232 THROUGH THE FIELDS WITH LINN&US 



me the cochineal insect together with the Opuntia that 

 it adheres to. I have been spoken to by several of your 

 friends for that purpose.' 



Ellis, January 1759, describes at length the cochi- 

 neal insect, and is sending some to Linnaeus, and he 

 also tells Dr. Garden to send some to Linnasus. 



But more than anything Linnaeus was solicitous 

 about the introduction of the tea-plant : the more 

 necessary then, as the tea was so greatly injured by the 

 long sea-voyage, and the best was a Russian monopoly. 



He and his correspondents exhausted their inge- 

 nuity in devising means for preserving plants and seeds 

 in the long journey by sailing-vessel round the Cape. 

 They sealed them in wax, in gums, in air-tight cases, 

 in perpetually moistened wrappers. Linnaeus suggested 

 putting the tea-seeds into earth just as the ship left 

 China. This was eventually successful. 



Linnaeus writes to Ellis, Upsala, December 8, 1758 : l 

 f I am happy to find you are intent upon a method of 

 obtaining fresh seeds from China. Nobody has better 

 opportunities than yourself for making this experiment, 

 nor will anything do you more honour if successful. 

 But I would especially recommend your attention to 

 the bringing over a living plant of the tea from that 

 country. The shrub is not easily killed, though it 

 often perishes from the heat of the sun in the voyage 

 towards Europe. Osbeck brought a living tea-tree as 

 far as the Cape of Good Hope, where it fell overboard in 

 1 Linnseus did not always date his letters. 



