Albertus Seba

Albertus or Albert Seba (May 12, 1665, Etzel near Friedeburg – May 2, 1736, Amsterdam) was a Dutch pharmacist, zoologist, and collector.

Born in Etzel, Seba moved to Amsterdam as an apprentice and, around 1700, opened a pharmacy near the harbour.

Seba asked sailors and ship surgeons to bring exotic plants and animal products he could use for preparing drugs.

From 1711, he delivered various medicines to the Russian court in Saint Petersburg and sometimes accepted fresh ginger as payment.

Its full title was Locupletissimi Rerum Naturalium Thesauri Accurata Descriptio et Iconibus Artificiosissimus Expressio per Universam Physices Historiam ("A Careful Description and Exceedingly Artistic Expression in Pictures of the Exceedingly Rich Treasury of Nature Throughout the Entire History of Natural Science"), traditionally shortened and abbreviated in Latin as the Rerum Naturalium Thesaurus ("A Treasury of Nature") or as Seba's Thesaurus.

[4] Seba's inclusion of fantastic beasts such as the hydra influenced Linnaeus to include the "Paradoxa", species which may exist but which have not been found, in his Systema Naturae.