CHAPTER VIII 
TRAVELS UNDERTAKEN ON PUBLIC COMMISSION : OLAND 
AND GOTLAND, 1741; WEST GOTHLAND AND BOHUS 
COAST, 1746; SKANE, 1 749. 
The appointment as Professor in Uppsala is a note¬ 
worthy boundary line in Linnaeus’s career, which is 
thereby divided into two parts of nearly the same 
length, but of differing qualities. The former, which 
has hitherto been described, may be taken as his 
“ Sturm und Drang ” period, during which, often 
under untoward conditions, he laboured with youthful 
energy, rising from an undistinguished position to 
one of world-wide reputation, and in various countries, 
helped by their sympathy, acquired devoted friends 
and warm-hearted benefactors. Over the whole of 
this period rests therefore a poetic glamour which 
entrances both biographer and the general public. 
The later period, on the other hand, though most 
important and not wanting in episodes which arouse 
admiration, are to some extent somewhat prosaic. 
Here we find Linnaeus living a quiet, little¬ 
changing life, in an honourable and secure position, 
engaged in teaching and strenuous research work. 
He was no longer the young enthusiast, obliged to 
fight undauntedly for recognition of his new ideas, 
but the generally received master, whose word was 
law, and round whose chair a crowd of eager enquirers 
gathered to find nature interpreted. That these 
changed circumstances, in a certain sense stamped 
their mark on his person and life, is quite natural, 
though he remained substantially the same, as 
199 
