THE FLORA OF NORTH AMERICA. 9 



Hans Egede was bom at Trondena'S, Norway, the yist of 

 January, 1686. He served some years as a minister in his native 

 land. He went to Greenland as a missionary in 1721, and .stayeil 

 there till 1S36. He died at Stubbekjobiug on the Island of Falster, 

 Denmark, the 5th of November, 1758. He made a collection of 

 plants, which are still preserved at Copenhagen. After his return 

 from Greenland, he published a very interesting account of the 

 country, its people, fauna and flora, under the title: 



Det Gamla Gronlands Nve Perlustration eller Natural-Historia, 1741. (Trans- 

 lated also into French.) 



It is claimed that what most tempted Egede to go to Green- 

 land was the idea that he might find there some descendants of 

 the old Norwegian and Icelandic settlers from the time of Leif 

 Ericson. He did not find any Norsemen, although he visited all 

 the places where the old colonies were supposed to have been. The 

 temporal as well as the spiritual welfare of the heathen Greenlan- 

 der weighed heavily upon his heart. In order to alleviate their 

 wretched condition, he induced a Norwegian company to establish 

 trading posts at several places. After the company had lost one 

 of its best vessels, and as the trading never had been a very paj'- 

 ing business, the company decided to withdraw its men and dis- 

 continue the trade. This happened in 1726. Egede and his family 

 and a few volunteers remained. Egede sent such a strong plea to 

 the king of Denmark, that in the second year a vessel was sent to 

 Greenland, the Danish government reopened some of the posts, 

 and has carried on from that date a regular communication and 

 continuous commerce with the island. 



Paat Egede, son of Hans Egede, was born in 1708, became a 

 missionary to Greenland in 1731, received the title of theological 

 professor in 1761, and that of bi.shop in 1779. He died in 1789. 

 He has left the following publications: 



Herbarium virum samlet i Gronland ved Colonierne Christiansbaab og Godt- 

 haab, 1739. 



Efterretninger om Gronland, uddragne af en Journal holden fra 1721 til 17S8. 



4. LINNEAN PERIOD. 1735-1789. 



A new epoch began with the appearance of Linnteus's Genera Plantarum. In 

 this Linnfsus's new system of classification was used. Before this time there had 

 been no definite system, or there had been used only such crude systems as we 

 sometimes find to-day in some popular books, where, for instance, the plants are 



