LIFE ABROAD 
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by his diminishing funds to go to Holland. During 
a visit by Linnaeus to Leyden, the two friends met 
unexpectedly on the 8th July, and tears in the eyes 
of both testified to their emotion at the unforeseen 
meeting. Each had much to impart to the other 
since they last met, about works and future plans. 
Artedi’s greatest wish was to obtain the degree of 
Doctor in Medicine, but as his means were nearly 
exhausted, he saw no possibility in a foreign land of 
obtaining food, clothes and needed books, so was 
thinking of returning to Sweden. “ But Linnaeus 
comforted him, that he was no longer at Uppsala 
under restriction and persecution, and prophesied that 
if he would be careful all would be well.” He 
persuaded him to go with him to Amsterdam, where 
they visited Seba, with the happy result that Artedi 
was installed as Seba’s helper, and he so diligently 
devoted himself to describing the fishes, which were to 
be included in the volume of Seba’s work now in 
course of preparation, that only a few remained 
undescribed. 
Linnaeus thereupon returned to Hartecamp, but 
as soon as the preliminaries to his “ Fundamenta 
botanica ” were finished, he hastened to Amsterdam 
to meet his friend. Artedi, generally of few words, 
produced all his manuscripts which he had never 
shown before, went through them and said that as 
soon as Seba’s work was finished, he would take up 
the final revision and polish the same, so that they 
could be printed before his homeward journey. 
Although Linnaeus was much engrossed by other 
objects, Artedi was unwilling to part from his friend, 
“ but,” he says in the preface to Artedi’s “ Ichthyologia,” 
“ had I known that this was to be our last talk, I could 
have wished it had lasted longer.” 
A few days later, on the 27th September, Artedi 
was invited to Seba’s house to supper, where he stayed 
in happy conversation with many fellow guests till 
late at night. On his homeward way in the darkness, 
