THE FLORA OF NORTH AMERICA. ; 9 
Hans Egede was born at Trondenvs, Norway, the 31st of 
January, 1686. He served some years as a minister in his native 
land. He went to Greenland as a missionary in 1721, and stayed 
there till 1536. He died at Stubbekjébing 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 Grénlands Nye 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 pay- 
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. 
Paul Egede, son of Hans Egede, was born in 1708, became a 
missionary to Greenland in 1734, received the title of theological 
professor in 1761, and that of bishop in 1779. He died in 1789. 
He has left the following publications: 
Herbarium vivum samlet i Grénland ved Colonierne Christianshaab og Godt- 
haab, 1739. 
Efterretninger om Grénland, uddragne af en Journal holden fra 1721 til 1788. 
4. LINNEAN PERIOD, 1735—1789. 
* > In 
A new epoch began with the appearance of Linnzeus’s Genera Plantarum. 
this Linnzeus’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 
