138 
LINNiEUS 
Among the chief objects in natural history in Hamburg 
was a seven-headed snake or “ hydra ” which had in 
the year previous been drawn and described in Seba’s 
“ Thesaurus.” This monster was stated to have had 
its place on the altar of a church in Prague, which in 
1648 was Konigsmark’s share of booty; after his death 
it was inherited by Count Bjelke, and after changing 
fortunes, at last came to Hamburg, where it was kept 
in the collection of Burgomaster Johann Anderson 
and his brother. Many said it was the only one of its 
kind in the world, and thanked God that it had not 
multiplied. It was related that the Danish King 
Frederick IV. vainly offered 30,000 thalers [^4,500], 
but since then the price had sunk to 10,000 florins 
and 4,000 rixdalers [nearly /'goo]. At the time when 
Linnaeus was in Hamburg, negotiations were being 
carried on to sell it for 2,000 thalers [/300]. 
Naturally, Linnaeus was particularly anxious to in¬ 
spect this marvel, and by Kohl’s help succeeded. It 
only needed a short examination of the beast, whose 
movements were ostensibly actuated by seven differ¬ 
ent brains, for Linnaeus to exclaim, “ Great God, who 
never put more than one clear brain in one of thy 
created bodies.” He perceived at once that the heads 
with their gaping jaws and the two feet provided with 
claws, belonged to- weasels, and that the whole cover¬ 
ing of the body consisted of snake-skin pasted thereon. 
Evidently this hydra was just the opposite of that 
certified in Seba’s work as “ Nullement l’ouvrage de 
l’art, mais veritablement celui de la nature.” Lin¬ 
naeus saw that it was doubtless made by the monks as 
a representation of the dragon in the Apocalypse, and 
that the learned people, both old and young, in their 
credulity, had been deceived. This conception was 
not disturbed by the second visit which he made on 
the day before he left Hamburg. 
That he did not refrain from telling of his dis¬ 
covery was natural, and equally natural was it that 
thereby the outrageous price set upon it fell at once 
