_Travelling Pupils of Linnaeus._
Enthusiasm excited by the Lectures of Linnaeus--Ternstroem
dies on his Voyage to China--Hasselquist, after travelling
in Egypt, Arabia, and Palestine, dies at Smyrna--Forskal
perishes in Arabia; Loefling in South America; Falk in
Tartary--Kalm sent to Canada; Rolander to Surinam; Toren to
Malabar; Osbeck to China--Sparrmann travels in the Cape, and
accompanies Cook on his second Voyage--Thunberg visits
Japan, Ceylon, and other Countries--Various parts of Europe
visited by Pupils of Linnaeus--Remarks on the Accumulation of
Facts produced by their Exertions.
The enthusiasm excited by the lectures and demonstrations of Linnaeus,
seems to have exceeded that produced by the efforts of any other
professor. The fervour of the teacher, his ardent love of nature, his
eloquence, and the kindliness of his disposition, made an indelible
impression upon his pupils, many of whom were anxious to devote their
lives to the extension of their favourite science. Upsal became the
centre of botanical, if not of zoological knowledge; and while students
flocked to it from all parts of Europe, there were proceeding from it
those whom we may call the devoted heroes of science, and who were
resolved to enlarge its boundaries, by exploring regions previously
unknown to the natural historian. An account of these men belongs in
some measure to the life of their master, in which it will form an
interesting episode.
The first of his pupils that embraced the opportunity presented by the
Swedish East India Company, was a young man named TERNSTROEM, who in
1745 embarked for China. He died, however, at Pulicandor, before
reaching the place of which he had intended to describe the productions,
and thereby to secure for himself a scientific immortality.
In the summer of 1749, FREDERICK HASSELQUIST, another of his students,
was induced by his representations to undertake a voyage to Smyrna, for
the purpose of examining the natural treasures of Palestine. Private
contributions were made to defray the expense of his journey, and a free
passage was given in an East Indiaman. Next year he continued his course
to Egypt, where he remained nine months, surveying the pyramids and
other remarkable objects, and collecting all the information that he
could obtain respecting minerals, plants, and animals. He communicated
the result of his labours to his friends at home, and was admitted a
member of the Royal Society of Upsal, and of the Stockholm Academy of
Sciences. In March 1751, he left Cairo, and taking the route of Jaffa,
travelled with a caravan of pilgrims to Jerusalem, where he remained
some time. He then visited the river Jordan, Mount Tabor, Jericho,
Bethlehem, Tyre, and Sidon, and embarked for Smyrna, where he arrived
with a great variety of specimens illustrative of natural history, as
also with a valuable selection of Arabic manuscripts, coins, and
mummies. He was preparing to return to his native country, to enjoy the
fruit of his toils, when he was seized with a violent affection of the
lungs, the predisposition to which existed before he left Sweden, and
of which the symptoms had been aggravated by the fatigues and privations
he endured in crossing the sandy deserts. The disease quickly assumed an
alarming character, and he finally sunk under it on the 9th February
1752, in the thirtieth year of his age.
Hasselquist having contracted debts at Smyrna, his creditors seized his
collections, and would have exposed them to sale, had they not been
prevented by the Swedish consul, who sent home an account of the
circumstances under which the youth had died. The queen, Louisa Ulrica,
gave orders to redeem his property, which was accordingly transmitted to
her, and deposited in the palace of Drottningholm, where she usually
resided. Duplicates of the various articles were given to Linnaeus,
together with all the manuscripts, which were published in the Swedish
language under the title of Iter Palaestinum. This work was afterwards
translated into German, English, and French. It consists of two parts,
the first of which contains the journal of the traveller and his
correspondence; while the second is devoted to observations on
mineralogy, botany, and zoology, as well as to many interesting subjects
relating to the diseases, commerce, and arts, of the countries which had
been visited. A Flora of Palestine, made up from the papers and
specimens of Hasselquist, was afterwards published in the fourth volume
of the Amaenitates Academicae.
Professor Michaelis of Gottingen, so well known for his proficiency in
the languages of the East, having strongly enforced the propriety of
obtaining a more extensive knowledge of those countries in which most of
the events recorded in the Scriptures took place, a society was
instituted for that purpose; and through the influence of the Danish
ministers, Counts Bernstorff and Moltke, an expedition was fitted out
for Arabia. In 1761, five persons were chosen for conducting this
enterprise, viz. Counsellor Niebuhr, Professor Forskal, a native of
Sweden, Von Haven, Cramer, and Baurnfeind the painter. In June 1763,
FORSKAL wrote to Count Bernstorff, communicating some information
respecting the balsam of Mecca; but in about a month afterwards he fell
a sacrifice to science, and died at Jerim. His companions suffered a
similar fate, with the exception of Niebuhr, who on returning published
an account of the journey. The observations of the naturalist were
arranged by the same author, and appeared in 1775, accompanied with
illustrative engravings. In a letter to Ellis, several years earlier,
Linnaeus mentions him thus:--"Mr Forskal, an excellent pupil of mine,
just appointed professor at Copenhagen, is to be sent next year, at the
expense of the King of Denmark, to the Cape of Good Hope and Arabia
Felix. If God preserve him to us, we may expect a multitude of
interesting discoveries. He excels more particularly in the knowledge of
insects, although very well versed in the other branches of natural
history." Niebuhr, who sent to him a copy of the posthumous work as soon
as it was printed, was elected a member of the Stockholm Academy of
Sciences, out of gratitude for the pains which he had taken to preserve
the name of his unfortunate friend.
Application having been made to Linnaeus, from Madrid, for an able
botanist, he chose PETER LOEFLING, one of the most distinguished of
his pupils, who proceeded to Spain in 1751. During two years he
continued to collect and describe the plants of that country. At the end
of this period, he was sent by the government to travel through the
different Spanish settlements in South America. He had explored the
districts of Cumana, New Barcelona, and St Thomas of Guyana, and was
preparing to extend his journey, when he was attacked by fever, and died
in the twenty-seventh year of his age. The professor, who was much
affected by the death of this zealous and enterprising youth, published
an account of his travels, under the name of Petri Loeflingii Iter
Hispanicum.
The next victim to the eager pursuit of knowledge was FALK, a native of
West Gothland, who, coming to Upsal in 1751 to study natural history,
was received by Linnaeus into his house, and appointed to take charge of
the education of his son. In 1759, he made a journey to Gothland, and
afterwards went to Copenhagen, in the hope of being sent to Arabia along
with Niebuhr and Forskal; but not finding his wishes gratified returned
to college. In 1763, through the recommendation of his master, he was
engaged by M. Kruse, first physician to the Emperor of Russia, to take
charge of his cabinet of natural curiosities, and was proceeding to
Petersburg when he suffered shipwreck at Narva. In 1765, he was
appointed keeper of the botanic garden and professor of the medical
college; but the assiduity with which he pursued his studies rendered
him subject to a disease of the bowels, causing accessions of
melancholy. In one of these fits of hypochondriasis he shot himself, at
Casan in Tartary, on the night of the 20th March 1774.
Thus perished, in the midst of their career, five of the most promising
pupils of Linnaeus; but, not deterred by their fate, others pressed
forward with the desire of distinguishing themselves.
The professor, knowing that a species of mulberry-tree grew in Canada,
proposed to the Royal Society of Stockholm a voyage to that country, for
the purpose of learning whether the plant in question could be
naturalized in Sweden. The proposal being acceded to, he made choice of
PETER KALM, one of the most promising of his students. In 1747, he
departed for America, where he remained three years. In 1751, he
returned to Abo, in Finland, where his patron had obtained a
professorship for him, and published an account of his voyage. The
Canadian mulberry-tree (_Morus rubra_) was in fact introduced by him
into Sweden, and seems in some degree to have answered the purpose
intended; but, although the government offered a premium for its
cultivation, the silk-manufacture of that country has never succeeded.
Kalm, after travelling in various parts of Russia, died at his own
residence in 1790. His travels in America were translated into English
by John Reinhold Forster, who accompanied Captain Cook on his second
voyage.
Rolander embarked for Surinam in 1755; Toren, in 1750, for the coast of
Malabar and Surat; and Osbeck for China in 1751. The journal of the
latter was also translated by Forster. But the most distinguished among
the more fortunate travelling-pupils of Linnaeus were Sparrmann and
Thunberg, the latter of whom became his successor in the university.
ANDREW SPARRMANN studied medicine at Upsal, where, by his attention to
natural history, he attracted the notice of the celebrated professor of
that science. In 1765, he made a voyage to China with his cousin,
Captain Ekeberg, who commanded a ship belonging to the East India
Company, and who was also fond of similar studies. On his return, he
described, in an academic thesis, the plants and animals which he had
collected on this voyage. Having now formed a strong attachment to
botany and zoology, he again became desirous of travelling; but his
poverty would have prevented him had not his friend Ekeberg procured for
him the office of tutor to the children of a person residing at the Cape
of Good Hope, where he arrived in 1772. Soon after, he had the pleasure
of meeting his countryman Thunberg, from whom, however, he was soon
forced to separate; and in October made a journey to Paarl, on his
return from which he occupied himself with a description of the plants
indigenous to the district in which he resided. Captain Cook, on his
second voyage, having arrived at the Cape, the two Forsters, who
accompanied him as naturalists, went to see Sparrmann, and persuaded him
to go along with them. This he was not loath to do, and, accordingly,
had the pleasure of circumnavigating the globe. On revisiting the Cape,
in July 1775, he subsisted by practising medicine, and in a short time
acquired sufficient funds to enable him to undertake an excursion into
the interior. He penetrated 350 leagues in a north-easterly direction,
and returned with a large stock of plants and animals. The same year he
revisited his native country, where he found that in his absence he had
been promoted to the degree of Doctor in Medicine. He was now elected a
member of the Royal Society of Stockholm, and, after the death of Baron
de Geer, was appointed conservator of his collection of natural history,
which had been bequeathed to that body. Some time after, he was made
president of the same learned institution,--an office which he resigned
in three months. In 1787, he accompanied his friend Wadstroem on an
expedition into the interior of Western Africa; but the project failed,
and in the following year he returned to the Swedish capital, where he
continued till his death in July 1820. The principal works which he
published are, 1. A Voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, to the South Polar
Circle, and round the Globe, with a Journey into the Country of the
Hottentots and Caffres. This book has been translated into English. 2.
The Musaeum Carlsonianum, containing Descriptions of the rarer Animals in
the Collection of Baron Carlson. 3. A Discourse on the Advantages of
Expeditions to the Pacific Ocean, with Descriptions of Animals and
Plants.
CHARLES PETER THUNBERG was born in Sweden in 1743, and died at Upsal in
1828. In 1770, after finishing his education, he went to France, and
from thence to Holland, where, on being recommended by Burmann, he was
engaged by the Dutch East India Company to go to Japan in a medical
capacity. After remaining some time at the Cape, he proceeded to his
destination, and afterwards to Java and Ceylon, whence he returned first
to England, and subsequently to Germany. His travels occupied nine
years. Fourteen months after the death of Linnaeus, he was appointed
director of the botanic garden of Upsal during the absence of the son of
that renowned professor. He acquired the honours usually bestowed on
fortunate cultivators of science, and finally succeeded the younger
Linnaeus.
Besides these celebrated individuals, who explored the most remote
regions of the globe, many of the students trained in the garden and
lecture-rooms of Upsal traversed various parts of Europe. Koehler
visited Italy; Alstroemer the same country, as well as France and Spain;
Von Troil made a voyage to Iceland; Fabricius travelled in Norway,
England, and France; and Solander examined the Lapland Alps. In short,
an astonishing impulse was given to the study of natural history in
general, and of botany in particular. Facts and observations were
accumulated to such a degree, that had Linnaeus lived ten years longer he
would have been utterly unable to continue the legislator of the science
in all its departments.
To him, however, remains the glory of having been the only individual
who described all the minerals, plants, and animals, known in his time.
Before him no one had attempted the task.