ST. MARTINIS SUMMER 329 



falls ori the back and right side of the house at the 

 evening milking-time. It was the deep charm of home 

 that made it so lovely in the eyes of Linnaeus, as a man 

 may affectionately admire a wife in whom the outer 

 world only sees amiability. 



The horse-chestnut, 1 . just beginning to blossom now, 

 that stands just before the door of the dwelling-house 

 is said to have been planted by Linnaeus himself. M. 

 Pontin says his handwriting testifies to this. It is the 

 same tree as that represented in the old print hanging 

 in the dining-room inside, only grown older, and its 

 boughs supported by crutches. The three wooden 

 buildings stand at right angles to each other, like the 

 Hebrew Beth. The central or dwelling-house, facing 

 south, is the largest ; the others, one of which formerly 

 contained the greater part of his collections, look like 

 outhouses or stabling, now that they are dismantled. 



Entering the central red house by the double front 

 door with a six-paned fanlight and an old-fashioned 

 ornamental lock, we are admitted into the favourite 

 home of Linnaeus. The door is kept closely locked 

 now, for Linnaeus's relics are carefully preserved for the 

 nation in statu quo as his family left them, undisturbed, 

 and without addition or claptrap. The caretaker, who 

 was then tidying up the garden against the season for 

 pilgrim tourists, lives in a neat house close by. It 

 is pleasant to see how neat, pretty, and comfortable 

 an ordinary gardener's cottage in Sweden can be. 

 1 Not a sweet-chestnut, as mistakenly said by M. Pontin. 



