30 
HELEN ABBOTT MICHAEL 
nodding the head twice or thrice. I noticed an absence of ear¬ 
rings; only half a dozen men in the room wore them, though 
many of the ladies had their ears bored and doubtlessly wear 
earrings at balls and the like. The dresses were generally 
woolen, of dark colors, tastefully made though plain, very little 
jewelry, clean, neat-fitting gants de Suede. . . . 
“The reception was noted for the distinguished men and 
women present: professors and their wives, a young man 
of Stanley’s corps who had walked across East Africa, Nor- 
denskjöld, who went in the Vega by the northwest passage 
around from Sweden to Japan. He shook hands cordially. A 
famous actress of Sweden, Lenke, zoologist, Lefiler, mathema¬ 
tician, Hildebrandt, and Montelius. 
“Miss Topelius of Finland spoke in French. Her father is 
a distinguished writer 1 of Finland. She was charming in man¬ 
ner, a painter, and was most warm in her manner, patting me 
on the shoulder and arms. This is quite a national trait since 
Professor Löven and the chambermaid did the same. There 
is much kindliness in their manner. After supper we went back 
to the reception room. Miss Inez C. Rundström from Kansas 
was a charming girl of Swedish parentage. She graduated from 
one of the Western colleges, having begun the study of mathe¬ 
matics when a child. She is here studying mathematics in the 
High School (the beginning of the University) with Lefiler 
and Professor Sophia Kovalevskaya. The teaching is entirely 
by means of lectures, and those of Kovalevskaya are regarded as 
very profound. The atmosphere of great men was about the 
room. The tremendous and gigantic strength of their mental 
qualities very apparent. Many, if not all the ladies, speak ex¬ 
cellent French, and they seem more thoroughly educated and 
trained than our own women. They met me with such a de¬ 
lightful spirit of welcome. 
“Within a brief hour after the supper, we returned to the 
dining-room. The long table was spread with a row of glasses 
all around the table, filled with punch — alternating color of 
red and white — opened bottles of seltzer water and glasses. 
“At the end of the room near the head of the table sat Ibsen, 
1 Professor Zakris Topelius, author of The Surgeon’s Stories, etc. 
