40 
LINNAEUS 
Astonished at that unaccustomed sight, he entered 
into conversation with him, and asked Linnaeus what 
he was writing, if he knew plants, where he came from, 
and how long he had been there; enquired the names 
of many plants, to which Linnaeus replied with the 
Tournefortian nomenclature; he finally asked how 
many plants he had dried, the reply being that he had 
over six hundred native plants. From this, Celsius 
discovered that the young man possessed an insight 
into botany, which he had not suspected in any 
student, therefore he bade the young man to follow 
him home, and when he came to his house, he went in, 
by which Linnaeus knew who his interlocutor was. 
Linnaeus was dispatched to bring his herbarium, 
whereby Dr. Celsius became even more convinced of 
Linnaeus’s acquirements in botany. With this meet¬ 
ing the acquaintance was begun, which developed, in 
mutual use and satisfaction, so that Linnaeus had 
reason “ to thank God who had so graciously given 
him another Stobaeus in Uppsala.” 
The first advantage which Linnaeus gained by this 
acquaintanceship was, and in consideration of his 
small resources it was for him a special benefit—by 
his being treated almost as a son in Celsius’s house. 
In writing to Stobaeus he said : “ I have plenty to do 
here, which has been doubled the last week, as Celsius 
has married off his daughter.” Celsius could not fail 
to see the poverty of Linnaeus, who remarks, “ that 
Dr. Celsius was so good that he invited me (16th July, 
1729) to take my meals with him for nothing, which 
happened from Midsummer Day till Michaelmas— 
when he journeyed to Stockholm—and that twice a 
day, gratis. Later he gave me a room in his house 
without rent,” and this benefit he enjoyed till the 
beginning of the following year. Linnaeus’s economic 
position was improved too, by receiving on the 20th 
June, a Royal Scholarship in the medical faculty 
in the second class, namely 20 dalers in silver [30 
shillings] each half-year. Besides this, in the autumn 
