B O O K
V I I . Thus his genius may be faid to have diffufed itfelf
’through the moft diftant regions o f the globe ; and his fpirit
ftill continues to animate the zealous difciples o f the Lin*
næan fchool.
The following circumftances, relative to his deceafe, are-
related by his Swediih biographer ®.
In May, 17 7 4 , while he was reading ledtures in.the botanical
gardén, he was feized with an apopledlick ftroke ; that
was followed by a debility which he himfelf pronounced the
forerunner o f death. His limbs were affedled to fuch a
degree, that he could not be moved without extreme pain and"
difficulty. In autumn, however, he was fomewhat recovered,
which he, in the enthufiafm o f feience, imputed to a
prefent o f feveral hundred rare plants, fent to him by the
king. Thefe plants, brought from Surinam by Dahlberg,
a Swediih officer, were fo well preferved in fpirits, that their
flowers, fruit, and leaves, were diftindtly preferved. He
found great amufement and eonfolation in arranging and
publifhing a ihort defcription o f them, under the title of
Planta Surinamenfes, which was his laft performance. In J une,
17 7 6, he was afftidted with a fécond ftroke o f apoplexy, which
reducedhim to fo weakaftate,that,toufe his own expreffions
in his Journal, “ Linnæus limps, can hardly move, fpeaks un-
“ intelligibly, and can fcarcely write.” In the fame year a
paralytick ftroke deprived him o f the ufe o f his right fide, and
confined him wholly to his bed. His ftrength gradually for-
fook him ; his mental faculties were impaired ; and an ague,
attended by a dropfy, brought on a tranquil diflolution on the
10 th o f January, 17 78 , in the 71ft year o f his age.
His remains were interred in the cathedral of Upfala, with
all the funeral honours which gratitude and refpedt could
» B * c k .
infpire.
infpire. The king- o f Sweden ordered a medal to be ftruck chap-
expreffive o f the dejedtion o f fcience upon the-deceafe of^-Vir‘ -
Linnaeus, and a monument to be eredted over his alhes : his
majefty alfo attended the meeting o f the Academy o f Sciences,
in which his commemoration fpeech was delivered ;
and, as a ftill higher tribute to his memory, lamented, in a
fpeech from the throne to the diet of 1778, the irretrievable
lofs which Sweden had fuffered from his death *.
The-moft trifling anecdotes relative to the perfon and cha-
radter o f fuch eminent men as Linnaeus cannot fail o f being
particularly interefting; and our curiofity in thefe refpedts
will be highly gratified by the following detail o f a naturalift t
perfonally acquainted with him; who reprefents- him
chiefly in private and domeftick fcenes, which, though
they place every character in the trueft light, yet too often
efcape the notice o f biographers.
“ 1 had the g°od fortune o f enjoying the inftrudtions,
“ protection, and familiar acquaintance o f Linnaeus, from
“ 1762 to 176 4. No day palled in which I did not fee h im ;
| none in which I did not attend his ledtures, or converfe
“ with him in the moft friendly manner. In fummer I fol-
“ lowed him into the country, accompanied by two friends,
‘ Kuhn and Zoega, who were foreigners as well as m y fe lf:
J in winter we took up our abode oppofite to his houfe at Up-
“ fala; where he vifited us almoft every day without form, in
‘‘ his red night-gown and green cap lined with fur, and with
^ his pipe in his hand. His converfation was lively and
‘‘ agreeable ; he would amufe us with many anecdotes re-
“ lative to the naturalifts both native and foreign, whom he
« formerly known ; he would frequently refolve diffi-
‘ culties which occurred to us in the progrefs o f our ftudies,
* Pu lteney , p . m . f F a b r i e iu s . '