CH. XI THE WATER SPRING-TAIL 363 



age by some silkworms given him to rear. He 

 studied at Utrecht, and afterwards at Upsal, where 

 he was one of the pupils of Linnaeus. He inherited 

 large property from an uncle, and, among the rest, 

 succeeded to an interest in the mines of Dannemora. 

 These had been inundated by water, and De Geer 

 contrived machinery to free them and render them 

 workable again. He was skilful in the management 

 of his large estates and liberal in his gifts, especially 

 to charities and schools. His Memoires pour servir 

 a I'Histoire des Insectes occupy seven large quarto 

 volumes with many plates, and include descriptions 

 of upwards of 1,500 species. De Geer is a less 

 pleasing writer than Reaumur, whom he endeavoured 

 to imitate, but more concise and methodical. He 

 had the advantage of early training in the system of 

 Linnaeus, and instead of the picturesque but at times 

 rather indefinite names employed by Reaumur, he 

 employs a precise nomenclature. De Geer is always 

 painstaking and trustworthy, and many of his de- 

 scriptions are clear, spirited, and full. The first 

 volume of his Memoires appeared in 1752, and we 

 are told that its sale was so discouraging that he 

 burnt many copies to relieve his indignation. When 

 he decided, in spite of this want of public interest, 

 to carry on the work, he sent free copies of the later 

 volumes to those who had been so enterprising as to 

 subscribe for the first, The first volume is now very 

 rare, and the difficulty of obtaining the entire work 

 has appreciably hindered the knowledge of De Geer's 

 researches. The German translation is much used in 

 place of the original French. De Geer died in 1778, 



