498 proceedings of the academy of [1899. 



December 26. 

 The President, Samuel G. Dixon, M.D., in the Chair. 

 Twenty-six persons present. 



Presentation of a Portrait of Carolus Linnceus by Mr. Charles 

 E. Smith. — The Secretary called attention to a life-size portrait in 

 oil of the great naturalist, and, presenting it to the Academy on 

 behalf of Mr. Smith, he read the following account of the way 

 in which the painting had been secured: 



Ladies and Gentlemen : — It is my pleasant task this evening to- 

 present to you and to the Academy a full-length oil portrait of 

 Linnaeus, taken in his early manhood, in the dress he wore Avhen 

 making his trip to Lapland — the only copy in this country. I 

 have been in search of it about twenty years. 



Sometime in the fifties, when we Avere at the corner of Broad 

 and Sansom streets, we received a number of steel engraved like- 

 nesses of Linnreus, which the members were asked to buy, the 

 proceeds to be devoted to the erection of a tablet to Linnseus at 

 Upsala. 



When we moved 1o this building, in 1876, I was in correspond- 

 ence with Mrs. S. M. Rust, President of the Ladies' Botanical 

 Club, of Syracuse, N. Y. I asked her if she had seen the en- 

 graving — if not, if she would like to have a copy. She replied 

 that she had not seen it, and would like to have one very much. 



I came here and asked Dr. Nolan for a copy of it. He replied 

 that he had none, and had not seen one since we had moved. I 

 then went to Mr. Lindsay, dealer in engravings, and asked him 

 to get me one. He wrote to various correspondents in the differ- 

 ent capitals of Europe, without success. I was much perplexed. 

 At last I had a bright idea. I got Mr. William Bell, one of our 

 best photographers, to make a copy slightly enlarged, which I 

 sent to Syracuse. 



Mrs. Rust, in her reply, said: " This likeness is not vouched 

 for. It has not even his name appended to it. How do you 

 know that it is Linuieus ? It is too handsome for a man who 

 knew so much. These very handsome men never do know much. 

 I do not believe it is LinnaBus. Where is the original portrait ?" 

 This raised a new question. I then tried to find the original por- 

 trait. A letter was written to the Royal Academy of Sciences, at 

 Stockholm, Sweden, asking where the original picture was. This 

 elicited no answer. In my correspondence with the Linnsean 

 Society of London, they mentioned that the original picture was- 

 at Amsterdam, Holland. This was my first clue. 



