294 THROUGH THE FIELDS WITH LINNAEUS 



the spoils of the East and the West that I wish for, 

 and which, in my belief, are far more precious than the 

 silken garments of the Babylonians and the porcelain 



vases of the Chinese. Here I receive and convev in- 

 - 

 struction.' 



Linnaeus's next greatest work was to form a race of 

 students to carry on his labours. He hoped his own son 

 would succeed him in his office and in the care of the 

 Upsala garden, and he diligently educated him to this 

 end. But besides his own childen and especial pupils 

 he was educating the public. He had been labouring for 

 years among the students of his own beloved university, 

 enlarging the borders of his work by an immense corre- 

 spondence. He now set the axle of this diverging circle 

 in his own family. ' It is quite right that the school- 

 masters should have the grounding and disciplining ; 

 but the father who can finish his boy's education, and 

 teach him something of life besides, ought to be very 

 thankful.' 



His eldest boy, Carl, was now (1751) ten years old, 

 and he was eldest of four children. 1 Linnaeus was 

 watching Carl's growth with most tender parental in- 

 terest, encouraging in all ways a boy's natural love of 

 natural science. 



' Like all persons of fine faculties, he carried the 

 faculties with him into the smallest things.' 2 For the 



1 A second son, Johan, was born April 7, 1754, and his youngest 

 child, Sophia, in 1757 ; making altogether a family of six children. 



2 J. S. Mill. 



