AN OVERDOSE OF PROSPERITY 19 



botanist, he longed to be at home, and tenderly took 

 leave of the kind banker. This was in the autumn of 

 1737. The three years of absence required by his 

 bride's father were expired ; no advantage was like the 

 joy of returning to her. 



Boerhaave, kindly physician that he was, perceived 

 the alteration in his favourite, and counselled change 

 of scene. Thinking Carl's talent would be lost in 

 Sweden, he tried ' to persuade him to go to the Cape 

 of Good Hope, and thence to the American colonies, at 

 the public expense, in order to procure all kinds of 

 rare and curious plants for the gardens of Holland, 

 assuring him he would take care not only that his 

 travelling expenses should be defrayed, but also that on 

 his return a grant should be procured for appointing 

 him acting professor. Linngeus refused this offer, how- 

 ever, assigning as a reason that he could not bear hot 

 climates, having been born and educated in a cold one ; 

 though there were other reasons for his refusing it, as he 

 was already engaged at home.' l 



Dillenius seems to have preserved a lingering hope 

 that Linnaeus might come back to England and complete 

 the 'Pinax.' ^ James Sherard,' he writes, September 8, 

 1737, 'has spoiled it' [the 'Pinax']. 'After William 

 Sherard's death he took me off and set me to work in his 

 gardens, to make himself known.' Dillenius undertook 

 the new work, the ' Hortus Elthamensis,' at his own 

 expense ; he says, i If the time spent in composing this 

 1 Diary. 



c 2 



