6'0 MEMOIR OF LINN^US. 



His memory was most comprehensive, and remained 

 almost unimpaired till his sixtieth year ; but the most 

 remarkable feature in his comprehensive mind, was the 

 power to seize upon the essential characters of what- 

 ever he was engaged with, to separate the useful from 

 the useless, and at once to characterise them with that 

 decision and clearness which so peculiarly mark his 

 writings and descriptions. A better example of this can- 

 not be referred to, and his style will be better understood 

 in the perusal, than his Imperium Naturce, or the pre- 

 face to the three kingdoms of his Sy sterna Naturce. 



This love of order was equally conspicuous in his 

 domestic arrangements. In winter he slept from nine 

 to six, in summer from ten to three ; but he never 

 extended his application of mind beyond the moment 

 at which he felt fatigue, and whatever fact came to 

 his knowledge, he noted it immediately in its proper 

 place. He was frugal in his way of living, and in his 

 greatest prosperity never gave way to extravagance 

 or ostentation ; he was a strict economist, yet liberal 

 in conferring benefits. He often relieved his pupils 

 when in want, and was always ready to assist them 

 in their travels, either by money or advice. In his 

 capacity as teacher, he possessed the faculty of in- 

 teresting his hearers, and of making himself easily 

 understood, and his pupils looked upon him more in 

 the light of a counsellor or beloved adviser, than as a 

 grave or austere professor. 



