302 LINNAEUS IN. 1733 AND I734. 
be inferred from this, that he is endowed with the most acute judg- 
ment and a large share of natural genius and inventive powers. His se- 
dulity, perseverance and diligence are. quite uncommon. Few can 
equal him in zeal and eagerness to fathom and scrutinize whatever has 
hitherto remained a secret to the most prying eye, and whatever 
is worthy of any particular attention in the three reigns of nature. 
Although he 1 only attained his twenty -eighth year, he has acquired 
so much experience by his indefatigableness in reading and making 
annotations, that he excels in this respeCt many eminent men. 
The excellencies of his mind are heightened by the charms of 
a most amiable character. Endowed with a softness and sweetness of 
temper uncommon among men of letters, he can also boast of a 
natural cando a love of truth and piety, a readiness of rendering ser- 
vice, and a philanthropy free from all envy, asperity and ostentation. 
Among many curiosities he brought with him from Lapland , a 
Laplander’s dress made of rein-deer skins, and a very curious magic 
drum. He will give a circumstantial account of all these things, as he 
has been able to enquire into their use, by means of an interpreter 
who was his guide through Lapland. He needs not therefore to have 
recourse, like Schee fer, to the spurious accounts of others. 
Lin njeus even took all possible pains to explore the greatest secrets 
of the Laplanders. Among these their famous love of magic may 
be reckoned as one of the foremost. He can imitate exatlly their 
contortions of face and body, and assures us, that those grimaces 
are more the effea of gross superstition and a narrowness of imagina- 
tion, than of a pretended supernatural enchantment, performed by 
