LIFE AT STOCKHOLM 89 



at the sideboard, finally pitching on a dab of pickled 

 herring laid on bread and butter. But the variety of 

 these ( whet-your-whistles ' is more apparent than real, 

 when you have excluded the potted provisions which 

 you loathe, are grown tired of anchovies, and not 

 grown used to caviar ; as you abhor slices of sausage, 

 all the rest is comprised in hard egg cut in slices, and 

 slices of cold veal dried au naturel for six days past. 

 Ham and cheese do not count, for these fixtures are 

 immutable as the triple-spouted urn holding spirits in 

 the centre. One is obliged to buy oranges in lieu of 

 vegetables ; dessert, fruit tarts, and puddings are a sweet 

 dream. Most people on their return from a tour in 

 Scandinavia take to violent courses of lemonade and 

 cauliflower. 



Linngeus was appointed botanist to the king of 

 Sweden, and besides this he endeavoured in every way 

 to develop the whole resources of the country in every 

 department of natural science, and to improve the public 

 hygiene. 



This seems a vast range of thought for one man 

 to include in his attention. But, talented as he was, 

 Linngeus was not really versatile : he widened his road ; 

 but his goal was a fixed point, the botanical chair of 

 Upsala. 



'In the spring of 1740 Professor Rudbeck died, 

 when Rosen, Linnaeus, and Wallerius were put up as 

 candidates ' J for the professorship at Upsala. This was 

 1 Diary. 



