72 THROUGH THE FIELDS WITH LINNAEUS 



He hoped to gain celebrity by ridiculing Linnaeus, and 

 to make his own fortune. He undermined both. He 

 had long to wait for the preliminary professorship at 

 Upsala. It was in answer to him that Linnaeus pub- 

 lished his only anonymous work, and the only apology 

 he ever wrote on his own behalf the ' Orbis Eruditi 

 Judicium de Caroli Linnsei, M.D., Script is.' l 



' The attacks of his adversaries did not fail to wound 

 his ambition. Yet, remembering the advice of his 

 revered friend Boerhaave, and being of too high a cast 

 of mind to entertain asperity or indulge in splenetic in- 

 vectives, he wisely resolved to abstain from controversy. 

 He took another method to counteract the injurious 

 influence of his opponents ; and it would be well if all 

 naturalists would act in the same dignified way when 

 repelling ill-natured attacks. He thought something 

 was due to his countrymen, to show that all men of 

 learning did not agree with his libellers,' 2 and he pub- 

 lished a small work containing the various testimonials 

 given to his talents by the most eminent men of the 

 day. ' He made no comments, but allowed opinions to 

 be formed from authors who could not be contradicted, 

 and relied on the judgment which would be given upon 

 the words of a Boerhaave, a Dillenius, a Sauvages, a 

 Jussieu, and a Haller.' 



This work is now very rare. It is only one sheet 

 in small octavo. Scarcely two copies of it are to be 



1 Opinion, of the Learned World on the Works of C. Linna-ns. 



2 Sir W. Jardine. 



