Lives of Eminent Zoologists, from Aristotle to Linnaeus Part 21

"That bats as well as flies lie as dead all winter is true; but they do not change elements, and go and live all that time under water. Swallows cannot do it without a provision and contrivance for that end, which it becomes your great abilities to find out; for it is not sufficient to a.s.sert, but to demonstrate the internal apparatus G.o.d Almighty has wonderfully contrived for a flying animal, bred on the land and in the air, to go voluntarily under water, and live there for so many months. Besides, we are not informed which species lives under water, as there are four species. You, my dear friend, have raised my admiration, and that of all my curious acquaintance; for we never heard before that mushrooms were of an animal nature, and that their eggs are hatched in water. We must suspend gratifying our curiosity until this phenomenon is more particularly explained to us here. Dr Solander is also a stranger to it. Very probably some account has been published in the Swedish tongue; if that is sent to Solander, then we shall be made acquainted with the discovery.

"I herewith send you a print of the _Andrachne_, which flowered, for the first time I presume in Europe, in Dr Fothergill's garden in May last year. It was raised from seed from Aleppo, sent to him by Dr Russell in the year 1756. Yon see its manner of flowering is very different from the arbutus. I have a large tree raised from the same seed, that stands abroad in the garden, but never blossomed. It is now beginning to shed its bark, as Belon or Belonius well describes; which is a peculiar difference from the _Arbutus_, and nearly agrees with the _Plata.n.u.s_.

"I am, my dear friend, with my sincere wishes for your health and preservation, your affectionate friend,

"P. COLLINSON,

"Now entered into my 73d year, in perfect health and strength in body and mind. G.o.d Almighty be praised and adored for the mult.i.tude of his mercies!--March 16th, 1767."

A great part of the correspondence which Collinson had with Linnaeus bore a reference to the alleged hibernation of swallows, which the latter, following the authority of certain writers, supposed to retire on the approach of winter to the bottom of lakes and rivers, among reeds and other aquatic plants, where they remain in a torpid state till the beginning of summer. This preposterous idea the Englishman labours to convince his friend ought either to be given up, or established by accurate observation; but, if the great botanist was not too proud to renounce an error, he at least manifested no desire to satisfy his correspondent, nor does it appear that he ever afterwards alluded to the subject in any of his letters.

The other individuals with whom he carried on an epistolary intercourse in England were, Dr Solander, his pupil; Mr Ellis, the first who proved the animal nature of corals and corallines; Mr George Edwards, librarian of the Royal College of Physicians, who produced a work on birds; Mr Pennant, the celebrated author of the British Zoology and other treatises; Mr Catesby, who wrote the Natural History of Carolina; Dr Mitch.e.l.l, and a few more. Of these Mr Ellis appears to have been his most a.s.siduous correspondent.

MR ELLIS TO LINNaeUS.

"London, December 5, 1766.

"SIR,--I am obliged to you for sending me Dr Garden's account of the _Siren_. I am sorry I could not get the rest of the things he sent you, before the ship sailed, when I sent you the specimens of plants. I have only got the insects, which are of little value, and the skin of a _Siren_. The things in spirits are not yet brought on sh.o.r.e; but I hope to get them; and as soon as I have an opportunity, will send them to you. Peter Collinson spent the evening with me, and shewed me a letter you wrote to him about funguses being alive in the seeds, and swimming about like fish. You mention something of it to me in your last letter. If you have examined the seeds of them yourself, and found them to be little animals, I should believe it. Pray, what time of the year, and what kinds? I suppose they must be taken while growing, and in a vigorous state. I intend to try; I think my gla.s.s will discover them, if they have animal life in them. The seeds of the _Equisetum pal.u.s.tre_ appear to be alive by their twisting motion, when viewed through the microscope; but that is not animal life.

"I have just finished a collection of the _Corallinae_. I think there are thirty-six species; but I believe some of them will prove varieties. I have most of the copperplates that represent them finished. They are the most difficult to examine of all the zoophytes; their pores are so small, and their manner of growing so singular....

"Pray let me know how your Tea-tree grows. It is very odd that, notwithstanding we have had fifteen ships from China this year, we have not had one Tea-tree brought home alive.

I have sent a boy to China, whose dependence is on me, to try to bring over several sorts of seeds in wax. I expect him home next summer.

"The English are much obliged to you for your good wishes.

We every day see a superiority in the Swedes over the other European nations. All your people that appear among us are polite, well-bred, and learned; without the vanity of the French, the heaviness of the Dutch, or the impudence of the Germans. This last nation has intruded on us swarms of their miserable, half-starved people, from the connexion that our royal family have had with them."

The first voyage of Captain Cook, in which he was accompanied by Sir Joseph Banks and Dr Solander, interested Linnaeus in a high degree, as he expected from it great accessions to science. On being apprized by Ellis of the return of the expedition in 1771, he thus writes in reply:--

"I received, about an hour ago, my ever valued friend, yours of the 16th of July, nor did I ever receive a more welcome letter, as it conveys the agreeable news of my dear Solander's safe return. Thanks and glory to G.o.d, who has protected him through the dangers of such a voyage! If I were not bound fast here by sixty-four years of age, and a worn-out body, I would this very day set out for London, to see this great hero of botany. Moses was not permitted to enter Palestine, but only to view it from a distance; so I conceive an idea in my mind of the acquisitions and treasures of those who have visited every part of the globe."

The following letter, princ.i.p.ally on the same subject, is selected as one of the best specimens of Linnaeus's epistolary style:--

LINNaeUS TO MR ELLIS.

"Upsal, October 22, 1771.

"MY DEAR FRIEND,--I have just read in some foreign newspapers, that our friend Solander intends to revisit those new countries, discovered by Mr Banks and himself, in the ensuing spring. This report has affected me so much, as almost entirely to deprive me of sleep. How vain are the hopes of man! Whilst the whole botanical world, like myself, has been looking for the most transcendent benefits to our science, from the unrivalled exertions of your countrymen, all their matchless and truly astonishing collection, such as has never been seen before, nor may ever be seen again, is to be put aside untouched, to be thrust into some corner, to become perhaps the prey of insects and of destruction.

"I have every day been figuring to myself the occupations of my pupil Solander, now putting his collection in order, having first arranged and numbered his plants in parcels, according to the places where they were gathered, and then written upon each specimen its native country and appropriate number. I then fancied him throwing the whole into cla.s.ses; putting aside, and naming, such as were already known; ranging others under known genera, with specific differences; and distinguishing by new names and definitions such as formed new genera, with their species.

Thus, thought I, the world will be delighted and benefited by all these discoveries; and the foundations of true science will be strengthened, so as to endure through all generations.

"I am under great apprehension, that if this collection should remain untouched till Solander's return, it might share the same lot as Forskal's Arabian specimens at Copenhagen. Thus shall I be only more and more confirmed in my opinion, that the Fates are ever adverse to the greatest undertakings of mankind.

"Solander promised long ago, while detained off the coast of Brazil, in the early part of his voyage, that he would visit me after his return; of which I have been in expectation.

If he had brought some of his specimens with him, I could at once have told him what were new; and we might have turned over books together, and he might have been informed or satisfied upon many subjects, which after my death will not be so easily explained.

"I have no answer from him to the letter I enclosed to you, which I cannot but wonder at. You yourself know how much I have esteemed him, and how strongly I recommended him to you.

"By all that is great and good, I entreat you, who know so well the value of science, to do all that in you lies for the publication of these new acquisitions, that the learned world may not be deprived of them. They will afford a fresh proof, that the English nation promote science more than the French, or any other people whatsoever. At the same time, let me earnestly beg of you to publish, as soon as possible, your own work, explaining those elegant plates of rare zoophytes, &c. which you last sent me. I can no longer restrain my impatience. Allow me to remind you, that 'nothing is so uncertain, nothing so deceitful, as human life; nothing so frail, or surrounded with so many diseases and dangers, as man.'

"Again the plants of Solander and Banks recur to my imagination. When I turn over Feuillee's figures, I meet with more extraordinary things among them than anywhere else. I cannot but presume, therefore, as Peru and Chili are so rich, that in the South Sea Islands as great an abundance of rarities have remained in concealment, from the beginning of the world, to reward the labours of our ill.u.s.trious voyagers. I see these things now but afar off. If our travellers should take another trip, I shall have seen them as Moses saw Canaan.

"When I ponder upon the insects they have brought, I am overwhelmed at the reported number of new species. Are there many new genera? Amongst all the insects sent from the Cape, I have met with no new genus; which is remarkable. And yet, except four European ones, they are all new species.

"Pray make use of your interest with Solander, to inform me to what cla.s.s and order the nutmeg belongs. I shall not take advantage of this information without making honourable mention of my authority.

"When I think of their _Mollusca_, I conceive the new ones must be very numerous. These animals cannot be investigated after death, as they contract in dying. Without doubt, as there were draughtsmen on board, they would not fail to afford ample materials for drawings.

"Do but consider, my friend, if these treasures are kept back, what may happen to them. They may be devoured by vermin of all kinds. The house where they are lodged may be burnt. Those destined to describe them may die. Even you, the promoter of every scientific undertaking in your country, may be taken from us. All sublunary things are uncertain, nor ought any thing to be trusted to treacherous futurity. I therefore once more beg, nay I earnestly beseech you, to urge the publication of these new discoveries. I confess it to be my most ardent wish to see this done before I die. To whom can I urge my anxious wishes but to you, who are so devoted to me and to science?

"Remember me to the immortal Banks and Solander.

"P.S.--I can never sufficiently thank you and Mr Gordon for the beautiful and precious trees of Magnolia, both the Gardeniae, both the Kalmiae, and the Rhododendrum; all now in excellent health. But the Calycanthus, and a tree of a new genus allied to Hamamelis, I am sorry to say, are no more.

They were very sickly when they came, nor did they put forth any new roots. Dionaea died, as might be expected, in the voyage.

"My Lord Baltimore pa.s.sed a day with me about a year ago, at my country-house. I read over to him whatever he desired.

After his departure, he sent me a most elegant vase of silver gilt, certainly worth more than 150 guineas. I never received so splendid a present before. No Frenchman, nor perhaps any other person, was ever so bountiful. The English are, doubtless, the most generous of all men.

"My second Mantissa is at length published. After it was finished, I received from Surinam what I call Hyperic.u.m Lasianthus, so similar to your Gordonia that at first I thought them the same. The flower is, in like manner, internally hairy; the stem is shrubby, and the leaves similar. But the stamens are in five sets, separated by five hairy nectaries. On a careful examination, I conclude your Gordonia Lasianthus to be really a different plant, agreeing with that of Plukenet, in having winged seeds, as you rightly describe it. The synonym of Plukenet, therefore, does not belong to my Lasianthus, which, however like it, is truly a species of Hyperic.u.m; but that synonym must be referred to your plant."

Mr Ellis was a native of Ireland, but had settled in London, where he died in 1776. In the early part of his life he engaged in merchandise, and subsequently was employed as agent for West Florida and Dominica.

His foreign connexions were the means of furnishing him with rich supplies of curious specimens: and hence both botany and zoology were enriched by him with many discoveries, the most remarkable of which, as we have already mentioned, was that of the animal nature of corals and corallines.

It was to this gentleman that Linnaeus recommended his favourite pupil Solander, who came to England in 1759, and who was held in great estimation on account of his politeness and extensive knowledge in natural history. Being engaged by Sir Joseph Banks he accompanied him on his voyage round the world, and on his return was domesticated under his roof as his secretary and librarian. He undertook to describe the objects which had been collected on the voyage; but the dissipation of London society, his other avocations, and the indolence which soon gained upon him, rendered his progress too slow for the expectations of the learned, and in 1782 he was carried off by apoplexy. He seems to have almost forgotten his venerable master, to whom he was under so many obligations, and even his aged mother, several of whose letters to him were found unopened after his death. He was, notwithstanding, a man of considerable merit, and more especially in that he proved the means of establishing the Linnaean doctrines in this country.

Mr Ellis, in return, had the satisfaction of introducing to the correspondence of Linnaeus the celebrated Dr Garden, who had settled at Charleston in South Carolina, where he practised medicine for nearly thirty years. He was a native of Scotland, and received his education at Aberdeen and Edinburgh. During the intervals of leisure which occasionally occurred in the practice of his profession, he directed his attention to the study of botany and zoology. When the differences between Great Britain and her American colonies arose, he took part with the former, and returned to Europe about the end of the war, with his wife and two daughters, leaving, however, a son, who submitted to the new government. He died of pulmonary consumption in 1791, in the sixty-second year of his age.

DR GARDEN TO LINNaeUS.

"Charleston, Nov. 30, 1758.

"SIR,--Three years ago I troubled you with a letter by way of Holland, of which I sent also a duplicate; but I fear they have both accidentally miscarried. From that period I have often thought of soliciting afresh your friendship and correspondence, but shame has deterred me. I am well aware that your time must be fully occupied with more valuable correspondents, and that I am likely to be more troublesome than useful, having nothing worthy to repay such an indulgence. I do, however, stand in great need of your advice and a.s.sistance in the prosecution of the most delightful of studies; and such is my conviction of the benevolence of your character, that I cannot refrain from writing you another letter. I earnestly beseech you to take this in good part, and not to refuse me the favour of your friendship. Mr Ellis, in a recent letter, encourages me to believe that my correspondence may not be unwelcome to you, which, you may well suppose, has greatly delighted me; and it has induced me to hope you will pardon this intrusion. I learn from him that you have already written to me; and it has given me no small concern that your letter has never come to hand. I flattered myself, as long as I possibly could, with the prospect of its arrival; but I have now given up all hopes, and am only sensible of my loss and mortification.

"Had it not been for the repeated encouragement of Mr Ellis, I should scarcely ever have ventured to expect that my friendship and correspondence could engage your attention; nor can I now attribute your favour and kindness towards me to any other cause than, probably, to the too partial representations of this friend. I fear that his usual indulgence for me, of which I have had repeated instances, may have prompted him to say more in my recommendation than my abilities deserve, or than truth can justify.

"Of this I am very certain, that if you do deign to correspond with me, I can never repay such a favour as it deserves. Nevertheless, I am ready to receive and to obey your wishes and directions; and if this country should afford any thing worthy of your notice, I will, if you please, make descriptions, or send specimens, with all possible care. Your commands will indeed prove most welcome to me. I have only to request that you will inform me of every thing you want, and of the best methods of preserving and forwarding specimens. Every opportunity that you may be so good as to afford me of serving you, I shall esteem an honour; and if at the same time you favour me with your advice, and allow me to drink at the fountain of pure botanical science from your abundant stores, I shall esteem it the highest honour, as well as gratification, that I can enjoy.

"Almost every one of your works is already in my hands, and I trust I have thence greatly improved my knowledge of botany. Mr Ellis informs me of your being about printing a new edition of your Systema Naturae and Genera Plantarum, both which I have ordered to be sent me as soon as they appear. From the riches and erudition of what you have already published, your whole mind being devoted to this one pursuit, I am at no loss to antic.i.p.ate the still greater degree of information, elegance, and perfection, of your future performances. Nothing, indeed, more excites my wishes, as a certain source of pleasure and improvement, than to be more deeply conversant with your writings; that I may not only profit by your genius, but, at the same time, have the information of the most eminent and approved writers in botany always ready at hand.

"I am disgusted with the coa.r.s.e and malicious style in which some carping and slanderous critics have attacked these works of yours, the delight and ornament of botanical science. But such men are objects of pity rather than anger.

Their blind inclination to find fault leads them so far into the mazes of absurdity, that they censure what ought to afford them nothing but instruction. Their futile reasonings, indeed, fall harmless to the ground, like the dart of Priam from the shield of Pyrrhus. The works they abuse shine brighter the more strictly they are scrutinized, and will certainly be read with delight by men in every age who are best qualified to appreciate their value. Your censors, when duly weighed themselves, seem to have acquired what they know by application rather than by any great powers of mind; and they make but a poor figure, with all that they can find to say, when they enter into a controversy with a man whose learning has received its last polish from genius. Nor are you, my excellent friend, unsupported in the contest; for you are surrounded by all who have entered on the same studies at the impulse of genius, or under the auspices of Minerva, and whose industry has gradually improved, sharpened, and given the last finish to the powers of their understanding. These stand ready armed for the battle in your defence. They will easily put to flight the herd of plodding labourers; for nature can certainly do much more without learning, than learning without nature.

"If your adversaries and detractors had candidly pointed out the disputable, inconvenient, or faulty parts of your system, for your better consideration and revision, I have no doubt that they would now have found in you a friend and patron, instead of an enemy and conqueror. But they were excited by an envious malignity, and a depraved appet.i.te for controversy, to write without judgment or genius, and to blame without candour or liberality. Not that I pretend to say, that your system is already brought to the supreme point of perfection. That would indeed be a foolish a.s.sertion, which your better judgment would at once reject as mere flattery. But to give due praise to supreme merit in botanical science, and to recommend, as they deserve, your most ingenious and most useful writings, is a duty inc.u.mbent on me, as well as on all who are not dest.i.tute of every spark of grat.i.tude, for the immense services which your labour and ingenuity have rendered to the whole world.

Nor are you, sir, so little able to appreciate your own merits, as not to be perfectly conscious that the attacks alluded to originate in envy, rather than the commendations you receive, in flattery. Compliments out of the question, we certainly ought to give every one his due.