LINNiEUS. 



247 



emblematic of the genius of the North illuminating 

 the mimdane system. lUustrat, — He illumines, — 

 Avas the appropriate motto. It is not in infancy only 

 that men are '^ pleased with a rattle, tickled with a 

 straw ;" nor are flattery and presumption peculiar 

 to any age. 



In January 1747, the King of Sweden conferred 

 on Linnseus and his issue the title of First Physi- 

 cian, or Dean of the College of Physicians; and 

 soon after he was elected a member of the Royal 

 Academy of Berlin. 



Professor Hermann of Leyden, who, towards the 

 end of the preceding century, had been sent to Cey- 

 lon and other parts of India, for the purpose of exa- 

 mining the spice-plants, died soon after his return, 

 and his collections fell into the hands of Mr Gunther, 

 apothecary at Copenhagen. This person, desirous of 

 knowing what they contained, sent them to Holland ; 

 but receiving from thence information that Linnseus 

 was the only person who could satisfy him, he finally 

 addressed them to Upsal. Delighted with this ori- 

 ental treasure, which had been lost half a century, 

 the botanist examined it with the greatest attention, 

 and, on completing his laborious task, published the 

 result under the name of Flora Zeylanica. At the 

 same time he gave to the world an account of his 

 journey to West Gothland. 



It is stated, that about this period he made an im- 

 portant discovery relative to the formation of pearls 

 in the river-mussel {Unio margaritiferd), a shell 

 of common occurrence in the northern parts of Eu- 

 rope as well as in our own country, and from which 

 are obtained all our indigenous pearls, w^hich not 



