b o o k ments o f phyfick, in which he foon made axonfiderable pro-
— v /grefs. When his father had ailented to this advice, he had
defigned him for the church * ; and was not, without great
difficulty, induced to agree that he ihould apply himielf to
theftudy of botany and phyfick.
In 1 7 r 7 he was fent to the uriiverfity of'Lund, where he
acquired, under the celebrated fitokeus, the firft fyftematick
principles o f natural hiftory. Being lodged in-that profeiTor’s
houfe, he enjoyed many opportunities of improvement; and
particularly from a curious collection o f foffils, ihells, birds,
and plants. At this place he began to form an herbarium,
collecting plants from all quarters, making repeated obferva-
tions upon them, and comparing them with the defcriptions
o f Tournefort t, whole works he had received as a prefent
from Dr. Rothman J.
During his refidence at Lund, he profecuted his ftudies
with fuch,unremitted attention, that he frequently continued
them during great part o f the night, in order to enjoy the ufe
o f feveral books whichhefecretly obtained from the profefior’s
library. Once in particular, Stobaeus fufpeCting that he had
company at a very late hour, ftole unobferved into his apartment,
and was aftoniihed at finding him employed in con-
fiilting the works o f thofe great botanifts, Caefalpinus, Bauhin,
and Tournefort. Pleafed with this inftance o f his indefatigable
zeal for fcience, the profeflor allowed him unreftrained
accefs to his library and collections, and readily aififted him
with advice and information.
Linnaeus did not confine himfelf to botany, but turned alfo
his attention to the inferior orders o f the animal kingdom ;
* His mother Was at firft fo ch ag rin ed Smoland, and , on a c count o f his Ikill in the
th a t h e r el deft fon declined entering into o r - man ag ement o f bees, is known b y th e name
d e r s , that (he would not even p erm it he r o f B i-K u n g , o r the B e e-K in g .
fecond fon to fet his foot in th e garden. + Inftitutiones re i herbaria;,
T h is bro th er, whofe name is Samuel, is ftill J Bieck .
livin g : h e is a clergyman in th e province o f
a
a branch o f knowledge in which he eminently excelled, and CHAP-
which he was led to profecute from a circumftance that would
have damped the ardour o f a lefs zealous inquirer. In endeavouring
to form a collection o f infeCts, he was ftung by
the Furia Infernalis * in io terrible a manner, that his life
was endangered +. This event incited his refearches to dif-
cover the nature and qualities o f that venomous worm;
which led him to develope andexplain thofe numerous tribes
o f infeCts I and worms, that had been but imperfectly defcribed
by preceding naturalifts; and afterwards to throw new light
upon the whole animal kingdom.
In 1728 he was removed to the univerfity o f Upfala ;
where his narrow circumftances involved him at firft in dif-
trefles unfriendly to the purfuits o f fcience, but which did
* T h e effe&s o f th e Furia Infernalis are
th u s defcribed b y D r . P u lten e y , from a Dif-
ferta tion JDe Miraculis Infeilorum, in the
third volume o f th e Amcenhates Academica.
“ In Finland, Bothn ia , and the aorthenn
“ provinces o f Sweden, it was not unfre-
“ qu en tly th at p eop le w ere fe ized with a
“ pungent pain, confined to a p o in t, in the
“ hand, o r oth e r expofed p a rt o f the b od y ,
“ which p refen tly increafed to am o f t e x cru -
“ c iatin g degree, and hath fometimes been
“ fuddenly fa ta l. T h is diforder was-more
“ pa rticu lar ly obferved in F inland , efpeci-
“ a lly abou t b o g g y and m arihy p l i e s , and
“ always in an tam . A t length it was dif-
44 covered, that this p ain >inftantly fucceeded
“ fomewhat that dropped out o f the a ir , and
“ in a mom exit pen etra ted and bu ried ir fe lf
“ in th e fleih. T h e Finlanders had tried
“ variety o f applications to n o p u rp o fe , un til
44 at len g th a p ou ltice o f cu rds, o r cheefe,
“ was found th e m o ileffe ttua l in eafing the
44 pain -; and the e v en t confirmed, th a t the
1 infeft was allured b y this application to
"“ leave the fleih ; as on its rem o v a l, this
4t worm, no lon g er than the fixth o f an inch,
“ was found in it, and thus the caufe o f this
4| painful difeafe exp la in ed . Linnauis him-
‘ i d f once iu fie red from this animal the
<c e ffe ft here ipoken o f : b u t w e owe th e
“ complete hiftory o f it and its p la c e in th e
“ Syftem* to D r . Soland er, w h o g a v e it in to
“ the R o y a l A c ad em y o f Sciences at U p fa l.
H .(Nov. A c . V . I . ) T h is worm ftands in the
“ Syftem under the name o f Furia InfeYna-
u P* l3f S» ^u t b y what means this
cre ature is railed -into the air, is at y e i
“ u n kn ow n .” G en e ra l V iew o f th e W r it ings
o f L in n a ;u s , p . 259,
f B a c k .
t “ N o p a rt o f the fyftem o f n a tu re ,”
writes D r . P u lten e y , “ has undergone a
“ g re a te r ch an g e than this clafs ; neither
“ does o u r auth or ftand more u n rivalled ,
“ than in the e x ce llen t arrangemen t he ha-s
“ given to this b ran ch o f natu ra l h ifto r y ;
“ w h ic h , b efo re his time, was n ea rly w ith -
“ o u t meth od .” p . i p i .
A n d a g a in , “ T h e kn owled g e o f in fe r s
“ may b e faad to be th e laft branch o f n a tu -
“ ral hiftory that railed its head j no twith *
ftanding w h ich , it has o f la te attained a
“ h igh degree o f perfe&ion : n or can it be
“ too mu ch to attribute this to the e x ce llen t
44 arrangemen t o f Linnseus, under whofe
“ aufpices it has extended i t fe lf beyon d a l t -
“ o th e r pa rts o f z o o lo g y .” p . 3
not,