bed since August, spitting blood several times [9]. A triggering event seems to have
been a leisure trip that summer, when he attempted to reach a small island in a small
boat, which unfortunately capsized and Bergman fell into the water [10]. In the last
minute, he got a grip on an adjacent, larger boat, but the chock and cold water had a
very negative effect on his health. It is highly unlikely that Bergman could swim, so
the chock is understandable. In 1782, he wrote down his autobiography (“in haste
during my illness in January 1782”) apparently fearing for his life. That summer he
travelled to Medevi spa to recover his health and he also took the opportunity to
travel via Loka spa [11]. Not only did he seek to cure his health, the trip also
resulted in two publications on the water of Loka and Medevi, respectively
(Sect. 17.6). At this point, his assistant and former student Johan Afzelius had to
step in and take over Bergman’s duties as teacher, and after 1782 no theses were
defended by students of Bergman.
In the spring of 1784, Bergman was weak and thin and people in his surrounding
had little hope of him recovering [12]. He decided to travel to the spa of Medevi
earlier than usual in hope of some relief and he travelled via Köping to meet
Scheele for, as it would turn out, the last time. Scheele described him as weak,
anaemic and thin [13]. He arrived in Stockholm soon after Whitsun,
1 he was now so
weak that he had to stay indoors for several days, where after he attended his former
students Geijer’s and Schwartz’s smelting experiments with oxygen [14]. Before
leaving Stockholm, the Finland Student Nation of Uppsala University, for which
Bergman was inspector, presented him with a gold medallion with his portrait
engraved by Ljungberger (Sect. 3.3) [15]. Accompanied by his wife, he finally
undertook the last part of the trip [15].
The cause of Bergman’s death has, to the best of my knowledge, not been
discussed previously in print. There are, however, two sources that give enough
information for an interpretation: Bergman’s own autobiography and a report [16]
written by spa curator and physician Anders Magnus Wåhlin (1731–1796), a former
student of Linnaeus. This report describes Bergman’s condition and treatment day
by day during his stay at Medevi, as well as an account of the autopsy.
Bergman arrived at Medevi on June 6, and by then he was so weak that Wåhlin
realised that a mineral water cure would make no difference. After 3 weeks in
Medevi, Bergman’s health started to turn to the worse, his appetite decreased and he
had difficult to sleep. During his fourth week in Medevi, Bergman had to spend
most time in bed. His cough got worse, and he was spitting blood. His haemorrhoids started to bleed again. On July 1, at about 1:30 pm, Bergman tried to rise
from his bed to welcome a visitor, but most probably suffered a stroke [7]: he fell
back to his bed suffering from a series of convulsions. He regained consciousness,
but was very weak and needed full attention from his physicians. Crell’s statement
[17] that Bergman finished his last paper, mineralogical remarks, just 2 days before
his death are obviously in error. His haemorrhoids were bleeding copiously, and he
had neither appetite nor thirst and was delirious. In the afternoon of July 8, his
weakness increased and he lost his speech; his breath became heavier and his sleep
1
May 30.
376
28 The End of the Story
been a leisure trip that summer, when he attempted to reach a small island in a small
boat, which unfortunately capsized and Bergman fell into the water [10]. In the last
minute, he got a grip on an adjacent, larger boat, but the chock and cold water had a
very negative effect on his health. It is highly unlikely that Bergman could swim, so
the chock is understandable. In 1782, he wrote down his autobiography (“in haste
during my illness in January 1782”) apparently fearing for his life. That summer he
travelled to Medevi spa to recover his health and he also took the opportunity to
travel via Loka spa [11]. Not only did he seek to cure his health, the trip also
resulted in two publications on the water of Loka and Medevi, respectively
(Sect. 17.6). At this point, his assistant and former student Johan Afzelius had to
step in and take over Bergman’s duties as teacher, and after 1782 no theses were
defended by students of Bergman.
In the spring of 1784, Bergman was weak and thin and people in his surrounding
had little hope of him recovering [12]. He decided to travel to the spa of Medevi
earlier than usual in hope of some relief and he travelled via Köping to meet
Scheele for, as it would turn out, the last time. Scheele described him as weak,
anaemic and thin [13]. He arrived in Stockholm soon after Whitsun,
1 he was now so
weak that he had to stay indoors for several days, where after he attended his former
students Geijer’s and Schwartz’s smelting experiments with oxygen [14]. Before
leaving Stockholm, the Finland Student Nation of Uppsala University, for which
Bergman was inspector, presented him with a gold medallion with his portrait
engraved by Ljungberger (Sect. 3.3) [15]. Accompanied by his wife, he finally
undertook the last part of the trip [15].
The cause of Bergman’s death has, to the best of my knowledge, not been
discussed previously in print. There are, however, two sources that give enough
information for an interpretation: Bergman’s own autobiography and a report [16]
written by spa curator and physician Anders Magnus Wåhlin (1731–1796), a former
student of Linnaeus. This report describes Bergman’s condition and treatment day
by day during his stay at Medevi, as well as an account of the autopsy.
Bergman arrived at Medevi on June 6, and by then he was so weak that Wåhlin
realised that a mineral water cure would make no difference. After 3 weeks in
Medevi, Bergman’s health started to turn to the worse, his appetite decreased and he
had difficult to sleep. During his fourth week in Medevi, Bergman had to spend
most time in bed. His cough got worse, and he was spitting blood. His haemorrhoids started to bleed again. On July 1, at about 1:30 pm, Bergman tried to rise
from his bed to welcome a visitor, but most probably suffered a stroke [7]: he fell
back to his bed suffering from a series of convulsions. He regained consciousness,
but was very weak and needed full attention from his physicians. Crell’s statement
[17] that Bergman finished his last paper, mineralogical remarks, just 2 days before
his death are obviously in error. His haemorrhoids were bleeding copiously, and he
had neither appetite nor thirst and was delirious. In the afternoon of July 8, his
weakness increased and he lost his speech; his breath became heavier and his sleep
1
May 30.
376
28 The End of the Story