The Floral King. By Albert Alberg. (W. H. Allen and
Co.) —Carl Linnaeus, whose family name, changed by the pastor, his father, was Sugemar, was born in 1707, and died, worn out in mind, in 1778. On the whole, he seems to have led a happy life ; and his services to science, though his system has not held its ground, were considerable. The devotion which he gave to the study of botany was not lost, though the particular form which the results of his labours assumed has become obsolete. The story of his domestic and scientific life may be conveniently read in these pages. Mr. Alberg has taken great pains to ascertain all the necessary facts, and his volume is so far thoroughly satis- factory. We wish that we could compliment him on his style. It is evident that he has not quite mastered the language, for we presume that it is not his own. Here, for instance, is a sentence which, for clumsiness, could not easily be matched :—" A.djunctus Rosen lectured in Anatomy and Natural History, which two branches also belonged to Professor Rudbeck, and he even tried to get that of Botany, and this Linnaeus declared he would give up, but which Rudbeck would not allow." It would also be well if the author could develop a little more his sense of humour. It scarcely conduces to pathos when we read of a young ichthyolo- gist who was drowned in a Dutch canal, that he "fell into the water where he found his early grave, in that element the in- habitants of which had been the objects of his scientific researches."
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