1781 Son of Linnaeus ; M. St. Germain 153 



visitors. Of some interest is the occurrence of the name of 

 Professor Charles von Linne on five different occasions in 

 the course of the year. He was the son of the great Linnaeus, 

 whom he succeeded in 1763 as Professor of Botany in the 

 University of Upsala. Less gifted than his father, he had 

 the disadvantage of being hampered with feeble health. 

 He died in 1783 at the age of 42. Among the foreign names 

 there occurs also that of Monsieur St. Germain, with no in- 

 dication of where he came from or who he was. There was 

 at that time in Europe a notorious personage of this name 

 who in the course of his career is known to have visited 

 London. In the days of Louis XV. he created a great sensa- 

 tion in Paris by his detailed descriptions of scenes and 

 persons that had passed away long before his time, descrip- 

 tions so vivid and realistic as to lead many people to believe 

 that he must actually have seen and known what he de- 

 scribed ; while some of those who met him were even con- 

 vinced that, though he looked hale and hearty and about 

 forty years of age, he must be at least two thousand years 

 old ! He was credited with possessing an elixir which gave 

 him continuous life and health ; also untold riches which 

 he would at times partially reveal in the form of a wonderful 

 display of precious jewels. He was even believed to have 

 a secret way of making pearls grow, thereby adding at 

 pleasure to his wealth. Travelling over Europe and putting 

 himself in evidence, he everywhere attracted attention, 

 though nowhere to such an extent as in the French capital. 

 He died in Schleswig in 1784. 



A number of eminent Englishmen sat at the Club's table 

 this year. Thus Sir Henry Charles Englefield, the antiquary, 

 dined twice. He became President of the Society of Anti- 

 quaries, and he had been elected into the Royal Society 

 early in 1778. He is remembered by geologists for the 

 excellent and artistically illustrated volume on the Isle of 

 Wight which he published. The Mr. Braithwaite who dined 

 on January nth was probably the same individual who 

 was elected into the Royal Society in the spring of the 

 following year. Boswell records that at a dinner given by 



