STUDENT YEARS 
59 
Before we close this presentation of the life and 
activities of Linnaeus at this stage, an addition must 
be made of his behaviour to what then was regarded 
as the flower of university life, namely public disputa¬ 
tions. The first time he appeared in such, was on the 
26th March, 1729, when he opposed one of Professor 
Roberg’s theses on the circulation of the blood. 
Another time he did his duty as opponent on the 
23rd June, 1730, when Daniel Bonge, under Roberg’s 
presidency, set out his treatise on the nature of salmon 
and their capture in Osterbotten. According to his 
own statement he was respondent on the 27th April, 
1731, in a public disputation with holders of Royal 
stipends, again under Roberg’s presidency, and on the 
25 th of May in the same year, he was tempted to 
appear as an extra opponent under the presidency of 
Anders Gronvall, Professor of practical philosophy, to 
the graduation thesis of Thomas Jerlin, “ On the 
ungrateful cuckoo,” and this in such style, “ that they 
never forgot it, for both sides showed such vehemence 
and passion.” Finally it may be added, though it 
belongs to the next spring term, that on the 17th April, 
1732, “ Dr. Roberg gave out as materials for disputa¬ 
tion, ‘ De Libella of Leetstrom ’ [on the dragonfly] and 
‘ De Cornus herba ’ of Linnaeus, but, as the latter 
remarks, and as Dr. Celsius informed me, Dillenius 
having founded the genus, I would not appear, 
although the thesis was half-printed, but was revoked.” 
To sum up the first year of Linnaeus’s residence at 
Uppsala, we find that his teachers put him forward for 
stipends, and he was mentioned in the Consistory and 
supported by most of the professors as deserving of 
recognition, and superior in attainments to his fellows. 
But Christmas of 1731 was now approaching and 
in consequence of a quick change in his relations to 
Rudbeck’s family, he had much to think about. Quite 
unexpectedly an event occurred, which made him 
resolve to give up his tutorship. In Rudbeck’s house 
a “ minx G. B ” [Greta Benzelia] was an inmate, who 
