It is scarcely possible to find a more striking illustration of the “ruling passion strong in death,” than is afforded in the instance of Linnæus. Lingering and painful were the last twelve months of his existence; but at length, on the 10th January, 1778, he gently expired in his sleep, in the seventy-first year of his age. The death of Linnæus was regarded, in Sweden, as a national calamity. The whole University went into mourning, and all the professors, doctors, and students then at Upsala, attended his funeral. The king, in his speech to the States in the same year, publicly lamented his death, and ordered a medal to be struck in his honour; and in 1798 a monument was erected to him in the cathedral at Upsala, where he was interred. Such a life needs but little comment. It speaks for itself to the youth leaving school and knowing not what to do, to the young man struggling for existence and position, to the middle-aged man in his wealth and influence, and to the old man who cares to leave a good name behind him. [Illustration] [Illustration] CHAPTER V. THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE SCIENCE OF PLANTS. The life of De Candolle—The Natural System. There is a name which is very familiar to young and old botanists nowadays, and which is always mentioned with feelings of great respect. It is that of M. de Candolle, one of the founders of the modern system of the classification of plants which is used by everybody now in preference to the celebrated artificial method taught by Linnæus. Augustin Pyramus de Candolle was born at Geneva, in February, 1778, and his father, M. Augustine de Candolle, was descended from one of the oldest families of Provence. One of his ancestors, M. Pyramus de Candolle, became a Protestant, and left France for the freer air of Switzerland, and settled at Geneva in 1591. This gentleman became a citizen of the town, a member of the legislature, and took up the business of a printer. His presses gave forth translations of the works of Tacitus and Xenophon. They were stirring times, and this energetic man once, in travelling through Grenoble into Switzerland, learned that the Duke of Savoy intended to take Geneva by surprise, with his army. When the attempt was made, Pyramus de Candolle fought as a citizen of his adopted town. Subsequently he went to Yverdun and established manufactories, but the jealousy of the Bernese ruined him, and he died broken-hearted. The family returned to Geneva to live on small means, and the father of De Candolle became a banker, and was much employed by the State during troublous political times.