Through the Fields with Linnæus

Abstract

THIS enthusiastic book is the fruit of the author's visit to the land of Linnæus, and her journeys in his track. Its purpose is to tell the story of the life and labours of Linnæus with the local colour so far as it may be restored from contemporary and other records, and from the author's own experiences of travel. We fmd Linnæus here presented to us sometimes, as in the story of his early struggles while a student at Upsala, and again at the period of his courtship and his absence from the object of his affections, with the air of the hero of a romance rather than the subject of sober biography. It was to be expected that such periods in his life-history would properly take forcible hold of the sympathies of a lady biographer. It may be said at once that the author has carefully consulted the proper authorities—Stoever, Pulteney, Smith, Jackson, &c., and duly acknowledged her indebtedness to them; and occasionally, with more jubilation than mere complacency, her disregard for them when they fail by disagreement among themselves, or otherwise, to satisfy her. One can hardly say fairer than that The first impression of the book is unfavourable; in fact, it is felt that one cannot take it seriously. That it is not meant to be so taken altogether is manifest from such statements as that “by Hök rather than by Krök Carl's name was enrolled,” &c. Apart from this kind of thing, however, there is often a temptation to smile at the wrong places. The author's observations on men and things in general are frequent and fearless. For example, in discussing an architectural matter she wonders at “the usually perceptive Fergusson” not recognising the significance of a feature well known to ordinary writers on Swedish architecture. Doubtless Mr. Fergusson would have valued this gentle way of describing him, so unlike the manner of those “cock-a-hoop and overbearing young scientific men” whom the author prophesies will be “charming at forty.” There is a superabundance too of quotations in the book beyond the legitimate quotations from Linnæus himself and writers of his life. Indeed, to put it in the fashion of that biographer of Linnaeus whom she calls “dear old Stoever,” she can rarely keep her course clear of the Scylla of her own wisdom and the Charybdis of miscellaneous quotations from Carlyle and a great variety of other writers.

Through the Fields with Linnæus.

By Mrs. Florence Caddy. Two Vols. (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1887.)