SECTION XII.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

21. Animalia Sueciæ. Holm. 1745. 8vo.

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

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

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

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

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

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

28. Materia Medica Regni Animalis. Upsal, 1750.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

43. Mantissa Plantarum altera. Holm. 1771.

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

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

In the Transactions of the Upsal Academy:—

1. Animalia Regni Sueciæ, 1738.2. Orchides, iisque affines, 1740.3. Decem Plantarum genera nova, 1741.4. Euporista in Febribus intermittentibus, 1742.5. Pini usus œconomicus, 1743.6. Abietis usus œconomicus, 1744.7. Sexus Plantarum, 1744.8. Scabiosæ novæ; speciei descriptio, 1744.9. Penthorum, 1744.10. Euporista in Dysenteria, 1745.11. Sexus Plantarum usus œconomicus, 1746.12. Theæ potus, 1746.13. Cyprini speciei descriptio, 1746.

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

Vol. I. 1739-40.1. Cultura plantarum naturalis.2. Gluten Lapponum e Perca.3. Œstrus rangiferinus.4. Picus pedibus tridactylis.5. Mures Alpini Lemures.6. Passer nivalis.7. Piscis aureus Chinensium.8. Fundamenta œconomiæ.Vol. II. 1741.9. Formicarum sexus.10. Officinales Sueciæ Plantæ.11. Centuria Plantarum in Suecia rariorum.Vol. III. 1742.12. Plantæ Tinctoriæ Indigenæ.13. Amaryllis formosissima.14. Gramen Sœlting.15. Fœnum Suecicum.16. Phaseoli Chinensis species.17. Epilepsiæ vernensis causa.Vol. IV. 1743.18. De Uva Ursi seu Jackas Hapuck Sinus Hudsonici.Vol. V. 1744.19. Fagopyrum Sibiricum.20. Petiveria.Vol. VI. 174521. Passer procellarius.Vol. VII. 1746.22. Limnia.23. Claytonia Sibirica.24. De vermibus lucentibus ex China.Vol. X. 1749.25. Coluber (Chersea) scutis abdominalisbus 150, squamis subcaudalibus 34.26. Avis Sommar Guling appellata.27. Musca Frit, insectum quod grana interius exedit.28. Emberiza Ciris.Vol. XIII. 1752.29. De Characteribus Anguium.Vol. XIV. 1753.30. Novæ duæ Tabaci species, paniculata et tinosa.Vol. XV. 1754.31. De plantis quæ Alpium Suecicarum indiginæfieri possint.32. Simiæ, ex Cereopithecorum genere, descriptio.Vol. XVI. 1755.33. Mirabilis longiflora descriptio.34. Lepidii descriptio.35. Ayeniæ descriptio.36. Gauræ descriptio.37. Lœflingia et Minuartia.Vol. XX. 1759.38. Entomolithus paradoxus descriptus.39. Gemma, penna-pavonis dicta.40. Coccus Uvæ Ursi.Vol. XXIII. 1763.41. De Rubo arctico plantando.Vol. XXIV. 1764.42. Observationes ad cerevisiam pertinentes.Vol. XXIX. 1769.43. Animalis Brasiliensis descriptio.44. Viverræ naricæ descriptio.45. Simia Œdipus.46. Gordius Medinensis.Vol. XXXI. 1770.47. Caleceolariæ pinnatæ descriptio.

Vol. I. 1739-40.

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

Vol. II. 1741.

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

Vol. III. 1742.

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

Vol. IV. 1743.

18. De Uva Ursi seu Jackas Hapuck Sinus Hudsonici.

Vol. V. 1744.

19. Fagopyrum Sibiricum.20. Petiveria.

Vol. VI. 1745

21. Passer procellarius.

Vol. VII. 1746.

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

Vol. X. 1749.

25. Coluber (Chersea) scutis abdominalisbus 150, squamis subcaudalibus 34.26. Avis Sommar Guling appellata.27. Musca Frit, insectum quod grana interius exedit.28. Emberiza Ciris.

Vol. XIII. 1752.

29. De Characteribus Anguium.

Vol. XIV. 1753.

30. Novæ duæ Tabaci species, paniculata et tinosa.

Vol. XV. 1754.

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

Vol. XVI. 1755.

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

Vol. XX. 1759.

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

Vol. XXIII. 1763.

41. De Rubo arctico plantando.

Vol. XXIV. 1764.

42. Observationes ad cerevisiam pertinentes.

Vol. XXIX. 1769.

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

Vol. XXXI. 1770.

47. Caleceolariæ pinnatæ descriptio.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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