342 LINN^US. 



about funguses being alive in the seeds, and swim- 

 ming about like fish. You mention something of 

 it to me in your last letter. If you have examined 

 the seeds of them yourself, and found them to be 

 little animals, I should believe it. Pray, what time 

 of the year, and what kinds ? I suppose they must 

 be taken while growing, and in a vigorous state. I 

 intend to try ; I think my glass will discover them, 

 if they have animal life in them. The seeds of the 

 Equisetum palustre appear to be alive by their twist- 

 ing motion, when viewed through the microscope ; 

 but that is not animal life. 



" I have just finished a collection of the CoralUn(je. 

 I think there are thirty-six species ; but I believe 

 some of them will prove varieties. I have most of 

 the copperplates that represent them finished. They 

 are the most difficult to examine of all the zoophytes ; 

 their pores are so small, and their manner of grow- 

 ing so singular 



"^ Pray let me know how your Tea-tree grows. 

 It is very odd that, notwithstanding we have had 

 fifteen ships from China this year, we have not had 

 one Tea-tree brought home alive. I have sent a boy 

 to China, whose dependence is on me, to try to bring 

 over several sorts of seeds in wax. I expect him 

 home next summer. 



" The English are much obliged to you for your 

 good wishes. We every day see a superiority in 

 the Swedes over the other European nations. All 

 your people that appear among us are polite, well- 

 bred, and learned ; without the vanity of the French, 

 the heaviness of the Dutch, or the impudence of the 

 Germans. This last nation has intruded on us 

 swarms of their miserable, half-starved people, from 



