FRTEDKTCTI EnTlirAUT A^'T) TITS EA8ICCAT;E 321 



Avliich was made b}' Elirhart during tlie tlirec-and-a-lial£ 3'ears that 

 he was in Upsala as a pupil and friend of Linnaeus; these Meyer 

 regarded as in some respects of greater authority for Linnjieus's species 

 than those in the Linnean herbarium. His ground for this view 

 is based on Ehrhart's intimate association with Linnseus, as set 

 forth by Ehrhart himself in his Beitrdf/e^ conveniently summarised 

 by Th. M. Fries in his Linne (ii. 28-5). A desire to hear the 

 lectures of Linnaeus had drawn Ehrhart to Upsala, where for a time he 

 served as apothecar}'^ to the University, but subsequentl^y maintained 

 himself at his own expense, forining friendships with C. W. Scheele 

 and other prominent naturalists. From the 20t]i of April, 1773, until 

 Sept. 2G, 1776, he was a pupil of Linnaeus, though he regretted that 

 he had not been one of his students when Linnaeus himself took part 

 with his students in their excursions into the country — " he was 

 already," says Ehrhart, " an old man and was expecting his death," 

 which took place in 1778 : " When 1 asked him about crj^ptogams he 

 answered frankly that thirty years ago he had known these plants, 

 but that now he w^as obliged to leave them to others." 



" Few of the students," continued Fries, " could have been so 

 industrious as Ehrhart was. On week-days all hours free from lec- 

 tures were spent in excursions in the surrounding country ; Sunda3's he 

 spent in the Botanic Garden. In the summer holidays he too excur- 

 sioned, sometimes accompanied by other Linnean students, from early 

 morning until late at night, seeking plants in the fields, woods, 

 moors, and marshes. He reported his discoveries to Linnaeus, who 

 had conceived great affection and regard for him " ; " Each plant," 

 says Ehrhart {Beitrdge, v. 3) " was examined on the spot where I 

 found it, with the Genera Blaniarum and the Flora Suecica of 

 Linnseus, and such as were doubtful I compared with his herbarium. 

 Usually I collected and dried a good number of s})ecimens, as can be 

 seen from the Phyto])liylaGii(m and my other collections of dried 

 plants, and when I found that my senior [" Alter," — i. e. Linna3us] had 

 made a mistake, I told him so ; for whoever I was I showed that I 

 was a free Swiss ! He used to make large e3^es at me when I told 

 him, for instance, that his Carecc uliginosa and Schcemis comj)ressiis 

 were identical, lashing out with ' Deuce take me if that's true.' 

 He found, however, that I was right, and when I saw him again two 

 or three days afterw^ards, he called out ' You were quite riglit ! ' And 

 when on Sept. 26, 1776, I said good-bye to him at Hammarby, 

 seeing him for the last time, he pressed my hand and said : ' Write 

 to me ; from you I will believe everything.' " 



It is probable that the *' Botanische Zurechtweisungen " would 

 supply further references to Ehrhart's association with Linnaeus. 

 One such allusion appears in the '* Botanical Observations by Frederic 

 Ehrhart," included in the volume of Tracts Belaiive to Botany, 

 " translated from different languages " by Charles Koenig, but 

 published (1S35) anonymously; these are selected from various j^arts 

 of the " Zurechtweisungen," and confirm the view already expressed 

 that the series would repay investigation. Many of the notes selected 

 by Koenig for translation are critical of Linnneus ; among them is 

 the following (from Beitr. i. 68) : — 



