CHAPTER XII. "TIs born with all; the love of Nature's works And though the Almighty Maker has throughout COWPER. “HERE is a fine evening for the Linnæan system, Miss Vaughan; is it not? But I should like first to know something of Mr. Linnæus himself; will you give us a little account of his history. He was a Swede I know, to begin with." 66 Right, Mary. His father, who was a country clergyman, lived in a spot of romantic beauty; and being also something of a botanist, the taste of his famous son was early directed towards natural objects. In his own words, Linnæus was transferred from his cradle to a garden." talented child." 66 1 suppose he was a very "Quite the contrary; he gave no promise at all in his young days of the eminence he attained in after life. His father found him a dull scholar, even in botany; and his tutors pronounced him, at the age of nineteen, if not a positive blockhead, yet at all events unfit for the profession of the H Church, for which they had been vainly trying to prepare him, and recommended his being apprenticed to some trade. After all, however, he was brought up as a physician, and to this profession he devoted himself for a livelihood; but his mind was ever earnestly fixed upon the study of Nature, and upon botany in particular. To this he clung through poverty, misery, and sickness, for he had a great deal to suffer. Eight pounds a year was all his father could afford to allow him, and with this sum he set out in the world. Of course, it was not enough to satisfy his wants; and when his practice failed him, he had to endure all sorts of privations. It is said that he used even to mend his own shoes with folds of paper, and at one period he was in such distress as to be often at a loss for a meal. A kind friend, however, came to his aid. Rudbeck, the old professor of botany at Upsal, hearing of his miserable situation, engaged him as tutor to his children, received him into his house, and assisted him to prosecute his botanical labours. Afterwards he undertook his celebrated journey to Lapland, travelling alone, on horseback and on foot, over 4,000 miles. On his return, he published a description of this journey in an excellent work, entitled 'Flora Lapponica.' It has been lately translated into English." "Was it in that book you read his account of the miniature Willow-tree, whose berries cured him in a sickness?" enquired Mary. "Yes; and a most interesting book it is. He wrote a great number of books on botany, at the same time that he was practising physic, and delivering lectures on mineralogy and other branches of natural science." "How absurd it was of those tutors to call him a blockhead!" said Dora. "Genius does not always show itself in early years; but the success of Linnæus appears to have been chiefly owing to his extraordinary perseverance and the energy of his character. I do not mean to say that he was not also possessed of great powers of mind; but they alone would not have sufficed him, without these other qualities, to work out his clear and simple system from the barbarous, confused writings by which he was surrounded. The patience with which he laboured night and day was even more wonderful than the rapidity with which he accomplished his great task." "Did he ever visit England?" "Yes; but he was disappointed with the collections of natural history that he found here, and was ill received, I am sorry to add, by the professors, who were, doubtless, jealous of his innovations. Even from his own country he met with little gratitude during his life; but on the occasion of his death there appeared to be a change in public feeling, for a general mourning took place, and Gustavus III. mentioned the event in a speech from the throne as a national calamity, and also ordered a medal to be struck, expressing the public loss." "It seems," said Dora, "to be the usual fate of great men, to struggle through life with poverty, misery, and privation, and then to receive useless, empty honours when they can no longer want them, or be conscious of them." Those who labour for the sake of a personal reward will very seldom find it in this "It is, indeed, too often so, Dora. world, except, indeed, in the peace of their own consciences (if it be a noble labour), and the remembrance on a deathbed of a useful, well-spent life." "And what was poor Linnæus' system?" said Mary, after a pause. "How does it begin?" "The Linnæan system, which, as I told you, depends entirely upon the stamens and pistils of flowers, begins with dividing all known vegetables into twenty-four classes, the names of which are derived from the Greek. The first twelve are merely the names of numbers, with the addition of the word andria, which means fertilisers, or the stamens; the other twelve depend upon the arrangement of the Classes. 20. GYNANDRIA 21. MONCIA 22. DICCIA 23. POLYGAMIA 24. CRYPTOGAMIA { stamens inserted on the pistil. stamens and pistils in different flowers, but on the same plant. stamens and pistils on different plants. flowers of three kinds, some with stamens only, some pistils only, and some with stamens and pistils. flowers invisible, uncertain whether they have any. Dora and Mary then repeated over the names of the classes several times, until they thought they knew them; and Dora observed, "that the last appeared to correspond with the third natural class, Acotyledons, comprehending the Ferns, Mosses, Fungi, etc." "It does exactly," replied Miss Vaughan; " and its name signifies concealed union.” "And what part do the pistils act?" enquired Mary. 66 They form the orders into which each class is divided again: the first thirteen orders depend entirely upon the number of the pistils. You may easily remember them, for you have only to change the word andria into gynia, which denotes pistils |