Linnæus was the son of a poor pastor, and his mother was the daughter of the former pastor of the same small Swedish parish. At the early age of four young Karl is said to have taken an interest in botany, and to have begun to ask questions that his father could not answer. Either to escape this interrogation, or for wiser motives, the father made it a rule never to answer the same question twice, and to this early discipline Linnæus used to trace his tenacious memory. The boy was intended for the ministry, and was early sent to school; but, as he devoted all his time to botany, his progress in theology was _nil_, and when, after two years, his father visited the school, and learnt of the disappointing result of all the pinching and saving which had gone to provide for the son’s education, he resolved to apprentice him to a tailor or shoemaker in hopes of obtaining a better return for his outlay. Fortunately a friend intervened, and gave the boy board and lodging, besides private tuition, while he finished his gymnasium course. His work as a student seems to have failed to satisfy his instructors, for when he proceeded to the University of Lund it was with the enigmatic testimonial to the effect that “some shrubs in a garden may disappoint the cares of the gardener, but if transplanted into different soil may prosper.” When barely twenty-two he left Lund for Upsala, taking with him his entire fortune of £8, and, being inexperienced and unknown, soon found himself in desperate straits. He was rescued by the generosity of Dr. Celsius, a professor of theology, but student of botany, who, impressed with Karl’s collections and enthusiasm, offered him board and lodging, and obtained for him some private pupils. The hardships of his life were not yet over, but gradually his work obtained recognition, abroad sooner than at home, and he could have lived at his ease in England or the Netherlands; only (as he expressed it), “his Sara was in Sweden,” and he returned to his native land to scrape together sufficient means to marry her. [Sidenote: =Buffon.=] From the beginning Georges Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, was marked out for a different life. His father was a Burgundian Councillor, and his mother, besides being an heiress, was a woman of unusual ability. He was originally destined for the law, but his tastes always inclined towards science, and he soon found occasion to follow them. He made the acquaintance of a young Englishman of rank and of his tutor, who was a man of science, and with them he travelled on the continent. About the same time Linnæus was also travelling, but in a different fashion. He set out to make explorations in Lapland, then very little known, carrying his luggage on his back, and covered nearly 5,000 miles at a cost of about £25. During his travels he kept a diary[13] of his observations, which contains not only botanical but also ethnological information of great value. Footnote 13: