TOUR IN SKANE 261 



who takes upon himself more than he can bear.' * Am I 

 that ass ? ' reflected Linnaeus ; ' have I taken upon my- 

 self to reform science, and am I unequal to the task ? ' 

 A few days' repose at Lund, and a comparison of his 

 position with that of the poor student who had entered 

 Lund only to find his protector dead, and himself pen- 

 niless, and without a character, showed him that he had 

 outreached even his dreams of fame. He was himself 

 again. He was more like giant Finn who built the 

 church, which, as the legend runs, was, after all, never 

 to be entirely finished ; no more is the cathedral of sci- 

 ence ; everlastingly there is left something to do, some 

 part to begin over again. At this, his first visit to 

 Lund for twenty-one years, he found the place had in- 

 creased so considerably that he hardly knew it again. 

 Count Gyllenborg and Baron Harleman had been great 

 benefactors to the place ; the museums had been greatly 

 enriched and many valuable books had been added to 

 the library. Lund has increased considerably since 

 Linnaeus's time, but it will never again reach its 

 anciently computed population of 200,000 souls. 



June 11. 'To-day I looked up the "Flora Lunden- 

 sis," which twenty years ago gave me so much pleasure. 

 I took a walk round by the ruined walls of the town, and 

 remarked the very great change that had taken place 

 even here.' By his list and descriptions one would think 

 the walls had become richer than ever in flowers. He 

 ascended the hill where as a boy he had observed the 

 incantations of the Valborg's Eve (Walpurgis Night), 



