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THE AMERICANS CANDINA VIAN REVIEW 
which he was the first to lay stress on was the health-giving influence 
of the mountain climate. After having travelled about 7,000 miles, 
one third of the distance on foot, he returned in November to Uppsala, 
where he at once began to arrange his large collections and work out 
his notes. 
During the years immediately following, Linnaeus made several 
other trips, first one to Bergslagen and afterwards a longer scientific 
journey through the entire length of Dalecarlia, where new specimens 
from the three realms of nature were collected and many observations 
were noted regarding the life of the peasants, their hunting and fish¬ 
ing, etc. In the winter of 1734 Linnaeus lived at Falun in Dalecarlia. 
“He felt as though he had come to a new world where everybody 
loved him, and where he soon had a considerable practice as a physi¬ 
cian.” In local society he met Sara Elisabeth, the eighteen year old 
daughter of the town physician Moraeus. He “saw her, marvelled, 
was enraptured, and fell in love.” But the proud and wealthy father 
would not allow the almost unknown student to marry his daughter be¬ 
fore he had taken the degree of doctor of medicine, preferably at some 
foreign university. Linnaeus had even before that time had diffi¬ 
culties put in his way by rivals who tried to prevent him from lec¬ 
turing at Uppsala because he did not have this degree. He therefore 
made up his mind to go to a Dutch university. Linnaeus had saved 
a little money, and to this was added the promise of a small sum from 
his host in Falun, a man named Sohlberg, who wished his son to travel 
in Linnaeus’s care to Holland, where both were to study. Even with 
this addition, his funds were very small. Of greater value than his 
purse was the collection of manuscripts, the draughts of the scientific 
works which he had planned but had not been able to publish, and 
which he now took with him abroad. 
First he visited his old home, which he found very much changed. 
The mother was dead, the father prematurely aged. It was a grief 
to the latter that he could not give his dear Carl an addition to his 
resources. But Carl was full of courage. God had helped him won¬ 
derfully so far. Why should not God help again? 
So the two young travellers set out for Liibeck and Hamburg. 
In the latter city Linnaeus narrowly escaped disaster. In one of the 
collections he visited there was exhibited a “hydra,” a gigantic snake 
with two feet and seven heads. Linnaeus proved that the wonderful 
animal—“one of the world’s wonders”—was a fake and thus drew 
upon himself the wrath of the powerful owner who had meant to sell 
it for a large sum. Linnaeus followed the advice of his friends and 
escaped by flight. After a stormy voyage he arrived at Amsterdam 
and went to Harderwijk, where he registered at the University. After 
passing the prescribed examinations, he was given the degree of doctor 
of medicine. 
