PUPILS: P. LOFLING 233 
arborum ” (On the buds of trees), which showed his 
mettle. 
This relation continued. “ In the year 1750,” 
relates Linne, “ when I began my ‘ Philosophia 
botanica,’ I had so severe an attack of gout as to 
cherish little hope of surmounting it, but as soon as 
the illness began to diminish, I was obliged to get 
my dear Lofling to hold the pen, whilst I dictated 
from my bed, till the book was done, and as he always 
asked questions on what he did not understand, at 
the end he was thoroughly grounded in the subject/’ 
It was decided that he should travel in Arabia and 
the East Indies, but the vessel sailing before the 
funds were secured, the project was altered to the 
investigation of Spain, as its flora, though known for 
its rarities, as a whole was practically unknown. “ It 
is lamentable that a cultivated European land should 
remain in so barbarous a state as regards botany,” was 
the remark of an Englishman, Robert More, when on 
a visit to Madrid; by the good offices of the 
Spanish Ambassador to Sweden, the Marquis de 
Grimaldi, it was arranged that a pupil of Linne 
should be sent to that country. 
“ Lofling was in my mind,” wrote Linne, “ and he 
was not averse from the prospect.” By special effort 
he succeeded in gaining the degree of Magister and 
at once entered upon his journey, his old teacher 
bidding him a tender farewell. He was provided 
with a free passage to Portugal. After two months’ 
voyage, he arrived in that country, and began his 
search for plants. He passed on to Madrid, where 
he fixed his headquarters for two years, his earliest 
task being to overcome the jealousy of the local 
botanists, in which he succeeded. Many letters were 
sent home, and many plants also, as the Linnean 
herbarium shows. 
At the end of this period, an expedition to Spanish 
South America was organized, including four pro¬ 
fessors, as many skilled attendants, four surgeons and 
