Life of LinncEUs. 157 



all having become furious, wrote against Linnaens, panmphlets in no 

 very measured terms ; a third species was found, a little different 

 from the genus, and Linnseus named it Browallia alienata. By a 

 singular chance, no other species of the genus, has ever been found, 

 so that the names of Browallia still preserve the anecdote entire. 



Mr. Fee takes the trouble to exculpate Linnaeus from an accusa- 

 tion against him relative to BufFon ; the genus which bears the name 

 of this great naturalist is written in Linnaeus (with a single /) Bufo- 

 nia, which, it is said, was designed to indicate toad plants. Ventinat, 

 wishing to exculpate Linnaeus, says that he has given this name, be- 

 cause the plant grows in moist places, while on the contrary it grows 

 upon the most sterile rocks. The truth is it was not Linnaeus who 

 committed this orthographical error. The genus was named Bu- 

 fonia by Sauvages, in his method of leaves, and with a dedication so 

 honorable to BufFon, that it is evidently only a simple error. Lin- 

 naeus admitted it without any further examination, and was indignant 

 that so injurious an idea should be attributed to him. 



The error of the public rested on the fact that many of the names 

 established by Linnaeus had allusions to the persons to whom the genera 

 were dedicated ; it is thus that he named Bauhinia, in honor of the 

 two illustrious brothers Bauhin, a genus, whose species have all the 

 leaves composed of two folioles ; again, having received a genus from 

 India, collected by surgeon Dalberg, sent by the latter to his brother, 

 a banker at Copenhagen, and transmitted by the banker to Linnaeus, 

 he named the genus Dalhergia ; one of the species had the fruit 

 pointed, this was the D. lanceolaris, in honor of the surgeon ; the fruit 

 of the other was round, this was the D. monetaria in honor of the 

 banker. 



The collections of Linnaeus were very considerable for his time, 

 and his herbal was, in particular, the special object of his care and 

 affection. He states in autographical notes, the origin of the plants 

 which compose it, many of which were brought from the most dis- 

 tant countries, at a time when travelling was far from being as easy 

 and as frequent as at present, and when travellers, too much penetra- 

 ted with the idea that the same vegetables might be found in very 

 different countries, neglected often to collect them. '^My herbal,'^ 

 said Linnaeus, " is without contradiction the greatest that ever was 

 seen ;" but although this assertion may not be very just, (since the 

 herbals of Vaillant and Tournefort, then in existence, appeared more 

 considerable,) if admitted to be such, this herbal must have contained 



