Till 



became necessary to close the school at Wexio, which Fries attended, 

 and he remained for a time at home. He made use of this period of 

 leisure to describe all the Fungi he could find, and before 1811 he had 

 succeeded in distinguishing three or four hundred species, but not 

 having access to books on the subject, he gave them temporary names. 



In 1811 he left the Gymnasium, and went to the University of 

 Lund, At Lund he continued to give all his spare time to Botany, 

 and had the satisfaction of finding many plants new to him. He spent 

 much of his time in the library studying botanical works, in which he 

 found the names of many of the species he had described. While at 

 Lund he was fortunate enough to make the acquaintance of two dis- 

 tinguished naturalists, Retzius and Agardh, who put into his hands 

 the mycological works of Persoon and Albertini, the best then existing. 

 During the year 1812 he studied Hypodermia (Ustilagineee, iEcido- 

 mycetes). While earnestly studying for the degree of Doctor of 

 Philosophy he still found some leisure for his favourite pursuit. He 

 took the degree of Ph.D. in 1814, and was also in this year appointed 

 Docens of Botany. In 1819 he became " Adjunkt" and received the 

 title of Professor in 1834. 



Prom the time of taking his degree Pries devoted himself to the 

 study of the Pungi, and went with this view for a time to Copenhagen. 

 About the year 1814 he brought out his earliest important work, his 

 " Novitise Florae Sueciee;" and his " Observationes Mycologicae " was 

 published, in the years 1815 — 1818, at Copenhagen. In 1814 he began 

 to write his " Monographia Pyrenomycetum Suecias," which work he 

 presented in parts from 1816 to 1819 to the Academy of Sciences, in 

 Stockholm. 



In the year 1816, having come to the conclusion that the method of 

 describing and classifying hitherto adopted was by no means satisfac- 

 tory, Fries began to work out a new system and to make fresh 

 investigations of all the Fungi. This new system was based upon a 

 minute examination of their different stages of development, and of 

 the morphological relations of their different parts. The result of 

 this investigation — the " Systema Mycologicum," in three volumes — 

 he published between the years 1821 and 1829, and a supplement 

 appeared in 1830. 



In 1828 Fries published his " Elenchus Fungorum," in which he 

 described some of the Fungi, of which great quantities had been sent 

 to him from abroad. 



Hitherto Fries had been absolutely prevented by want of means from 

 indulging his ardent wish to explore foreign countries in search of 

 specimens, but in the year 1828 he was at length able to visit the 

 northern part of Germany and the Museum at Berlin, and had the 

 opportunity of extending bis knowledge of Lichens, of exotic Fungi, 

 as well as of studying the literature of these plants. 



