130 THROUGH THE FIELDS WITH LINNAEUS 



perpetuate, the professor now thought he saw a way to 

 renew all the parental discoveries. Linnaeus's youth and 

 strong constitution, his remarkable powers of mind, and 

 his energy pointed him out as the deputy for the 

 work Rudbeck himself had failed to fulfil. The Eoyal 

 Academy of Sciences at Upsala had long fostered the 

 hope of forming a complete survey of the whole of 

 Sweden, investigating its capabilities and its natural 

 treasures in order to develop the latent resources of the 

 country. Prompted, doubtless, by Rudbeck's great 

 desire, they proposed to begin by a searching examina- 

 tion of the arctic regions of Sweden. ( They wanted a 

 fresh and virgin intelligence to observe and consider the 

 country.' l Celsius and Rudbeck both proposed that 

 Linnaeus should undertake the first expedition, and 

 without one thought of the difficulties of the under- 

 taking, the small pay offered, and the disadvantage of 

 being lost to sight of the scientific world for many 

 months, Carl accepted the offer with alacrity, and al- 

 though the Lapland expedition could not take place 

 till next summer, he at once made his preparations and 

 arranged his affairs, chiefly negotiating the publication 

 of his manuscript books. 



The author of ( Spolia Botanica ' had not when he 

 wrote it in 1729 * espoused his theory of a sexual differ- 

 ence in the vegetable kingdom, though within three 

 years afterwards it was sufficiently matured in his mind 

 for the arrangement of the Lapland plants in that 

 1 D 'Israeli's Endymion. 



