His reception in Sweden was rather frigid, and but for the hearty welcome by his family and betrothed he would probably have returned to Holland.  His amour propre was also doubtless wounded, and he determined to remain and fight his way into the magic circle of the gilt-edged aristocracy which then monopolized all scientific honors in Stockholm and the universities.  He acquired a great reputation for the treatment of lung disease, and was popularly credited with the ability to cure consumption.  This reached the ears of the queen (a sufferer from the disease), who directed one of her councilors to send for Linnaeus.  He soon recognized the name of Linnaeus as one of great renown on the Continent, and at once took him under his protection.

The star of Linnaeus was now in the ascendant.  He was soon delegated to various pleasant duties, among which was the delivery of lectures on botany and mineralogy in the “auditorium illustre” at Stockholm.  He at this time founded the “Swedish Scientific Academy,” and was its first president.  In 1741 he was elected professor of medicine in Upsala University, which chair he exchanged for that of botany and the position of director of the botanical garden.  This opened up a new era for science in Sweden.  He who was regarded as the world’s greatest botanist abroad had at last been similarly acknowledged in his native land.

With the indomitable courage and tact characteristic of the man, he set on foot a gigantic scientific popular educational project.  The government, under his direction, established a system of exploring expeditions into the fauna, flora, and mineralogy of the whole Swedish peninsula, partly for the purpose of developing the resources of the country, partly in the interest of science, but more especially to interest the mass of the people in scientific research.  The vast majority of the people of Sweden, like those of other countries, were dominated by fetichic superstitions and absurd notions about plants and vegetables, which were indorsed to a certain extent by popular handbooks devoted more to the dissemination of marvels than facts.  A popular clergyman, for instance, stated in a description of the maritime provinces that “certain ducks grew upon trees.”  The vast stride which was made by the populace in the knowledge of nature was due to these efforts of Linnaeus, who, in order to further popularize science, established and edited, in conjunction with Salvius, a journal devoted to the discussion of natural history.

During this period, on the first of May, semi-weekly excursions were made from the university, the public being invited to attend.  The people came to these excursions by hundreds, and all classes were represented in them—­physicians, apothecaries, preachers, merchants, and mechanics, all joined the procession, which left the university at seven in the morning, to return at eve laden with zoological, botanical, and mineralogical specimens.