540129-00. Linnaeus to Bäck, 29 January 1754

The Linnaean Correspondence
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Linnaeus to Abraham Bäck

Uppsala, 29 January 1754

Min Kiaste[1] Broder.

Det är mig alt för okiärt att hora det M. K. Bror stött sig på brostet wid hemresan ifrån Ulricksdahl; Gud beware M. K. B^r. en sådan stöt tyckes i forstone ej hafwa stort at betyda, men kommer after åht ofta igien; Gud beware min lille Broder, att den olyckan skulle handa oss at min Broder skulle ryckas ifrån wettenskaperne.[2]

Wisserligen bör Leutn. Rheen giöra några prospecter och där till satta diuren, annor representera de icke; doch bor som senast locus animalibus proprius tillaggas, at ej Skog för fisk aller haf for ormar. Jag onskade få se ritningen för än figurerne stuckos.[3]

Hos oss aro alla de grunder lagde som skola utrota wettenskaperne ofortöfwat, det har jag sedt länge. Nu äro alla principer at ingen skall blifwa solider, at alla skola hasta från academierne, at få meriter; at idioter med meriter gå lika med en lärd, att futuri magnates äro idioter, som skola gifwa wettenskaperne lius.[4]

Jag är i ett bedrowat hushåld; min son siuknade forst; där på 2 mine dottrar; i går min 3d^ie dotter och 2 pigor, och min hustru som wakat några nätter går och klinkar; jag har kient något ont i stortåen. Om min Bror fingo nu spegla sig i mig, så tackade han Gud att han ej krypit i kurran under pelsen, utan lefwat för contant. Det kostar nu på att wara pater familias. En feber, som exacerberas 3 à 4 gånger om dygnet, med mycket litet remission. den minsta flickan är redan utmattad.

Med. studiosus Lindcrantz Ostrogothus, som warit några åhr i Tyskland och lart sig artig anatomien, har bedt mig recommenderar sig hos Ill. Praesidem Regii Collegii till Prosector för nya Anatomie Professoren. Rosen lärer recommenderat unga Schultzen, nog är Lindcrantz så god, fast han mindre skryter och inbillar sig.[5]

Jag hade idag bref från Loefling i Canadix som formente sig gå senast till siös d. 15 hujus. han beder mig anmala sin wordnad.[6]

På min anmodan har Loefling inlagt i Cadix 50 á 60 species uti spiritu vini för Hennes K. M^t. Skulle Hennes K. M:^t trötna wid dem, wet jag en annor som will gierna hafwa dem.[7]

Gud låte min Bror fulkomligen blifwa restituerad och mig lättad ifrån mitt hospitale. Jag lefwer och dor.

Min K. Broders
redelige tienare

C. Linnaeus

Upsala d. 29 jan. 1753[8]

Min K. Bror sant ofwer rec[epi]sse[9] på sine p[en]g[a]r till D^r Kähler, som nu begiärt mast hela capitalet, alliest rads jag att det kommer försent, samt vidimerad copia.[10]

[address] Archiatren / Wälborne Hr Doctor Baeck / Stockholm.

SUMMARY

Linnaeus makes suggestions about drawings, which were to be made by Jean Eric Rehn. He also criticises the educational level at the universities, complains of domestic problems, his whole family being ill of a fever, and recommends Erik Magnus Lindecrantz for the position of demonstrator in anatomy in Stockholm. Finally he delivers greetings from Peter Löfling, who, before he left Spain, had preserved specimens in wine for the Queen Lovisa Ulrika of Sweden. In a postscript Linnaeus reminds Abraham Bäck of the money that was to be sent to Mårten Kähler.

MANUSCRIPTS

1. holograph (KVA, Linnés arkiv).

EDITIONS

1. Br. o. skr., I:4, 253-254.

NOTES

[1] Short for “Kiäraste”, i.e. “Dearest”.

[2] The letter to which this is a reply has not come down to us.

[3] Linnaeus refers to a suggestion he had made for headings to Museum reginae, a catalogue of the natural history collection kept by the Queen at Drottningholm Castle. Linnaeus was responsible for the arrangement and the descriptions and he wanted Bäck to make the artist J. E. Rehn take on the job. The proposals made by Linnaeus were not realised, since the Museum reginae appeared in a more unpretentious way than the catalogues prepared for the King. On Linnaeus’s instructions to Rehn, see Gertz, “Artemis och hinden”, 13-37, and Broberg, “Naturen på bild”, 248-254. About the royal collections, see Löwegren, “Linné och de kungliga naturaliesamlingarna”, 55-68, on the Museum reginae, 64-65.

[4] Linnaeus had fully expounded his critical views on these problems in two letters to Bäck written in 1749, one of which was not sent.

[5] The chair in anatomy and surgery in Stockholm was founded by Collegium Medicum in 1756 and Roland Martin was appointed the first professor. Ewald Ribben was meant to become the first demonstrator of anatomy in the same year, but he never seems to have taken up his duties. See Hjelt, Svenska och finska medicinalverkets historia, I, 391, 399.

[6] Peter Löfling, who had gone to Spain in 1751 to investigate its flora and fauna, was a member of the Spanish expedition. It left for South America early in 1754, with the additional purpose of making an inventory of the natural resources of the South American colonies. The letter from Löfling to Linnaeus was written in Puerto de Santa Maria 18 December 1753 and it was published in Löfling, Iter Hispanicum, 93-99; on Löfling in this period, see Rydén, Peter Löfling, 148-170. Canadix is Cadiz.

[7] See Löfling to Linnaeus, 18 December 1753. These specimens were probably mostly fish, and meant for the museum of natural history at Drottningholm Castle, where objects collected by the Linnaean pupils and other Swedish travellers were willingly accepted. See Iter Hispanicum, 94, Löwegren, “Linné och de kungliga naturaliesamlingarna”, 62, and Rydén, Peter Löfling, 154-156.

[8] An error for 1754.

[9] See Br. o. skr., I:4, 254.

[10] The question concerns the payment of a grant to Mårten Kähler. He had planned to make a scientific journey to Tuscany and Sicily but was forced to stay in Marseilles for more than seven months due to illness and financial problems. See Linnaeus to Bäck, 18 January 1753. About Kähler’s journey and its many misfortunes, see Lindroth, Vetenskapsakademiens historia, I:2, 657-659, and Callmer, “Mårten Kähler”, 109-125.