LIFE ABROAD 
145 
himself disputed, as he had in 1727, on the sugges¬ 
tion of the English botanist, William Sherard, 
obtained the said work. Nevertheless, as Linnaeus 
stood to his statement, the book was sent for, and the 
description of the tree was found and confirmed. It 
was the White Beam, which in the greater part of 
Europe does not occur in a wild state. 
It is certain that Linnaeus at his first meeting with 
Boerhaave made so good an impression, that he found 
in him a friend whose benevolence was not evanes¬ 
cent, but on the contrary, remained warm and 
unchanged to Boerhaave’s last hour. After his death, 
Linnaeus was able to say, “ With Boerhaave I have lost 
the most devoted friend, the most obliging teacher, 
the best benefactor. The memory of my medical 
father Boerhaaye, I shall ever hold constantly in 
honour.” 
The first testimony of Boerhaave’s estimation of 
Linnaeus’s work in botany, and his unquenchable love 
for it, was his offer to send him to the Cape, there 
to collect plants for two years, for the University 
garden in Leyden, and afterwards proceed to 
America. He promised that he should travel free, 
and on his return should enjoy the status of a Pro¬ 
fessor with suitable emolument. The offer was 
unquestionably tempting, but before deciding, Lin¬ 
naeus consulted his friends in Sweden, particularly 
Olof Celsius. The latter suggested a plan for a visit 
to his friend Dillenius in England, and as Linnaeus 
was well versed in assaying, he urged an application 
to Peter Collinson in London, who would provide a 
suitable post in America, where the English had mines, 
and added, that if this project fell through, he ought to 
conduct a diligent correspondence with Dillenius. 
Celsius seems to have discouraged the projected jour¬ 
ney, as he well knew it would not suit him. But before 
this letter came, Linnaeus had determined to decline 
the offer, with the excuse that he could not bear hot 
climates, having been brought up in a cold one; the 
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