A GENERAL VIEW OF THE WRITINGS OF THE LATE CELEBRATED LINNAEUS, &c.

CHARLES VON LINNÈ, the ſon of a Swediſh divine, was born May 24, 1707, at Roeſhult, in the province of Smaland, in Sweden; of which place his father had the cure, when this ſon was born, but was ſoon after preferred to the living of Stenbrihult, in the ſame province, where dying in 1748, at the age of 70, he was ſucceeded in his cure by another ſon. We are told, in the commemoration-ſpeech on this celebrated man, de⯑livered in his Swediſh majeſty's preſence, before the royal academy of ſciences at Stockholm, that the anceſtors of this family took their ſirnames of LINNAEUS, Lindelius, and Tiliander, from a large lime-tree, or linden-tree, yet ſtanding on the farm where Linnaeus was born; and that this origin of ſirnames, taken from natural objects, is not very uncommon in Sweden.

[2] This eminent man, whoſe talents enabled him to reform the whole ſcience of natural hiſtory, ac⯑cumulated, very early in life, ſome of the higheſt honours that await the moſt ſucceſsful proficients in medical ſcience; ſince we find that he was made profeſſor of phyſic and botany, in the univerſity of Upſal, at the age of 34; and ſix years afterwards, phyſician to his ſovereign, the late king Adolphus; who in the year 1753 honoured him ſtill farther, by creating him knight of the order of the Polar Star. His honours did not terminate here, for in 1757 he was ennobled; and in 1776 the preſent king of Sweden accepted the reſignation of his office, and rewarded his declining years by dou⯑bling his penſion, and by a liberal donation of landed property, ſettled on him and his family.

It ſeems probable, that his father's example firſt gave Linnaeus a taſte for the ſtudy of nature; who, as he has himſelf informed us, cultivated, as his firſt amuſement, a garden plentifully ſtored with plants. Young Linnaeus ſoon became acquainted with theſe, as well as the indigenous ones of his neighbourhood. Yet, from the ſtraightneſs of his father's income, our young naturaliſt was on the point of being deſtined to a mechanical employ⯑ment: fortunately, however, this deſign was over⯑ruled. In 1717 he was ſent to ſchool at Wexſio, where, as his opportunities were enlarged, his progreſs in all his favourite purſuits was propor⯑tionably extended. At this early period he paid attention to other branches of natural hiſtory; par⯑ticularly to the knowledge of inſects: in which, as is manifeſt from his oration on the ſubject, he muſt [3] very early have made a great proficiency, ſince we find that he was not leſs ſucceſsful herein, than in that of plants, having given them an arrangement, and eſtabliſhed ſuch characters of diſtinction, as have been univerſally followed by ſucceeding ento⯑mologiſts.

The firſt part of his academical education, Lin⯑naeus received under profeſſor Stobaeus, at Lund, in Scania, who favoured his inclinations to the ſtudy of natural hiſtory. After a reſidence of about a year, he removed in 1728 to Upſal. Here he ſoon contracted a cloſe friendſhip with Artedi, a native of the province of Angermannia, who had already been four years a ſtudent in that univerſity, and, like himſelf, had a ſtrong bent to the ſtudy of na⯑tural hiſtory in general, but particularly to Ich⯑thyology. He was moreover well ſkilled in chemiſtry, and not unacquainted with botany, having been the inventor of that diſtinction in umbelliferous plants, ariſing from the differences of the involucrum. Emulation is the ſoul of improvement, and, heigh⯑tened as it was in this inſtance by friendſhip, proved a moſt powerful incentive. Theſe young men proſecuted their ſtudies together with uncom⯑mon vigor, mutually communicating their obſerva⯑tions, and laying their plans, ſo as to aſſiſt each other in every branch of natural hiſtory and phyſic.

Soon after his reſidence at Upſal, our author was alſo happy enough to obtain the favour of ſeveral gentlemen of eſtabliſhed character in litera⯑ture. He was in a particular manner encouraged in the purſuit of his ſtudies by the patronage of [4] Dr. Olaus Celſius, at that time profeſſor of divinity, and the reſtorer of natural hiſtory in Sweden; ſince ſo diſtinguiſhed for oriental learning, and more particularly for his Hierobotanicon, or Critical Diſ⯑ſertations on the Plants mentioned in Scripture. This gentleman is ſaid to have given LINNAEUS a large ſhare of his eſteem, and he was fortunate enough to obtain it very early after his removal to Upſal. He was at that time meditating his Hierobotanicon, and being ſtruck with the diligence of Linnaeus, in deſcribing the plants of the Upſal garden, and his extenſive knowledge of their names, fortunately for him, at that time involved in difficulties, from the narrow circumſtances of his parents, Celſius not only patronized him in a general way, but admitted him to his houſe, his table, and his library. Un⯑der ſuch encouragement, it is not ſtrange that our author made a rapid progreſs, both in his ſtudies, and the eſteem of the profeſſors: in fact, we have a very ſtriking proof of his merit and attainments, inaſmuch as we find, that after only two years re⯑ſidence, he was thought ſufficiently qualified to give lectures occaſionally from the botanic chair, in the room of profeſſor Rudbeck.

In the year 1731, the royal academy of ſciences at Upſal having for ſome time meditated the deſign of improving the natural hiſtory of Sweden, at the inſtance particularly of profeſſors Celſius and Rud⯑beck, deputed LINNAEUS to make the tour of Lap⯑land, with the ſole view of exploring the natural hiſtory of that arctic region; to which underta⯑king, his reputation, already high as a naturaliſt, and the ſtrength of his conſtitution, equally re⯑commended [5] him. This tour had been made for the firſt time, with the ſame view, by the elder Rudbeck, in 1695, at the command of Charles XI; but unfortunately the whole fruit of that expedi⯑tion, except two or three copies of the Campi Elyſii, periſhed in the dreadful fire of Upſal, in 1702.

As this expedition could not take place till the ſucceeding ſummer, LINNAEUS ſpent his winter with his friends and relations in the ſouth; and particu⯑larly paid a viſit, in January 1732, to his former preceptor Stobaeus, at Lund; whom he left in Fe⯑bruary, to viſit his native province of Smaland, and returned to Upſal about the middle of April, to prepare for his journey. He left Upſal the 13th of May, and took his route to Gevalia, or Gevels, the principal town of Geſtricia, 45 miles diſtant from Upſal. Hence he travelled through Helſingland, into Medalpadia, where he made an excurſion, and aſ⯑cended a remarkable mountain, before he reached Hudwickſwald, the chief town of Helſingland. From hence he went through Angermanland, to Hernoſand, a ſea-port on the Bothnic gulph, ſeventy miles diſ⯑tant from Hudwickſwald. When he had proceeded thus far, he found it proper to retard his journey, as the ſpring was not ſufficiently advanced; and took this opportunity of viſiting thoſe remarkable caverns on the ſummit of mount Skula, though at the hazard of his life.

When LINNAEUS arrived at Uma, in Weſt Bothnia, about 96 miles from Hernoſand, he quitted the public road, and took his courſe through the woods weſtward, in order firſt to traverſe the moſt ſouthern parts of Lapland. Being now come to [6] the country that was more particularly the object of his enquiries, equally a ſtranger to the language and to the manners of the people, and without any aſſociate, he committed himſelf to the hoſpi⯑tality of the inhabitants, and never failed to expe⯑rience it fully. He ſpeaks in ſeveral places, with peculiar ſatisfaction, of the innocence and ſimpli⯑city of their lives, and their freedom from diſeaſes. In this excurſion, he reached the mountains to⯑wards Norway, and, after encountering great hard⯑ſhips, returned into Weſt Bothnia, quite exhauſted with fatigue. He ſeems to have been much ſtruck with the ſingular uſe that the Laplanders make of the Pinguicula vulgaris, which we call Butterwort, or Yorkſhire Sanicle: They receive the milk of the rein-deer upon the freſh leaves of this plant, which they immediately ſtrain off, and ſet aſide, till it becomes ſomewhat aceſcent, and the whole ac⯑quires, in a day or two, a conſiſtence equal to that of cream, without ſeparating the ſerum; and by this method it becomes an agreeable food. When thus prepared, a ſmall quantity of the ſame has the property of rennet, in producing the like change on freſh milk. But to return: Our tra⯑veller next viſited Pitha and Lula, upon the gulph of Bothnia, from which latter place he took again a weſtern route, by proceeding up the river of that name, and viſited the ruins of the temple of Jock⯑mock, in Lula-Lapland or Lap-Mark; thence, he tra⯑verſed what is called the Lapland Deſert, deſtitute of all villages, cultivation, roads, or any conve⯑niences; inhabited only by a few ſtraggling people, originally deſcended from the Finlanders, and who [7] ſettled in this country in remote ages, being en⯑tirely a diſtinct people from the Laplanders. In this diſtrict he aſcended a noted mountain called Wallevari, in ſpeaking of which he has given us a pleaſant relation of his finding a ſingular and beautiful new plant (Andromeda tetragona) when travelling within the arctic circle, with the ſun in his view at midnight, in ſearch of a Lapland hut. From hence he croſſed the Lapland Alps into Finmark, and traverfed the ſhores of the North ſea as far as Sallero.

Theſe journies from Lula and Pitha, on the Bothnian gulph, to the north ſhore, were made on foot, and our traveller was attended by two Lap⯑landers; one his interpreter, and the other his guide. He tells us that the vigour and ſtrength of theſe two men, both old, and ſufficiently loaded with his baggage, excited his admiration, ſince they appeared quite unhurt by their labour, while he himſelf, although young and robuſt, was fre⯑quently quite exhauſted. In this journey he was wont to ſleep under the boat with which they forded the rivers, as a defence againſt rain, and the gnats, which in the Lapland ſummer are not leſs teazing than in the torrid zones. In de⯑ſcending one of theſe rivers, he narrowly eſcaped periſhing by the overſetting of the boat, and loſt many of the natural productions which he had collected.

LINNAEUS thus ſpent the greater part of the ſummer in examining this arctic region, and thoſe mountains, on which, four years afterwards, the [8] French philoſophers ſecured immortal fame to Sir Iſaac Newton. At length, after having ſuffered incredible fatigues and hardſhips, in climbing pre⯑cipices, paſſing rivers in miſerable boats, ſuffering repeated viciſſitudes of extreme heat and cold, and not unfrequently hunger and thirſt; he re⯑turned to Tornoa in September. He did not take the ſame route from Tornoa as when he came into Lapland, having determined to viſit, and examine, the country on the eaſtern ſide of the Bothnian gulph: his firſt ſtage, therefore, was to Ula, in Eaſt Bothnia; from thence to Old and New Carleby, 84 miles ſouth from Ula. He continued his route through Waſa, Chriſtianſtedi, and Biorneburgh, to Abo, a ſmall univerſity in Fin⯑land. Winter was now ſetting in apace, he there⯑fore croſſed the gulph by the iſland of Aland, and arrived at Upſal in November, after having per⯑formed, and that moſtly on foot, a journey of ten degrees of latitude in extent, excluſive of thoſe de⯑viations which ſuch a deſign rendered neceſſary.

The reſult of this journey was not publiſhed till ſeveral years afterwards, during his reſidence in Holland. For the preſent he only gave in to the academy a Florula Lapponica, conſiſting of a very few pages in the Acta Upſalienſia for the years 1732 and 1734. In this little catalogue the plants are diſpoſed according to the ſyſtem which was after⯑wards called the ſexual; and which we ſhould not have mentioned here, but to prove how early Lin⯑naeus had laid the foundation of that method, which he afterwards wrought up to ſuch perfection.

[9] In 1733 he viſited and examined the ſeveral mines in Sweden, and made himſelf ſo well ac⯑quainted with mineralogy, and the docimaſtic art, that we find he was ſufficiently qualified to give lectures on thoſe ſubjects, upon his return to the univerſity. The outlines of his ſyſtem on mi⯑neralogy appeared in the early editions of the Syſtema Naturae; but he did not exemplify the whole until the year 1768.

In the year 1734 LINNAEUS was ſent by Baron Reuterholm, governor of Dalekarlia, with ſeveral other naturaliſts, into that province, to inveſtigate the natural productions of that part of the Swediſh dominions. Each gentleman had his particular department aſſigned; and they noted daily the ob⯑ſervations made relating to geography, &c.; but particularly, and as their principal object, the eco⯑nomical and natural hiſtory, and mineralogy. A full account of theſe obſervations was intended to have been publiſhed, but the deſign was laid aſide. It was in this journey that our author firft laid the plan of an excellent inſtitution, which was after⯑wards executed in a certain degree at leaſt, by himſelf, with the aſſiſtance of many of his pupils, and the reſult publiſhed under the title of Pan Suecus, in the ſecond volume of the Amaenitates Academicae.

After the completion of this expedition, it ap⯑pears that LINNAEUS reſided for a time at Fahlun, the principal town in Dalekarlia; where he tells us that he taught mineralogy, and the docimaſtic art, and practiſed phyſic; and where he was very hoſpitably treated by Dr. More, the phyſician of [10] the place. It alſo appears, that he contracted at this time an intimacy with one of that gentleman's daughters, whom he married about five years afterwards, upon his ſettling as a phyſician at Stock⯑holm.

In this journey he extended his travels quite acroſs the Dalekarlian Alps into Norway; but we have no particular account of his diſcoveries in that kingdom. From its ſituation, however, in the ſame parallels of latitude and of longitude, nearly, with Sweden, as well as from the face of the country, but little variety could be expected; and from the Flora Norwegica of Bp. Gunner, ſince publiſhed, the vegetable productions of na⯑ture appear to be nearly the ſame, except that the Norway coaſt abounds with fuci or ſea-wracks, not known in the Baltic.

In the year 1735, LINNAEUS travelled over many other parts of Sweden, ſome parts of Denmark and Germany, and fixed in Holland, where he chiefly reſided until his return to Stockholm, about the year 1739. He here took his doctor's degree in phyſic, in June 1735. How clearly the great Boerhaave ſaw his merit will appear hereafter. On the preſent occaſion he ſuſtained a theſis under the title of HYPOTHESIS NOVA de febrium inter⯑mittentium cauſa. It is an enquiry into the cauſes of the frequency of that diſtemper in Sweden, particularly in Upland, and the ſouth-eaſt parts of that kingdom; which he was inclined to attribute to a local cauſe, after the moſt minute ſcrutiny into the ſoil and ſituation of thoſe places where this diſtemper was ſo remarkably prevalent and [11] obſtinate; and finally propoſes, Whether it might not be owing to the ſtrong impreg⯑nation of the water with argillaceous particles? Whether or not he afterwards adhered to this opinion, we are uncertain, as it is but juſtice to obſerve, that he did not republiſh this tract himſelf, ſince it was placed at the head of the firſt volume of the Amaenitates, printed at Ley⯑den, as we believe, without his knowledge, by Dr. Peter Camper. In the mean time we may obſerve, that howſoever inſufficient this hypotheſis may be to ſolve the difficulties that have at⯑tended the ſearch into the remote cauſes of this diſeaſe; the advocates of the modern theory, re⯑lating to it, may think the author's facts, of its frequency in low ſituations, confirm and illuſtrate in no ſmall degree their own, according to which it is imputed to miaſmata ariſing from moiſt and marſhy ground.

In this year LINNAEUS alſo publiſhed the firſt ſketch of his Syſtema Naturae, in a very com⯑pendious way, and in the form of tables only, in twelve pages in folio. By this it appears, that he had at a very early period of his life (cer⯑tainly before he was 24 years old) laid the baſis of that great ſtructure which he afterwards raiſed, not only to the increaſe of his own fame, but to that of natural ſcience.

In 1736, LINNAEUS came into England, and vi⯑ſited Dr. Dillenius, the late learned profeſſor at Oxford, whom he juſtly conſidered as one of the firſt botaniſts in Europe. He mentions with par⯑ticular reſpect the civilities he received from him, [12] and the privileges he gave him of inſpecting his own, and the Sherardian collections of plants. It is needleſs to ſay, that he viſited Dr. Martyn, Mr. Rand, and Mr. Miller, and that he was in a more ſingular manner indebted to the friendſhip of Dr. Iſaac Lawſon. He alſo contracted an intimate friendſhip with Mr. PETER COLLINSON, which was reciprocally increaſed by a multitude of good offices, and continued to the laſt without any diminution. Dr. Boerhaave had furniſhed him with letters to our great naturaliſt Sir HANS SLOANE; but, it is with regret that we muſt ob⯑ſerve, they did not procure him the reception which the warmth of his recommendation ſeemed to claim.

Dr. Boerhaave's letter to Sir Hans Sloane, on this occaſion, is preſerved in the Britiſh Muſeum, and runs thus—LINNAEUS, qui has tibi dabit literas, eſt unice dignus te videre, unice dignus a te videri; qui vos videbit ſimul, videhit hominum par, cui ſimile vix dabit orbis.—This encomium, howſoever quaintly expreſſed, yet was in ſome meaſure pro⯑phetic of Linnaeus's future fame and greatneſs, and proves how intimately Boerhaave had penetrated into the genius and abilities of our author; and, ſtrained as this parallel might be thought, it is likely however that the opening of the ſexual ſyſtem, ſo different from Ray's, by which Sir Hans Sloane had always known plants, and particularly the in⯑novations, as they were then called, which LIN⯑NAEUS had made in altering the names of ſo many genera, were rather the cauſe of that coolneſs with which he was received by our excellent naturaliſt. [13] Probably we have reaſon to regret this circum⯑ſtance; for otherwiſe LINNAEUS might have obtained an eſtabliſhment in England, as it has been thought he wiſhed to have done; and doubtleſs his op⯑portunities in this kingdom would have been much more favourable to his deſigns, than in thoſe arctic regions where he ſpent the remainder of his days. In the mean time, we may juſtly infer the exalted idea that Linnaeus had of England, as a land eminently favourable to the improvement of ſcience, from that compliment which, in a letter to a friend, he after⯑wards paid to London, when, ſpeaking of that city, he called it "Punctum ſaliens in vitello orbis." However, the Engliſh naturaliſts may now con⯑gratulate themſelves on having adopted a moſt excellent diſciple of the Linnaean ſchool; who, with an illuſtrious aſſociate, ſhared the perils of a navigation round this globe, incited by thirſt of knowledge alone; and who now enjoys that general eſteem among us which is due to his extenſive ſcience, and to his ſingular liberality of mind and manners.

One of the moſt agreeable circumſtances that happened to LINNAEUS, during his reſidence in Holland, aroſe from the patronage of Mr. Clifford, in whoſe houſe ^*he lived a conſiderable part of his time, being now as it were the child of fortune:—Exivi patriâ triginta ſex nummis aureis dives—are his own words. With Mr. Clifford, [14] however, he enjoyed pleaſures and privileges ſcarcely at that time to be met with elſewhere in the world; that of a garden excellently ſtored with the fineſt exotics, and a library furniſhed with almoſt every botanic author of note. How happy he found himſelf in this ſituation, thoſe only who have felt the ſame kind of ardour can conceive.

Whilſt in Holland, our author was recom⯑mended by Boerhaave to fill the place, then va⯑cant, of phyſician to the Dutch ſettlement at Suri⯑nam; but he declined it, on account of his hav⯑ing been educated in ſo oppoſite a climate. He recommended, however, to that department a young German phyſician of great merit, who had the misfortune to fall a ſacrifice, partly to the climate, and partly perhaps to ill uſage from the governor, in half a year after his arrival: A circumſtance which LINNAEUS has very pathe⯑tically lamented in the Flora Suecica, N^o 515, when treating of a plant to which he has given this gentleman's name.

Beſides being favoured with the particular patronage and friendſhip of Boerhaave and Mr. Clifford, as is above-mentioned, our author had alſo the pleaſure of being contemporary with, and of reckoning among the number of his friends, many other learned perſons, who have ſince proved orna⯑ments to their profeſſion, and whoſe merit has moſt deſervedly raiſed them to fame and honour. Among theſe we may properly mention Dr. John Burman, profeſſor of botany at Amſterdam, whoſe name and family are well known in the republic of [15] letters, to whom our author dedicated his Biblio⯑theca Botanica, having been greatly aſſiſted in com⯑piling that work, by the free acceſs he had to that gentleman's excellent library; John Frederick Grono⯑vius, of Leyden, editor of Clayton's Flora Virginica, and who very early adopted Linnaeus's ſyſtem; Baron Van Swieten, late phyſician to the Empreſs Queen; Iſaac Lawſon, before-mentioned, after⯑wards one of the phyſicians to the Britiſh army, who died much regretted at Ooſterhout, in the year 1747, and from whom Linnaeus received ſingular and very important civilities; Kramer, ſince well known for an excellent treatiſe on the Doci⯑maſtic Art; Van Royen, botanic profeſſor at Leyden; Liëberkun, of Berlin, famous for his ſkill in microſcopical inſtruments and experiments. On this occaſion it is not foreign to our plan to remark, that LINNAEUS, being preſent with ſeveral of theſe gentlemen, at a meeting when the latter was exhibiting the animalcules in ſemine maſculino, openly declared his opinion, that theſe moleculae were not true animalcules; and he appears ever afterwards to have retained the ſame opinion re⯑lating to them. To theſe may be added alſo the names of Albinus and Gaubius, and of others, were it requiſite, to ſhew that our author's talents had very early rendered him conſpicuous, and gained him the regard of all thoſe who cultivated and patronized any branch of medical ſcience; and to which, doubtleſs, the ſingular notice with which Boerhaave honoured him, did not a little contri⯑bute.

Early in the year 1738, after LINNAEUS had left [16] Mr. Clifford, and, as it ſhould ſeem, when he re⯑ſided with Van Royen, at Leyden, he had a long and dangerous fit of ſickneſs; and upon his re⯑covery, went to Paris, where he was properly entertained by the Juſſieu's, at that time the firſt botaniſts in France. The opportunity this gave him of inſpecting the Herbaria of Surian and Tour⯑nefort, and thoſe of the above-named gentlemen, afforded him great ſatisfaction. He had intended to have gone from thence into Germany, to viſit Ludwig, and the celebrated HALLER, with whom he was in cloſe correſpondence; but he was not able to compleat this part of his intended route, and was obliged to return without this gratification.

Our author did not fail to avail himſelf of every advantage, that acceſs to the ſeveral muſeums of this country afforded him, in every branch of natural hiſtory; and the number and importance of his publications, during this abſence from his native country, ſufficiently demonſtrate that fund of knowledge which he muſt have imbibed before, and no leſs teſtify his extraordinary application. As theſe works laid the foundation of his future fame, and diſtinguiſhed character, it will be incum⯑bent on us to enumerate them, and give a brief account of each, as nearly as we can in the order of time in which they were publiſhed, before we accompany our author into Sweden; whither he returned to receive at length the reward of his merit.

The firſt of theſe was the SYSTEMA NATURAE, five regna tria Naturae ſyſtematicè propoſita, per [17] claſſes, ordines, genera et ſpecies. Lugd. Bat. 1735. fol. pp. 14, in Latin, with the Swediſh names annexed. As this is little more than the general outlines of his work, we ſhall reſerve a fuller account of it till we come to the enlarged editions; in which it was fully exemplified by the introduction of the ſpecies.

FUNDAMENTA BOTANICA, quae majorum operum prodromi inſtar, theoriam Scientiae Botanices per breves Aphoriſmos tradunt. Amſt. 1736, 12^o, pp. 35. The ſcience of botany is in this work reduced to 365 aphoriſms, or canons; and what Sethus Calviſius has ſaid of Ptolemy's canon, mutatis mutandis, may be truly ſaid of this work.—Omni auro pretioſior eſt, ſi dudum innotuiſſet, nec adeo in diverſas ſectas BOTA⯑NICI abiiſent, ſed RES BOTANICAE, multo melius ſe haberent. It paſſed through ſeveral editions, and was publiſhed with a comment upon each aphoriſm in 1751, under the title of Philoſophia Botanica, hereafter to be noticed.

BIBLIOTHECA BOTANICA, recenſens libros plus mille de plantis hucuſque editos, ſecundum Syſtema Auctorum naturale in claſſes, ordines, genera et ſpecies diſpoſitos, additis editionis loco, tempore, forma, lingua. Amſt. 1736, 12^o, pp. 153, and afterwards in 8^o, 1751, much enlarged. Botanic writers are in this work diſtributed into 16 claſſes, and it is by no means ſo unentertaining as might be expected from the general idea of a catalogue merely; as the author has frequently ſubjoined ſhort characters of the books; and at the beginning of each claſs, as alſo in the orders or ſubdiviſions, takes occaſion to ex⯑plain ſeveral of his terms uſed in his ſubſequent [18] writings. The preface contains a ſhort hiſtory of the riſe and progreſs of botany, and an acknow⯑ledgment of the aid the author received in the compilation of this work, by his free acceſs to the libraries of Mr. Sprekelſen at Hamburgh, Dr. Gro⯑novius at Leyden, and particularly to thoſe of his patron Mr. Clifford, and Dr. Burman, profeſſor of botany at Amſterdam. Authors are claſſed in this work as follows:

• 1. Patres.
• 2. Commentatores.
• 3. Ichniographi.
• 4. Deſcriptores.
• 5. Monographi.
• 6. Curioſi.
• 7. Adoniſtae.
• 8. Floriſtae.
• 9. Peregrinatores.
• 10. Philoſophi.
• 11. Syſtematici.
• 12. Nomenclatores.
• 13. Anatomici.
• 14. Hortulani.
• 15. Medici.
• 16. Anomali.

Subjoined to the laſt edition, we have a biogra⯑phical table, exhibiting, in chronological order, the names of 139 botanic authors, from the time of Avicenna in 981, to Mr. Cateſby in 1749, ſpecifying, wherever it was poſſible, the year of their birth and death.

The flowering of the Plantain or Banana (Muſa paradiſiaca) this year, a thing not ſeen in Europe before more than thrice, in the garden of our au⯑thor's patron M. Clifford, produced a compleat hiſ⯑tory of that plant from LINNAEUS'S pen, under the title of MUSA CLIFFORTIANA florens Hartecampi 1736 prope Harlemum. Lugd. Bat. 4^o, pp. 46. This piece is drawn up with the utmoſt preciſion, ac⯑cording to the author's own Methodus Demonſtrandi, [19] printed at the end of the Syſtema, and is a model for Monographers in this way. It is embelliſhed with two plates, one repreſenting the plant at large, the other, the parts of fructification ſeparately.

GENERA PLANTARUM eorumque Characteres na⯑turales ſecundum numerum, figuram, ſitum, et proportio⯑nem, omnium fructificationis partium. Lugd. Bat. 1737, 8^o, pp. 384. In this work, which exhibits what LINNAEUS has called the natural characters of the genera of plants, the claſſes are eſtabliſhed upon the number or ſituation, or both conjointly, of the ſtamina, analogically conſidered as the male parts; and the orders or ſubdiviſions of the claſſes, upon the piſtils, analogous to the female parts: and the genera themſelves from the agreement of all the parts of fructification compared with each other, as they agree in number, figure, ſituation, and pro⯑portion. Hence the Linnaean characters of plants are applicable to any claſſical method founded on the parts of fructification alone, in which reſpect they have the advantage over thoſe of all foregoing writers, and will probably ſtand firm, even al⯑though the claſſical part of the ſyſtem ſhould be ſet aſide. This is to be conſidered as one of the capital of Linnaeus's works. He tells us, that before the publication of the firſt edition, he had examined the characters of 8000 flowers. Thoſe alone who have been accuſtomed to examine plants with a ſcientific view, can judge how arduous this undertaking muſt have been, and how great the application that he muſt neceſſarily have beſtowed thereon, and that at an early period of life. Neither can any others ſufficiently admire that accuracy with which [20] ſo great a number of flowers have been examined and compared, or ſee the aptitude of that aſſem⯑blage of terms, which were invented by LINNAEUS, to expreſs the different figure, ſituation, and pro⯑portion, that exiſt in ſuch a variety of ſubjects. If this was a proper place to expatiate upon this ſub⯑ject, by extending the idea to all that LINNAEUS has done, reſpecting every other part of plants, as conſidered in their ſpecific diſtinctions, it muſt ſtill farther exalt the merit of the author, and place him above all praiſe. At the latter end of this work was given the general plan of a ſyſtem invented by LINNAEUS, and founded upon the different kinds, and arrangement, of the calix or cup of the flower, in plants: but this was omitted in the lat⯑ter editions. Alſo a fragment of that primum et ultimum in botany, the natural method.

The firſt edition of this book contained 935 genera: the ſixth and laſt, at Stockholm, in 1764, hath extended the number to 1239, and the Mantiſſae ſince to 1336. It has been thought by ſome, that the firſt idea of the ſexual me⯑thod was received from the writings of Jungius, a learned profeſſor, firſt at Helmſtadt, and after⯑wards rector of the Gymnaſium at Hamburgh, where he died in 1657, and whoſe works contain an uncommon diſplay of original obſervations on the ſubject of plants; and prove him to have been a moſt accurate obſerver of nature. He has not only diſcriminated with peculiar nicety, the ſtruc⯑ture, and ſeveral parts of plants, but he hath alſo, with equal judgment, ſhewn the impropriety of many of the old generical and ſpecifical diſtinc⯑tions, [21] and has given rules for forming them anew, that have been of the greateſt ſervice to his ſuc⯑ceſſors in the ſcience, and of which they have not failed to avail themſelves. But Jungius did not, however, exhibit any plan, by which it appears that he laid the baſis either of the ſexual, or any other ſyſtem.

Before the concluſion of the ſame year (1737) our author publiſhed the COROLLARIUM GENERUM, cui accedit METHODUS SEXUALIS, in 8^o; the for⯑mer contained only the addition of ſixty new genera of plants; all which were taken into the next edition of the foregoing book; and the latter ex⯑hibits a brief view of the ſexual ſyſtem, as far as reſpects the claſſes and orders. Neither would it be of importance to mention a ſmall piece publiſhed in the ſame year, during his reſidence with Mr. Clif⯑ford, under the title of VIRIDARIUM CLIFFORTIA⯑NUM, were it not incumbent on us to mention all that came from our author's pen.

In this year, 1737, appeared likewiſe the reſult of the Lapland expedition, as far, at leaſt, as re⯑lates to the plants of that country; for we are now deprived of the expectation of ever ſeeing the Lacheſis Lapponica, intended to complete our au⯑thor's hiſtory of this country through all its parts. This volume includes the plants of a tract of country not leſs than 100 Swediſh miles (nearly equal to 600 Engliſh) in length, and 50 in breadth, under the title of FLORA LAPPONICA, exhibens Plan⯑tas per Lapponiam creſcentes, ſecundum Syſtema ſexuale, collectas in itinere impenſis Societatis regiae Litterariae et Scientiarum Sueciae An. 1732 inſtituto, additis ſyno⯑nymis, [22] et locis natalibus omnium, deſcriptionibus et figuris rariorum, viribus medicatis et oeconomicis pluri⯑marum. Amſt. 1737, 8^o, pp. 372, tab. 12. This work is much more than a bare enumeration of ſynonyms; the preface contains an account of the author's journey, and his acknowledgment to the members of a literary ſociety, by whoſe munifi⯑cence this work was adorned with the plates, on which are engraven 58 of the more rare, and chiefly alpine plants. This is preceded by ad⯑ditional Prolegomena, in which the geographic and natural deſcription of the country is ſet forth, and the difference between the Alps and the Deſart diſ⯑tinctly marked; concluding with ſome obſervations on alpine plants in general. The work is interſperſed with many very curious obſervations relating to the inhabitants, their ſimplicity of life and man⯑ners, their diſeaſes; the animals of the country; the medical and economical uſes of many of the plants; deſcriptions at large of ſuch as were not well deſcribed before; and critical obſervations, in a botanical way, upon others.

To inſtance briefly a few only of our author's obſervations. Under

N^o 16. The dropſy very frequent in Eaſt Both⯑nia; owing to the intemperate uſe of ſpirits.

N^o 22. The down of the Cotton Graſs, uſed for bedding among the poor, inſtead of feathers.

N^o 62. Aſtoniſhing growth of the Great Plantain. The ſpikes 4 or 5 feet high. In other ſituations, the whole plant not an inch.

N^o 80. The wretched inhabitants ſometimes obliged to make bread of the roots of the Marſh [23] Trefoil. The ſcurvy unknown in Lapland; although vegetable productions have ſcarcely any ſhare in the Lapland diet, which is almoſt wholly the recent fleſh of the rein-deer: a fact which Sir John Pringle has made good uſe of, among others, in his diſ⯑courſe "On the means of preſerving the health of "mariners."

N^o 101. Symptoms of the Colica Lapponica, (Sauvag. Noſol. II. p. 103) a moſt excruciating diſeaſe, for which the Laplanders uſe the root of Angelica.

N^o 103. The deleterious effects of the Cicuta viroſa, Water Hemlock, largely diſcuſſed.

N^o 136. The pernicious effects of the Anthericum oſſifragum, Lancaſhire Aſphodel, on ſheep.

N^o 143, 144, 145. Manifold uſes of the black and red Whortleberries, and Cranberries.

N^o 160. Various economical uſes of the Andro⯑meda polifolia, Marſn Ciſtus.

N^o 200. Obſervations on the gout, whether owing to the uſe of ſpirituous and fermented liquors. Reflections on the health and vigour of the Lap⯑landers.

N^o 311. The Achillaea Millefolium, Yarrow, uſed ſometimes in Dalekarlia inſtead of hops, and ſaid to render the drink very intoxicating.

N^o 328. Singular economical uſes of the Carices, or Sedges, amongſt the Laplanders.

N^o 341, 342. Uſes of the Birch-tree; and the Dwarf Birch, beyond almoſt all others. The thick woods of this tree frequently ſet on fire by light⯑ning, and conſumed for miles. Moxa of the Lap⯑landers [24] prepared from a part of this tree: their univerſal remedy in painful diſeaſes.

N^o 345. The leaves of Sparganium natans, Bur⯑reed, preferred by horned cattle and horſes to other graſs. Obſervations on the immenſe number of Water Fowl, and Waders, in Lapland, and on their migration.

N^o 395. Uſes of the Polytrichum commune, or Golden Maidenhair; and N^o 415, thoſe of the Sphagnum Paluſtre, or Bog-Moſs, among the Lap⯑land women; to which he has annexed ſome curious obſervations relating to the ſtate of the menſtrual evacuations in the ſex, in thoſe northern regions.

N^o 437. Obſervations on the rein-deer, and their food, the Lichen rangiferinus.

N^o 445. On the Lichen iſlandicus, on which M. Scopoli has of late written largely.

N^o 517. In treating on the Agarics, he recites the baneful effects of the Oeſtrus Tarandi, Gad-fly, on the whole economy of the rein-deer. More largely diſcuſſed in the Amoenitates.—But to re⯑turn:

In this work, moreover, our author has firſt exemplified, what he ever afterwards laboured to bring to its greateſt perfection, in all his writings, and particularly in the Species Plantarum, a work not publiſhed till ſixteen years afterwards, the ſpe⯑cific names of plants, not taken, as had been cuſtom⯑ary with former authors, from the colour of the flower, relative ſize of the plant, ſmell, taſte, place of growth, time of flowering, name of the diſ⯑coverer, virtues, uſes, duration; none of which are [25] ſufficiently permanent: but from thoſe invariable and eſſential parts, which fully and clearly diſtin⯑guiſh each ſpecies under the ſame genus, and in the compaſs of ten or twelve words convey ſuch an idea of the plant intended, as will more effec⯑tually diſtinguiſh it, than the verboſe deſcriptions of many foregoing authors. LINNAEUS has taken in⯑credible pains with this part of his ſyſtem, which is certainly as difficult as any that leads to the perfection of the ſcience, ſince it depends upon a nice inſpection of every ſpecies belonging to each genus, and of every actual variety belonging to each ſpecies.

The plants of Lapland are but few, not amount⯑ing to more than 537 ſpecies; and in this number are included upwards of an hundred diſcovered by Linnaeus in this journey, not known to be natives of Sweden before; and of which ſome were non⯑deſcripts: among the former, there ſeems to be a propriety in mentioning ſpecially the Campanula ſerpyllifolia, or thyme-leaved Bell-flower, which, as it turned out to be a new genus, was appropriated to our author by Dr. J. Gronovius, and engraved in this volume by the name of LINNAEA.

No part of LINNAEUS'S writings had given more offence to the contemporary botaniſts, than the liberty he had taken in changing the generic names of plants, which had neceſſarily taken place in many inſtances, from the rules eſtabliſhed by the Fundamenta. Even DILLENIUS was by no means reconciled to this innovation. LINNAEUS, who had entertained an high opinion of our Engliſh pro⯑feſſor, having ſaid of him—nullus eſt in Anglia qui [26] genera curat, vel intelligit praeterquam Dillenius—probably, therefore, dedicated to him his next publication, the CRITICA BOTANICA, in qua No⯑mina Plantarum generica, et ſpecifica, et variantia exa⯑mini ſubjiciuntur, ſelectiora confirmantur, indigna re⯑jiciuntur, ſimulque doctrina circa Denominationem Plan⯑tarum traditur. Lugd. Bat. 1737, 8^o, pp. 270. This is a large comment upon the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th parts of the Fundamenta, from Aphoriſm 210 to 324 incluſive; in which he has amply explained all his reaſons for theſe alterations; and there were at that time many who ſaw the juſtice of his remarks. Ludwig ſays, when ſpeaking of this work—"rigo⯑roſus quidem, ſed ſaepiſſime faelix botanicorum cenſor eſt." The work is rendered very applicable to uſe, by two excellent indexes.

LINNAEUS printed, at the end of this volume, Diſcurſus de introducenda in ſcholas et gymnaſia Hiſto⯑riae naturalis lectione, pp. 24, written by Dr. Bro⯑wallius, who afterwards defended very ably the ſyſtem of Linnaeus againſt profeſſor Siegeſbeck of Peterſburgh.

In 1737 was likewiſe publiſhed the moſt ſplendid of all our author's writings, the Hortus Cliffortianus Plantas exhibens quas in Hortis tam vivis quam ſiccis, Hartecampi in Hollandia, coluit Vir Nob. et Gen. Geor⯑gius Clifford, J. U. D. reductis varietatibus ad ſpecies, ſpeciebus ad genera, generibus ad claſſes, adjectis locis plantarum natalibus, differentiiſque ſpecierum. Amſt. 1737, fol. pp. 501, t. 32. As this book was printed at the expence of Mr. Clifford, it is orna⯑mented with an elegant frontiſpiece, and adorned with ſome of the fineſt engravings of plants that [27] are extant, the drawings for which were made with all poſſible accuracy by the late Mr. Ehret. By the munificence of Mr. Clifford, many of the cele⯑brated botaniſts received a preſent of this book. How rich this garden was in plants, the book will teſtify. They are arranged, as in all our author's ſucceeding works, in the ſexual method; the varie⯑ties are reduced to their ſeveral ſpecies, the natural places of the plants are particularly noticed, many new genera, and ſpecies under former genera, are introduced, with their deſcriptions at large, and curious obſervations interſperſed throughout the whole. And, what muſt have been more eſpeci⯑ally acceptable to thoſe who began to reliſh our author's ſyſtem, was, the farther exemplification of his ſpecific characters, which the vaſt number of plants included in this work neceſſarily led to. Add to this, that from the copious number of ſynonyms, it is almoſt a pinax of every plant therein mentioned; and on this account, as well as others, will yet retain its value, though ſuperſeded in a great degree by the Species Plantarum. To the curious and critical botaniſt alſo it is no ſmall ſatisfaction now, to ſee in this volume, compared with later works, the progreſs of the author's own knowledge, manifeſt by the removes and altera⯑tions that better information enabled him to make. In the dedication our author enumerates thoſe patrons who have cultivated botanical gar⯑dens ſo greatly to the emolument of the ſcience: he gives a liſt of the Cliffortian library, and an⯑nexes two tables, with explanations of all the variety of leaves, according to his new method [28] of defining them. This addition was very neceſ⯑ſary, as the number of plants ſynonymed in this volume amounts to near 2,500. We conclude with Geſner's opinion of this work, in a letter to the celebrated Haller: Opus ſane egregium et acerrimi judicii, nec minoris eruditionis, quo dif⯑ficulter botanicus carebit.—Mihi perplacet ab eo in nominibus ſpecierum notas earum eſſentiales exhiberi, quod ante vix quiſquam botanicus recte praeſtitit.

The laſt book which LINNAEUS publiſhed of his own, during his ſtay in Holland, was the CLASSES PLANTARUM, ſeu Syſtemata Plantarum om⯑nia a fructificatione deſumta, quorum 16 univerſalia et 13 partialia, compendioſe propoſita ſecundum claſſes, ordines et nomina generica, cum clave cujuſvis methodi et ſynonymis genericis. Lugd. Bat. 1738, pp. 656. This work is a very large illuſtration of the ſecond part of the Fundamenta, from aphoriſm 53 to 78, and contains a compendious and uſeful view of all the ſyſtems of botany, or methods of claſſing plants, both general and partial, from Caeſalpinus, in 1583, who is conſidered as the inventor, to LINNAEUS himſelf in 1735. To the generical name in every ſyſtem, he has added that by which it ſtands in his own, which is a great advantage in the uſe of this book. A new edition, with the requiſite additions, would be very acceptable to the public even now. The ſyſtems at large that are diſplayed in this book, are thoſe of Caeſal⯑pinus, Moriſon, Ray, Knaut, Herman, and Boerhaave, founded on the fruit: Rivinus, Ruppius, Ludwig, and Knaut, on the number of petals in the flower: Tournefort and Pontedera, on the figure of the [29] ſame: and of Magnol and LINNAEUS, on the cup of the flower. After theſe follow LINNAEUS'S ſexual ſyſtem, and his fragments of the natural method. We ſay nothing of the arrangement of particular claſſes, ſuch are the compoſite flowers, the umbelliferous plants, the graminaceous, the ferns, &c. A very large index, referring to every genus in each ſyſtem, concludes the volume.

LINNAEUS, whilſt in Holland, ſuſtained a very ſevere loſs in the premature death of his friend and fellow ſtudent Artedi; with whom, as has been before obſerved, he had contracted the firmeſt friendſhip whilſt they reſided at Upſal; inſomuch that they had, in caſe of death, mutually be⯑queathed to each other their manuſcripts and collections in natural hiſtory. Artedi had been particularly aſſiduous in arranging anew, and deſcribing all ſuch fiſhes as had fallen under his own inſpection; and had taken a voyage to Eng⯑land in 1734, to give more perfection to his plan. Our author, after his death, procured, though with ſome difficulty, all Artedi's papers, and put the finiſhing hand to them, and publiſhed them at Leyden in 1738, in octavo, under the title of Petri Artedi, Sueci Medici, ICHTHYOLOGIA: ſive opera omnia de piſcibus, ſcilicet Bibliotheca Ichthyo⯑logica; Philoſophia Ichthyologica; Genera Piſcium; Synonymia Specierum; Deſcriptiones Specierum. Om⯑nia in hoc genere perfectiora quam antea ulla. Poſt⯑huma vindicavit, recognovit, cooptavit, et edidit, Caro⯑lus LINNAEUS. In this work fiſhes are arranged in an entire new method, and which our author adopted with little or no variation, and continued [30] through all the former editions of his Syſtem to the tenth; when he removed the cetaceous order into the claſs of the mammalia; and inſtead of re⯑taining in the remaining orders the diſtinctions ariſing from the bony or cartilaginous texture of the fins; he eſtabliſhed them on the ſituation of the ventral fins, which he conſiders as analogous to the feet in other animals, as they are placed either before, underneath, or behind the pectoral fins.

In this work Artedi has exhibited an inſtance of genius, labour, and application, that cannot fail to excite the greateſt regret at his early death. He has given to Ichthyology that degree of perfec⯑tion, which his friend afterwards extended through all the animal kingdom, and which muſt remain a laſting monument of his abilities. In parti⯑cular, his deſcriptions of the indigenous fiſhes of Sweden, are ſcientific to a degree that had never before been ſeen; and we cannot ſufficiently ad⯑mire the pains he muſt have taken to extricate the ſynonyms from every author on the ſubject. Artedi, after his return from England, was re⯑tained, at the recommendation of LINNAEUS, by Seba of Amſterdam, to complete that part of his Theſaurus relating to fiſhes, and was unfortunately drowned in one of the canals in that city. LIN⯑NAEUS, in a ſhort account of the author's life, has lamented his untimely deceaſe, in a manner which does no leſs honour to his friend than to his own feelings.

We muſt now accompany our author into Sweden, whither he returned about the latter end [31] of the year 1738, or the beginning of the next, and ſettled as a phyſician at Stockholm, where he ſeems to have met with conſiderable oppoſition, and was oppreſſed with many difficulties; all of which at length he overcame, and got into ex⯑tenſive practice; and, ſoon after his ſettlement, married the lady before ſpoken of. By the intereſt of Count Teſſin, who was afterwards his great patron, and even procured medals to be ſtruck in honour of him, he obtained the rank of phyſician to the fleet, and a ſtipend from the citizens for giving lectures in botany. And what at this time eſpecially was highly favourable to the advancement of his character and fame, by giving him an opportunity of diſplaying his abilities, was the eſtabliſhment of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Stockholm; of which LIN⯑NAEUS was conſtituted the firſt preſident, and to which eſtabliſhment the king granted ſeveral pri⯑vileges, particularly that of free poſtage to all pa⯑pers directed to the ſecretary. By the rules of the academy, the preſident held his place but three months, at the expiration of which, he made his ORATIO de memorabilibus in Inſectis, Oct. 3, 1739; in which he endeavours to excite an atten⯑tion and enquiry into the knowledge of inſects, by diſplaying the many ſingular phaenomena that occur in contemplating the nature of thoſe animals, and by pointing out, in a variety of inſtances, their uſefulneſs to mankind in particular, and to the economy of nature in general.

During all this time, however, LINNAEUS appears to have had his eye upon the botanic and medical [32] chair at Upſal, at this time occupied by Rudbeck, who was far advanced in life. We learn in⯑deed that he was ſo intent on purſuing, and per⯑fecting, his great deſigns in the advancement of his favourite ſtudy of nature, that he had deter⯑mined, if he failed in procuring the profeſſorſhip at Upſal, to accept the offer that had been made to him by Haller, of filling the botanic chair at Gottingen. However, in courſe of time, he obtained his wiſh. In the year 1741, upon the re⯑ſignation of Roberg, he was conſtituted joint pro⯑feſſor of phyſic, and phyſician to the king, with Roſen, who had been appointed in the preceding year on the death of Rudbeck. Theſe two col⯑leagues agreed to divide the medical departments between them; and their choice was confirmed by the univerſity. Roſen took anatomy, phyſiology, pathology, and the therapeutic part. LINNAEUS, natural hiſtory, botany materia medica, the dietetic part, and the diagnoſis morborum.

During the interval of his removal from Stock⯑holm to Upſal, in conſequence of this appointment, our profeſſor was deputed by the ſtates of the kingdom, to make a tour to the iſlands of Oëland and Gothland, in the Baltic, attended by ſix of the pupils, commiſſioned to make ſuch enquiries as might tend to improve agriculture, and arts, in the kingdom; to which the Swediſh nation had for ſome time paid a particular attention; awakened, as it were, by the deſolating wars of Charles the XIIth, to extend their commerce, and cultivate the arts of peace. The reſult of this journey was very ſucceſsful, and proved fully ſatisfactory to [33] the States, and was afterwards communicated to the public.

LINNAEUS, on his return, entered upon the pro⯑feſſorſhip, and pronounced before the univerſity his ORATION de Peregrinationum intra Patriam neceſ⯑ſitate, Oct. 17, 1741; in which he forcibly diſplays the uſefulneſs of ſuch excurſions, by pointing out to the ſtudents that vaſt field of objects which their country held out to their cultivation; whether in geography, phyſics, mineralogy, botany, zoology, or economics; and by ſhewing the benefit that muſt accrue to themſelves and their country as re⯑wards to their diligence. That animated ſpirit which runs through the whole of this compoſition, renders it one of the moſt pleaſing and inſtructive of all our author's productions. That intimate knowledge which LINNAEUS himſelf had acquired of his own country by his repeated travels (fraught as he was too with every requiſite for making uſe⯑ful obſervations) enabled him to point out with the utmoſt preciſion the moſt proper objects of inveſtigation, in every part of nature; and his love to his country gave a zeal to his wiſhes, that ſhewed him on this occaſion to great advan⯑tage; not to add, the aid ariſing from that ſelf⯑congratulation, which he muſt feel, having juſt gained, by his late appointment, the ſummit of his wiſhes.

The ITER OELANDICUM ET GOTLANDICUM, in 8^o, pp. 284, were printed at Stockholm, in 1745, in the Swediſh language; as was alſo the ITER SCANICUM, in 1751, 8^o, pp. 435. We cannot help regretting that theſe Itinera have not made [34] their appearance in the Engliſh, or ſome other language beſides that of Sweden; for though, in a country cultivated like ours, many hints, perhaps, might not be drawn from theſe volumes, of real importance to agriculture here; yet they are ſo replete with curious and philoſophical obſerva⯑tions, that they could not fail to be an acceptable preſent to the public; as the general ſcope of theſe volumes is to adapt natural hiſtory to eco⯑nomical purpoſes. In the Iter Gothlandicum et Oelandicum, LINNAEUS'S inſtructions were di⯑rected principally to theſe particulars:—He was to endeavour to find ſome kind of earth proper for making pottery-ware in imitation of the porcelaine of China: he was to notice every production of nature that might ſuperſede the neceſſity of the importation of any article, uſed either in phyſic or manufactures: and in fine, he was to have a regard to every part of natural hiſtory. In the execution of his plan, however, he went much farther than his commiſ⯑ſion extended, having interſperſed a number of obſervations relating to the antiquities of theſe iſlands, the mechanic arts, to the manners of the people, their fiſhery, and various other articles. He was, as might reaſonably be expected, un⯑ſucceſsful in the firſt part of his commiſſion, ſince the two iſlands are almoſt entirely com⯑poſed of limeſtone, or coral rocks, which abound in a remarkable degree in the Baltic.

As a proof of the little attention that had been paid to natural hiſtory in Sweden, we may obſerve, [35] that our author in this journey diſcovered above an hundred plants, which before were not known to be indigenous; many of which were ſuch as are uſed in phyſic, and in dyeing. He pointed out to the natives ſeveral plants of great uſe in ruſtic economy, and ſhewed them the advantage of planting the Sea-reed graſs (Arundo arenaria) to arreſt the ſand, and form ſoil on the ſhores; to which it is extremely well adapted by the length of the roots. In the ITER OELANDICUM there occurs a curious remark in vegetation, confirming the annual increaſe of the wood in an oak-tree, in which was perfectly diſtinguiſhed the hard winters of 1578, 1687, and 1709, by the narrow⯑neſs of the circles in thoſe years. He deſcribes the proceſs for making tar, as practiſed by theſe iſlanders; and further, interſperſes many obſerva⯑tions relating to mineralogy in general; to iron in particular, with which Sweden abounds; de⯑ſcribes the iron mountain Taberg, (See Phil. Tranſact. vol. xlix. p. 30.) the alum mines of Mockleby; the Poma chryſtallina, or aëtites marmo⯑reus, which illuſtrates the formation of chryſ⯑tals, &c.

In the ITER SCANICUM, performed in 1749, our author treats largely on the culture of marſhy grounds; on the uſeful and noxious herbs, for inſtance, the Stakan, ſuppoſed to be the Phellan⯑drium aquaticum, or Water Hemlock, which it is believed renders horſes that eat it paralytic; on the Gramen Mannae, or Feſtuca fluitans, the ſeeds of which are ſo particularly uſeful in fattening geeſe; on the Agaricus muſcarius, &c.

[36] In 1743, on occaſion of conferring a degree on Dr. J. Weſtman, the profeſſor delivered his third ORATION de Telluris habitabilis incremento: an elaborate and ingenious defence of that hypo⯑theſis, which Sir Iſaac Newton, and ſeveral other philoſophers, have inclined to, That the pro⯑portion of water on the globe of this earth is conſtantly decreaſing. This leads the pro⯑feſſor alſo to diſcuſs the 132d ſection of the Philoſophia—Initio rerum ex omni ſpecie viventium unicum ſexus par creatum fuiſſe ſuadet ratio.—The viſible receſſion of the waters of the ſea in divers parts of the earth, particularly apparent in the Baltic, had inclined the Swediſh philoſophers to this opinion of Sir Iſaac Newton's. The poſition of the Philoſophia, he thinks naturally deducible from the foregoing hypotheſis, and neceſſarily ſo from the Moſaic hiſtory. In ſolving the difficul⯑ties attending the latter part of the hypotheſis, he is led by his ſubject to enter largely into a part of the economy of nature, which renders his diſ⯑courſe highly intereſting, independently of ali con⯑jectures relating to the main argument: this re⯑lates to the various ways in which vegetables are diſſeminated, and by which they find their way to every part of the globe. To this effect winds, rain, rivers, the ſea, animals, &c. are all ſubſer⯑vient, as well as the various ſtructure and pro⯑perties of the ſeeds themſelves; in illuſtrating which laſt affair the profeſſor has taken great pains, and conſtructed tables of the genera, founded on theſe different properties of the ſeeds. In the introduction to this oration, our author turns the [37] attention of his readers to ſome of the more re⯑markable diſcoveries that had lately been made in natural hiſtory and philoſophy; ſuch were thoſe relating to the Polype, Rattleſnake, and the Senega, &c.; among others alſo, he mentions a remarkable fact that had been communicated by Sauvages of Montpelier, reſpecting the effect of the berries of the Coriaria myrtifolia, Spec. pl. 1467 (Myrtle-leaved Sumach) in occaſioning inſtant epilepſy.

The three orations of LINNAEUS are ſubjoined to the ſecond volume of the Amoenitates Academicae, printed in 1752.

In 1745, the profeſſor publiſhed his FLORA SUECICA exhibens Plantas per Regnum Sueciae creſ⯑centes, ſyſtematice cum differentiis ſpecierum, ſynonymis autorum, nominibus incolarum, ſolo locorum, uſu Pharmacopoeorum, 8^o, Holm. pp. 392, 1745; and again, with many additions, in 1755, pp. 464. The firſt edition contains 1140 plants. In the ſecond they are increaſed, by his own, and the diſcoveries of his pupils, to 1296. No generical characters are introduced into this work, but re⯑ferences made to them as they ſtand in the Genera Plantarum, before ſpoken of. A number of ſelect ſynonyma is added to his own ſpecific name, under each plant; and not only the Swediſh names in general, but the provincial ones: highly worthy this of imitation in works of this kind, and quite ne⯑ceſſary in ſo extenſive a kingdom. Many of the rare plants are deſcribed at large, and botanical criticiſms added to many others. In the laſt edi⯑tion the author has interſperſed a great number [38] of curious obſervations relating to the economical and medical uſes of the plants; and has particu⯑larly noted thoſe that are capable of being ap⯑plied to the purpoſes of dyeing. The author moreover never fails to mention euporiſtic medi⯑cines, which he ſeems to think, perhaps very juſtly, have not been attended to by phyſicians as they deſerve. The plan of this work has been a pattern for all ſucceeding writers of local cata⯑logues, more eſpecially thoſe who have followed the Linnaean ſyſtem, and has been very little im⯑proved by any; perhaps excelled by none. The plants of Lapland are all included in this work; and the preface, beſides the account of Swediſh authors on botany, contains a curious diviſion of the ſeveral provinces of the kingdom, in reſpect to their different ſoils and ſituation, as adapted to particular plants, ſpecifying under each pro⯑vince the plants found therein.

In 1746 appeared the FAUNA SUECICA, ſiſtens Animalia Sueciae Regni: Mammalia, Aves, Amphi⯑bia, Piſces, Inſecta, Vermes; diſtributa per claſſes et ordines, genera et ſpecies, &c. Stockholm 1746, 8^o; and again, greatly augmented, in 1761, pp. 556. The firſt edition contained 1350 ſubjects, the latter comprehends not leſs than 2266. Neither in this work are any claſſical, ordinal, or generical notes given at large. The world had never ſeen ſo compendious, and it may be truly ſaid, at the ſame time, ſo complete a zoology before. Here, as in plants, the author has given to each animal a new ſpecific name, expreſſive, as far as poſſible, of its eſſential character. The ſynonyms are added, [39] or referred to, from almoſt every author on the ſubject, and almoſt every animal is moreover com⯑pendiouſly deſcribed. Inſects make a very conſi⯑derable part of this catalogue; near 1700 ſpecies, all found in that kingdom, are enumerated, diſtin⯑guiſhed, and methodized, in a manner entirely new, and which has been adopted by nearly every writer on the ſubject ſince. We ſhall ſpeak more fully of the claſſification in the abſtract intended to be given of the Syſtema Naturae. A compendious manual of Engliſh Zoology on this plan, is a work much wanted; though we think it could not fail to enhance its value, if the tables of the genera were prefixed to each claſs, and the characters to each genus, as in the Syſtem of our author. Two plates, of ſome of the rarer birds chiefly, accom⯑pany this volume, on which are explained the technical terms uſed in ornithology. The number of each claſs of animals ſtands thus:

1. Mammalia—

53

2. Aves—

195

3. Amphibia—

25

4. Piſces—

77

5. Inſecta—

1691

6. Vermes—

198.

An accident having thrown into the hands of the profeſſor an Herbarium, conſiſting of five large volumes of plants, he diſcovered that it was the collection of the famous Dr. Paul Herman, which had been made in the iſland of Zeylon, by that gentleman, at the expence of the Dutch Eaſt India Company. This Herbarium had been loſt for up⯑wards of half a century, until chance threw it into the hands of M. Gunther, apothecary to the king of Denmark, who ſent it to LINNAEUS, re⯑queſting [40] the profeſſor to examine it, and affix the names to the plants of this ſuperb collection. Its great value, as being collected by ſo eminent a man, induced our author to examine the whole with great attention; and he was thereby enabled to form many new genera, and ſettle many doubt⯑ful ſpecies. He publiſhed the reſult of his la⯑bour under the title of FLORA ZEYLANICA, ſiſtens Plantas indicas Zeylonae Inſulae, quae olim 1670—1677 lectae fuere, à Paulo Hermanno Profeſſore Botan. Ley⯑denſi; demum poſt 70 annos ab A. Gunthero orbi redditae. Holm. 1747, 8^o, pp. 254, tab. 4.

This work is yet of uſe as a pinax of theſe plants, and as a Linnaean catalogue of Burman's Theſaurus Zeylanicus, publiſhed in 1738, and illuſ⯑trated with the figures of upwards of 200 of theſe plants. Many of the rare ſpecies are deſcribed, and a very copious number of ſynonyms added to ſeveral of the Eaſt Indian plants. The Her⯑barium conſiſted of about 660 plants, of which the true places in the ſyſtem are aſſigned to up⯑wards of 400, and the remainder were too im⯑perfect to admit of diſtinction. This volume is rendered valuable by a conciſe hiſtory of the pro⯑greſs of botany, from the reſtoration of learning in the 16th century; a natural hiſtory of the iſland, and its general produce; the life of Dr. Herman; a ſhort account of J. Hartog, who was ſent by Dr. Sherard to make collections in this iſland; and of Burman's Theſaurus Zeylanicus. LINNAEUS authenticates this Herbarium to have been Herman's, by ſhewing that the numbers, and [41] the plants, anſwer to his Muſeum Zeylanicum, pub⯑liſhed in 1717.

We now ſee LINNAEUS fixed in the ſituation that was ſo well adapted to his character, his taſte, and abilities, and which ſeems to have been the object of his ambition, and center of his hopes. Soon after his eſtabliſhment, he laboured to get the Academical Garden, which had been founded in 1657, put on a better footing, and very ſoon effected it; procuring alſo a houſe to be built for the reſidence of the profeſſor. The whole had been in ruin ever ſince the fire in 1702, and at the time Linnaeus was appointed profeſſor of botany, the garden did not contain above 50 plants that were exotic. His correſpondence with the firſt botaniſts in Europe, ſoon ſupplied him with great variety. He received Indian plants from Juſſieu of Paris, and from Van Royen of Leyden; European plants from Haller and Ludwig; American plants from the late Mr. Collinſon, Mr. Cateſby, and others; and variety of annuals from Dillenius: in ſhort, how much the garden owed to his diligence and care, in a few years, may be ſeen by the catalogue publiſhed under the title of HORTUS UPSALIENSIS exhibens Plantas exoticas horto Upſalienſis Academiae a ſeſe (Linnaeo) illatas ab anno 1742, in annum 1748, additis, differentiis ſynonymis, habitationibus, hoſpitiis, rariorumque deſcriptionibus, in gratiam ſtudioſae ju⯑ventutis. Holm. 1748, 8^o, pp. 306, tab. 3. By this catalogue it appears that the profeſſor had introduced 1100 ſpecies, excluſive of all the Swediſh plants, and of varieties; which latter, in ordinary gardens, amount not unfrequently [42] to one third of the whole number. The preface contains a curious hiſtory of the cli⯑mate at Upſal, and the progreſs of the ſeaſons through the whole year. From theſe obſerva⯑tions we learn, that the greateſt degree of heat, in the ſummer of 1747, at Upſal, was on the ſecond day of July, when Celſius's thermometer ſtood at 30 degrees above 0; that the greateſt degree of cold, on the 25th of January 1740, was 28 de⯑grees below 0. In this thermometer the freezing point is 0, and boiling water 100. From ſeven years obſervations on the leafing of the oak, it was found never to puſh before the 6th of May, or to be retarded beyond the 22d.

About this period it was, that LINNAEUS made a remarkable diſcovery, relating to the generation of pearls in the river Pearl-Muſcle (Mya Margaritifera, Syſt. 1112.) This ſhell-fiſh muſt not be confounded with what is called the Mother of Pearl Shell, as that belongs to another genus, is a ſea-ſhell, and an inhabitant of the warmer countries only. The ſhell-fiſh in queſtion is found in rivers, in all the northern parts of the world; in Norway and Sweden it abounds; it is found in the rivers of the county of Tyrone in Ireland, and in thoſe of Done⯑gall; in Scotland, the Don is ſaid to abound with it; and it is not unfrequent in the rivers of Eng⯑land. This fiſh will bear removal remarkably well; and it is ſaid, that in ſome places they form reſervoirs for the purpoſe of keeping it, and taking out the pearl, which, in a certain period of time, will be again renewed. From obſerva⯑tions on the growth of theſe ſhells, and the num⯑ber [43] of their annular laminae, or ſcales, it is ſup⯑poſed the fiſh will attain a very great age; 50 or 60 years are imagined to be a moderate computation. The diſcovery turned on a method, which LIN⯑NAEUS found, of putting theſe muſcles into a ſtate of producing pearls at his pleaſure; though the final effect did not take place for ſeveral years: he ſays, that in 5 or 6 years after the operation the pearl would have acquired the ſize of a Vetch. We are unacquainted with the means by which he accompliſhed this extraordinary ope⯑ration, but it was probably publiſhed at the time, and conſidered as important, ſince it is cer⯑tain that the author was rewarded with a munifi⯑cent praemium, from the States of the kingdom, on this account. We regret that we cannot ſpeak more fully on this head; but may ob⯑ſerve, that it is probable, from a paper publiſhed many years afterwards in the Berlin Acts, that the method conſiſted in injuring the ſhell externally, perhaps by a perforation; as it has been obſerved, that theſe concretions in ſhell-fiſh are found on the inſide, exactly oppoſite to perforations and injuries made from without by ſerpulae, and other animals.

From the time that LINNAEUS and Roſen were appointed profeſſors at Upſal, it ſhould ſeem that the credit of that univerſity, as a ſchool of phyſic, had been increaſing; and the fact in⯑deed is certain, that numbers of ſtudents re⯑ſorted thither from Germany, attracted by the character of theſe two able men: and certainly in Sweden itſelf, many young men were invited to [44] the ſtudy of phyſic, by the excellent manner in which it was taught, who otherwiſe would have engaged in different purſuits. We muſt not deviate into the line of Roſen's department: ſuf⯑fice it to ſay, that theſe two eminent men, by their united zeal and abilities, failed not to exalt, together with their own fame, that of their uni⯑verſity. LINNAEUS, in teaching the diagnoſis mor⯑borum, had adopted the plan, with ſome alteration, of M. Sauvages's Noſology, of which we ſhall be led to give ſome account hereafter. In the year 1749, he publiſhed, for the uſe of his ſtudents, MATERIA MEDICA, Liber I. de Plantis digeſtus ſecundum genera, loca, nomina, qualitates, vires, dif⯑ferentias, durationes, ſimplicia, modos, uſus, ſynony⯑ma, culturas, praeparata, potentias, compoſita. Holm. 1749, 8^o, pp. 252. The compendious method in which this work is executed, and the ſeveral uſeful preliminary papers annexed, render it a very uſeful and inſtructive manual to ſtudents in medicine. A materia medica of the vegetable king⯑dom, in which every ſimple was aſcertained by ſo able a botaniſt as LINNAEUS, was a very con⯑ſiderable acquiſition to ſcience. In this volume are arranged 535 ſubjects, and ſeveral are for the firſt time reduced to their proper genera; ſuch are the Ipecacuanha, Pareira brava, Coculi Indici, and others. The method purſued in this volume is as follows. The author gives,

1. His own ſpecific character of the plant.

2. C. Bauhine's ſynonym: or, if the plant was unknown to him, that of the firſt diſcoverer.

3. The country where it is produced. In [45] the ſame line is expreſſed, by a ſingle epithet, whether it be an herb, ſhrub, or tree: whether it be annual, biennial, or perennial: alſo, whether it be indigenous; or if not, whether it thrives well by common cultivation in gardens, or requires de⯑fence from the cold of the winter in Sweden; or whether it will not endure that climate.

4. The Swediſh officinal name, what part is in uſe, or what preparation of it, if any; and the doſes of each.

5. The ſenſible quality of the plant; whether bitter, aromatic, acid, aſtringent, &c.; whether fra⯑grant, foetid, or inodorous; whether gummy, reſinous, or milky. Its reputed quality; whether uncertain, well-known, and approved; or whether to be cau⯑tiouſly uſed. Whether chiefly uſed in phyſic, or for culinary purpoſes.

6. Its reputed effects on the human body, whether purging, emetic, diuretic, &c.

7. The diſeaſes in which it is moſt frequently preſcribed.

8. The compound medicines into which it en⯑ters in the Swediſh diſpenſatory.

At the end of the volume is an index morborum, with the ſimples appropriated to each: and an index virium, adapted to a preceding claſſification, founded on their qualities or effects, either on the ſolids or fluids of the human body.

In the year 1749 was publiſhed the firſt volume of a collection of Theſes in 8^o, under the title of Amoenitates Academicae, ſeu Diſſertationes variae, phy⯑ſicae, medicae, et botanicae. This publication has [46] been continued, from time to time, to the com⯑pletion of the ſeventh volume in the year 1769. Holm. Theſe volumes, as ſoon as publiſhed, were conſtantly reprinted in Germany and Hol⯑land. As theſe academical diſſertations were ſuſtained under LINNAEUS in his profeſſorial character, and were ſelected by himſelf, they have been regarded as of equal authority nearly with his own writings; and many of them do in a particular manner extend and exemplify divers parts of his works, the ſubjects having been pointed out by himſelf, in many inſtances, for that purpoſe. For theſe reaſons we ſhall, in the courſe of this volume, give a very brief ac⯑count of the purport of each diſſertation, ſince they contain a great variety of curious intelligence on the ſubjects of phyſic and natural hiſtory, every where digeſted in the moſt ſcientific taſte.

Whilſt LINNAEUS was meditating one of his capital performances, which had long been ex⯑pected, and greatly wiſhed for, he was interrupted by a very long and painful fit of the gout, which left him in a very weak and diſpirited ſtate; and, according to the intelligence that his friends gave of him, nothing was thought to have contributed more to the reſtoration of his ſpirits, than the ſeaſonable acquiſition, at this juncture, of a col⯑lection of rare and undeſcribed plants.

Upon the recovery of his health, he publiſhed his book; PHILOSOPHIA BOTANICA in qua expli⯑cantur fundamenta botanica cum definitionibus partium, exemplis terminorum, obſervationibus rariorum, ad⯑jectis [47] figuris aeneis. Stockh. et Amſt. 1751, 8^o, pp. 362, tab. 11. This muſt be conſidered as the in⯑ſtitutions of the Linnaean ſyſtem of botany, and is a work which none, who wiſh to be acquainted with the ſexual ſyſtem, can be without, as it is the author's own comment on his Fundamenta, firſt publiſhed in 1736, and which are comprized in 365 aphoriſms, divided into 12 chapters. The author's original intention was to have explained all theſe aphoriſms at large, in the manner that had been done in the Bibliotheca Botanica, Claſſes Plantarum, Sponſalia Plantarum, Critica Botanica, and Vires Plantarum; but he ſays his numerous avocations did not allow him requiſite time.

Ch. 1. Exhibits a ſyſtematical diſtribution of the principal botanical writers, and is that part which is treated of at large in the Bibliotheca.

Ch. 2. Syſtemata. A view of all the botanical ſyſtems, being a compend of the Claſſes Plantarum, but here brought down ſomewhat later, ſo as to comprehend the general view of Van Royen's, Haller's, and Wachendorf's.

Ch. 3. Plantae. Explains the terms uſed in de⯑ſcribing the different kinds of roots, ſtalks, and leaves of plants.

Ch. 4. Fructificatio. Deſcribes the parts of fructification, and defines all the terms uſed re⯑ſpecting their number, figure, proportion, ſituation, and uſes.

Ch. 5. Relates to the ſexes of plants, a ſubject which is more copiouſly treated in a paper called Sponſalia Plantarum, printed in the firſt volume of the Amoenitates Academicae.

[48] Ch. 6. Characteres. Rules and definitions for eſtabliſhing the characters of claſſes, orders, and genera.

Ch. 7. Nomina. Rules for rightly forming ge⯑nerical names, and thoſe of orders and claſſes.

Ch. 8. Differentiae. Rules for eſtabliſhing the ſpecific characters of plants.

Ch. 9. Varietates. Rules for diſtinguiſhing va⯑rieties among plants.

Ch. 10. Synonyma. Rules relating to the right diſpoſition of ſynonymical names in botanic writ⯑ings.

The four chapters laſt mentioned make the ſub⯑ject of the CRITICA BOTANICA, in which work every aphoriſm is much more largely explained than in the preſent.

Ch. 11. Adumbrationes. Rules for properly de⯑ſcribing and naming the ſpecies, and for giving their complete hiſtory in a ſcientific manner.

Ch. 12. Vires. Relates to the virtues of plants, as deducible from their agreement in their charac⯑ters, as of the ſame genus, the ſame natural order, or claſs. The ſubject of this chapter is treated in a more comprehenſive manner in the Vires Plantarum, printed in the firſt volume of Amoeni⯑tates Academicae. To give a few inſtances how⯑ever as illuſtrations:—The Scammony, Me⯑choacan, Turbith, and Sea Bindweed, are all ſpecies of the genus Convolvulus, and all agree in poſſeſſing a purgative quality. The Mallow, Marſh-mallow, and Cotton-buſh, are ſo many diſtinct genera, under a natural order, called columniferous, and agree in being all mucilaginous. [49] Of the umbelliferous plants, ſuch as grow in dry places are aromatic, and conſidered as ſudorifics and carminatives: thoſe growing in watery places, on the contrary, are moſtly of a quality to be juſtly ſuſpected, and not a few of them quite noxious. Plants of the papilionaceous claſs are all excellent food for cattle. The ſyngeneſious, com⯑monly bitters. The coniferous claſs, all evergreens and reſinous, are conſidered as diuretics.

Ten explanatory plates are added to this vo⯑lume, on which are deſcribed the different leaves, and their ſituations on the ſtalk, &c. different ſtalks, roots, flowers, &c. The firſt part of theſe plates, relating to the leaves, had been given in⯑troductory to the Hortus Cliffortianus. Some new terms in botany▪ which have been invented ſince the publication of the Philoſophia, may be found in a paper under the title of Termini Botanici, in the 6th volume of the Amoenitates.

In this work of LINNAEUS it is difficult to de⯑termine, whether we ought moſt to admire the ge⯑nius of its author in his inventive power, or that exquiſite ſcientific arrangement which he has given to the whole; and which, both together, conſtitute this a moſt excellent performance.

At the end of the volume we meet with ſeveral curious fragments: ſuch are,

1. Directions to botanic pupils.

2. The method of conſtructing an herbarium.

3. Method of conducting botanical excurſions.

4. Method of laying out a botanic garden.

5. Plan for naturaliſts in travelling and con⯑ſtructing [50] their journal; with an enumeration of all thoſe ſubjects that demand their attention.

6. Idea of a compleat botaniſt. Some of the principal botaniſts are here enumerated.

7. A compend of the philoſophy of vege⯑tation.

In 1753, appeared the Profeſſor's Opus maximum et aeternum, the SPECIES PLANTARUM exhibentes Plantas rite cognitas, ad genera relatas, cum differentiis ſpecificis, nominibus trivialibus, ſynonymis ſelectis, locis natalibus, ſecundum ſyſtema ſexuale di⯑geſtas. Tom. II. Holm. 8^o, 1753, pp. 1200; and a ſecond time in 1762, pp. 1684. To give this work its utmoſt perfection, had been the author's object for many years, and to this all his other bota⯑nic productions are in ſome meaſure only prepara⯑tory; eſpecially the local catalogues; as the rightly aſcertaining the ſpecies is the great object of all me⯑thod. In this work Linnaeus takes in every plant that had come ſufficiently under his own inſpec⯑tion; ſeldom admitting any on the authority of others; and whereſoever he has done it, the plant is diſtinguiſhed by a proper mark. The plan of this work is, in general, agreeable to that of all his other local catalogues; no other part of the ſyſtem being exemplified except the ſpecies: and as it is entirely botanical, none of the uſes of the plants are here introduced. Every plant has its ſpecific name, conſtructed according to the rules eſtabliſhed in the eighth part of the Philo⯑ſophia Botanica, with a reference to all, or any of his own works, in which it has been mentioned be⯑fore; [51] and the ſynonym is given, if it be different from the preſent. Then follow the ſynonyms of the beſt authors, and conſtantly, where the plant is at all rare, or newly-diſcovered, there is a reference to the beſt figures. The country in which the plant grows is then added, and frequently a ſym⯑bol, expreſſive of its duration, whether annual, biennial, or perennial.

In this work, for the firſt time, the profeſſor has given to each plant, what he calls a trivial name: that is, a ſingle epithet, which may be ex⯑preſſive, as far as poſſible, of the eſſential ſpecific difference, among the ſpecies of the genus: this, however, can take place but rarely; in other in⯑ſtances it is expreſſive of ſome, the moſt ſtriking and obvious difference; and not ſeldom it is a lo⯑cal term; or the name of the firſt diſcoverer. The latter method, could it have taken place, would have had the advantage of conveying, ſomewhat like a chronological hiſtory of each plant, and at the ſame time perpetuating due credit to the diſ⯑coverer. Theſe trivial names are printed in the margin, to catch the eye inſtantly, which is a great advantage. The invention of trivial names, the hint of which was probably borrowed from Rivini, by aſſiſting the memory, has much promoted the knowledge of plants, and muſt be conſidered as a capital improvement. Their uſe in ſpeaking of plants, and forming compendious catalogues, has been acknowledged by every botaniſt ſince the introduction of them.

In the preface the author gives an ample ac⯑count of the aſſiſtances he received, and of the [52] pains he had taken, to bring this work to its pre⯑ſent ſtate. To this end, he ſpecifies, the coun⯑tries he had travelled over; the many botanic gardens he had viſited; the various excellent her⯑baria that he had examined, in Sweden, Holland, England, and France; the names of his pupils educated under him, and their various peregrina⯑tions; from all which he reaped great advantages, as from theſe he received various new plants: and, finally, he acknowledges the many liberal communications of ſeeds and ſpecimens, ſent to him from all parts of the world by the firſt bota⯑niſts of the time.

As this work contains all the plants of the known world which had come to Linnaeus's knowledge, or rather inſpection; which, at the publication of theſe volumes, appear to have amounted to about 7,300 ſpecies, all varieties excluded, the profeſſed botaniſt has only to regret, that it could not have been extended by the author himſelf, to a com⯑pleat pinax, and hiſtory of every plant therein de⯑ſcribed.

In this year alſo LINNAEUS publiſhed MUSEUM TESSINIANUM, opera Ill. Comitis C. G. TESSIN, Regis Regnique Senatoris, &c. &c. collectum. Holm. 1753, fol. pp. 90. tab. 12. This is a deſcription of the cabinet of LINNAEUS'S firſt patron and great friend Count Teſſin, at that time preceptor to the Prince Royal, now King of Sweden, who had ſpared no expence in collecting a rich muſeum, principally conſiſting of ſubjects in mineralogy, and particu⯑cularly abounding in foſſils of the figured or ex⯑traneous kind. The work is in Swediſh and Latin; [53] and the tables repreſent ſeveral ſcarce and very valuable figured foſſils, not to be ſeen elſewhere.

The petrifactions or figured foſſils in this work, are arranged in four orders, founded on the dif⯑ferent modes of the formation of them.

1. Foſſilia, commonly ſo called; ſhells, corals, animal remains, unchanged, except by being de⯑prived more or leſs of the connecting animal gluten.

2. Redintegrata. Earthy, ſtony, or chryſtalline foſſils, formed within any cruſtaceous or teſtaceous body, as in a mould; thus retaining the caſt, without the external coat.

3. Impreſſa. Impreſſions only: as of fiſhes and capillary plants, or ferns, &c.

4. Tranſubſtantiata. Perfect petrifactions, in which the original organic parts are perfectly filled up with ſtony particles, and retaining the exact ſtructure, externally and internally, of the origi⯑nal body.

In 1754 was publiſhed MUSEUM REGIS ADOL⯑PHI Suecorum, &c. in quo Animalia rariora, imprimis et exotica Quadrupedia, Aves, Amphibia, Piſces, In⯑ſecta, Vermes deſcribuntur et determinantur, Latine et Suetice. Fol. 1754, pp. 135. tab. 33. This ſplen⯑did volume is frequently referred to by our author in his Syſtema, on account of the figures of ſo many of the rarer ſerpents, and fiſhes, here engraven. Of the former there are 48 ſpecies, and of the lat⯑ter 32; ſpecimens of which are all preſerved in ſpirits in the royal muſeum; in the palace of Ulrickſdahl.

The fame which our author had now acquired [54] by his Syſtema Naturae, of which a ſixth edition, much enlarged, had been publiſhed at Stockholm, in 1748, in 8^o, pp. 232, with eight tables, expla⯑natory of the claſſes and orders; and which was alſo republiſhed by Gronovius at Leyden; had brought, as it were, a conflux of every thing rare and valuable in every branch of nature, from all parts of the globe, into Sweden. The king and queen of Sweden had their ſeparate collections of rarities; the former at Ulrickſdahl, as hath juſt been mentioned; the latter, very rich in exotic inſects and ſhells, procured at a great expence, at the palace of Drottningholm. Theſe our author was employed in arranging and deſcribing. Be⯑ſides theſe, the muſeum of the royal academy of Upſal had been augmented by a conſiderable do⯑nation from the king, whilſt hereditary prince, in 1746; by another, from Count Gyllenborg, the year before; by a third, from M. Grill, an opulent citizen of Stockholm. The contents of theſe three collections are given in the firſt volume of the Amoenitates Academicae. We mention them here only to ſhew that LINNAEUS now began to enjoy ample reſources in every branch of natural hiſtory at home; beſides that many ingenious men, who had been educated under him, were now diſperſed into various quarters of the globe; and that from their letters he received great intelligence and ſatisfaction. Seeds and ſpecimens of plants were ſent him from Siberia, by Gmelin; from America, by Dr. Mitchel and Governor Coldingham; from England, by Mr. COLLINSON; Mr. Ellis; as alſo from his friends in Holland, and various other parts [55] of Europe. And thus it will be ſeen, that he be⯑gan ſcarcely to feel the diſadvantages of his northern ſituation.

We ſhall now alſo begin to ſee the profeſſor in a more elevated rank and ſituation in life. His reputation had already procured him ho⯑nours from almoſt all the Royal Societies in Eu⯑rope. Into the Imperial Academy, he had been very early received, and diſtinguiſhed, according to the cuſtom of that inſtitution, with a claſſic name, having moſt aptly been called DIOSCORIDES ſecun⯑dus: and in the year 1753 he received this honour from the Royal Society of London; and his own ſovereign, truly ſenſible of his merit, and greatly eſteeming his character and abilities, favoured him with a mark of his diſtinction and regard, by creating him a KNIGHT of the POLAR STAR. It was now no longer Laudatur et alget. His emo⯑luments kept pace with his fame and honours; his practice in his profeſſion became lucrative, and we find him ſoon after poſſeſſed of his country houſe and gardens at Hammarby, about five miles from Upſal. He had moreover received one of the moſt flattering teſtimonies of the extent and magnitude of his fame, that perhaps was ever ſhewn to any literary character, the ſtate of the nation which conferred it, with all its circumſtances, duly conſidered. This was an invitation to Ma⯑drid, from the king of Spain, there to preſide as a naturaliſt, with the offer of an annual penſion for life of 2000 piſtoles, letters of nobility, and the perfect free exerciſe of his own religion. An offer not readily parallelled in the hiſtory of modern [56] times! That he did not accept of it is cer⯑tain, having, after the moſt perfect acknowledg⯑ments of the ſingular honour done him, returned for anſwer, that, if he had any merits, they were due to his own country.

In the year 1755, the Royal Academy of Sciences at Stockholm honoured our profeſſor with one of the firſt premiums, agreeably to the will of Count Sparre; who had decreed two gold medals, of ten ducats value each, to be annually given by the academy, to the authors of ſuch papers, in the preceding year's Stockholm Acts, as ſhould be ad⯑judged moſt uſeful in promoting agriculture par⯑ticularly, and all branches of rural oeconomy. This medal bore on one ſide, the arms of the Count, with this motto—Superſtes in Scientiis amor FREDE⯑RICI SPARRE.—LINNAEUS obtained it in conſequence of a paper de Plantis, quae Alpium Suecicarum in⯑digenae, magno rei oeconomicae et medicae emolumento fieri poſſint, and the ultimate intention was to re⯑commend theſe plants, as adapted to culture in Lapland. This paper was inſerted in the Stockholm Acts for 1754. Vol. XV.

LINNAEUS alſo obtained the praemium centum au⯑reorum, propoſed by the Imperial Academy of Sciences at Peterſburgh, for the beſt paper written to eſtabliſh, or diſprove, by new arguments, the doc⯑trine of the ſexes of plants. On this occaſion the profeſſor wrote his DISQUISITIO de quaeſtione ab Acad. Imper. Scient. Petrop. in annum 1759 pro praemio propoſita: SEXUM PLANTARUM argumentis et experi⯑mentis novis, praeter adhuc jam cognita, vel corroborare vel impugnare, praemiſſa expoſitione hiſtorica et phyſica [57] omnium Plantae partium, quae aliquid ad faecundationem et perfectionem ſeminis, et fructus conferre credun⯑tur; ab eadem Academia die 6 Sept. 1760, in con⯑ventu publico praemio ornata. Petrop. 1760, 4^o, pp. 32.

Apart from all foregoing arguments, facts, and experiments, brought in ſupport of this queſtion, the profeſſor has in this little tract ſufficiently proved, by a ſeries of new facts, that the duſt of the Antherae, analogically called the male parts, is abſolutely neceſſary to be ſhed on the ſtigma or female part, in order to render the ſeed fertile. His theory of vegetation, prefixed to this paper, is explained more at large in the Prolepſis Planta⯑rum, printed in the 6th volume of the Amoenitates.

It was, if poſſible, an additional glory to LIN⯑NAEUS to have merited this premium from the Peterſ⯑burgh academy; inaſmuch as a profeſſor of that ſociety, a few years before, had with more than common zeal, although with a futility like that of the other antagoniſts of our author, endeavoured to overturn the whole Linnaean ſyſtem of botany, by attempting to ſhew that the doctrine of the ſexes of plants, had no foundation in nature, and was unſupported by facts and experiments.

The great character of LINNAEUS, and that of his colleagues, particularly of Roſen, in the medical departments, and their united endea⯑vours, had very conſiderably raiſed the credit of the univerſity of Upſal, as we have before ob⯑ſerved. It is certain, that the number of ſtu⯑dents are, at this time, nearly double what they are ſaid to have been in accounts written 30 and [58] 40 years ago. The emulation excited among the ſtudents amply rewarded thoſe gentlemen for their pains, by the vaſt harveſt of uſeful information flowing in, particularly on the ſubjects of natural hiſtory, from their pupils, now diſperſed in every part of the world. Many of theſe young men, after being properly grounded in the principles of phyſic, had, with an ardour which nothing but the ſtrongeſt love of ſcience could inſpire, volun⯑tarily undertaken the moſt diſtant and perilous voyages, ſupported by the munificence of parti⯑cular patrons or ſocieties, to gratify their taſte in the purſuits of natural hiſtory, and other uſeful knowledge. Several of theſe young men periſh⯑ed, from change of climate, or various other cauſes, and much of the fruit of their labour was loſt with them. Such was the fate of Ternſtröem, at Pulicandor, in 1745; of Haſſelquiſt, who went into Aegypt and Paleſtine, and died at Smyrna, in 1752; of Loefling, who died in Cumana, in 1756. Of the firſt of theſe we have no remains. The papers of Haſſelquiſt were redeemed by the queen of Sweden, and publiſhed by LINNAEUS, under the title of ITER PALAESTINUM, in 1757, in 8^o; and thoſe of Loefling, under the title of ITER HISPANICUM, in 1758; to each of which is pre⯑fixed a ſhort account of the author. We have alſo the fruit of Kalm's journey in N. America, and of the voyage of Oſbeck and Toren, who both went chap⯑lains to Swediſh Eaſt India ſhips. Theſe are here mentioned particularly, as they are all tranſlated, and publiſhed ſince in the Engliſh language. We yet deplore the more recent fate of Forſkal, and his [59] unfortunate aſſociates, in Arabia, and the more ſo, ſince his poſthumous pieces, publiſhed at Copen⯑hagen in 1775, are ſufficient to convince us, that the fruit of that expedition would have been rich and large, had it not been ſo unfortunately blaſted.

There were alſo ſeveral others, who made leſs remote journies for the ſame purpoſe; ſuch were L. Montin, who viſited Lula-Lapmark in 1749; M. Koehler, who travelled into the ſouthern part of Italy in 1752; Dr. SOLANDER, who viſited Pitho-Lapmark, and Torno-Lapmark, in 1753, where he made ſeveral diſcoveries, and brought back divers rare plants, and other ſubjects in natural hiſtory, which had eſcaped the diligence of his great maſter; D. Rolander, who viſited Surinam and St. Euſtatia, in 1755; A. R. Martin, who ſearched Greenland in 1758, as C. Alſtroëmer did the ſouthern parts of Europe in 1760. We do not mention others, who re-viſited the iſle of Gothland in 1752 and 1760, after Linnaeus's own tour into that place.

The travels of theſe gentlemen afforded great ſources of information, and furniſhed ma⯑terials for our author, that proved very favour⯑able to the laſt editions of his Syſtema Naturae, and Species Plantarum: inſomuch, that we ſhall ſee him exemplifying, in a much more perfect and de⯑tailed manner, his Syſtem of Nature.

This work, as far as reſpected the vegetable kingdom, had been ſeparately and largely exhi⯑bited, as before mentioned, in the Genera Plan⯑tarum, and the ſpecies given in the ſeveral Florae of [60] our author, and finally in the Species Plantarum. As yet, however, although it had paſſed through nine editions, little more had appeared in the ani⯑mal kingdom than the generical characters, with a ſingle ſpecific name; inſomuch that the ninth edition at Leyden, in 1756, was contained in a ſmall octavo of 226 pages. This it muſt be ob⯑ſerved notwithſtanding, was only a republication of the author's ſixth edition in 1748. The ſcheme therefore cannot be conſidered as perfected by the author, until the publication of the 10th edition, in 1758, the firſt part of which, relating to the animal kingdom, makes a volume of 821 pages; and the ſame part, in the 12th and laſt edition, is augmented by the addition of new ſubjects to 1327 pages. This work therefore, publiſhed in two volumes at Stockholm, in 1766 and 1767, is to be conſidered as having received the author's finiſhing hand, as far as poſſible, ſince he pro⯑feſſes to deſcribe only ſuch animals as had fallen under his own inſpection, except in ſome inſtances, where his dependence upon other authority ren⯑dered it juſtifiable. The title of this enlarged edition runs thus:

SYSTEMA NATURAE per regna tria Naturae ſecun⯑dum claſſes, ordines, genera et ſpecies, cum charac⯑teribus, differentiis, ſynonymis, locis. Holm. 1766, I. 1767, II. 1768, III.