LINN^US. 



203 



tion. A society had been instituted at Upsal, chiefly 

 for the purpose of examining the natural produc- 

 tions of the kingdom. The remote and desert regions 

 of Lapland were less known than any other of the 

 Swedish provinces, although Rudbeck the elder had 

 been sent by Charles XL to explore them. The cu- 

 riosities which he brought home had been destroyed 

 by the great fire in 1702 ; and it was now proposed 

 to repair the loss by sending out another scientific 

 traveller. The choice fell on Linnaeus, who was 

 recommended by Celsius and the younger Rudbeck. 



