AS A NATURALIST 
many years, and after his death it was given to me by his cousin 
and heir, Mrs. Arthur Severn. 
Linnaeus was the elder contemporary of Gray by nine years, 
and his life lasted for nearly seven years after the death of the 
poet. The first edition of his famous work was published in 
1735, when he was but twenty-eight years old. It presented a 
comprehensive view of the three realms of nature, — the animal, 
the vegetable and the mineral, — and in its admirable system 
and not less admirable definitions brought an order into the 
study of zoology and botany which had hitherto been lacking. 
It at once became the chief manual of students of Natural His- 
tory, but the very stimulus and guidance it afforded led to such 
increase of knowledge that the work required frequent revision 
and enlargement, and in the tenth edition, published in 1758, 
Linnaeus embodied the results of more than twenty years of in- 
vestigation and reflection. This was the edition which Gray used 
and annotated to such extent that his additions and illustra- 
tions are found on almost every page of the two volumes which 
treat of animals and plants, and if printed would form a volume 
at least equal in size to one of the original. 
The work which these volumes exhibit is so remarkable a 
monument of Gray's learning and industry, and throws so much 
light on his occupations and interests, especially during the last 
ten years of his life, that some knowledge of it seems essential, not 
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