Lives of Eminent Zoologists, from Aristotle to Linnæus: with Introductory remarks on the Study of Natural HistoryMacGillivray, William
Philosophy
Lives of Eminent Zoologists, from Aristotle to Linnæus: with Introductory remarks on the Study of Natural History
MacGillivray, William
Zoologists
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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