In the preface to this work, which he dedicated to the king and queen, we find the following passage, which will enable the reader to form an estimate of that kind of forbearance which he showed towards his critics:--"I have never sent back upon my enemies the shafts which they have hurled at me. The grins of the malicious, the ironies and attacks of the envious, I have quietly borne. They have always been the reward of the labours of great men; but nothing of all this can hurt a hair of my head. Why should I not tolerate the wretches, when I have been loaded with the praises of the most celebrated botanists, before whom they must bend in the dust. My age, my profession, and my character, prevent me from waging war with my opponents. I will employ the few years I have to live in making useful observations. In natural history, errors cannot be defended nor truths concealed. I appeal to posterity." The decision of posterity, however, may be as unjust as that of our contemporaries, and the former is in all cases of less importance to us than the latter, for it can in no degree benefit the author who relies upon it. And to show that Linnaeus severely felt the censure of his opponents, we have only to refer to his private memoirs. His treatment of them seems to have been the effect of pride more than of magnanimity, although it appeared to belong to the latter. Rousseau, who greatly admired it, was heard to exclaim, "Would that I had imitated the Upsal professor! I should have gained some days of happiness and years of peace." About this time also was published his description of the museum of Count Tessin, already alluded to, under the name of Musaeum Tessinianum. Loefling sent him plants from Spain, and similar accessions poured in from other quarters; but he occasionally experienced a return of his complaints, which were relieved by the plentiful use of wild strawberries. His account of the king's museum appeared the following year.