LAPLAND JOURNEY 
89 
The result was that Linnaeus by ten votes to three, 
received this gift, amounting to 30 platar [^4 2s. 6d.] 
for the half-year; an attempt to upset this arrangement 
in favour of Muren, being resisted by the Consistory 
in the following February. During the remainder of 
1732 he worked on his collections, and at Christmas 
travelled home, arriving on Christmas Eve. His 
parents were saying grace before meat, and received 
him with delight. He had plenty to tell of his adven¬ 
tures, but feared that this would be the last time he 
should see his mother. This thought was prophetic, 
for in the following June he recorded that “ his dearest 
and most pious mother passed away, in his absence, 
to his indescribable anguish, care and loss.” 
