MEMOIR OF LINNAEUS. 
11 
employed in their domestic manufactures. Linngeus was selected 
to perform the first journey ; and, having accepted the appoint- 
ment, he set out for the Islands of Oeland and Gothland, to en- 
deavor to discover an earth fitted to make porcelain ; — this was 
the foundation of his Iter Oelandicum. He was accompanied by 
six naturalists, but was unsuccessful in the object of the excursion. 
The tour was nevertheless of great utility : he atter led to me- 
chanics, the arts, antiquities, manners of the people, fisheries, and 
general natural history. He discovered above one hundred plants 
which were not previously known to be indigenous, and first 
pointed out to the natives of those shores the use of Arundo are- 
naria to arrest the sand, and bind the soil upon the sea-beach. 
At the age of thirty-four, we find Linnaeus enjoying the fruits 
of all his labors and perseverance, teaching his favorite science, 
as its head in Sweden. He enjoyed himself to the utmost: he 
calls the garden " his Elysium ;" and the enthusiasm with which 
he set about improving it, knew no bounds. At his appointment, 
every thing was in a state of confusion : the dreadful fire which 
had converted the best part of Upsala to a heap of ruins in 1702, 
had extended its ravages also here ; and at this period the garden 
did not contain more than fifty plants that were exotic. Linnaeus 
applied to the Chancellor of the University, Count Charles Gyl- 
lenborg, who fortunately was a man of considerable scientific ac- 
quirements, and a lover of botany ; and he also thought that the 
fame of her University was of the utmost consequence to Upsala. 
Through the means of this gentleman, permission was obtained 
that the whole should be laid out anew. Plans were obtained 
from the King's architect; and stoves, a greenhouse, and a man- 
sion for the professor, were soon finished. A gardener, whom 
Linnaeus had formerly known with Mr. Clifford, was also engaged, 
and by the assistance of the friends whom he had acquired during 
his short visits to London and Paris, the collection of plants was 
soon increased to above eleven hundred species, independent of 
