752 LINN 
of ideas, which, for want of early difcipline, they could 
never attain. The memory of Linnaeus, indeed, like his 
powers of perception, was naturally good, and his light 
was always remarkably acute. The vivacity and brilliant 
expreflion- of his eyes are faid to have lafted through life, 
and indeed are dil'played in moft of his portraits. 
Thefe flowery fludies however were obliged to give way, 
in fome meafure, to lefs agreeable occupations; and un¬ 
happily the private tutor proved a man of lefs winning 
manners than the beloved parent. Thus at feven years 
of age grammar had but an unequal cor.teft with botany 
in the mind of the young ftudent. Nor was he much 
more fortunate when removed in 1717 to the grammar* 
School of Wexio, the mailer of which, as his difgufted 
pupil relates, “preferred (tripes and punilhments to ad¬ 
monitions and encouragements.” Such a fyftem was near 
ex'cingnifhing all the talents it was intended to cultivate; 
and, when the youth was committed, two years afterwards, 
to the care of a more judicious and amiable private tutor 
than before, the horrors of the rod feem dill to have pre¬ 
dominated over his tafte for learning. In 1722 he proved 
competent, neverthelefs, to be admitted to a higher form 
in the fchool, and his drier fludies were now allowed to 
•be intermixed and fweetened with the recreations of bo¬ 
tany. In 1724, being feventeen years of age, he was re¬ 
moved to the fijperior feminary, or Gymnafium, and his 
deflination was fixed for the church. But the original 
inclinations of his mind, and its early prejudices, here 
grew but the more apparent. He had no tafte for Greek 
or Hebrew, ethics, metaphyfics, or theology ; but he de¬ 
voted himfelf with fuccefs to mathematics, natural philo- 
fophy, and a fcientific purfuit of his darling botany. His 
literary reputation made fo little progrefs, that, when his 
father paid a vifit to Wexio, in 1726, his tutors, like the 
fapient inftructors of Newton at Cambridge, gave him up 
as a hopelefs dunce. They advifed that he fliould be put 
apprentice to a (hoe-maker, tailor, or fome other handi¬ 
craft trade, rather than be forced to purfue an objeCt for 
which he was evidently unfit. Fortunately, the difap- 
pointed parent met with a better counsellor in Dr. Roth- 
mann, the lecturer on natural philofophy, who encouraged 
him to hope much from the inclination of his fon to na¬ 
tural knowledge and practical obfervation, and recom¬ 
mended that he fliould be directed to the Itudy of medicine. 
This good advice was fupported with the gratuitous offer 
of taking the young man into his own houfe, for the year 
during which he was ftill to remain at the Gymnafium, 
which was gladly accepted. The worthy preceptor gave 
his pupil a private courfe of inftru&ion in phyfiology on 
the Boerhaavian principles, and was rewarded by the iuc- 
cefs of his endeavours. In 1727 Linnaeus was matricu¬ 
lated at the univerfity of Lund, having, on the 19th of 
Augufl, undergone with credit the examination of the 
dean, and even of the profeflor of eloquence, Papke. He 
devoted himfelf to the ftudy of medicine, lodging at the 
houfe of a phyfician. Dr. Stobasus, whole library and mu- 
feu m of natural hiftory afforded the greatefl delight and 
>afliftance to his ardent mind, and the ftudy of which of¬ 
ten robbed him of feveral hours of his natural repole. In 
the fame houfe was a German ftudent named Koulas, ea¬ 
ger like himfelf for inftruclion ; and their friendfhip was 
mutually beneficial. Dr. Stobaeus being infirm in health 
and fpirits, Linnaeus was allowed to relieve him occafion- 
ally from the labours of his profeflion ; and foon became 
a great favourite. In the eniuing fummer Linnaeus paifed 
the vacation under his paternal roof. Here he met with 
his former patron Rothmann, by whofe advice he was in¬ 
duced to quit Lund for Upfal, as a fuperior fchool of me¬ 
dicine and botany. But the (lender fupport which his 
father could afford him, a capital of about 31 . fterling, 
being totally inadequate, he was, in this new filiation, 
reduced to the greatefl neceffity. Private pupils were not 
to be procured by a poor unknown ftudent. He was 
obliged to truft to chance for a meal; and, when he re¬ 
lates that he had no way of mending his (hoes but by 
1US. 
folded paper, feems to have felt the want even of the cob- 
ler’s education which had been recommended to Kim, 
He had offended his old friend Stobaeus by quitting Lund ; 
and, though he had brought with him a fplendid Latin 
teftimonial, from the ret tor of that univerfity, in which 
he was called Politijjimus ornavjfimufque dominus, and w?.3 
declared “ to have conduced himfelf with no lefs diligence 
than correiflnefs, fo as to gain the affection of all 0 who 
knew him,” he feems to have obtained nothing more than 
a royal fcholarfhip, which was conferred upon him on the 
16th of December, 1728; but of the value of which we 
are not informed. It appears however by the above ac¬ 
count to have been totally infufficient for his maintenance. 
He neverthelefs did not relax in his fludies; but attended 
the leftures of the younger Rudbeck, then profeflor at 
Uplal, as well as the medical ones of profeflor Roberg; 
and made critical manufeript remarks upon all that he 
(aw and heard. 
In the autumn of 1729 his botanical tafte and applica¬ 
tion raifed up for him a new and very eltimable patron, 
in the learned Dr. Olaus Celfius, profeflor of divinity, 
who met with him by chance in that academical garden, 
the fame of which he was deftined hereafter to immortal¬ 
ize. This gentleman had then been intent, for above 
thirty years, upon the illuftration of the plants mentioned 
in the Holy Scriptures, on which he publiflied a very ce¬ 
lebrated work in 1745, having travelled to the Eaft on 
purpofe to render it more perfect. He foon dilcovered 
the merit of Linnaeus, took him under his protection, and 
allowed him the full ufe of his own rich library. The 
friendfliip of fuch a man foon procured him further ad¬ 
vantages. The fon of profeflor Rudbeck, and other young 
men, became his private pupils, by which his finances 
were improved. Nothing however leems to have been re¬ 
collected with fo much fatisfaCtion to himfelf, in relating 
the events of this part of his life, as his intimate fcientific 
friendfhip with Peter ArCtedius, who afterwards called 
himfelf Artedi, and became fo famous in the knowledge 
of fifties and of umbelliferous plants. They palled fome 
time together fubfequently in Holland, when Linnaeus 
witnefled the melancholy fate of his friend, who was ac¬ 
cidentally drowned at-Atnfterdam ; of which he has pre¬ 
fixed fo pathetic an account to the Ichthyologia of Ar¬ 
tedi, publiflied by his means. See Artedi, vol.ii. p.221. 
Linnaeus, during his (Indies under the roof of Celfius, 
met with a review of Vaillant’s treatife on the Sexes of 
Plants, which firft led him to confider the importance, 
and great varieties of form, of the ftamens and piltils, 
and thence to forma new fcheme of arrangement founded 
on thofe eflential organs. He drew up an eflay on this 
principle, and (bowed it to Celfius, who communicated it 
to Rudbeck; and the performance was honoured with the 
high approbation of both. This led the way to his being 
appointed to leCture in the botanic garden, as an afliftant 
or deputy to the latter, whofe advanced age rendered fome 
relaxation neceflary. The leCtures of Linnaeus began in 
the fpring of 1730. He had previoufly Colicited from the 
profeflor the humble appointment of gardener to the uni¬ 
verfity, which was refufed. only on the ground of his be¬ 
ing fit for a better fituation. Now, finding himfelf au¬ 
thorized to take the direClion of the garden, he reformed 
and greatly enriched it. He was taken into the houfe of 
Rudbeck, as tutor to his younger children, and by this 
means had the ufe of a very fine collection of books and 
drawings. His mornings being devoted to the duties of 
his ftation, his evenings were (pent in preparing his bo¬ 
tanical works. 
Here it may not be improper to remark, that the doc¬ 
trine that plants had diftinCl flexes was by no means a new 
one; but it remained for Linnaeus clearly to elucidate 
this ohfleure and intricate flubjeft, to demonftrate its uni- 
verflality, and to make it fubfervient to fyftem. Theo- 
phraftus and Ariftotle obferve that plants are commonly 
divided into male and female, one of which is fertile, the 
other barren. “ If the dull of the branch of a male palm 
1 ^ be 
