DEAN CELSIUS COMES 121 



day.' 1 During this time of intellectual fever he kept 

 his ruind jealously aloof. He hugged his precious 

 secret even from Artedi : their habit of keeping their 

 discoveries close till perfected was of service to him 

 now : he would wait until at last he could bring out 

 his fair idea complete, clothed in a system, and show 

 his new Eve to his bosom-friend, and then under four 

 eyes only. Artedi was the first ; next day it was un- 

 expectedly public to all Upsala. A disputation was 

 held before Bishop Wahlin on the 'Marriage of the 

 Trees : sive Nuptiae Arborum.' This was a blooming 

 new idea in the summer of 1730. 2 Linnaeus was pre- 

 sent. The subject of the controversy was familiar to 

 him. None found it more pleasant, nor had anyone at 

 Upsala studied it better than himself. 3 Linnaeus was 

 in his element ; now was his hour the opportunity 

 that comes once in life to all men. Even Artedi, his 

 bosom-friend, was astonished at his radiance. 



The account in the diary adds a few particulars. 

 ' There was just then published a philological disserta- 

 tion " De Nuptiis Plantarum " 4 from the pen of George 

 Wahlin, librarian of the university; and as Linnaeus 

 had no opportunity of publicly opposing it, or of stating 

 his doubts, he drew up in writing a little treatise on 

 the sexes of plants, and showed it to Dr. Celsius, who 

 put in the hands of Dr. Rudbeck. The latter honoured 



1 Diary. 



* Glittering Darwin's Loves of the Plants delighted the reading 

 world in 1789. FREDERIC HARRISON. 



1 Notes for Biography Linn. * Or Arbwwm. 



