of a more eminent station. He therefore recommended a young friend named Bartsch, who died in six months after his arrival in South America.
When about to depart from Leyden, Linnæus went to take leave of Boerhaave. The interview, which, however melancholy, was very flattering, is thus related by him: "That great man, who was affected with a dropsy of the chest which forced him to keep himself always sitting in his bed to prevent suffocation, would not receive visiters, but admitted me to bid him farewell. Summoning the little strength that remained in him, he raised my hand to his lips, and said: 'I have finished my career, and all that I have been permitted to do I have done; may God preserve you, who have yet a greater task to perform! What the learned world expected from me it has obtained; but it expects much more from you, my dear son. Farewell, farewell, my dear Linnæus!'"
Having gone with Cliffort to Amsterdam, and afterwards to Leyden, he visited among others his friend Van Royen, professor of botany, who having made proposals of marriage to Miss Boerhaave, the sole heiress of the great physician, had been rejected, and therefore vowed hostility to the family. The botanic garden there had been arranged and described agreeably to Boerhaave's method; but the other now resolved to alter the disposition, and adopt the system of Linnæus. He accordingly offered him a salary of eight hundred florins, if he would live with him, and assist in the execution of this scheme. Influenced by respect for his deceased friend, he would not countenance the alteration, although he devised a plan by which neither his benefactor nor himself should receive the honour. He remained with Van Royen, classed the plants after a principle of his own invention, and drew up a catalogue of them, which was published in the name of that teacher.
The next work which he printed was produced by the genius and industry of Artedi. When he resided at Leyden, previous to his going to Hartecamp, he had the pleasure of meeting this friend of his youth, who had left Sweden in 1734, and gone to England to prosecute his scientific labours. From thence he went to Holland for the purpose of obtaining his degree, which he was unable to accomplish on account of his extreme poverty. Linnæus recommended him to Seba, an apothecary at Amsterdam, and author of a large work on natural history, who received him as his assistant. But soon after, returning home in a dark night, he fell into a canal and was drowned. His countryman had the melancholysatisfaction of depositing his remains in the grave; and having induced Cliffort to purchase his manuscripts, which were detained for debt, he arranged and committed them to the press. This tract, in his opinion, was the best that had appeared on the subject of fishes. He also published his own Classes Plantarum, in which he presented a general view of all the botanical systems that had been previously proposed.
His ambition was now on the point of being attained. Not only were his works received with approbation, but his principles had been adopted by several teachers. He had also formed connexions in Holland which promised to be of the greatest advantage to him; and the Dutch, desirous of securing his services, proposed that he should make a botanical voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, with the promise of a professorship on his return.
But Linnæus about this time was seized with an ardent desire to revisit his native country, and fell into a state of extreme depression of spirits, succeeded by a violent fever, which lasted upwards of six weeks. His excessive application to study may be considered as the source of his complaints; and perhaps to this may be added his disquietude concerning the daughter of Moræus. But it does not, however, appear that his love for Elizabeth was equal to that for botany or even for his own renown; for though the stated period had elapsed, he still resolved to make a journey to Paris before returning to the place of his birth.
He reached that capital in the beginning of May 1738, and was kindly received by the two Jussieus,one of whom was the successor of Tournefort.—It is related by M. Fée, that on his arrival he went first to the Garden of Plants, where Bernard de Jussieu was describing some exotics in Latin. There was one which the demonstrator had not yet determined, and which seemed to puzzle him. The Swede looked on in silence, but, observing the hesitation of the learned professor, cried out,—"Hæc planta faciem Americanam habet,—It has the appearance of an American plant." Jussieu, surprised, turned about quickly and exclaimed,—"You are Linnæus."—"I am, sir," was the reply. The lecture was stopped, and Bernard gave the learned stranger an affectionate welcome. Through the kind offices of these amiable men and excellent botanists, he was introduced to many of the literati of Paris, and obtained access to the libraries, collections of natural objects, and public institutions. The French, however, were by no means disposed to adopt his views: "He is a young enthusiast," they said, "who confounds all, and whose only merit consists in having reduced botany to a state of anarchy." He was, notwithstanding, admitted a corresponding member of the Académie des Sciences. He then visited Versailles, accompanied by his two friends, who defrayed all his expenses, and showed him the public libraries, the museums, and the most celebrated private collections, especially that of Reaumur. "Linnæus," says he, in his autograph memoirs, "was now desirous of returning to Sweden without further delay, for time seemed to him too valuable to allow him to engage in studying the manners and language of the French. He never had a genius for languages, nor could he ever renderhimself familiar with the English, French, German, or even the Lapland tongues. He felt the same difficulties with respect to Dutch, although he had resided three years in Holland. This, however, fortunately did not prevent him from making himself sufficiently understood. After seeing all the curiosities at Paris, he went to Rouen in the dog-days. There he embarked for the Cattegat, with a favourable wind, and after crossing the Sound landed at Helsingburg. He immediately visited his old father at Stenbrohult, rested there a few days, and set out for Fahlun. After being formally betrothed to his bride, he proceeded to Stockholm, where he arrived in September."
He had left his native country in April 1734, and returned in the autumn of 1738, having been absent three years and a half. In the course of this period, he visited Holland, England, and France, formed acquaintance with many eminent naturalists, obtained his medical degree, published numerous works on botany, and extended his fame over all Europe.
With respect to the improvements which he made in that branch of natural history, it is unnecessary here to enter into any detail, as it is proposed to speak particularly of them in a subsequent volume. It may be sufficient to remark, that there had not previously been any good arrangement of plants; that the principles of the science had not been laid down in a satisfactory manner; that the nomenclature was barbarous and unsuitable; the mode of distinguishing species rude and inefficient; and that, in short, the works on this subject were little better than a chaos of names and unintelligible descriptions. Somewriters maintain, indeed, that he did more harm than good, when he became the legislator of botany. But their opinion can deceive those only who, too idle or too weak to judge for themselves, adopt the sentiments of their teachers with a deference unworthy of the student of nature.