164 
LINNAEUS 
bride held Linnaeus back. Then Boerhaave allowed 
him to propose the most suitable man for the post, 
because no one knew the young Doctor better than 
himself, and thus Johann Bartsch of Konigsberg 
became the possessor of the post, a small, handsome, 
quick, learned and methodical young man, an intimate 
friend of Linnaeus, who had taught him not only botany 
but entomology. He started on the 2nd October for 
Surinam, but most unfortunately sickened and died a 
few months after his arrival. Linnaeus, who called 
the genus Bartsia after him, sharply complained of 
the brutal conduct of the Colonial Government, which 
caused the death of this amiable young man. Another 
Swede, Tiburtius Kiellman, befriended both by 
Sohlberg and Linnaeus, became Bartsch’s successor, 
but he too soon died in that unhealthy climate. 
The good relations which prevailed from the first 
meeting between Boerhaave and Linnaeus were never 
clouded, but continually became more intimate. This 
was shown when Linnaeus, shortly before his departure, 
came to bid farewell to his old teacher. The latter 
was seriously ill of dropsy, accompanied by asthma, so 
that he could not lie down in bed, but had to sit 
propped up. For some time, no one was admitted to 
his room; Linnaeus being the only exception. He 
came to kiss his great teacher’s hand, with a sorrowful 
“ Vale ” [Good-bye], but the sick old man had still so 
much strength that he carried Linnaeus’s hand to his 
lips, and kissed it in return, saying: “ I have lived my 
time and my years are done, what I could do, I have 
done. God preserve thee for what remains. What 
the world asked of me it had, but it asks far more 
yet of thee. Farewell, my dear Linnaeus.” Tears 
prevented more, but when Linnaeus went home to his 
lodgings, Boerhaave sent him a fine copy of his 
Chemistry. He fell asleep soon after, on the 
23rd September, 1738. 
In Leyden, with its brisk life and busy interchange 
with many educated persons, Linnaeus prospered. He 
