334 LINNJSUS. 



of various persons to Haller. He leaves chasms, 

 truly, in many places, which, like Madame Dacier's 

 asterisks, is ^ hanging out lights \ for they serve to 

 aggravate the force of what remains. Above all, he 

 is censurable for printing letters from this very son 

 of his, after his death, reflecting severely on persons 

 who had, as the young man says, shown him the 

 greatest favour at Paris ; and abusing the Academy 

 of Sciences, which had just elected him into its body 

 as a corresponding member." 



Linnaeus, in one of his letters to Haller, says, 

 " There is nobody in England who understands or 

 thinks about genera except Dillenius." We may 

 therefore mention, as next in order among his cor- 

 respondents, this celebrated professor of botany. 

 Born at Darmstadt in 1685, and educated as a phy- 

 sician at Giessen, he was brought to England by 

 Sherard in 1721 ; and, when the latter, who had 

 been English consul at Smyrna, founded his bo- 

 tanical professorship at Oxford, he appointed him 

 to it. 



Dillenius was a plain blunt man, and used great 

 freedom of speech in writing to Linnaeus. Thus, in 

 one of his letters, he says, — '^ I feel as much dis- 

 pleased with your Critica Botanica as I am pleased 

 with your Lapland Flora, especially as you have, 

 without my deserving such a compliment or know- 

 ing of your intention, dedicated the book to me. 

 You must have known my dislike to all ceremo- 

 nies and compliments. I hope that you have bur- 

 thened but few copies with this dedication, — per- 

 haps only the copy which you have sent me. If 

 there be more, I beg of you to strip them of this 

 vain parade, or I shall take it much amiss. At 



