A STUDENT AT UPSAL. 
*9 
C£ NjEus saw Flora in all her beauties on a throne, he saw her holding 
il forth a wreath to crown his head ; all Nature in her magnificence bade 
ts him draw nearer j but he saw the whole, as it were, at a most remote 
« distance. He was obliged to penetrate the labyrinth of D.edalus 
« to seek the thread which could guide him to the right path through 
c{ so many wanderings.” 
When the poverty of Linn^us had risen to its highest pitch, fortune 
and his distinguished conduft offered him at once a charming prospeft. 
Olaus Celsius had returned from Stockholm . Fie visited the bo- 
tanical garden. Linnaeus was present, spoke of the plants, described 
them with an exactness surprising in a student, and upon nearer conver- 
sation displayed such extensive knowledge as struck Celsius with 
astonishment. He made farther enquiries into the circumstances and 
conduft of the young man, heard of his distress, and became his bene- 
faftor. 
Linn^us was received into his house, where he obtained, gratis, 
board and lodging. Celsius was likewise a great adept in the 
Eastern languages, and then prepared his Hicrohotamcon , a work in 
which the plants and trees mentioned in Holy Scripture were to appeal, 
and which was published in the years 1745 and 1752, in two volumes, 
did great honour to its author, and forms an appendix to the Hicrozoi- 
con, published by Bochard upon the animals whose names appear in 
the Bible. Linnaeus bore an a&ive share in the colleftion of this 
learned work, and gave such literary assistance as no other student 
could have better afforded. This was one of the chief motives which, 
made Celsius take him into his house. To complete this task, Lin- 
•n/eus had the free use of the library of Celsius, which in botanical 
n o works 
