SWEDISH OPINION 
353 
The other who was the object of bitter censure, was 
Thunberg, though it was acknowledged even by his 
accusers, that he was free from direct participation in 
the sale. But the burden was laid upon him, the 
accusations being chiefly based on his answer regard¬ 
ing the value of the collections and the necessity for 
the Chancellor’s action. Here it may be noted, that 
no one knows whether anyone else was asked to buy 
them, whose word would have been better than that 
of the Demonstrator Thunberg, and probably the 
Chancellor did not abstain from buying only 
because of Thunberg’s dissuasive advice, but was 
really frightened at the amount of the sum asked. 
Thunberg’s reply, notwithstanding all search, could 
not be found, but that did not prevent people from 
imagining its entire contents. It may have been, 
that in his self-satisfaction at the extent and elegance 
of his own collections, he may have despised the 
Linnean herbarium, and thereby unwittingly have 
helped the sale. At this time, Acrel and Thunberg 
stood in a somewhat strained relation to each other, but 
they were agreed in wishing the Linnean collections to 
go abroad. The remark of Thunberg as to the far 
better paper in his herbarium was made in his old age, 
thirty or forty years later, and therefore cannot serve 
as testimony for his thoughts immediately after the 
death of the younger Linne. That the threatened 
destruction by damp of his plants, after removal to the 
new building, was looked upon as a kind of Nemesis, 
deserves no other comment than that they still remain 
in good condition. Still, both before and after the sale, 
he bitterly attacked Acrel, who resented his attitude 
for two years. The ardour for collecting which he 
ever showed, and his warm interest in the University 
Museum, took shape in the splendid gift of his own 
valuable collections, which show that he would not 
have opposed the conservation of the Linnean 
collections in the Museum, if it could have been 
arranged. 
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