THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 45 



his matriculation at the University of Lund, in 1727, young Lin- 

 nceus' struggle was a terribly uphill one. His endeavor to pursue 

 both his botanical and medical studies, while relying for support on 

 the instruction of private pupils, made his circumstances almost des- 

 perate. His father was too poor to do anything more for him, and 

 he was oiten indebted to his fellow-students for an occasional meal 

 or cast-off garment. In 1729, however, just when his fortunes were 

 at their lowest ebb, he was engaged by the Rev. Olaus Celsius, 

 one of the Professors at Upsal, to help in a work he was preparing, 

 illustrative of Bible plants. 



A small work of Vaillant's, on the structure of flowers, now fell 

 into his hands, and from the ingenious remarks of that writer on the 

 existence of sex in plants, he conceived the idea of a system of 

 botany founded on the stamens and pistils, a system on which were 

 arranged nearly all his subsequent botanical contributions. About 

 the same time a short treatise which he had composed, attracted 

 the attention of Rudbeck, Professor of Botany, who, being old, was 

 desirous of obtaining a competent assistant, and he assigned to him 

 the office of demonstrating plants in the botanic garden, giving him 

 also free access to his fine library. The clouds of poverty and ob- 

 scurity were thenceforth gradually dispelled, and Linnaeus became 

 known to men of talent as a rising genius. In 1731 he was sent by 

 the Royal Academy of Sciences at Upsal to investigate the natural 

 history of Lapland, the results of which expedition he afterwards 

 published in his "Flora Lapponica." In 1734 we find him acting 

 as travelling tutor to the sons of Baron Renterholm, and in 1735 

 setting out to take his degree as doctor of medicine in Holland, 

 where it could ,be procured at much less expense than in Sweden. 

 While in Leyden he called upon the celebrated Dr. Gronovius, who, 

 returning the visit, saw the manuscript of his " Systema Naturae," 

 and was so astonished and delighted with it that he requested Lin- 

 naeus' permission to get it printed at his own expense. The Dutch 

 botanists received the work with the utmost cordiahty, and immedi- 

 ately embraced and adopted the system, which was further ampli- 

 fied by the publication of the " Genera Plantarum." Linnaeus 

 next, in succession, visited England, where he made the acquaint- 

 ance and secured the friendship of Sir Hans Sloane and the learned 

 Dillenius, and France, where the Jussieus, uncle and nephew, showed 

 him every courtesy. Returning to Sweden he settled in Stockholm 



