226 THROUGH THE FIELDS WITH LINN&US 



by tilling the waste lands instead of leaving them in 

 wild turf he would destroy the locust larvae.' 1 



Besides fostering the importation of raw silk into 

 Sweden, where it was already unprofitably cultivated in 

 SkSne, Linnaeus wished to introduce a mulberry tree 

 indigenous in Canada, in order that he might rear the 

 silk- worm with greater certainty and ease. He directed 

 his pupil Kalm's attention particularly to this object 

 during his travels in Canada. We are not told the re- 

 sult of this effort. Many new and valuable medicines, 

 however, were discovered and imported, and some prac- 

 tical benefit accrued to Linnasus personally, though in- 

 directly, from the discoveries of his pupils. 



A very severe fit of gout, brought on, in 1751, by 

 his sedentary habits, subsided at the sight of the valu- 

 able collection of plants and natural curiosities brought 

 by Peter Kalm from North America. Linnasus was in 

 bed when his pupil arrived, but ' the desire of seeing 

 the treasures, and the delight he felt when he saw them, 

 made the gout disappear.' 2 



As a converse to this cure, we are told 3 that the 

 disappointment about some cochineal insects sent home 

 by Rolander caused Linnasus a violent nervous headache 

 (hemicrania). Linnasus, always interested in dyeing 

 materials, was very eager to obtain cochineal insects 

 with a view to acclimatising them. After many un- 

 successful attempts, his pupil Rolander was at last able 



1 Kingsley. Did Kingsley think of the vast extent of Russia, 

 and the scarcity of labouring population in the waste lands ? 



2 Diary. Ibid. 



