26 THROUGH THE FIELDS WITH LINNAEUS 



the swathes and bandages of the European intellect were 

 bursting. The budding energies might be controlled 

 and swayed, but could not at that impulsive epoch be 

 sternly repressed. Childhood has the mind in minia- 

 ture, but, having its seed leaves still on, we do not 

 always recognise its sort. 



To the late day of his writing his autobiography 

 Linnaeus bore a grudge against John Tiliander. This 

 man, morose, and probably disappointed in the ambition 

 he shared in common with his family, vented his dis- 

 content with circumstances on poor little Carl. 



But the boy's pains and penalties were mitigated by 

 a joy, a new sense that of proprietorship. At eight 

 years old his father allotted Carl a piece of ground of 

 his own, and he at once began to form a botanical 

 garden in miniature on an independent plan. His love 

 of science disturbed even his father when the boy 

 brought in weeds and wild herbs hard to eradicate, and 

 worse than these wild bees and wasps, with all their 

 concomitant inconveniences. In a garden necessarily 

 cultivated for profit such practical science had to be 

 discouraged. 



