r, physician to the king, and a
naturalist of note. Stobaeus had a mixed-up museum of minerals, birds,
fishes and plants.

Everybody for a hundred miles who had a curious thing in the way of
natural history sent it to Stobaeus. Into this medley of strange and
curious things Linnaeus was plunged with orders to "straighten it up."
There was a German student also living with the doctor, working for his
board. Linnaeus took the lead and soon had the young German helping him
catalog the curios.

The spirit of Ray had gotten abroad in Germany, and Ray's books had been
translated and were being used in many of the German schools. Linnaeus
made a bargain with the German student that they should speak only
German--he wanted to find what was locked up in those German books on
botany.

Stobaeus was lame and had but one eye, so he used to call on the boys to
help him, not only to hitch up his horse, but to write his
prescriptions. Linnaeus wrote very badly, and was chided because he did
not improve his penmanship, for it seems that in the olden times
physicians wrote legibly. Linnaeus resented the rebuke, and was shown the
door. He was gone a week, when Stobaeus sent for him, much to his relief.
This little comedy was played several times during the year, through
what Linnaeus afterward acknowledged as his fault. One would hardly think
that the man who on first seeing the English gorse in full bloom fell on
his knees, burst into tears of joy, and thanked God that he had lived to
see this day, would have had a fiery temper. Then further, the gentle,
spiritual qualities that Linnaeus in his later life developed give one
the idea that he was always of a gentle nature.

In indexing the museum of Doctor Stobaeus, Linnaeus found his bent. "I
will never be a doctor," he said; "but I can beat the world on making a
catalog."

And thus it was: his genius lay in classification. "He indexed and
catalogued the world," a great writer has said.

After a year at the University of Lund, with more learned by working for
his board than at school, there was a visit from Doctor Rothman, who had
just dropped in to see his old friend Stobaeus. The fact was, Rothman
cared a deal more for Linnaeus than he did for Stobaeus. "Weeds develop
into flowers by transplanting only," said Rothman to Linnaeus. "You need
a different soil--get out of here before you get pot-bound."

"But about Cyclops?" asked Linnaeus.

"Let Cyclops go to the devil!" It was n