mander of the Order of Vasa, was born in the year 1720, When about four years of age, he left Sweden, his native country, and accompanied his parents to Holland, where he continued to reside till his eighteenth year. His family originally belonged to that country, but had left it and established themselves in Sweden in the time of Gustavus Adolphus. The head of the family at that period was Louis de Geer, who acquired great wealth and reputation by the improvements he effected in manufactures and the mechanical arts. He introduced new methods of casting iron and brass, established founderies for canon, and manufactories of fire-arms, bringing workmen from Leige and other places to conduct them on the most approved principles, and to instruct the native artists. These foreign artizans were so numerous as to form a colony in the canton of Dannemora, where their descendants long continued to reside. That the wealth and influence of this ancestor of our naturalist were extensive, may be judged of from the fact, that, in the reign of Christinus, when the country was threatened by a foreign enemy, he equipped a considerable fleet for protecting the commerce of the coasts, exclusively from his own resources. His patriotism and philanthropy were rewarded by his name being enrolled among the nobles of the country.
When in Holland young De Geer is said to have acquired a taste for Natural History by observing the proceedings of some silk-worms, which had been given him to rear as an amusement. This predilection was confirmed by his conversations with the
