Linnaeus pays his respect to Peter Collinson, from whom he has received so many letters, seeds and favours.
Spring had been cold, but the autumn is mild and longer than usual.
Linnaeus gives the status of several of his pupils: Daniel Rolander has returned from Surinam with a large collection of natural objects. He is still in Stockholm, but Linnaeus has got letters from him and expects him to come to Uppsala in the near future.
Pehr Kalm is well, and the second volume of his travel report [Linnaeus refers to En resa til Norra America], has appeared. He praises John Bartram very much, which Linnaeus asks Collinson to forward to Bartram.
Pehr Osbeck’s report about his journey to China [Linnaeus refers to Dagbok öfwer en ostindisk resa] will be printed in the winter.
The report of Fredrik Hasselquist’s travels [Linnaeus refers to Iter Palaestinum eller resa til heliga landet] is being printed.
Pehr Löfling is in Mexico and other countries out there, and Linnaeus has not heard from him for a year and a half.
Köhler [Mårten Kähler] is in Rome.
Linnaeus has not received Patrick Browne’s “History of Jamaica” [Linnaeus refers to The Civil and natural history of Jamaica], but he had borrowed it from a friend for some days and studied it. Linnaeus asks Collinson to forward to the author a letter [to Browne] which is attached to this letter to Collinson [Linnaeus to Browne, 19 October 1756{L2101}]. Browne really deserves every acknowledgement for this great work.
Linnaeus is preparing a new edition of Systema naturae [Linnaeus refers to his forthcoming Systema naturae, 10th edition] which will contain a list of every animal known to him, from the biggest to the smallest.
Linnaeus wishes Collinson a long and healthy life.
P.S. 1. Linnaeus reports that his gardener Niezel [Diedrich Nietzel] is dead and that he cannot find a successor of the same ability.
P.S. 2. Collinson should forward Linnaeus’s thanks to Georg Dionysius Ehret for his drawing of Beveria, which is very neat. Linnaeus wonders whether the plant is male or female. Ehret should also be told that Linnaeus has received his plates, nos. 9, 10, 11 and 12, and that he studies them with admiration.