182 LIN.NAEUS. 



the farm on which he was born, gave origin to the name Lindelins or 

 Tiliander (lime-tree man,) which was afterwards ciianged to Linnaeus. 

 The mother of the naturalist, it is said, was a remarkably fine woman, 

 furnishing another fact to confirm the opinion, that the mothers of dis- 

 tmguished men are gifted women. 



His father, who was a poor clergyman, was obliged to eke out a scan- 

 ty income, by cultivating a garden. This was the foundation of the son's 

 celebrity. Here lie acquired that love of flowers, and of nature in gen- 

 eral, which was followed by such important results. He was the con- 

 stant companion of his father whilst in the garden, and had set apart for 

 himself a little spot of ground in which he labored most industriously, 

 and soon became acquainted with all his father's plants, and those in- 

 digenous to the neighborhood, which he transplanted into his own terri- 

 tory. His labors were not confined to flowers, but extended to the pur- 

 suit of wasps and wild bees, which he captured and. attempted to colon- 

 ize at home, much to the annoyance of the domestic insects. His pa- 

 rents, anxious that he should enter the university, sent him, when ten 

 years old, to the gymnasium of Uexio, for the purpose of beginning his 

 studies systematically. Here his advantages for the study of his favor- 

 ite subjects were greatly increased. But, alas! for Greek and Latin, he 

 neglected them so much, that both students and professors pronounced 

 him an incorrigible dunce. 



At seventeen Linnaeus was sent homo with most unfavorable testi- 

 monials. His parents believing, that his present pursuits would never 

 yield him a livelihood, determined to apprentice him to a cobbler. Dr. 

 Rothmann, of Uexio, attracted by his extensive knowledge of botany, 

 saved him from this sad alternative, and made such liberal oflfers for his 

 present support that his father pei'mitted him to study botany and phys- 

 ic. The first year of his academic career was spent at Lund, where he 

 was relieved from the pinching hand of poverty by the kindness of 

 Prof. Stobaeus. Whilst busily engaged in extending his botanical ex- 

 cursions, and increasing his herbal, he almost lost his life by the bite of 

 a venomous worm, to which he afterwards gave the name of Furia in- 



fernalis. 



He was induced to repair to Upsal, in the hope of enjoying the in- 

 structions of Dr. Olaus Celsius, first professor of divinity, and restorer 

 of natural history, in Sweden. Much to his disappointment the profes- 

 sor had gone to Stockholm, and he was once more thrown entirely on 

 his own resources. One year he spent in hard study in which all his 

 money was expended. There was no prospect of relief from home, 

 and his destitution increasing, he was glad to receive the cast-ofl" clothes 



