Letter 4220

Serenius writes to Sloane about pamphlets and papers relating to Natural History of Sweden since arriving there in July. The letters were sent via a ship, but he is unsure of their condition or arrival, so is going to send duplicates. He had the honour of meeting the present governor of the Northern Province of Sweden and his travels in Lapland where he collected curious natural history things that are now in Serenius’s hands and he intends to publish them as soon as possible but would like some advice of if he should do so in English or Latin. He also sends on the ship the famous fieldberry of Lapland which Swedish botanists have tried since 1680 to transplant without success. The plant is perennial and the berries ripen in waves so there are always some to be found and wine is made from the berries. He reports that the physicians here use the berries for high fevers and hypochondriacs by boiling the juice. He sent the plant in a glass bottle with leaves, roots and all in its several stages of maturity (from bud to ripe) and some berries in a smaller bottle with sugar, and a bottle of wine. Enclosed is a letter from Mr Triuali, who also sends his treatises recently published in Sweden. Mr. Berk, who has seen Sloane’s curiosities in England, sends medals. He writes of a Bishop Beurelius who sends his service, Rudbeck, who is 74 years old, and a Mr Finch, whose works should be presented to the Society. Jacob Serenius (1700-1776) was the Bishop of Strengnäs in Sweden. He served as a Lutheran pastor to a congregation in London between 1728 to 1735 (http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Serenius).