154 THROUGH THE FIELDS WITH LINNAEUS 



Linnaeus at Upsala ? or is this where he dwelt while the 

 house that they call ( beautiful ' was in building ? 



The low narrow windows of this small house could 

 not have held many plants. These windows have been 

 modernised, but one sees the original shallow brick arches 

 still. The house has not been otherwise much altered 

 since the time when Linnaeus lived here. 



The botanical garden of Upsala was again recon- 

 structed in 1787, when the Government gave up the plea- 

 sure-garden behind the castle to be used as a botanical 

 garden. Chevalier Thunberg, who succeeded Linnasus 

 as professor, wrote to Stoever in 1791, 'The ancient 

 academical garden was situated in a very low ground, 

 and the dwelling of the professor and other buildings 

 stood on a marshy soil. For this reason I entreated the 

 king to grant the garden of the palace to the academy 

 of Upsala, and to have it converted into a botanical 

 garden, which was done accordingly. The buildings for 

 the preservation of the plants, the orangerie, the hot- 

 house and the lecture-room in which the statue of 

 Linne will be put the museum, the professor's house, 

 are mostly finished, and will be quite complete in a few 

 years hence. The old botanical garden is still in being, 

 but the buildings, especially the orangerie, are almost a 

 heap of ruins.' 



This letter seems to prove that the present botanical 

 garden at Upsala had little or nothing to do with 

 Linnaeus, much as he may have admired or coveted its 

 greatly superior site. Yet Professor Fries, who now 



