Title:
Albrecht von Haller to Carl Linnaeus
Type:
Image
Licence:
Contact [email protected]
Repository:
The Linnean Society of London
Collection:
Linnaean Correspondence
Reference number:
LC/6/89
Archival level:
Item
Date:
25 August 1743
Placement:
Volume 6: 178-179
Extent:
178-179
Language:
la
Description:
Albrecht von Haller asserts that he will let nobody slander Linnaeus. Last winter he himself laboured under the white miliary fever. Anatomy and the practise of medicine at Berne consume much of his time. Göttingen is a bad place for collecting plants. In the county of Stolberg Haller has found a rare or new species of Galium, Digitalis lutea and Johann Thal’s Leucojum vernum angustifolium, which differs in its large flowers from Turritis Leucoji folio; at Lübeck are found Tripolium maritimum and flavum and at Grubenhagen Helleborus niger flore viridi and Cytisus alpinus racemosus pendulus. Haller assures Linnaeus that the Salices in Germany mostly have three stamens. He noted this frequently in the Salix alba and constantly in the Salix vulgaris rubens; Rosa and Rubus are closely allied. An absence of petals and the proximity to Percepier prevents him from grouping Alchemilla with those having five leaves. The Fumaria solida and bulbosa differ even in the flowers. The observation on Pilularia was not his own. The Saxifraga of Breyne has much smaller flowers than the German ones. Betula nana grows in Switzerland. Ludwig Jungermann’s Persicariae acidae are specimens which have erect stems, hairy leaves, never flower and do not grow in water. Haller wants Linnaeus to send him new botanical books through Johan Fredrik König, the Swedish representative in Hamburg. Haller has sent his anatomical observations to the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala. He has written to Paul Heinrich Möhring at Jever. Abraham Gagnebin is writing a nomenclature of the plants of Neuchâtel. Haller sends his regards to Nils Rosén von Rosenstein.
Sender:
Haller, Albrecht von
Recipient:
Linnaeus, Carl
Transcription:
Praestantissimo Linnaeo S[alutem] A[lbertus] Haller, D[octo]r. Vivo adhuc et te amo et facio plurimi neque unquam sustinebo, ut ob exiguum aliquem dissensum Te immensis laboribus de re naturali bene meritum inimici carpant. Adeo non ipse Te deprimere conabor unquam. Morbus ceterum pene feralis me hac hyeme tenuit, febris miliaris alba. Nunc recte valeo. Meum librum Tibi non displicuisse gratum est. A Dillenio nondum audivi, cui specimen miseram. Labores meos aliquos fuisse adgnosco maxime in libris evolvendis et in Alpinis itineribus. Qui Tuos certe novit, non mirabitur meos. Excusant vitia mea temporis penuria, cujus plus quam dimidiam partem anatome sibi poscit. Bernae vero praxis medica adhuc magis molesta fuit. Hinc multa imperfecta extrudere coactus sum, ne totus labor periret, uti certe facile hac hyeme per mortem meam fieri potuisset. Hic malo loco ad plantas legendas vivo. Plantae enim vix nisi vulgares hic proveniunt; conor tamen. Bis hac aestate plantarum causa abfui. In comitatu Stolbergensi reperi Leucojum ver[n]um angustifolium Thalii floribus magnis a Turritide Leucojifolio diversum, Galii raram aut novam speciem, digitalem luteam, raram in Germania. Lubecae tripolium maritimum & flavum et alias juxta fontes salsos nascentes. Grubenhagae Helleborum n[igrum] flore viridi et Cytisum alp[inum] racemosum pendulum. Aliquas observationes in hortuli catalogo addidi, quem mitto. Salices, ut ad obs[ervationes] Tuas respondeo [sic], hic omnino saepius tristemones sunt et reperio me hoc observasse in alba frequenter, in salice vulg[ari] rubente semper, in aliis partim duo, partim etiam non numeravi. Rosam et Rubum proxima esse fateor. Alchimilla mallem me retulisse ad 5 folia; obstabat petalorum defectus et vicinia perchepier. Alsines nonae character scriptus est a[nno] 1732 nec repetitus; potest error subesse. Fumaria solida & bulbosa utique etiam in flore differt, uti videbis in libro meo squamulis nempe in calcar porrectis. Pilulariae obs[ervatio] aliena est. Icon a[utem] missa repraesentat folia graminea in eadem planta cum quaternis, et vix potest tanta similitudo esse in fructu, si plantae diversae forent. Forte Parisinum solum evolutioni foliorum quaternorum minus favet. Ego nondum reperi. Breyniana Saxifragia [sic] flores pro nostra nimis parvos habet et forte pro altera alpina nimis magnos. Nostra in Helvetia rarissima est. Betula nana certissime in Helvetia nascitur. Nam specimina diligenter cum Tua icone contuli. Persicaria acida Jungermanni sunt specimina non natantia, perennis, in quibus caulis erigitur. Folia subhirsuta sunt neque floret unquam. Occasionem desideratissimorum libellorum nullam novi, nisi forte ad D[ominum] König, qui res Vestri Regni Hamburgi procurat, mitti possunt. Non despero eum negotium curaturum. Nam etiam Tuum mei operis specimen ea via ad Te venit. Mitte, quaeso, omnia botanica Bromelio excepto et inprimis stirpes. Notavi etiam aliquas diss[ertatione]s desideratas. Ego vicissim commodis Tuis inserviam. Stirpes vero ad delirium usque amo forte nimis. Societati Upsaliensi destino obs[ervatione]s aliquas anatomicas. Nunc nondum vacat, sed fidem liberabo hac hyeme. Literas ad Möhringium misi. Vivit Jeverae Frisorum. Nova nulla habeo. Chirurgus ille Gagnebin nomenclatorem stirpium Neocomensium scribit et passim raras stirpes invenit. Est enim patria in loco aptissimo, montano, paludoso. Saluto Exc[ellentissimum] D[ominum] Rosen[ium] et Te valere et laetum vivere jubeo. D[abam] 25 Aug[usti] 1743.
Previous reference number:
L0501
