62 CARL LINNAEUS. 



grew from five hundred to fifteen hundred, young 

 men coming even from America to hear the great 

 botanist. During the summer he made excursions 

 twice a week, often at the head of two hundred 

 students, and when some rare plant was discovered, 

 the news was announced to the others by horn or 

 trumpet. His scholars, imbued with his spirit, 

 went over the world in scientific investigation. 

 Some died in the Arabian deserts; some in the 

 swamps of Africa. From foreign students he 

 would take no fee, as he desired to show them 

 how he loved his work. Once he said to a Ger- 

 man student : " Tell me, candidly, are you rich, 

 and can you afford it ? If you can, then give the 

 money to my wife ; but, if you be poor, so help me 

 Heaven, I will not take a single farthing from 

 you ! " 



Most of the scientific societies of Europe made 

 him a member after his great works were pub- 

 lished. The Imperial Academy called him " Dios- 

 corides Secundus"; a gold medal was struck in 

 his honor in 1746, and the king made him dean of 

 the College of Physicians. He published two val- 

 uable medical books, and received the honor of the 

 Knight of the Polar Star, never before conferred 

 for literary merit. He was made a noble, and 

 took for his motto, Famam extendere factis, adorn- 

 ing his crest with the little flower which he dis- 

 covered in his poverty. He was made rector of 

 the university, holding the position for several 

 years. How different from the time when he 



