SIBBALD.

IT was late before natural history arose in Scotland. The story of a king Josina, who is chronicled to have lived more than 150 years before the Christian aera, having written a book De Viribus Herbarum, is not worth a comment. Fingal is said to [Page 2] have been well acquainted with the virtues of herbs: and Temory healed the wounds of his countrymen, by his skill in vulnerary vegetables.

Alan OGILBY, who flourished about 1471, a native of Scotland, after having tra­velled through the east, and resided some time at Constantinople, fixed at Venice. Be­sides his eminent acquaintance with the oriental languages, he is celebrated for his knowledge of natural history. He left a book De Balneis, and six books De Virtuti­bus Herbarum.

Of Dr. James CARGILL, of Aberdeen, I can produce no material anecdotes, al­though he merits particular remembrance; since it is manifest, from the nature of his communications to his friends, both on the continent, and at home, that he must have been extremely well acquainted with the bo­tany of the age. There is sufficient evidence that he had studied botany and anatomy at Basil, during the time that Caspar BAUHINE held the professorship in those sciences, for whom a chair was first erected in that city, in 1589. This celebrated professor enu­merates Dr. CARGILL among those who [Page 3] transmitted seeds and specimens to him. GESNER records the same services on his part. At home, LOBEL, in his "Adver­saria," acknowledges the like communica­tions, and repeatedly speaks of him in very respectable terms, as a philosopher, and as well skilled in the sciences of botany and anatomy. He appears to have been living in the year 1603; at which time he sent to Caspar BAUHINE specimens of the Fucus digitatus, with the description, which is seen in the "Prodromus" of that author. I know not of any publication from Dr. CARGILL, neither am I acquainted with any successful efforts in the way of natural history, before the time of the BALFOURS.

The founding of the Botanical Garden and the Museum at Edinburgh, by Sir An­drew BALFOUR, may be considered as the introduction of natural history into Scot­land. Sir Robert SIBBALD, the friend and colleague of Sir Andrew BALFOUR, and who himself added to the stores of the Mu­seum, has written "Memoria Balfouriana," purposely to commemorate the liberal be­nefactions and encouragements given to [Page 4] literature, by Sir Jacob and Sir Andrew BALFOUR.

The Garden was established about the year 1680; and, in 1683, was so success­fully cultivated by James SUTHERLAND, the-intendant, that it is said to have con­tained 3000 species of plants, disposed ac­cording to MORISON's method. An ac­count of it was published under the title of "HORTUS MEDICUS EDINBURGEN­SIS; or, a Catalogue of the Plants in the Physic Garden at Edinburgh, containing their most proper Latin and English names." By James SUTHERLAND. 8^o. pp. 367. Varieties, however, occupy a large share of this Catalogue, and very few of the native plants of Scotland are found in it. It was to Sir Robert SIBBALD that the first attempts towards indigenous bo­tany were owing.

Robert SIBBALD was a fellow of the College of Physicians at Edinburgh, and the first medical professor instituted in that university, about the year 1685. He was knighted by Charles II. and had also the title of king's physician and geographer [Page 5] royal conferred upon him, and was a man of very considerable and various learning. To the knowledge of his profession, he added that of natural history, and antiqui­ties. He was, if not the first, among the earliest, who wrote on the antiquities of his country, on which he published several learned works, to illustrate, more especial­ly, the history of Scotland during the time of the Romans.

He published, "SCOTIA ILLUSTRATA; sive, PRODROMUS HISTORIAE NATURA­LIS SCOTIAE: in quo regionis natura, inco­larum ingenia et mores, morbi iisque medendi methodus, et medicina indigena explicantur, et multiplices naturae partus, in triplici ejus reg­no, vegetabili scilicet, animali, et minerali ex­plicantur." 1684, folio; and 1696, folio.

In this volume, which, he tells us, was the work of twenty years, one part is ap­propriated to the indigenous plants of Scot­land; it contains observations on the medi­cinal and oeconomical uses. A few rare species make their first appearance in this book, particularly that which LINNAEUS named Sibbaldia, after the author; and the Ligusticum Scoticum.

[Page 6] Dr. SIBBALD having thrown out some strictures on the mathematical principles of physic, for which the learned Dr. PIT­CAIRN was a strenuous advocate, the latter wrote a severe satire on this work, under the title "De Legibus Historiae Naturalis." Edin. 1696. But it contains nothing solid, and was thought by some to have been the result of party, if not personal dislike.

Among the "Miscellanea quaedam eruditae Antiquitatis" of Sir Robert, published in 1710, there is a Dissertation on the Chara of CAESAR^*, mentioned also by DIO, on which the soldiers of Valerius's army sub­sisted, under a penury of bread. This root has been by some supposed to be the Kare­mile, Carmele, or, as Mr. LIGHTFOOT calls it, the Corr, or, Cor-meille ^†, of the Highlanders. It is the Orobus tuberosus Lin­naei, our Wood Pease.

In his "History of the Sheriffdom of Fife and Kinross," printed the same year, is a catalogue of plants, chiefly maritime, [Page 7] growing about the Frith of Forth; among which, he had given to one the name of Balforiana, now called Pulmonaria mari­tima.

In the zoological way, Dr. SIBBALD published separately, "Phalainologia nova:" 1692. 4^o. or, "Observations on some Ani­mals of the Whale Genus, lately thrown on the Shores of Scotland." This tract had merit enough to entitle it to a repub­lication, so lately as in the year 1773. He meditated a Caetologia, together with the history of the other marine animals of Scot­land, in his second volume of the "Pro­dromus."

In the year 1706, he communicated to the Royal Society an accurate description, accompanied with a figure of the animal, and its shell, named Balanus Balenae, or Pediculus Ceti of BOCCONE (Lepas Diadema of LINNAEUS, Syst. 1108.) These were published in vol. xxv. of the Philosophical Transactions, p. 2314.

Although Sir Robert SIBBALD did not carry his researches so far, as to rank high in the character of the naturalist; yet, as [Page 8] having led the way in that branch, and sin­gularly promoted the study of the antiqui­ties of his country, he is justly entitled to that honourable station he bears among the writers of North-Britain ^*.

WALLACE.

In the year 1700, was published, "An Account of the Islands of Orkney," by James WALLACE, M.D. F.R.S. which contains a catalogue of some of the indige­nous plants of that northern region. Flora is not exuberant in her gifts in the chilling regions of the north. I have not seen this book; but I read, that the arborescent, and some other tribes, particularly the malva­ceous, are sparingly seen in these islands.

PRESTON.

I know not whether there was any super­intendant to the Garden of Edinburgh, be­tween [Page 9] SUTHERLAND, and George PRES­TON, whom BLAIR stiles an indefatigable botanist, and who published, about the year 1710, the following Catalogue, written in Latin and English: "Catalogus omnium Plantarum quas in Seminario Medicinae dict [...] transtulit Georgius PRESTONUS, Bot. Prof. et Hort. Edinburg. Praefectus ex Auctoritate ejus." 12^o. Not having seen this volume, I can give no account of it. A writer of the same name occurs, though I know not whether the same person, as a correspon­dent of Mr. RAY. See his Letters, p. 308-316; "Some Observations on Mr. RAY's Synopsis," by Dr. PRESTON, tending to illustrate the characters of about fifteen species of English plants; with some Stric­tures on TOURNEFORT's method of classi­fication.

In the year 1716, Mr. Charles ALSTON succeeded PRESTON as superintendant of the Garden.

ALSTON.

Charles ALSTON, as we are informed by Dr. HOPE, was the son of Mr. Alston, of [Page 10] Eddlewood; a gentleman of small estate in the west of Scotland, and allied to the noble family of Hamilton, who, after having stu­died physic, and travelled with several gen­tlemen, declined the practice of his profes­sion, and retired to his patrimony. His son Charles was born in the year 1683; and, at the time of his father's death, was at Glas­gow, applying with great assiduity to his studies. On this event, the Duchess of Ha­milton took him under her patronage, and wished him to have chosen the department of the law; but his inclination for botany, and the study of physic, superseded all other schemes; and, from the year 1716, he en­tirely devoted himself to physic.

At the age of thirty-three, he went over to Leyden, to study under BOERHAAVE, where he remained near three years. At that place, he contracted an intimacy with the late celebrated Dr. Alexander MONRO; and, with him, on their return to Edin­burgh, projected the revival of medical lec­tures; where, but little had been done in that department, since the first establish­ment of the medical professorships in 1665, [Page 11] under Sir Robert SIBBALD, and Dr. PIT­CAIRN. The plan was modelled by that of Leyden. MONRO was appointed to give lectures in anatomy, and surgery; and AL­STON in botany, and the materia medica. RUTHERFORD, SINCLAIR, and PLUM­MER, were soon after appointed to fill up the other departments: and, to the spirited endeavours of these celebrated names, the university of Edinburgh owes the rise of that reputation, which has since so deser­vedly raised it to be one of the first schools of physic in Europe.

Dr. ALSTON continued to teach botany, and the materia medica, with unwearied assi­duity, until the time of his death, which took place Nov. 22, 1760, in the 77th year of his age.

In 1740, Dr. ALSTON published for the use of his pupils, "INDEX PLANTARUM praecipue OFFICINALIUM, quae in Horto Me­dico Edinburgensi, Studiosis demonstrantur." 8^o.

In 1752, "INDEX MEDICAMENTORUM SIMPLICIUM TRIPLEX." 8^o. pp. 172. 1. Alphabetical; the officinal names, with numerous synonyms, from the best botani­cal [Page 12] cal writers, pp. 118. 2. Officinal names only; fossils, vegetables, animals, in the order of his lectures. 3. Classification of the officinal names, according to the virtues; beginning with the absorbents, and ending with vulneraries. A table of the doses of emetics and purgatives.

In botany, Dr. ALSTON's chief perform­ance was, his "Tirocinium Botanicum Edin­burgense." 1753. 8^o It contains a repub­lication of his "Index," first printed in 1740; to which he now added the "Fun­damenta Botanica" of LINNAEUS. But the bulk of the work is a professed attempt to explode the system of the Swede, and parti­cularly to invalidate all his arguments for the sex of plants. This part of it was transla­ted by himself, and published the next year in the first volume of "Essays and Obser­vations, physical and literary." 8^o. Could the doctrine of the sexes of plants have been easily shaken, the learning and abilities of ALSTON were sufficient to have effected his purpose. But as it was not at that time supported by hypothesis alone, so it has since gained additional strength, by new [Page 13] experiments, and sound inductions, result­ing from them. Nurtured from his early years in the systems of TOURNEFORT, RAY, and BOERHAAVE, to the first of which he had even given improvement, it is not strange, that, at an advanced age, Dr. ALSTON rejected a system of so much novelty, as that of LINNAEUS presented. We do not willingly unlearn at sixty, what has been cherished from our earliest youth.

Dr. ALSTON's medical papers are, "A Dissertation on Tin as an Anthelmintic;" "A Dissertation on Opium;" and "A Case of extravasated Blood in the Pericardium." These are printed in the Edinburgh Medi­cal Essays.

In 1743, he discovered a property in quick lime, which led him to believe, that the power of lime was not exhausted by repeat­ed affusions of water to the same lime; he adds, even for twenty or thirty times. The first notices of this paradox, as he then called it, were communicated to the Royal Society, and were printed in the forty­seventh [Page 14] volume of the Philosophical Trans­actions. This opinion was contested, and drew him into a controversy with his friend and colleague, Dr. WHYTT. Having con­tinued his experiments, and enlarged his observations, he published, in 17 [...]2, his "Dissertation on Quick-Lime and Limo Water;" republished in 1754, and in 1757; in which he replies to Dr. WHYTT's Strictures; and, after enumerating a va­riety of diseases, in which lime water has proved efficacious, confirms the opinion of his colleague, relating to its lithontriptic powers.

Dr. ALSTON's Lectures on the Materia Medica were prepared for the press before his decease, and were published under the following title:

"Lectures on the Materia Medica; con­taining the Natural History of Drugs, their Virtues and Doses: also, Directions for the Study of the Materia Medica; and an Appendix on the Method of Prescri­bing. Published from the Manuscript of the late Dr. Charles ALSTON, Profes­sor [Page 15] of Botany, and the Materia Medica, in the University of Edinburgh. By John HOPE, M.D. Professor of Medicine and Botany in that University." In two vol. 4^o. 1770. pp. 544 and 584.

The first eleven lectures consist of preli­minary discourses; on the rise and progress of this knowledge; on the operation of me­dicines; of errors concerning the materia medica; on classing simples according to their virtues; and some account of authors who have written on simples.

In treating on each subject, after reciting the officinal name, and the principal syno­nyma, the description, and place of growth, Dr. ALSTON gives, in his own words, the sensible qualities, powers, and uses of each simple; after which follows, in the words of the authors themselves, a copious detail of the opinions of respectable writers, rela­ting to each; concluding with a recital of all the officinal compounds into which each simple enters. Add to this, the reader will meet with a variety of collateral, and histo­rical information, which is highly gratify­ing [Page 16] to all such as wish to extend their en­quiries beyond the mere nomenclature, and quality of each substance; and which could otherwise be acquired only from laborious researches.

Although the reader will not find the author giving implicit belief to the mani­fold, and vaunted powers, attributed to num­berless simples, through almost all preced­ing writers; but on the contrary, will meet with judicious doubts, observations, and experiments, yet, Dr. ALSTON's Materia Medica must be considered, on the whole, as exhibiting rather the state of it, as it has been, than as it is, in the works of LEWIS, BERGIUS, MURRAY, and CUL­LEN. It is but of late that philosophers and physicians have exercised that degree of scepticism on the power of tmedicines, which must ever influence the mind, when experiments alone form the foundation of medical practice.

Were it within my plan to extend my observations, I should, with grateful plea­sure, expatiate on the improved state of [Page 17] botany at Edinburgh, after this period; when the zeal, and abilities, of my much­honoured and respected friend, the late Dr. John HOPE, assisted by the royal bounty, enabled him to raise the study of botany to an eminence unrivalled, unless at Upsal, by any university in Europe.

PLUKENET.

IT has been the fate of many learned men, who have deserved highly of the republic of letters, to have the private cir­cumstances, and occurrences of their lives, in a few years, so far involved in obscuri­ty, that almost their immediate posterity, howsoever desirous of gratifying a natural and laudable curiosity, and of rendering to their memory that tribute which their ser­vices have demanded, have been almost wholly frustrated in their endeavours to res­cue them from oblivion.

[Page 19] If I mistake not, the truth of this posi­tion is strongly exemplified, in the person, of whom, in the order of time, I am next to speak. Of Dr. Leonard PLUKENET, as far as I can find, there are scarcely any me­morials, but what are to be collected from the prefaces of his works; and they afford indeed very scanty information. He has told us, that he was born in 1642; but whe­ther he was of English origin, and of what family, does not certainly appear; though it has been conjectured, that he was of French extraction. Where he received his scho­lastic education, or at what place he took degrees in physic, I am not able to ascertain. Some light would be thrown on this cir­cumstance indeed, by determining, where his two friends, William COURTEN, Esq. and the Rev. Dr. UVEDALE, of Enfield, were educated; since he speaks of both these gentlemen, as having been his fellow­pupils: probably it was at Cambridge, as he had a son, named Richard, pursuing his studies in that university, at the publication of his Almagestum, in 1696. Be that as it may, his writings sufficiently testify his ex­tensive [Page 20] knowledge of the learned languages. He dates the prefaces to his works, from Old Palace Yard, Westminster; where, from a circumstance mentioned in his Phytogra­phia, it may be inferred, that he had a small garden. I know not that he ever attained to any considerable eminence as a practical physician. The contrary may rather be presumed, as I do not find his name in se­veral lists of the College of Physicians, printed in the first years of this century: neither in those of the Royal Society at the same period.

His ardour for his favourite pursuit was remarkably strong; Ut pene nullus, sic ardeo, was his motto. It does not appear, that he ever had an opportunity of gratifying his taste by travelling in search of plants. He seems to have devoted all his leisure to his work of the Phytographia; sparing no pains to procure specimens of rare, and new plants. He had correspondents in all parts of the world; and had access to the gardens of the curious, in the environs of London, and to that at Hampton Court, which was in a flourishing state, from the care which the [Page 21] king and queen bestowed on it. The Earl of Portland also, had so much relish for exotics, as to have repeatedly sent Jacob REEDE to the West Indies, to collect cu­rious productions for the Royal Garden. PLUKENET was one of those to whom Mr. RAY was indebted for assistance in the ar­rangement of the second volume of his His­tory; and that eminent man, every where bears the strongest testimony to his merit. Nevertheless PLUKENET wanted that pa­tronage, to which his learning, and science, entitled him; and he seems, by his com­plaints, to have severely felt it. In the lat­ter part of his life, he appears to have been at variance with SLOANE and PETIVER; two of the first characters of the age, for knowledge in his own studies. He cen­sures their writings, it must be confessed, in a stile of too much asperity. Whether this alienation from those of whom he had before spoken in terms of friendship, and respect, had its origin in jealousy on the one hand, or what is more probable, on the other, in that indignant loftiness, which too often accompanies the consciousness of [Page 22] neglected merit; or whether from other sources, I cannot determine. It was how­ever probably unfavourable to PLUKENET, since SLOANE was at that time rising fast into reputation, and influence. In the mean while, no obstacles damped the zeal of PLUKENET; he was himself at the expence of his engravings, and printed the work at his own charge, until the publication of the last part, his Amaltheum, when he pro­cured a trifling subscription from a few of the nobility, amounting to about fifty-five guineas. Towards the close of his life, he is said to have been assisted by the queen, and to have obtained the superintendency of the garden at Hampton Court, and was ho­noured with the title of Royal Professor of Botany.

I cannot discover the exact time of his decease; but it is probable he did not long survive his last publication, in 1705.

There is a copper-plate print of Dr. PLUKENET, done in the 48th year of his age, prefixed to the Phytographia; with his arms, field ermine, bearing a bend dexter engrailed gules.

[Page 23] PLUKENET had all that enthusiasm, without which, few attain pre-eminence; and as the riches of Flora were daily pour­ing into Britain, from all quarters of the globe, he failed not to avail himself of every opportunity of adding to his stores. Indi­genous subjects were, equally with exotics, the objects of this industrious, and learned collector. Hence at length, his Herbarium consisted of eight thousand plants; an asto­nishing number for a private, unopulent in­dividual to collect! Of these, the Phytogra­phia is to be considered as the delineation of the new and rare kinds; and the Almages­tum, Mantissa, and Amaltheum, as the cata­logue of the whole.

The Phytographia was published at dif­ferent times. The first part under the fol­lowing title:

"PHYTOGRAPHIA; sive, STIRPIUM ILLUSTRIORUM et MINUS COGNITORUM ICONES."

These four parts, which constitute the first [Page 24] volume of his works, consist entirely of figures.

In the same year with the fourth part of the Phytographia, came out,

"ALMAGESTUM BOTANICUM; sive, Phytographiae Plukenetianae Onomasticon, Me­thodo Syntheticâ digestum; exhibens Stirpium exoticarum, rariorum, novarumque Nomina, quae Descriptionis Locum supplere possint." 4^o. 1696. pp. 402.

PLUKENET follows no system; the Ca­talogue is alphabetical, and contains near 6000 species, of which he tells us 500 were new. Synonyms are added to each, and re­ferences made to those figured in the Phy­tographia. No man after Caspar BAUHINE had till then examined the antient authors, with so much attention, as PLUKENET, in order to settle the synonyms with truth: and many critical notes interspersed, prove his intimate acquaintance with all the re­sources of botanical literature.

Not solicitous to form new genera, he refers, from the conformity of habit in al­most all instances, his new plants to the genera of former authors; and, more anxious [Page 25] concerning the species, he has described them with an accuracy that has been ap­plauded. Not that PLUKENET was un­a quainted with system, as is manifest from one of his criticisms on SLOANE, in the Mantissa, p. 113; and from his Observa­tions on the first edition of Mr. RAY's Sy­nopsis, published in the Collection of RAY's Letters, p. 226.

Four years after the publication of the PHYTOGRAPHIA, came out, with a con­tinuation of the plates, "ALMAGESTI BO­TANICI MANTISSA, Plantarum novissime delectarum ultra Millenarium Numerum com­plectens." 1700. 4^o. pp. 192. tab. 329-354. Besides many new plants, this volume con­tains very numerous additions to the syno­nyms of the Almagesium. Many curious cri­tical observations, on some of the plants of the ancient authors, occur in this volume; which evince the depth of his knowledge, and the extreme pains he took in the investi­gation of his subjects^*. A very copious in­dex to both volumes concludes the work.

[Page 26] It is in the Mantissa we first meet with strictures on SLOANE and PETIVER. He censures PETIVER especially, with a degree of satyrical acrimony, for errors in the ap­plication of synomyms in his Centuriae; and SLOANE for the like mistakes in his "Ca­talogue of Jamaica plants;" accusing the latter of having also applied his synonyms from the Phytographia, without acknow­ledgments, or any reference. Hinc illae lachrymae!

Five years after the MANTISSA, he pub­lished his last work, "The AMALTHEUM BOTANICUM; s. Stirpium Indicarum al­terum Copiae Cornu, Millenas ad minimam, et bis Centum diversas Species novas et indictas nominatim comprehendens: quarum sexcenae et insuper selectis Iconibus aeneisque Tabulis illustrantur." 1705. 4^o. pp. 216. tab. 351-454. Some of the tables of this volume belong to the plants of the Mantissa. It abounds with new subjects, sent from China and the East Indies, by Mr. CUNNINGHAM and Mr. BROWN, and with some from Florida.

[Page 27] PLUKENET's work contains upwards of 2740 figures. Most of them were engraved from dried specimens, and many from small sprigs, destitute of flowers, or any parts of fructification, and consequently not to be ascertained: several of these, nevertheless, as better specimens came to hand, are figured a second time, in the subsequent plates. As he employed a variety of artists, they are very unequally done: those by Vander Gucht have usually the preference. The imperfec­tions of this work, however, are, in a great degree, those of the times; yet it cannot but be regretted that PLUKENET had it not in his power to have given his figures on a larger scale. There are unquestionably many varieties exhibited as real species; and one great defect runs nearly through the whole work, that the new plants are no further described, than by the specifical definitions, which, under the want of true generical characters, were then insufficient.

It is, notwithstanding, a large magazine of botanical stores; inasmuch as, no work before published by one man, ever exhibited so great a number of new plants. And as [Page 28] many of the English species are here figured, for the first time, it has been equally ac­ceptable to the lovers of indigenous, as of exotic botany.

LINNAEUS, and others, mention a new edition of PLUKENET's works in 1720. But this was nothing more than the usual artifice of the bookseller; who, having purchased the remaining copies, placed a new title-page. They were, however, re­printed, and divided into four volumes, in 1769, with the addition of a few plates, that were wanting in some copies of the fourth part of the Phyiographia. Those who occasionally consult this author, will regret, that this opportunity had not been taken, of inserting the additions from the Mantissa into the Almagestum, by introdu­cing them in a smaller character, and pla­cing the pages for both in the margin. The Herbarium of PLUKENET came into Sir Hans SLOANE's possession, and is now in the British Museum.

In 1779, an Index Linnaeanus to the tables was published by Dr. GISEKE, professor of poetry, and natural philosophy, in the Gym­nasium [Page 29] of Hamburgh, which contains a few notes from a MS. left by PLUKENET^*.

Dr. PLUKENET has not failed to record the names of a numerous set of benefactors, by whose communications he was, from time to time, enabled to amplify his col­lection, and introduce many new plants to the knowledge of the curious. Among se­veral others, we find, repeatedly, the names of PETIVER, COURTEN, SHERARD, DU BOIS, Bishop COMPTON, Dr. Tancred RO­BINSON, Dr. SLOANE, CUNNINGHAM, and UVEDALE. Some of these I shall have occasion to commemorate in separate ar­ticles; but I regret that I cannot collect any material anecdotes relating to his friend and fellow collegian, — UVEDALE, LL.D. of whom PLUKENET ever speaks in a stile which indicates that he held him in great esteem.

UVEDALE.

Dr. UVEDALE lived at Enfield, where he cultivated a garden, which appears to have been rich in exotic productions. And al­though he is not known among those who advanced the indigenous botany of Britain, yet his merit as a botanist, or his patronage of the science at large, was considerable enough to incline PETIVER to apply his name to a new plant, which MILLER re­tained in his Dictionary; but which has since passed into the genus Polymnia, of the Linnaean system; the author of which has nevertheless retained Uvedalia, as the trivial epithet.

PETIVER.

CONTEMPORARY with PLUKENET lived Mr. James PETIVER, of whom too little intelligence is remaining.

It appears that he was apprenticed to Mr. Feltham, apothecary to St. Bartholo­mew's Hospital. He entered into business for himself in Aldersgate Street, where he lived the remainder of his days. He be­came apothecary to the Charter House, and obtained a considerable share of practice in his profession.

He had an early propensity to these studies, and, excepting Mr. COURTEN, and Dr. SLOANE, seems to have been the only one, af­ter [Page 32] the TRADESCANTS, who made any considerable collection in natural history. PETIVER engaged the captains, and surgeons of ships, to bring home specimens, and seeds of plants, birds, stuffed animals, and insects; and he directed their choice, and enabled them to judge, in some measure, of proper objects, by distributing printed lists and di­rections among them. He was not less anxious to procure, what his native country afforded, and was so successful in his efforts, that Sir Hans SLOANE, who afterwards purchased it, offered PETIVER four thou­sand pounds for his Museum, some time be­fore his death: which offer, although it may be considered as a proof of the opu­lence of Sir Hans, is equally so of the ex­tent of the collection.

The allurement of such uncommon cu­riosities as Mr. PETIVER exhibited, soon obtained him considerable distinction, and his name became well known, both at home and abroad. He was elected into the Royal Society; and as his particular attachment was to plants, he became early the corre­spondent of Mr. RAY, who acknowledges [Page 33] his assistance in arranging the second vo­lume of his "History of Plants;" and else­where owns his high obligations to him, for the extent and freedom of his commu­nications.

In the year 1692, preparatory to the pub­lication of his first work, PETIVER took a tour into the midland counties of England. I recollect, on this occasion, the pleasure I had in my youth, in seeing the Lichen ju­batus growing on the spot, where, I believe, he first discovered it, on the highest rocks in Charley Forest, Leicestershire.

Mr. PETIVER's first publication was, "MUSEI PETIVERIANI Centuriae decem." 1692-1703. 8^o. Containing the names, and synonyms of various rare animals, fos­sils, and plants; among which, several cu­rious articles, the produce of England, are here first exhibited; particularly some of the Cryptogamous class, in the investigation of which he was very successful.

"GAZOPHYLACII NATURAE et ARTIS Decades decem." 1702. tab. 100. fol. A book of great value at the time of its publica­tion, being the engravings, accompanied with [Page 34] short descriptions, of animals of all the or­ders, vegetables, and fossils: among these are many American ferns, plants of the Alps, and from the Cape of Good Hope; all, either very rarely seen before, or nondescripts. It will retain its value while LINNAEUS's wri­tings are in use.

Among the provincial lists of plants, printed in Bishop GIBSON's edition of CAMDEN in 1695, Mr. PETIVER com­municated the Middlesex plants. All the others were drawn up by Mr. RAY, as was observed under his article.

Next to the Gazophylacium in the order of time, although not a distinct work, was published, in Mr. RAY's third volume of his History of Plants, "PLANTAE RARIO­RES CHINENSES, MADRASPATANAE et AFRICANAE, à Jacobo PETIVERO, ad Opus consummandum collatae: cum ejusdem Catalogo Plantarum in Hortis suis siccis conservatarum, quae vel ineditae, aut hactenus obscurè descriptae sunt: adjicitur Farrago Stirpium Indicarum, et Americanarum incertae Sedis."

The first of these catalogues amounts to 184 plants: those of the Hortus siccus, to [Page 35] more than 800 species: the last to 75. Although doubtless great numbers of these must have been varieties only, these lists will yet remain a lasting testimony of the early and extreme diligence of this indefa­tigable collector.

In 1709, he published, without his name, "A Catalogue of Plants found on the mountains about Geneva, the Jura, La Dole, Saleve; with others growing in the fields, &c. as observed by GESNER, the BAUHINES, CHABRAEUS, and RAY."

"PTERIGRAPHIA AMERICANA: ICO­NES continens plusquam CCCC Filicum vari­arum Specierum." Tab. 20. 1712. fol. The ferns occupy sixteen of these tables. Among these are contained most of Father PLUMIER's ferns. The four remaining tables are of submarine productions.

Mr. PETIVER neglected no opportuni­ties of augmenting the English Flora. He was the first discoverer of many English plants, as well as of other natural produc­tions, some of which he figured in the Ga­zophylacium; but he meditated, and in part executed, (a work that had not been at­tempted [Page 36] before) a set of distinct figures of British plants. Unfortunately he lived not to finish it.

This work, which distinguishes PETI­VER as an auxiliary to English botany, bears the title of "A Catalogue of Mr. RAY's English Herbal, illustrated with Figures." fol. 1713. t. 50; and continued "with the four-leaved flowers," t. 51-72. fol. 1715. Twelve plants are engraved on each plate. The work ends with the seventeenth class. The figures are little more than outlines, but they are neat; and though they have the defect of the old herbals, in being all on a similar scale, were valuable, and especially as pointing out many of the varieties in the Synopsis of RAY, particularly among the Apetalous and Syngenesious tribes. A new impression of these plates was made under the inspection of Sir Hans SLOANE, in 1732.

These were the most material works of PETIVER. His smaller publications a­mount to a great number, and are of less importance at this day, as being principally short catalogues and single tables of rare [Page 37] plants, intended, in many instances, as in­structions to his various correspondents:

Plantarum Etruriae rariorum Catalogus. 1715. fol. one sheet.

Monspelii desideratarum Plantarum Cata­logus. 1716. fol. one sheet.

Plantarum Italiae marinarum et Graminum Icones Nomina, &c. 1715. fol. one sheet, with five plates.

Hortus Peruvianus medicinalis: The South Sea Herbal of FEUILLE's Medicinal Plants. 1715. with five plates.

GRAMINUM, MUSCORUM, FUNGORUM SUBMARINORUM et BRITANNICORUM, CONCORDIA. 1716. fol.

Petiveriana, s. Collectanea Naturae domi forisque Auctori communicata. 1717. fol.

Plantae Silesiacae rariores ac desideratae. 1717. fol. a single sheet.

Plantarum Aegyptiacarum rariorum Icones: et aliarum Catalogi duo. 1717. fol. one sheet, with two plates.

Plants engraved in Mr. PETIVER's Eng­lish Herbal. fol. one sheet.

Hortus siccus Pharmaceuticus.

Directions for gathering Plants.

[Page 38] Besides these small publications, he put forth, at different times, twenty-eight tables of rare plants; of which nineteen contain­ed American plants; four, rare plants from various parts of Italy; two, Austrian plants; and one, Indian roots and gums.

There are more than twenty papers writ­ten by PETIVER, and published, at divers times, in the Philosophical Transactions, be­tween the years 1697 and 1717.

A Catalogue of some Guinea Plants, with their Nature, Names, and Virtues; sent by the Rev. John SMITH, from Cape Coast; with Remarks, by Mr. PETIVER. N^o 232. Vol. XIX. p. 627.

An Account of forty-six Plants, collec­ted by Mr. Samuel BROWNE, near Madras; with the Synonyms, and critical Observa­tions, by Mr. PETIVER. N^o 244. Vol. XX. p. 313.

Remarks on some Animals, Plants, &c. sent by the Rev. Mr. Hugh JONES, from Maryland. N^o 246. Vol. XX. p. 396.

An Account of Part of a Collection of curious Plants and Drugs, collected at Ma­dras [Page 39] by Mr. Samuel BROWNE, and pre­sented to the Royal Society by the East In­dia Company: in eight books, published at different times; the first in N^o 236, the last in N^o 299. Vol. XXIII.

Mr. PETIVER was among the first who pursued the idea that the virtues of plants might be determined, in general, by their agreements in natural characters and classes. I say pursued, because the idea had been suggested long before. Even CAESALPI­NUS, the inventor of system, hints that the virtues of plants are pointed out by their structure, and alliance to each other. These are his words: Tandem et facultates, quas medici maxime quaerunt, tanquam proprietates innotescunt ex naturarum cognitione: quae enim generis societate junguntur, plerumque et simi­les possident facultates ^*.

PETIVER's paper bears the following title: "Some Attempts made to prove, that Herbs of the same Make, or Class, for the generality, have the like Vertue, and Tendency to work the same Ef­fects." N^o 255. Vol. XXI. p. 289. [Page 40] As a first essay, Mr. PETIVER has success­fully treated his subject. It is well known what use LINNAEUS and others have since made of it: and Dr. MURRAY, the pre­sent Professor, of Gottingen, has chosen this arrangement for his Apparatus Medicami­num. In BLAIR's "Miscellaneous Obser­vations," published in 1718, Mr. PE­TIVER defends his doctrine, in answer to Dr. BLAIR's doubts on that head.

Remarks on some Insects, sent by Mr. BANISTER from Virginia, in 1680. N^o 270.

An Account of some Animals, sent by Mr. E. BULKELEY from Madras. N^o 271, and 276.

A Description of some Shells, from the Molucca Islands. N^o 274.

An Account of some Animals, sent to Mr. PETIVER from the Philippine Islands, by Father GEMELLI. N^o 277.

A Description of some Shells, sent from Madras by the Rev. Mr. LEWIS to Mr. PETIVER. N^o 282.

A Description of some Corals and other Submarines, from the Philippine Islands, [Page 41] sent by Father CAMELLI to Mr. PETIVER. N^o 206.

An Account of some Shells and Ani­mals, sent from Carolina to Mr. PETIVER. N^o 299.

A Catalogue of Fossil-Shells, Metals, and Minerals, sent by Dr. John SCHEUCH­ZER to Mr. PETIVER. N^o 301.

An Account of some Minerals, petrified Shells, and other Fossils, from Berlin. N^o 302.

An Account of a MS. of Father CA­MELLI's, concerning some Shells, Mine­rals, Fossils, and of the Warm Baths of the Philippine Islands. N^o 311.

An Account of some Swedish Minerals, sent to Mr. PETIVER. N^o 337.

As Mr. PETIVER accompanied these communications with remarks, the exhibi­tion of such objects, from so intelligent a naturalist, in the early period of the Royal Society, when the study of nature was in its infancy, could not fail to convey much in­formation, and excite a curiosity to pursue with zeal, one of the chief ends of the in­stitution.

[Page 42] In N^o 313, Mr. PETIVER communica­ted to the Royal Society the manner of ma­king the Styrax liquida, which, he says, is from the bark of the Rosa mallas (the charac­ter of which is unknown) which grows on the island Cobross, in the Red Sea. If this be the origin of the true, or oriental kind, there is likewise a Styrax liquida, from the Liquidambar tree of Virginia. What is ge­nerally met with now, is justly suspected to be a mixed artificial composition.

In N^o 232, Mr. PETIVER published, un­der the title of Botanicum hortense, an Ac­count of divers rare plants, observed in seve­ral curious gardens about London, particu­larly in the Physic Garden at Chelsea. This was continued, in seven separate tracts, to N^o 346. Vol. XXVII. XXVIII. XXIX.

Mr. PETIVER died at his house in Al­dersgate Street, on the 20th of April, 1718. His body was carried to Cooke Hall, where, agreeably to the custom of the time, it lay in state. The pall was supported by Sir Hans SLOANE, Dr. LEVIT, physician to the Charter House, and four other phy­sicians. He left five guineas to Dr. Brady, [Page 43] for preaching his funeral sermon, and fifty pounds to the charity school of St. Ann's, Aldersgate ^*.

Many of PETIVER's smaller pieces hav­ing become very scarce, his works, exclu­sive of his papers in the "Philosophical Transactions," were collected and published in 1764, in two volumes in folio, and one in octavo; with the addition of some plates, not in the first edition.

PERSONAL NAMES OF GENERA.

PETIVER and PLUKENET, as far as I can find, were the first English writers, who followed the example of PLUMIER in giving personal names to new genera. PE­TIVER is, however, severely reprehended by LINNAEUS, for having conferred this ho­nour on some who did not merit it: He observes justly, that it is due to such alone, as have signalized themselves in the science. I take this opportunity to remark the rise [Page 45] and progress of this eustom, which appears to be of high antiquity, since there are ex­amples of it among the antient poets, histo­rians, and physicians.

Poetry has consecrated, in this way, the names of Adonis, Daphne, Hyacinthus, Nar­cissus, and others. PLINY informs us, that Eupatorium is said to be the cognomen of MITHRIDATES, who first discovered the uses of that plant. Gentiana, we are told, is derived from GENTIUS, king of Illyria: Lysimachia, from LYSIMACHUS, king of Sicily: Telephium, from TELEPHUS, king of Mysia: Teucrium, from TEUCER, king of Troy: Clymenum, from CLYMENUS: Arte­misia, from the wife of king MAUSOLUS: Helenium, from HELENA, the wife of Me­nelaus: Euphorbium, from EUPHORBUS, physician to Juba II. king of Mauritania; though SALMASIUS avers, that this name had been in use at a much earlier period. Many other instances might be adduced.

In succeeding ages, the devotion of the monks led them to consecrate a variety of plants to the saints of the kalendar. Thus we have the Herba Sancti ANTO­NII, [Page 46] Epilobium: S. CHRISTOPHORI, Ac­taea: S. GERARDI, Aegopodium: S. RU­PERTI, Geranium: S. JACOBI, Senecio: S. PETRI, Parietaria, &c. &c. John BAUHINE wrote a treatise, in 1591, now become very scarce, "De Plantis à Divis Sanctisve Nomen habentibus."

The restorers of botany, in a few in­stances, revived the practice. GESNER, had he lived to finish his plan in his "History of Plants," intended to have perpetuated the names of his friends, by monuments of this kind. It appears, that he had requested GUILANDINUS, John BAUHINE, KENT­MAN, CAMERARIUS, and our celebrated countryman Dr. CAIUS, to select from his new species, such as they chose to bear their names, or allow to him the privilege of adopting what he thought most congru­ous. By the same kind of tribute we learn, from his letters, that he proposed to record the names of his friends GASSERUS, OCCO, ARETIUS, and several others.

MATTHIOLUS, however, actually re­stored the usage, by the application of the term Cortusa to a new plant, in honour of [Page 47] CORTUSUS, the successor of GUILANDI­NUS, in the garden of Padua; and CLU­SIUS followed his example, by calling the Contrayerva of the shops Drakaena, in ho­nour of Sir Francis DRAKE; from which time it was sparingly practised, until after the invention of system; and the construc­tion of generical characters, at the latter end of the last century. TOURNEFORT, PLUMIER, and PETIVER, led the way, and have been followed by all succeeding writers of note, and by none more than by LIN­NAEUS himself. It may be stiled the apo­theosis of botanists; and LINNAEUS may be compared to the high priest, who has thus immortalized a numerous group of cele­brated men.

The practice, however, was severely cen­sured by some of the older botanists, who objected, that these names, having no con­nection with the form, nature, habit, or properties of the plant, conveyed no idea of distinction. But the objection, if duly weighed, is of no force; since there is not, perhaps, a single appellation, even among the best, of Greek etymology, however aptly [Page 48] framed, which conveys any character of the genus, that might not with equal propriety have been applied to a multitude of others.

The free use that PLUMIER made of this privilege, in honouring so great a number of Englishmen, does equal credit to his own discernment, and impartiality, and to the merit of those on whom he bestowed this laurel. On this account, I hope it may not be ungrateful to the reader, to digress so far, as to introduce a short notice of this liberal-minded foreigner.

PLUMIER.

Charles PLUMIER was born at Marseilles, in the year 1646; and, after a classical edu­cation, devoted himself to a religious life; and, at the age of sixteen, entered into the order of the Minime Friars. Being early inclined to mechanics and philosophy, he studied mathematics, at Toulouse, under Pére Maignan, a celebrated professor of the science, and of the same order. In some of his leisure hours, he amused himself in the practice of Turning, having been taught theart by his father; and became so great [Page 49] a proficient, that he wrote a book on the subject. Under Pére Maignan, he also learned to make lenses, mirrors, micro­scopes, and other instruments of philoso­phy; and early acquired the arts of design­ing and painting. He was soon after sent by his superiors to Rome, where his close application to his studies, and to these arts, together with optics and mathematics, de­ranged his health. In this situation, he sought for relaxation in the study of botany, under the lectures of Pére SERGEANT, in a convent at Rome, and in the instructions of Francis de ONUPHRIIS, an Italian phy­sician, and of Sylvius BOCCONE, a Sicilian. By these connections, he was insensibly led to devote himself to his new study. Being recalled by his order into Provence, he was placed in a convent near Hyeres, and ob­tained leave of his superiors to search the coasts of that country, and the neighbour­ing Alps, for plants. At this time, he con­ceived a design of forming a new Pinax, or "General History of Vegetables," for which he had made many drawings, and collected materials; but his subsequent destination [Page 50] prevented his making an effectual progress in this design. He soon after became ac­quainted with TOURNEFORT, then on his botanical tour in the South of France; and, together with GARIDEL, professor of bo­tany at Aix, accompanied that eminent man in his researches.

Thus qualified, and while he was herbo­rizing on the coast of Marseilles, he was chosen as the associate of SURIAN, to ex­plore the French settlements in the West Indies. The French were stimulated to this expedition, by the success of our great na­turalist, SLOANE, in Jamaica. PLUMIER acquitted himself so well, that he was twice sent afterwards, at the King's expence, to compleat the natural history of the Antilles; and was rewarded with the title of Botanist to the King, and an increased pension each time. He passed two years in those islands, and on the neighbouring continent; but made Domingo his principal residence. He made designs and paintings of many hundred plants, on a scale as large as the life; be­sides numerous figures of birds, fishes, and insects.

[Page 51] On his return from his second voyage, by the interest of M. PONTCHARTRAIN, he procured the first specimen of his labours to be published at the Louvre, under the title of "Description des Plantes de l' Ame­rique." Fol. 1695. pp. 94. tab. 108. The first fifty of these tables represent Ferns; the remainder, divers species of the Arum genus; the Piper, Passiflorae, Rajania, Dolichos, and various others. The figures consist of little more than outlines; but being as large as the life, and drawn with great accuracy and freedom, they have a very fine effect. The descriptions are in French.

On his return from the third voyage, he settled at Paris, in the character of his or­der; and, in 1703, published his "Nova Plantarum Genera." 4^o. In this work, which is constructed on the plan of TOURNE­FORT's "Institutions of Botany," the au­thor describes, and figures, the characters of 106 new genera; among which are many of the plants used in medicine. It is in this book he pays the tribute, so often spe­cified, not only to the manes of deceased botanists, but to several eminent men then [Page 52] living: he has, in this way, given appella­tions to more than fifty genera, taken from the names of botanists.

In the course of these pages, those gene­rical terms, which have been formed from the names of English botanists of renown, thus celebrated by Father PLUMIER, are mentioned under their respective articles: but I here collect them into one view:

• Gerardia.
• Lobelia.
• Morisonia.
• Parkinsonia.
• Petiveria.
• Plukenetia.
• Rajania.
• Sloanea.
• Turnera.

In the year 1704, he was prevailed on by M. FAGON, to undertake a voyage to Peru, to discover and delineate the Peruvian Bark tree. Nothing but the greatest zeal for science, could induce a man at the age of fifty-eight, to attempt so perilous a voyage. While he was waiting for the ship, to em­bark with a new viceroy at Port St. Mary, near Cadiz, he was seized with a pleurisy, and died.

Having, before his departure from Paris, prepared for the press his "Traité des Fou­geres [Page 53] de l'Amerique," it was printed in folio, in 1705; pp. 146. tab. 172. The text in French and Latin. All the Ferns contained in the former volume enter again into this; and, as this likewise was printed at the King's expence, it has all the advantages in the execution, that accompanies royal mu­nificence.

We are informed by Dr. LISTER, that PLUMIER left behind him drawings of plants, sufficient to make ten volumes, equal to the first book above mentioned. They are said to have amounted to 1400. Some of these remained in the convent at Paris, to which PLUMIER belonged: others were in the King's library. From the latter, BOERHAAVE procured copies of 508 spe­cies, done by AUBRIET, under the inspec­tion of VAILLANT. These were published in 1755-1760, by Professor BURMAN, at Amsterdam, in ten fasciculi, accompanied with 262 plates, on which are engraven upwards of 400 species: and Dr. BLOCH, of Berlin, has procured many of the fishes for his late splendid work on ichthyology.

[Page 54] PLUMIER was the author of two disserta­tions; one in the "Journal des Scavans" of 1694; the other in the "Journal des Tre­voux;" to prove that cochineal was an in­sect; a fact doubted by many at that time, and concerning which his own testimony had been controverted. In the same work occur some publications by PLUMIER, on other zoological subjects.

His L'Art de Tourner was first published at Lyons in 1701; and a second time at Paris, so lately as in 1749, in folio, with eighty plates. It is spoken of as a curious and singular work, containing the most compleat instructions relating to that art, that are to be met with.

BANISTER.

JOHN BANISTER, is mentioned by Mr. RAY in very high terms, as a man of talents in natural history. He first made a voyage to the East Indies, where he remain­ed some time; but was afterwards fixed in Virginia. In that country he industriously sought for plants, described them, and him­self drew the figures of the rare species: he was also celebrated for his knowledge of insects, and meditated writing the natural history of Virginia, for which, Mr. RAY [Page 56] observes that he was every way qualified, He sent to RAY, in 1680, "A Catalogue of Plants observed by him in Virginia;" which was published in the second volume of RAY's History, p. 1928.

The world was deprived of much of the fruit of his labours, by his untimely death. BANISTER increased the list of martyrs to natural history. In one of his excursions, in pursuit of his object, he fell from the rocks, and perished. His Herbarium came into the possession of Sir Hans SLOANE, who thought it a considerable acquisition.

The following papers, written by Mr. BANISTER, were published in the Philoso­phical Transactions:

A Catalogue of several Curiosities found in Virginia. N^o 198. p. 667.

Observations on the Musca Lupus of MOUFFET, in Virginia. They relate to the balancers or poisers, called by LIN­NAEUS Halteres, fixed under the wings of the order of Diptera among insects. N^o 198. p. 670.

On several Sorts of Snails observed in Virginia. Ib. p. 672.

[Page 57] A Description of the Pistolochia, or Ser­pentaria Virginiana, the Snake-root of the shops (Aristolochia Serpentaria, Lin.) N^o 247. p. 467^*.

VERNON AND KREIG.

About the same time with BANISTER, as I conjecture, Mr. William VERNON, fel­low of St. Peter's College, Cambridge, and Dr. David KREIG, a German physician, led by their genius for botany, made a voyage to Maryland. They returned, after having collected an Herbarium of several hundred new and undescribed plants. These came into the possession of Sir Hans SLOANE, by whose liberal communication they were inserted in the "Supplement" to RAY's History. Mr. VERNON is also spoken of by RAY, as not less skilful and assiduous in the pursuit of English plants, [Page 58] and of all other branches of natural know­ledge. His discoveries in the Cryptogamia class were numerous.

Of Dr. KREIG, I can give no further account than that he was of Saxony. I con­jecture, that after his return from Mary­land, he retired into his native country. He was the friend and correspondent of DALE, who, in his Pharmacologia, introduces his name in the most respectful manner, for notices communicated by him; and ranks him among the few eminent men of the time, who excelled in the knowledge of the Ma­teria Medica and Chemistry. Dr. KREIG was not living when DALE published the third edition of the above-mentioned work, in 1737.

Dr. KREIG communicated to the Royal Society, "An Account of Cobalt and the Preparation of Smalt and Arsenic," ac­cording to the process used at the mines of Shneebergh, in Hermanduria. It was printed in the Philosophical Transactions, N^o 293. Vol. xxiv. p. 1754; with figures of the Furnaces.

CUNNINGHAM.

In the period we are now speaking of, but few voyagers possessed any considerable knowledge of nature; or a spirit of en­quiry, powerful enough to induce them to sacrifice their avocations, from interested pursuits, to the study of natural history. SLOANE, BANISTER, and a few others, were indeed exceptions; and, in this sketch, it would be injurious to his memory, not to add the name of James CUNNINGHAM, to whom RAY, and particularly PLUKE­NET and PETIVER, acknowledge important obligations, for his copious communica­tions of new plants.

The merit of Mr. CUNNINGHAM would justly demand a more complete gratification of curiosity concerning his life and circum­stances, than I can supply. I can only collect, that he went out in 1698, as sur­geon to the factory, established by the East India Company at Emuy, or Amoy, on the coast of China; and afterwards, made a [Page 60] second voyage in the same capacity, to the subsequent establishment at Kusan, or Chu­san, in 1700, on which island he resided some time.

I conjecture also, that he was afterwards fixed at Pulo Condore, and was the person to whom we owe the account of the mas­sacre of the English, by the Macassars, at that factory, in 1705, as related in the Mo­dern Part of the Universal History, vol. x. p. 154; edit. 1759. 8^o.

Mr. CUNNINGHAM kept a journal of the weather in both his voyages to China; and during his residence on the isle of Chusan, he appears to have been very active in col­lecting the productions of that place. He sent over to PLUKENET and PETIVER a very large number of new plants, as is evi­dent from an inspection of their writings. In the "Amaltheum" of PLUKENET, his name occurs in almost every page.

From the island of Ascension, Mr. CUN­NINGHAM transmitted to PETIVER an ac­count of the plants, and shells, he observed there. He sent a journal of his voyage, [Page 61] and an account of the Isle of Chusan, which was printed in the Philosophical Transactions, N^o 280. vol. xxiii. p. 1201. It conveys many interesting particulars to the English reader, relating to the inhabitants, their fisheries, agriculture, and arts. He corrects several mistakes of Father MARTINI, and LE COMPTE; and is, I believe, the first English writer, who gives an accurate his­tory of the Tea Tree: which, although but short, is authenticated by the latest descrip­tion given us by THUNBERG, in the "Flo­ra Japonica."

Besides this account of Chusan, I find the following papers, written by Mr. CUN­NINGHAM, and printed in the Philosophical Transactions.

A Catalogue of Plants and Shells, col­lected on the Isle of Ascension. N^o 255. vol. xxi. p. 295.

Observations on the Weather at Emuy, in China, in 1698, 1699; with the State of the Barometer. N^o 256. vol. xxi. p. 323.

On the Declination of the Needle, and a [Page 62] Thermometrical Observation, near the Line. N^o 264. vol. xxii. p. 577.

A Meteorological Register of the Wea­ther, in a Voyage to China, in 1700; and a Register of the Weather at Chusan, in China. N^o 292. p. 1639, and 1648.

BROWN.

Besides Mr. GUNNINGHAM, there were two ingenious surgeons of the name of BROWN, resident in the East Indies, contem­porary with PLUKENET, and PETIVER, to whom these writers were under singular obligations, for the liberality and import­ance of their communications, both of ve­getable and animal productions, from the East Indies.

Mr. Samuel BROWN was surgeon to the Fort at St. George, now called Madras. His correspondence with Mr. PETIVER, and his collections, have been noticed be­fore.

The name of Mr. Alexander BROWN oc­curs in many parts of PLUKENET's works. [Page 63] He discovered several new plants, both in the East Indies, and at the Cape of Good Hope ^*.

GLEN.

Among the contemporaries of Mr. RAY, I am led, from private information, to men­tion Andrew GLEN, M.A. a divine, who, although his name does not occur in the writings of his time, was the friend and ac­quaintance of that eminent man; having probably acquired a taste for similar pursuits, from a frequent intercourse with him, at the seat of his illustrious friend, Mr. WIL­LUGHBY, near Nottingham. I have seen an Herbarium, collected by Mr. GLEN, which bears date in 1685, containing up­wards of seven hundred indigenous, and two hundred exotic plants. Some of these [Page 64] were collected in the tour on the continent. He afterwards travelled into Sweden and Italy; and resided some time at Turin, where he began another collection, which is dated 1692; but contained not more than two hundred specimens. This Herbarium, all circumstances considered, was not mean for the time in which it was made. Mr. GLEN was afterwards rector of Hatherne, in Leicestershire, where he died at an ad­vanced age.

SLOANE.

AT the same period of time, lived RAY, MORISON, PLUKENET, PE­TIVER, SLOANE, and SHERARD, under whose countenance, and culture, the know­ledge of nature received the most rapid and substantial improvement, which it had ever experienced. In this period, system had been revived and improved by MORISON, RAY, HERMAN, TOURNEFORT, and RI­VINUS. In this period also, RHEDE, RUM­PHIUS, PLUMIER, and SLOANE, published [Page 66] those great works in exotic botany, which have immortalized their names. This pe­riod was the close of the last century; which, as it has been called by the elegant and learned author of the "Essay on the Ge­nius and Writings of Pope," ‘"the Gol­den Age of Learning in England;"’ so has LINNAEUS named it, in his Allegorical His­tory of the Rise and Progress of this Sci­ence, "The GOLDEN AGE OF BOTANY;" and SLOANE was one of its brightest orna­ments.

Of the life of this great patron of natural science, it would be superfluous in me to attempt a detailed account; since this tri­bute has been paid to his memory in the "Eloge of the French Academy," in the "Biographia Britannica," the "Biographical Dictionary," and other collections of that kind, in daily use. Hence, I shall, from these publications, extract only the outlines of his life, as they are connected with, and tend to clucidate, his general character, his acquirements in natural history, and his bo­tanical publications.

Sir Hans SLOANE was descended from [Page 67] parents, originally of Scottish extraction, and was born at Killileagh, in the county of Down, in Ireland, April 16, 1660. His younger years were marked by a strong at­tachment to the works of nature. At six­teen, his studies were interrupted by ill health, in consequence of a spitting of blood, which confined him for three years. On his amendment, he studied the preliminary branches of physic in London, for four years; chemistry, under a pupil of the great STAHL; his favourite science, at Chelsea Garden, then but just established; and, young as he was, contracted during that time, an acquaintance with BOYLE and RAY. Mr. SLOANE afterwards, in com­pany with Mr. Tancred ROBINSON, and another student, visited France for improve­ment. At Paris, he attended TOURNE­FORT and DU VERNEY; and is supposed to have taken his degrees in medicine at Mont­pelier; some say, at Orange. He returned to London at the latter end of the year 1684, and became the favourite of Dr. SYDEN­HAM, who took him into his house, and zea­lously promoted his interest. In November [Page 68] 1684, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society; and, in April 1687, entered into the college of physicians. These early ad­vancements in the professional line, are the strongest presumptions in favour of his su­perior knowledge, and promising abilities. Yet these flattering prospects he relin­quished, to gratify his ardour for natural knowledge.

On the 12th of September 1687, and in the 28th year of his age, he embarked for Jamaica, as physician to the Duke of Albe­marle; and touched at Madeira, Barbadoes, Nevis, and St. Kitt's. The Duke dying on the 19th of December, soon after their ar­rival at Jamaica, Dr. SLOANE's stay on the island did not exceed fifteen months. Dur­ing this time, however, such was his appli­cation, that, in the language of his French eulogist, had he not converted, as it were, his minutes into hours, he could not have made those numerous acquisitions, which contributed so largely to extend the know­ledge of nature; while they laid the founda­tion of his own future same and fortune.

Here I am led to observe, that several [Page 69] circumstances concurred respecting the voy­age of Dr. SLOANE to Jamaica, which rendered it peculiarly successful to natural history. He was the first man of learning, whom the love of science alone had led from England, to that distant part of the globe; and, consequently, the field was wholly open to him. He was already well acquainted with the discoveries of the age. He had an enthusiasm for his object, and was at an age, when both activity of body, and vivacity of mind, concur to vanquish difficulties. Under this happy coincidence of circum­stances, it is not strange that Dr. SLOANE returned home with a rich harvest. In fact, besides a proportional number of subjects from the animal kingdom, he brought from Jamaica, and the other islands they touched at, not fewer than 800 different species of plants. A number, very far beyond what had been imported, by any individual into England before.

Dr. SLOANE returned from his voyage on the 29th of May 1689; and, fixing in London, soon became eminent. He was chosen physician to Christ's Hospital, in [Page 70] 1694. In the preceding year, he had been elected secretary to the Royal Society, and had revived the publication of the Philoso­phical Transactions, which had been inter­rupted from the year 1687. This office he held till 1712, and was then succeeded by Dr. HALLEY.

In 1695, Dr. SLOANE married Elizabeth, daughter of Alderman Langley, of London. She died in 1724. She brought him, be­sides a son, and daughter, who died young, two other daughters, who survived, and were advantageously married; the eldest to George Stanley, Esq of the county of Hants; and the younger to Lord Cadogan.

It was about this time that he became an active member of the college, in pro­moting the plan of a dispensary for the poor; which was at length carried into effect. The feuds excited on this occasion gave rise to the celebrated satire from Dr. GARTH.

It was not till the year 1696 that Dr. SLOANE published the Prodromus to his History of Jamaica Plants, under the title of "CATALOGUS PLANTARUM QUAE IN [Page 71] INSULA JAMAICA SPONTE PROVENIUNT, vel vulgo coluntur; cum earundem Synonymis et Locis natalibus; adjectis aliis quibusdam quae in Insulis Maderae, Barbados, Nieves, et Sancti Christophori nascuntur: seu Prodromi Historiae Naturalis Jamaicae Pars Prima." 8^o. 1696. pp. 232. Praeter Indicem valde copiosum Nominum et Synonymorum.

This volume, intrinsically valuable as it is, my yet be considered as only the no­menclature, or systematic index to his sub­sequent work. The arrangement of the subject (and which was strictly followed in "The History,") is nearly that of Mr. RAY; vegetables being thrown into twenty-five large natural classes, or families. Among botanists of that time, generical characters had not attained any remarkable precision; and SLOANE, like PLUKENET, was little farther anxious, than to refer his new plants to some genus already established, without a minute attention to the parts of fructifi­cation, farther than as they formed part of the character drawn from habit: yet with this defect, the figures and descriptions of SLOANE proved sufficiently accurate to en­able [Page 72] his successors to refer almost all his species, to the appropriate places in the sys­tem of the present day.

By this neglect of constructing genera, SLOANE nevertheless threw into the hands of PLUMIER the grateful opportunity which he embraced, of naming the plants of his investigations after celebrated botanists. In justice, however, to PLUMIER, it has been before observed, that he was not parsimo­nious in the distribution of these favours, to the merit of Englishmen.

It is worthy of observation, that among these classes, there are only two plants be­longing to the Umbelliferous tribe, and but one genus of the Asperifoliae, namely, the Heliotropium. The ferns, on the other hand, are very numerous all over the West India islands. SLOANE has above one hun­dred species; and PLUMIER, a few years afterwards, detected many more.

In this volume, however small in bulk, yet vast in labour, there is a circumstance much to the credit of SLOANE, which must be obvious to every intelligent naturalist. It is the care which the author has taken to [Page 73] consult every possible resource, in order to discriminate his plants, and avoid an unne­cessary multiplication of species, by describ­ing that as new, which was before known. So numerous a set of synonyms had never been inserted in any local catalogue; and SLOANE greatly enhanced its value, by a most commendable addition; having, with incredible labour, referred to every traveller of note for all the vegetables renowned for utility in medicine, arts, or oeconomy. In this instance, it is much to be regretted that so praise-worthy an example has not been more frequently imitated by succeed­ing botanists.

Before I dismiss this volume, I must mention an instance of the liberality of its author, in allowing Mr. RAY the free use of his manuscripts of the Jamaica plants, on the publication of the third volume of his "History," in 1704. Accordingly, we find all SLOANE's new plants, with the de­scriptions at large, inserted in that work. He also communicated a list of English plants, which he had observed spontaneously growing in Jamaica. This was printed in [Page 74] the second edition of the Synopsis, and con­tinued by DILLENIUS in the third.

Dr. SLOANE began early to form a mu­seum, and it was, by the collections made in his voyage, become considerable; but the aera of its celebrity was not till 1702, when it received the augmentation of Mr. COUR­TEN's valuable stores. United by similar taste, Dr. SLOANE had formed, with this gentleman, an early and strict friendship; and a perpetual interchange of communi­cations, and good offices, had subsisted be­tween them; of which Sir Hans himself bears public testimony in his writings. It is not possible, at this time, to ascertain the ex­tent of Mr. COURTEN's collection; but it is sufficiently certain that it was very ample: the acquisition of it added new ardour and diligence to our naturalist, in the augment­ation of it. He has himself exhibited a ge­neral statement of the contents of his mu­seum, twenty-two years after its enlarge­ment by the above-mentioned collection. By this it appears, that the subjects of na­tural history alone, exclusive of two hundred volumes of preserved plants, amounted to [Page 75] more than 26,200 articles. They were af­terwards augmented to upwards of 30,600; as may be seen by "A General View of the Contents," published a year before his death.—And here I cannot but observe, that the curious are under singular obligation to the author of the article COURTEN, in the fourth volume of the new edition of the Biogra­phia Britannica, who has, with great labour, brought to light so many interesting me­moirs relating to Mr. COURTEN, and his family. His truly laborious researches have done equal justice to that gentleman, and to Sir Hans SLOANE, by rescuing the history of their connexion from great misrepresent­ation. Hence we learn, that Dr. SLOANE, as executor to his friend, so far from ac­quiring the accession of Mr. COURTEN's museum at a dear rate, as had been repre­sented in the preceding edition, obtained it at a price greatly under its original, and real value.

SLOANE.

IN the year 1701, Dr. SLOANE was in­corporated doctor of physic at Oxford; and was associated member of several aca­demies on the continent. In 1707, he published the first volume of his history, under the following title:

"A VOYAGE to the Islands Madeira, Barbadoes, Nevis, St. Christopher's, and Jamaica; with the Natural History of the Herbs and Trees, four-footed Beasts, Fishes, Birds, Insects, Reptiles, &c. To [Page 77] which is prefixed an Introduction, where­in is an Account of the Inhabitants, Air, Waters, Diseases, Trade, &c. of that Place; with some Relations concerning the neighbouring Continent and Islands of America." Vol. i. 1707. fol. pp. 254. tab. 156.

This volume is dedicated to the queen. The introduction contains 154 pages, and is replete with matter of an interesting na­ture, and evidently displays the great pains the author took to collect materials for this work. It comprehends a general account of the discovery of the West Indies, and of the island of Jamaica in particular: the geo­graphy, the climate, and soil; food, man­ners, and economy of the various inhabi­tants: description of a tour the author made to various parts of the country, and especi­ally to the ruins of Sevilla, with an account of the church built by Peter Martyr: a list of more than fifty European vegetables, principally of the culinary tribe, cultivated in the gardens of Jamaica. He concludes with an history of the diseases, and the de­tail of many cases which came under his [Page 78] own observation. Then follows the jour­nal of the voyage; with ample descriptions of the marine animals observed in the course of it: the plants observed at Madeira, seve­ral of which are figured in the work itself: observations of the like kind made at Bar­badoes. The remainder of the volume con­tains a methodical arrangement, and de­scription, of all the submarine, and herba­ceous plants, natives of the island; amount­ing to 550 and upwards. Very few syno­nyms are here introduced; but references, in general, made to the copious collection of them in his "Catalogue." To each plant the author has subjoined, from medi­cal authors, and from travellers, the most ample account of their several uses.

The second volume was not published till the year 1725, and was dedicated to the king. The reasons of this delay are assigned in the introduction, and were, principally, the care, the arrangement, and description of his museum. The accession of Mr. COURTEN's collection has been remarked above; and that of PETIVER, in 1718, gave Sir Hans much employment. PETI­VER [Page 79] had amassed a greater quantity of the productions of nature, than any man be­fore him: but he had not preserved them with a care equal to the zeal with which he acquired them; and it demanded extraordi­nary diligence to recover them from the in­jury they had sustained. It is in the intro­duction to this volume that Sir Hans gives a general inventory of his Library, and Mu­seum, as it stood in the year 1725, which has been noticed before; and, by the com­parison of which with later estimates, it ap­pears how greatly he increased it after that time.

This second volume comprehends five hundred pages, and completes the vegetable part, and the animal kingdom. The new plants are nearly all figured. The plates are continued to the number of 274. The last forty belong to the animals, of which, some of all the classes, the Mammalia ex­cepted, are here exhibited.

To the curious botanist, it will be ob­servable, that out of 800 vegetables, de­scribed in these volumes, above 100 are Ferns; and that of the others, more than 250 species are of the arborescent kind. [Page 80] Subsequent voyagers have established it as a fact, that in the warmer and intertropical regions, this latter class constitutes, in a general way, the third part of the vegetable productions of nature. Abundantly the re­verse of this takes place in temperate and cold climates.

In these volumes Sir Hans has introduced all his quotations at length from the books of travels mentioned in the "Catalogue," to illustrate the various uses of each vege­table. They exhibit a proof of the author's industry, which, I conceive, it is difficult to parallel in any other work. The tables, which were principally engraved by Vander Gucht, although on a large scale, yet hav­ing the disadvantage of being done from dried specimens, want those natural atti­tudes which grace more modern perform­ances. In this volume, Sir Hans takes va­rious occasions to defend himself from the strictures of PLUKENET; and, in his turn, criticises that author, though in a language much less censurable than that of the Man­tissa.

The voyage of Dr. SLOANE was produc­tive of much subsequent benefit to science, [Page 81] by exciting an emulation, both in Britain and on the continent. Sir Arthur RAW­DON, upon viewing his splendid collection, sent James HARLOW, a skilful gardener, to Jamaica, who returned with a ship al­most laden with plants, in a vegetating state; and with a great number of dried spe­cimens. Of the latter, SLOANE had all such as were new, before he published his first volume. Many of the living plants succeeded in the garden of Sir Arthur, at Moyra, in Ireland; and many were distri­buted into the garden of the Bishop of Lon­don, at Fulham; Dr. UVEDALE's, at En­field; the Chelsea Garden; and especially into that of her Grace the Duchess of BEAU­FORT, at Badminton, in Gloucestershire: the botanic gardens of Amsterdam, Leyden, Leipsic, and Upsal, shared these rarities. TOURNEFORT sent Dr. GUNDELSCHEI­MER, his associate in his oriental journey, into England, to view SLOANE's plants; and this gave occasion to PLUMIER's ex­pedition into the Caribbee Islands.

Dr. SLOANE entered very early into cor­respondence with Mr. RAY. His first let­ter [Page 82] bears date in 1684; and DE [...]HAM's col­lection contains thirteen. Most of them have reference to botanical subjects, while they evidence the mutual friendship of the wri­ters; a cirumstance indeed very pathetically expressed by Mr. RAY, in the last letter he ever wrote; which was but a few days be­fore his death, being dated Jan. 7, 1704.

In 1708, he was elected a foreign mem­ber of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Pa­ris; a distinction of the highest estimation in science; and the greater at that time, as the French nation was at war with Eng­land, and the queen's consent was necessary to the acceptance of it. He was frequently consulted by Queen Ann, who, in her last illness, was blooded by him. On the ac­cession of George I. he was created a baro­net; being the first English physician on whom an hereditary title of honour had been conferred. He was appointed Physi­cian General to the Army, which office he enjoyed till 1727, when he was made Phy­sician to King George II. He gained the confidence of Queen Caroline, and pre­scribed for the royal family till his death.

[Page 83] In 1719, Sir Hans was elected President of the College of Physicians, which station he held sixteen years, and during that time he gave signal proofs of his zeal for the in­terests of that body.

On purchasing the manor of Chelsea, he gave the fee simple of the Botanial Garden to the Company of Apothecaries, on condi­tions, which will more properly be speci­fied in a subsequent part of this work.

On the death of Sir Isaac NEWTON, in 1727, Sir Hans SLOANE was advanced to the presidency of the Royal Society of London, the interest of which no man had ever more uniformly promoted. He made the Society a present of 100 guineas, and a bust of the founder, King Charles II. Thus, in the zenith of prosperity, he presided, at the same time, over the two most illustrious scientific bodies in the kingdom: and, while he dis­charged the respective duties of each station, with credit and honour, he also enjoyed the most extensive and dignified employment as a physician. He occupied these important stations from the year 1719 to 1733, when he resigned the presidency of the College of Physicians; and, in 1740, at the age of [Page 84] fourscore, that of the Royal Society; having formed the resolution of withdrawing from the bustle of life into retirement at Chelsea. In 1741, he removed his Library, and Museum; and, on the 12th of May, fixed at his new mansion, where, occasionally vi­sited by his friends, and by all men of dis­tinction from abroad, he passed in serenity, and in the constant exercise of benevolence, the last twelve years of his life, which ter­minated Jan. 11, 1752, O.S.

Sir Hans SLOANE was tall, and well made in his person; easy, polite, and en­gaging in his manners; sprightly in his conversation; and obliging to all. To fo­reigners he was extremely courteous, and ready to shew and explain his curiosities to all who gave him timely notice of their visit. He kept an open table once a week for his learned friends, particularly those of the Royal Society. In the aggregation of his vast collection of books, he is said to have sent his duplicates, either to the Royal College of Physicians, or to the Bodleian Library.

He was governor of almost every hospi­tal [Page 85] in London; and to each, after having given an hundred pounds in his life-time, he left a more considerable legacy at his death. He was ever a benefactor to the poor, who felt the consequences of his death severely. He was zealous in promoting the establishment of the colony of Georgia, in 1732; and formed, himself, the plan for bringing up the children in the Foundling Hospital, in 1739.

In the exercise of his function as a phy­sician, he is said to have been remarkable for the certainty of his prognostics; and the hand of the anatomist verified, in a signal manner, the truth of his predictions, relat­ing to the seat of diseases. By his practice, he not only confirmed the efficacy of the Peruvian Bark in intermittents, but extend­ed its use in fevers of other denominations, in nervous disorders, and in gangrenes and hemorrhages. The sanction he gave to in­oculation, by performing that operation on some of the royal family, encouraged, and much accelerated its progress throughout the kingdom. His ointment for the Leu­coma [Page 86] has not yet lost its credit with many reputable names in physic.

Possessed of affluence, entirely the reward of his own merit, Sir Hans SLOANE en­joyed, through a long life, every satisfaction that science could bestow; and, in the Bri­tish Museum, has not only erected the no­blest monument to his own fame, but a temple also to the culture of learning and of science, which will transmit his dona­tion to future ages, as a signal instance of the munificence of a private individual.

That the list of Sir Hans SLOANE's wri­tings may be complete, I shall, in confor­mity with my general plan in other in­stances, recite those papers which were printed in the Philosophical Transactions. Many of these convey such interesting lite­rary information, and abound with such facts and observations, as will long give them a value, with all who remember the eminent abilities and services of the author, and have a relish for the like researches.

The first of Dr. SLOANE's papers in the Philosophical Transactions, is, a Description [Page 87] of the Jamaica Pepper Tree (Myrtus Pi­menta Lin.); with an account of curing the Berries; and of the Oil distilled from them, commonly sold for Carpobalsamum. N^o 192. Vol. xvii. p. 462; accompanied with a figure.

A Description of the Wild Cinnamon Tree, falsely called Cortex Winteranus (Win­terania Canella Lin.) very early celebrated, by the first writers on the West Indies, as a medicine for the Scurvy. N^o 192. Vol. xvii. p. 465.

A Description of the Silver Pine (Protea Argentea Lin.); and of another Coniferous Tree; both from the Cape of Good Hope. N^o 198. Vol. xvii. p. 664.

Proofs of the Poisonous Effects of Dog's Mercury (Mercurialis Cynocrambe, Lin.) N^o 203. Vol. xvii. p. 876.

An Account of the true Cortex Wintera­nus (Drimys Winteri Lin. Sup. p. 269.) from the Straights of Magellan. Dr. SLOANE observes, that the sensible quali­ties of this bark are so similar to those of the Canella, that he judges they may safely [Page 88] be considered as succedanea to each other. N^o 204. Vol. xvii. p. 922; with a figure of a small branch.

An Account of the Coffee Shrub, from the first specimen brought over from Ara­bia Faelix by Mr. CLIVE; with a figure, and an account of the culture of the shrub. N^o 208. Vol. xviii. p. 65.

An Account of the Bird called the Con­dor of Peru, from the relation of Captain Strong, who had met with one on the coast of Chili, which measured 16 feet from tip to tip of the wings. This is one of the earliest accounts of this bird, after that of De Laet; concerning the strength and rapa­city of which, voyagers have related incre­dible stories. LINNAEUS names it Vultur Gryphus. N^o 208. Vol. xviii. p. 61.

An Account of an Earthquake which happened during Dr. SLOANE's stay on the Island of Jamaica, Feb. 19, 1687-8. With a Note concerning the great Earthquake of June 7, 1692, which destroyed Port Royal. N^o 209. Vol. xviii. p. 80, 81.

Remarks on a vulgar Opinion that the [Page 89] swallowing of Stones assists Digestion; oc­casioned by the case of a man who had swallowed 200 pebbles. N^o 253. Vol. xix. p. 192.

Observations on four Kinds of American Fruits, thrown on the shores of the North­west parts of Scotland. Three of these were known by the author to be natives of Ja­maica.—1. The Cocoons, or the Pods of the Phaseolus Maximus, &c. Hist. Jam. i. p. 178. (Mimosa Scandens Lin.)—2. The Horse Eye Bean; Phaseolus Brasiliensis, &c. Hist. Jam. i. p. 178. (Dolichos Pruriens Lin.)—3. The Ash-coloured Nickar Tree; Lobus Echinatus, &c. Hist. Jam. ii. p. 40. (Guilandina Bouduc Lin.)—4. The Fructus Orbicularis sulcis nervisque distinctus, C.B. pin. 405. b. iv. N^o 222. Vol. xix. p. 298. These, and several other kinds, which are also found plentifully on the coast of Nor­way, are thought by SLOANE to have been brought by currents, through the Gulph of Florida, into the North American ocean. The appearance of these fruits on the Nor­thern shores of Europe, had been alledged [Page 90] by some as proofs of the existence of a North-east passage.

An Account of the Fossil Tongue of a Pastinaca Marina (Raia Pastinaca Lin.) dug up in Maryland; with a Comparison of it with the recent Tongues of the Thornback; illustrated with many figures. N^o 232. Vol. xix. p. 674.

Remarks on Dampier's Medicine for the Bite of a Mad Dog, specifying, that it was not a Jew's Ear Fungus, but the Lichen Cinereus Terrestris of RAY. N^o 237. Vol. xx. p. 52.

Notes on a Paper, written to recommend the Ipecacuanha, as an infallible Remedy in Dysenteries. Dr. SLOANE recommends it, but speaks in a more moderate stile con­cerning its efficacy. He shews that it was first mentioned by an anonymous Portu­guese, under the name of Ipecaya, or Pigaya. See Purchas's Pilgr. vol. iv. N^o 238. Vol. xx. p. 78.

An Account of the Contents of a China Cabinet, containing Instruments and Natu­ral Curiosities; presented to the Royal So­ciety [Page 91] by Mr. BUCKLEY, Surgeon at Fort St. George. N^o 246-250. Vol. xx. and xxi.

An Account of the Tartarian Lamb, Agnus Scythicus, or Barometz, heretofore imposed on the credulous as a kind of Zoo­phyte, or vegetating Animal. On exami­nation, it proves to be the lower part of the stipes, or root, protruding above ground, of a large species of Fern, judged by some to be the Polypodium Aureum, fashioned into the rude shape of the animal. It is natu­rally cloathed with a lanugo, or down, of a yellowish chesnut colour, called Poco­sempie in China and the East, celebrated as an astringent, both internally and externally used; with a figure of the pretended ani­mal. N^o 247. Vol. xx. p. 461.

An Account of the Nux Pepita, or St. Ignatius' Bean (Ignatia Amara Lin. Sup. 149); a simple in common use in the Phi­lippine Islands, as a tonic medicine. N^o 249. Vol. xxi. p. 44.

An Account of some Seeds, used on the coast of Malabar and Coromandel, for clarify­ing [Page 92] Water. N^o 249. Vol. xxi. p. 44. There can be little doubt that this effect arises from the mucilaginous quality.

A Description, with the Figure, of a Misseltoe, or Epidendrum, called Wild Pine, in Jamaica, (Tillandsia Utriculata Lin.) the leaves of which form a reservoir for water, of great use in dry seasons. With Observa­tions on the Oeconomy of several other Ve­getables in the Propagation of the Species. N^o 251. Vol. xxi. p. 113.

Hints for the Improvement of Garden­ing, to be drawn from due attention to the nature of the soil and climate, &c. of the plants. N^o 251. Vol. xxi. p. 119.

The Method used by the Chinese to make Gold Thread, by gilding paper on one side with leaf gold, cutting it into long pieces, and weaving it into their silks, which makes them, with little or no cost, look very rich and fine. N^o 251. Vol. xxi. p. 71.

A Limestone Marble, discovered in Wales by Dr. LHWYD, determined by Dr. SLOANE to be the Astroites of WORMIUS. N^o 252. Vol. xxi. p. 188. (Since called Corallia [Page 93] Astroitae.) It is native in the seas of Ja­maica.

The Case of a Dropsy of the Ovarium. N^o 252. Vol. xxi. p. 150.

The Mischief of swallowing Plumb Stones exemplified, in the case of a man, in whose bowels was found a plumb stone inclosed in the center of a calculus aegagropila, which measured six inches in circumference, and weighed one ounce and an half. N^o 282. Vol. xxiii. p. 1283.

An Account of the Mosses, or Turf Bogs, in the North of Ireland. N^o 330. Vol. xxvii. p. 296.

Remarks on Mr. S. GRAY's Account of the Fossils of Reculver Cliff; tending to prove that the wood found there is that of the Oak. N^o 368. Vol. xxii. p. 762.

An Account of a Pair of very extraordinary large Horns, found in a cellar at Wapping; with figures. Dr. HOOK suspected they were the horns of an animal, described by NIEU­HOFF, under the name of Sukotyro, as it is called by the Chinese. Sir Hans conjectures, they might belong to the Taurus carnivorus of Agatharchides; of which he traces the [Page 94] history through the writings of the antients; but thinks it very uncertain whether this is the same animal with the Sukotyro. N^o 397. Vol. xxxiv. p. 222.

An Account of such Specimens of Ele­phants Teeth, and Bones, as are reposited in the Museum of Sir Hans SLOANE; with figures. N^o 403. Vol. xxxv. p. 457. This was introductory to

Remarks on divers Accounts of Teeth, and Bones, found under ground. Ib. N^o 404. p. 497. In which the curious reader meets with much information.

An Account of the Symptoms arising from eating the Seeds of Henbane; with Remarks. N^o 429. Vol. xxxviii. p. 99.

Conjectures on the sascinating Power at­tributed to the Rattle-snake. N^o 433. Vol. xxxviii. p. 321.

Answer to the Marquis of CAUMONT's Letter, relating to an extraordinary Calculus of the Bladder. N^o 450. Vol. xl. p. 374. The stone is figured in the Transactions. In shape, it resembled, in some measure, a glo­bular pyrites beset with long, blunt, and ramified points. N^o 450. Vol. xl. p. 374.

[Page 95] Answer to Mr. POWEL, concerning the Case of a Gentlewoman, who voided with her Urine, hairy, crustaceous Substances; informing him of similar Cases, and hinting a Method of Cure. N^o 460. Vol. xli. p. 703.

The Description, with a Figure, of a curious Sea Plant; Frutex Marinus flabelli­formis cortice verrucoso obductus. Doodii. Raii Syn. ed. 3. p. 32. (Gorgonia Verru­cosa Lin.) N^o 478. Vol. xliv. p. 51. Small specimens have been found on the shores of Cornwall; but it has elsewhere grown to the height of four feet.

Accounts of the pretended Serpent Stone, called Pietra de Cobra de Cabelos; and of the Pietra de Mombazzo, or the Rhinoceros Be­zoar: with the figure of a Rhinoceros with a double Horn. N^o 492. Vol. xlvi. p. 118.

An Account of Inoculation, by Sir Hans SLOANE, Bart. given to Mr. RANBY to be published anno 1736. Vol. xlix. p. 516. Curious as a record of the introduction of Inoculation into England; and valuable, as a proof, not only of the candour, and open­ness of the author, but, as exhibiting a sim­plicity [Page 96] in the management, which it would have been happy for society, had it been universally adopted by succeeding practi­tioners^*.

ROYAL SOCIETY.

AMONG those public institutions, which in a singular manner invigo­rated, in this period, the spirit of natural history in England, the ROYAL SOCIETY of London claims the most distinguished no­tice. In its design, as in its progress, it was the fostering parent, and guardian, of [Page 98] natural knowledge. The collection of a museum of natural curiosities, was one of the objects in view; and such was the re­spectability of the society, both as a body, and in its individuals, that, through its means, the whole nation may be said to have amply contributed to its emolument. All new objects of curiosity; all new books, at home and abroad; new discoveries throughout all nature, incessantly offered themselves; and thus, not only tended to re­move the prejudices that too strongly pre­vailed against the studies of nature in that age, but, in the event, excited a passion in the public, which was so successfully exert­ed in improving, not natural history alone, but real and useful science at large, that it will not be considered as an exaggerated encomium to assert, that more effectual advancement was made by the influence of this illustrious body in one century, than had before taken place from the ear­liest ages. Botany shared these benefits; and the early volumes of the Transactions abound in records of newly-discovered ve­getables, and of newly-discovered proper­ties [Page 99] in that part of the creation. Expe­riments of various intention were institu­ted by this learned body. Under their au­spices, the anatomy, and philosophy of plants, were illustrated by GREW, and im­proved by HALES. Such memoirs in the Philosophical Transactions as more directly relate to my object, or were written by those whom I commemorate, have been already, or will be, briefly noticed in the course of these pages.

CHELSEA GARDEN.

I proceed further to observe, that, among the assistances which the science has re­ceived from public bodies of men, must be mentioned also that which sprung from the Physic Garden, founded by the Company of Apothecaries at Chelsea; an institution which reflected the highest honour on that respectable society. This took place in the year 1673, although the inscription over the entrance imports, that the Garden was not effectually constructed till the year 1686.

From the time of JOHNSON, the editor of GERARD, a custom had prevailed among the London Apothecaries to form a society [Page 100] each summer, and make excursions to in­vestigate plants. The Itinera, published by JOHNSON, may be considered as the fruit of such expeditions in his day. But they had been discontinued, as I apprehend, for many years. After the foundation of the Garden, this laudable practice was revived, and the associations fixed to stated periods, and put under regulations; the herborizings being now distinguished into private and general. The first, intended to excite a taste for botany among the apprentices of the Company, begin on the second Tuesday of April, and are held monthly, on the same day, till September inclusively, in some of the villages in the immediate neighbour­hood of London. At the end of the season, the premium of a copy of RAY's Synopsis, (since changed for Mr. HUDSON's Flora Anglica) is presented to the young man who has been the most successful in disco­vering and investigating the greatest num­ber of plants. The general herborization is annual only, in July; when the Demon­strator, and others of the Court of Assist­ants, belonging to the Company, make an excursion to a considerable distance from [Page 101] the city, collect the scarce plants, and dine together near London; on which occasion they are frequently accompanied by other gentlemen, who are fond of the same pur­suits.

This institution at Chelsea was rendered more stable, and received permanency, from the liberality of Sir Hans SLOANE; who, soon after his purchase of the manor, in 1721, gave the freehold of the ground, near four acres, to the Company, on condition that the demonstrator should, in the name of the Company, deliver annually to the Royal Society fifty new plants, till the num­ber should amount to 2000, all specifically different from each other; the list of which was published yearly, in the Philosophical Transactions. The first was printed in the year 1722, and the catalogues have been continued till the year 1773, at which time the number 2550 was completed. These specimens are duly preserved in the archives of the Society, for the inspection of the cu­rious.

Under excellent superintendants, Chelsea Garden has flourished; having been excelled, perhaps, by no public institution of the [Page 102] kind in Europe, for the number of curious exotics it contains. Of this, the Dictionary, and Figures of the late Mr. MILLER, af­ford sufficient proofs. The advantages, in­deed of this institution are obvious; and even Sir Hans SLOANE himself acknow­ledged his obligations to it in the early part of his life.

In justice to the memory of those who have eminently filled the place of lec­turers, and demonstrators, in the Chelsea Garden, I recite their names, from the time of Sir Hans SLOANE's donation; not being able to ascend above that period.

Mr. RAND published, in 1730, in 8^o. Index Plantarum Officinalium Horti Chelsej­ani. The list contains 518 plants of the Materia Medica; and specifies the part of each used in physic. The same author [Page 103] published Horti Chelsejani Index Compendia­rius. 1739. 8^{o *}.

Joseph MILLER published, "Botanicum Officinale; or, A Compendious Herbal: giving an Account of all such Plants as are now used in the Practice of Physic; with their Descriptions and Virtues." 8^o. 1722. pp. 466. The plants are alphabeti­cally arranged according to the officinal names. The Summary of the Virtues is, in most instances, a translation from the Phar­macologia of DALE.

Except in the Orthotonia, subjoined to Shipton's edition of Pharmacopaeia Bateana, the Botanicum Officinale of MILLER is the only book on the subject, not of very mo­dern date, in which the student is assisted in the accentuation of the Latin names of plants; but, from the confined nature of the plan in these works, the benefit is not ex­tensive.

Among the favourable circumstances which contributed to distinguish, or, I might [Page 104] say, helped to form, the Golden Age of Bo­tany, before alluded to, was that growing taste for the cultivation of exotics, which sprung up among the great and opulent, after the happy return of internal peace by the Restoration. Archibald Duke of AR­GYLE is said to have been one of the first, who was conspicuous for the introduction of Foreign Trees, and Shrubs. Mr. EVE­LYN, both by his writings, and example, encouraged the same taste. He cultivated a garden and plantations at Saye's-Court, near Deptford; and his Sylva remains a mo­nument of his learning, and patriotic in­tentions, which cannot soon be superseded.

After the Revolution, the Royal Gardens at Hampton-Court were rich in fine plants, and that at St. James's of no inconsiderable note, if we may guess by the many new plants PLUKENET received from it. The Du­chess of BEAUFORT had a garden richly stored at Badminton, in Gloucestershire. Dr. Henry COMPTON, Bishop of London, ano­ther at Fulham; and many private gentle­men vied with each other, in these elegant and useful amusements. The gardens of [Page 105] Dr. UVEDALE, of Enfield; of Mr. DU BOIS, an East India merchant; of Mr. COURTEN, and others, were of the first notice; and afforded much assistance to the labours of RAY, PLUKENET, and PETIVER. The growing commerce of the nation, the more frequent intercourse with Holland, where immense collections from the Dutch colo­nies had been made, rendered these gratifi­cations more easily attainable than before; and, from all these happy coincidences, sci­ence in general reaped great benefit.

BISHOP COMPTON.

Among those I have just enumerated, Dr. Henry COMPTON, Bishop of London, claims peculiar notice; since we learn from Mr. RAY, and PLUKENET, that he joined to his taste for gardening, a real and scien­tific knowledge of plants; an attainment not usual among the great, in those days.

This eminent prelate, so distinguished for his zeal in the cause of Protestantism, and for the active part he took in promot­ing the Revolution, was born in the year 1632. He was entered a nobleman of [Page 106] Queen's College, Oxford, in 1649, where he continued about three years; and after­wards travelled abroad. After the Restora­tion, he entered into the army; but very soon quitted it for the church. In the year 1666, he became Rector of Cottenham, in Cambridgeshire; and, after possessing various emoluments in the church, was made Bi­shop of Oxford, in the year 1674; and the year after, translated to the See of London, which he held to the time of his death, in the year 1713, at the age of 81.

In his retirement at Fulham, Bishop COMPTON amply gratified himself in his favourite amusement. The circumstances of the times, above mentioned, aided by his own zeal, and a residence of thirty-eight years on the same See, enabled him, finally, to collect a greater variety of Green-house rarities, and to plant a greater variety of hardy Exotic Trees, and Shrubs, than had been seen in any garden before in England.

This repository was ever open to the in­spection of the curious and scientific; and we find RAY, PETIVER, and PLUKENET, in numerous instances, acknowledging the [Page 107] assistances they received from the free com­munication of rare and new plants out of the garden at Fulham. Many of PLUKE­NET's figures were engraved from speci­mens out of the Bishop's garden; and some from a book of drawings in his possession, quoted under the name of Codex Comptoni­ensis.

In the second volume of RAY's History of Plants, p. 1798, we find a Catalogue of some new species of Trees and Plants, ob­served by the author in this garden. These were principally of North American growth. The reader who is desirous of seeing a more ample account of the garden at Fulham, is referred to a relation of the state in which it was found in the year 1751, written by the late Sir William WATSON, and printed in the 47th volume of the Philosophical Transactions.

DOODY.

If to any man in his day, not professedly an author on the subject, extraordinary praise is due, for discoveries in the indige­nous botany, it must belong to Mr. Samuel [Page 108] DOODY, the contemporary and friend of RAY, PLUKENET, and SLOANE, who all hear testimony to his merit. I regret the want of more information relating to this assiduous man; of whom I can only say, that he was born in Staffordshire, was an apothecary in London, and a fellow of the Royal Society. He was chosen superinten­dant, and demonstrator of the Garden at Chelsea; an office he held for some years be­fore his death, which took place in 1706.

As Mr. DOODY lived in London, and there is room to believe he was in very con­siderable business, his excursions could not ordinarily extend far from that city. In its neighbourhood, his diligence was beyond any other example. He struck out a new path in botany, by leading to the study of that tribe, which comprehended the imper­fect plants, now called the Cryptogamia class. In this branch he made the most nu­merous discoveries of any man in that age, and in the knowledge of it stood clearly un­rivalled. The early editions of RAY's Synop­sis were much amplified by his labours; and he is represented by Mr. RAY, as a man [Page 109] of uncommon sagacity in discovering and discriminating plants in general. The learned successor of Tournefort, M. JUS­SIEU, speaks of him as inter Pharmacopoeos Londinenses sui temporis Coryphaeus. In truth, he was the DILLENIUS of his time.

There is a long list of rare plants, many of them new, and first discovered by Mr. DOODY, published in the second edition of RAY's Synopsis, accompanied with observa­tions on other species. I also find, "The Case of a Dropsy of the Breast," written by him, and printed in the Philosophical Trans­actions in 1697. N^o 224. Vol. xx. p. 77.

LLHWYD.

EDWARD LLHWYD was one of the most learned and celebrated antiquaries of the last century, and a skilful naturalist. According to Mr. Wood, he was the son of Edward LLHWYD, or Lloyd, of Kidwell, in Carmarthenshire; but, as Boyer relates, of Charles Llhwyd, of Lanvordia, in Salop, Esq. He was born in 1670, and became a stu­dent of Jesus College in 1687, of which Dr. PLOT was a member, and under whom Mr. LLHWYD was in a great measure edu­cated. [Page 111] On the resignation of Dr. PLOT, he succeeded him as keeper of the Ashmo­laean Museum, about 1690. He travelled repeatedly all over Wales; went through the North of Scotland; into Ireland, in which kingdom he seems to have made some con­siderable abode. He spent some time in Corn­wall, and in Britany in France, in search of antiquities, and materials to carry on the extensive designs he had formed.

In all these journies he was constantly attentive to the objects of natural history, fossils, plants, and any remarkable phaeno­mena of nature. Such of his remarks as are published in the Philosophical Transac­tions, are full of curious and new informa­tion on these subjects. His knowledge of the plants of his own country, and parti­cularly those of Wales, justly entitles him to remembrance in these pages, although he was not professedly an author on the subject of them.

LLHWYD first brought to light several of the rare plants of Wales; many of which, till of late years, were considered as natives of no other part of Britain. He discovered [Page 112] several very scarce species in Cornwall: all these he communicated to Mr. RAY, who inserted them in the editions of his Synopsis, with due acknowledgments. After having made very large collections for the antiquities of Wales, and formed great designs in litera­ture, he died before he could digest them into order for publication, in July 1709.

Exclusive of large communications, made to Bishop GIBSON's edition of Camden, on the antiquities of Wales, he formed, from the fruit of his own investigations, the List of Plants subjoined to the account of that country.

He published, "LITHOPHYLACII BRI­TANNICI ICHNOGRAPHIA." 1699. 8^o. cum tab. 25. This work, which is a me­thodical catalogue of the figured fossils of the Ashmolean Museum, consisting of 1766 articles, was printed at the expence of Sir Isaac NEWTON, Sir Hans SLOANE, and a few others of his learned friends. As only 120 copies were printed, a new edition of it was published in 1760 by Mr. Huddesford; to which were annexed several letters from Mr. LLHWYD to his learned friends, on the [Page 113] subject of Fossils; his Praelectio de Stellis Marinis Oceani Britannici, et Asteriarum, Entrochorum, et Encrinorum Origine.

In Mr. RAY's correspondence, we meet with thirteen letters, written by LLHWYD; all, except one, bearing date in 1690, and the four subsequent years. They run chiefly on the subject of Fossils. In October 1692, he informs Mr. RAY, that he was employed in drawing up a Catalogue of Mr. ASH­MOLE's Legacy of Books, Medals, and Pic­tures. In the list of his printed works, we find Catalogus Librorum Manuscriptorum in Museo Ashmoleano, in 10 sheets, folio, without date. In 1707, he published "AR­CHAEOLOGIA BRITANNICA," fol. Vol. I. Glossography. A work by which he will long be remembered among the lovers of antiquity.

From private information, I have learned that Mr. LLHWYD left a very considerable library, a large collection of manuscripts and specimens; that in the year 1728, these were all in the custody of Dr. FOWLKES, of Lhanher, who died soon after that time. They were undisposed of ten years after­wards; [Page 114] but the printed books, which were of great worth, had been valued by a gen­tleman and two booksellers, and the refusal of them offered to the Duke of Bedford. My intelligence reached no farther.

I conclude this account with a catalogue of Mr. LLHWYD's papers, published in the Philosophical Transactions.

An Account of the Lapis Amianthus, or Linum Fossile Asbestinum, found in the Nor­thern part of Anglesey; with Mr. LLHWYD's Method of making it into Paper. N^o 166. Vol. xiv. p. 223.

A Description, in Latin, of several regu­larly-figured Fossils; with Figures. These were the Siliquastra, Bufonites, Glossopetrae, &c. N^o 200. Vol. xvii. p. 746.

On the Swarms of Locusts which ap­peared in Wales in the year 1693; and an Extract from a Manuscript History of Pem­brokeshire, relating to an immense number of Caterpillars, which consumed the pro­duce of 200 acres of grass in three weeks time, in the year 1601. N^o 208. Vol. xviii. p. 45.

A Relation of a fiery Exhalation, or [Page 115] Damp, at Harleck, in Merionethshire, in 1693 and 1694, which set fire to several stacks of hay, and proved fatal to many cattle. Mr. LLHWYD observes, that the sounding of drums and horns, &c. repelled it from houses and stacks of hay, and that at length, by this means, many were preserved. N^o 213. Vol. xviii. p. 223.

Of an extraordinary Shower of Hail at Pontipool, in June 1697. N^o 229. Vol. xix. p. 579.

Some Observations on Languages; in which Mr. LLHWYD assents to Mr. PEZ­RON's opinion, that the Greek, Roman, and Celtic, have one common origin. N^o 243. p. 280.

Roman, French, and Irish Inscriptions; and Antiquities in Scotland and Ireland, with seven Figures. N^o 269. Vol. xxii, p. 790.

On the Difference between the Fossils of Essex, and those of Wales, and Ireland; in the former calcareous, and in the latter crys­talline. N^o 291. Vol. xxiv. p. 1566.

On some strange Birds observed in Wales. N^o 334. p. 464.

[Page 116] Observations made on Natural History in Wales: on Marcasites: Quadrupeds: Fish: and on Welch Manuscripts. N^o 334. Vol. xxvii. p. 462.

On the Fossils and Iron Mines of Breck­nockshire. p. 467.

In Ireland. A Stonehenge, near Drogheda: Giants Causeway: Basaltes on the Top of Cader Idris: Antiquities, &c. N^o 335. Vol. xxvii. p. 503.

Antiquities and scarce Plants in Ireland. N^o 336. ib. p. 524.

Natural Curiosities in Cornwall. N^o 336. Vol. xxvii. p. 527.

Fossils and Antiquities in Wales: Welch Coins: Druids Beads: scarce Plants. With Figures. N^o 337. Vol. 28. p. 93.

Observations in Natural History; and on Antiquities in Scotland. N^o 337. Vol. xxviii. p. 97.

Description and Figure of a remarkable Sea Plant (Tubularia indivisa Lin.) N^o 337. Vol. xxviii. p. 71.

LAWSON.

Among those who distinguished them­selves [Page 117] for their knowledge in botany, with­out publishing professedly on this subject, Thomas LAWSON, by whose discoveries the English Flora was enlarged, must not be forgotten.

Of Mr. LAWSON I can only collect, that he lived at Great Strickland, in West­moreland, at the time he transmitted to Mr. RAY "A Catalogue of the Rare Plants of the North of England;" which is printed in the "Philosophical Letters," p. 213. This list clearly evinces, that the author must have paid great attention to his subject; and, in fact, Mr. LAWSON first introduced seve­ral English plants into notice. It is to him that we owe the botanical part of ROBIN­SON's "Essay on the Natural History of Westmoreland and Cumberland."

The very frequent mention of his name in the writings of Mr. RAY, and the copi­ousness of the Catalogue of Rare Plants, dis­tinguished by him at so early a period, in the North of England, sufficiently confirm the character that eminent naturalist gives him, ‘"of a diligent, industrious, and skilful botanist."’ It appears that he travelled [Page 118] into various parts of England; since he re­cites plants collected by him on Salisbury Plain; and, if I mistake not, he made an excursion into the Isle of Man.

I conjecture that he survived Mr. RAY several years: but he was not living at the publication of the third edition of the Sy­nopsis Stirpium, although he left papers, of which DILLENIUS availed himself on that occasion.

DR. ROBINSON.

At this period must also be introduced Dr. TANCRED ROBINSON, physician, in London, and fellow of the Royal Col­lege of Physicians, and of the Royal So­ciety, between whom and Mr. RAY there subsisted the most genuine friendship and affection. Amicorum Alpha is the distinc­tion which RAY gives him. The printed correspondence between them commences during Dr. ROBINSON's travels abroad, in 1683, and is continued for upwards of ten years. Seventeen letters of Dr. ROBIN­SON appear in the "Philosophical Corre­spondence," with all Mr. RAY's answers. [Page 119] They run much on the subject of zoology; but contain also botanical, and philosophi­cal observations.

These letters, and the publications of Dr. ROBINSON, in the Philosophical Trans­actions, prove him to have been a man well acquainted with various parts of learning; to which he added also an intimate know­ledge of natural history, and in which he must have been very early initiated; since RAY, in the Prefaces to his Historia Plan­tarum, in 1686, acknowledges, in strong terms, his obligations to him, for his care and assiduity in correcting and enriching his work; adding, that he had exerted himself with a zeal that could not have been ex­ceeded, had the work been entirely his own.

Mr. RAY afterwards put into his hands the manuscript of the Synopsis, and renewed his acknowledgments for the benefit it re­ceived under his inspection

Dr. ROBINSON was the author of the following communications, printed in the Philosophical Transactions.

[Page 120] An Account of the four first Volumes of the "Hortus Malabaricus;" with Re­marks. N^o 145. N^o 198. N^o 200. N^o 214.

A Description, with a Figure, of the Bridge of St. Esprit, in France. N^o 160. Vol. xiv. p. 584.

On the natural Sublimation of Sulphur from the Pyrites, and Limestone, at Aetna, Vesuvius, and Solfatara. N^o 169. Vol. xv. p. 924.

Observations on boiling Fountains and subterraneous Steams, occasioned by view­ing that of Parone, near Montpelier: with an enumeration of many others in various parts of the world. N^o 169. and 172. p. 922. 1038. With Remarks.

On the Lake Avernus. Ib. 172.

On the Truffles found at Rushton, in Northamptonshire; with Figures. N^o 204. Vol. xvii. p. 935.

On the Scotch Barnacle, and French Ma­crcuse. N^o 172. Vol. xv. p. 1036.

An Account of Henry Jenkins, who lived 169 years. N^o 221. Vol. xix. p. 267.

On the Northern Auroras, as observed [Page 121] over Vesuvius, and the Strombolo Islands; with Conjectures on the Origin of them. N^o 349. Vol. xxix. p. 483.

Observations, made in 1683 and 1684, about Rome and Naples: on the Opuntia: Cork Trees: Manna: Volcanos: Palm Trees; and other vegetable Productions about Naples: Antiquities: Birds and Fishes. N^o 349. Vol. xxix. p. 473.

DODSWORTH.

The Rev. Matthew DODSWORTH, whose residence appears to have been in Yorkshire, is mentioned both by RAY and PLUKE­NET, as well acquainted with English bo­tany. He was the first discoverer of at least two of the English plants, both of which he sent to PLUKENET.

DALE.

SAMUEL DALE, of Braintree, in Essex, the friend and neighbour of Mr. RAY, eminent for his knowledge of botany; but better known as a writer on the most im­portant part of the science, its application to the purposes of physic. I am not fur­nished with any anecdotes concerning this respectable writer, further than, that he practised as an apothecary at Braintree, until about the year 1730; about which time he became a Licentiate of the College of Physicians, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. At this time, I appre­hend, he settled at Bocking, and practised as a physician until his decease, June 6th [Page 123] 1739, in the eightieth year of his age. He was buried in the Dissenter's burying­ground at Bocking. A print of him may be seen before the third edition of his Phar­macologia.

He published PHARMACOLOGIA, s. Ma­nuductio ad Materiam Medicam. It was first printed in 8^o, 1693, with the sanction of the College of Physicians, and we find four editions of it printed abroad. It was re­published at London in 1705 and 1710, 8^o, and a third time in 4^o, in 1737, pp. 460; which edition is much improved and en­larged. The arrangement of the work is that of RAY; and, to each chapter, throughout the vegetable kingdom, he has prefixed the characters of the genus, from the Methodus Emendata of that au­thor. He has moreover, with great labour, constructed a Syllabus, or synoptical view of all the articles under each section or class, on a more amplified plan, than that of RAY.

The Materia Medica of DALE, in its first edition, may be said to have been one of the earliest rational books on the sub­ject. [Page 124] In an interval of more than forty years, between the first and last editions, much of that credulity which had obtained, respecting the powers of simples, among the writers of the last century, had abated. Se­veral excellent publications had taken place abroad, which, aided by improvements at home, enabled DALE to select better materi­als, and give his last edition the importance of a new work. Scarcely in any author is there a more copious collection of synonyms, a circumstance which, independent of much other intrisic worth, will long continue the use of the book, with those who wish to pursue the history of any article through all former writers on the subject.

In 1730, Mr. DALE published, "The ANTIQUITILS of HARWICH and DOVER COURT," in 4^o, pp. 464. tab. 14. writ­ten by Silas TAYLOR, Gent. about the year 1676, with large notes, amounting to much the greater part of the book. Howsoever respectable our author may appear as an an­tiquary in this volume, he is equally so as a naturalist, in general. His History of the Figured Fossils of the Cliff is very exact, [Page 125] and copious; and the view he has given, in a short compass, of the various opinions relating to the origin of these bodies, as held by the writers of the last, and the beginning of the present century, is very satisfactory.

His Synopsis of the animals and vegetables of the neighbouring sea and coast, proves his intimate and critical knowledge of his subjects; and being embellished with seve­ral good copper-plates, renders his book a real acquisition to science.

It is highly probable, that, from their vicinity to each other, DALE owed to Mr. RAY, his attachment to natural history, and the great proficiency he so early made in that study. We find Mr. RAY acknow­ledging his assistance in collecting, and ex­tricating the synonyms of plants, correct­ing errors, and supplying omissions, for his Historia Plantarum, of which the imprima­tur bears date 1685, when DALE could not be more than 26 years old.

DALE was the author of several com­munications to the Royal Society, which [Page 126] were published in the Philosophical Trans­actions.

A Method of making Turnip Bread: practised in Essex in a scarcity of corn in 1693. Printed in N^o 205.

Some Observations on the Vermis Aureus of Bartholine (aphrodita aculeata Lin.) a marine animal, called a Sea Mouse: common on the coast of England; but not having been much observed, until Dr. Molyneux described it, had at that time excited curio­sity. N^o 249.

A Relation of two large Eels, taken on the coast of Essex. One of these mea­sured five feet eight inches; the other seven feet, in length, They wanted the character of the Conger, and were judged to be fresh water eels, carried by floods into the sea. N^o 238, Vol. xx. p. 90.

On several Insects found near Colchester. N^o 249.

The Case of a Woman, who laboured under an obstinate Jaundice, accompanied with that defect of sight, which Patholo­gists have called Amblyopia Crepuscularis; [Page 127] in which vision is quite lost after sun-set, and gradually returns as day-light comes on again. N^o 211. Vol. xviii. p. 158.

Queries, relating to the Entalia, Denta­lia, Blatta byzantina, Purpura, and Buc­cina of the Shops. N^o 197. They were answered by Dr. LISTER.

An Account, with figures, of three Sax­on Coins, dug up at Honedon in Suffolk. N^o 205. Vol. xvii. p. 874.

An Account of Harwich Cliff, with a List of twenty-eight Species of Fossil Shells, found imbedded in the Strata. N^o 291. Vol. xxiv. p. 1568. This was much en­larged in the Notes to the History of Har­wich, mentioned above.

An Account of MSS. left by Mr. RAY. N^o 307. Vol. xxv. p. 1282.

A Letter from Samuel DALE, M.L. to Sir Hans SLOANE, Baronet, F.R.S. con­taining Descriptions of the Moose Deer, and a sort of Stag in Virginia, with Remarks on the Flying Squirrel of America. Vol. xxxix. p. 384^*.

BRADLEY.

RICHARD BRADLEY, a popular writ­er on Gardening and Agriculture, in the early part of this century, was one of the first who treated these subjects in a philosophical manner; and, as he possessed considerable botanical knowledge, is entitled to a place in these Anecdotes. He first made himself known to the public by two papers, printed in the xxixth Volume of the Philosophical Transactions. One "on the Motion of the Sap in Vegetables^*:" the other, "on the quick Growth of Mouldiness on Melons^†." He became a Fellow of the Royal Society, and [Page 130] was chosen Professor of Botany in the Uni­versity of Cambridge, in 1724. BRADLEY was the author of more than twenty sepa­rate publications; chiefly on Gardening and Agriculture, published between the years 1716 and 1730.

His "New Improvement of Planting and Gardening, both Philosophical and Practical," 8^o, 1717, went through re­peated impressions; as did his Gentleman's "and Gardener's Kalendar," (which was the fourth part of the preceding book) both at home, and in translations abroad. His "Philosophical Account of the Works of Nature," 4^o. 1721, was a popular, in­structive, and entertaining work, and con­tinued in repute several years. The same may be said of his "General Treatise of Husbandry and Gardening," 8^o. 2 Vol. 1726; and of his "Practical Discourses concerning the four Elements, as they relate to the Growth of Plants." 8^o. 1727. His "Dictionarium Botanicum." 8^o. 1728, was, I believe, the first attempt of the kind in England.

Mr. BRADLEY was not eminent for any discoveries relating to the indigenous plants [Page 131] of England; but exotic botany was indebt­ed to him for an undertaking, which there is reason to regret he was not enabled to pursue and perfect. I mean his book on Succulent Plants. As this tribe is incapa­ble of being advantageously preserved in a Hortus Siccus, there is no part of botany that calls more essentially for a separate publication. His work bears the following title, "HISTORIA PLANTARUM SUCCU­LENTARUM, complectens hasce insequentes Plantas, Aloen scilicet, Ficoiden, Cereos, Me­locardium, aliasque ejus generis quae in Horto sicco coli non possunt, secundum Prototypum puta naturam in tabellis aeneis insculptas, earum­dem Descriptiones huc accedunt et Cultura. 4^o. 1716. t. 50. It was published in Decads, at different times, between the years 1716 and 1727; of which only five were com­pleted. The whole was republished in 1734. The descriptions are in Latin and English, and the figures extremely well done in the stile of the time. It preserves its value, as being cited by LINNAEUS, and as containing some plants not figured in any other pub­lication. [Page 132] A species of Sedum is the only indigenous plant contained in it.

BRADLEY gave a course of Lectures on the Materia Medica, in London, in the year 1729, which he published in 8^o, in the suc­ceeding year. He died at the latter end of 1732.

Although BRADLEY's writings do not abound in new discoveries, yet they are not destitute of interesting knowledge, collected from contemporary gardeners, and from books. He was an advocate for the circu­lation of the sap, and made several new ob­servations on the sexes of plants, in conse­quence of the production of hybrid species, by which he added strength to that doc­trine. He wrote instructively on the gems of trees; on bulbs; on grafting; and par­ticularly, on the methods of producing va­riegated and double flowers.

On the whole, BRADLEY's writings, coinciding with the growing taste for gar­dening, the introduction of exotics, and improvements in husbandry, contributed to excite a more philosophical view of these [Page 133] arts, and diffuse a general and popular knowledge of them throughout the king­dom.

The industry and talents of BRADLEY were not mean; and though unadorned by learning, were sufficient to have secured to him, that reputable degree of respect from posterity, which it will ever justly with­hold from him who fails to recommend such qualifications, by integrity and pro­priety of conduct. In these, unhappily, Mr. BRADLEY was deficient. We learn, from the account given of him by Mr. MARTYN, that he procured the professor­ship in a clandestine and fraudulent man­ner, and afterwards neglected to perform the duties of it. The University, nevertheless, allowed him to retain the nominal distinction of Professor, and appointed Dr. MARTYN to give the lectures. Near the conclusion of his life, his conduct was so unbecoming, that it was in agitation to deprive him of this nominal title.

BLAIR.

Dr. Patrick BLAIR was a native of Scot­land, and practised physic and surgery at Dundee; where he made himself first known as an anatomist, by the dissection of an ele­phant, which died near that place, in 1706. He was a Nonjuror, and so far attached to the exiled family, as to have been im­prisoned in the rebellion in 1715, as a suspected person. He afterwards removed to London, where he recommended himself to the Royal Society, by some Discourses on the Sexes of Flowers. His stay in London was not long; he quitted it, and settled at Boston, in Lincolnshire; where, if I mistake not, he practised physic during the remain­der of his life. I am not able to ascer­tain the time of his decease; but I con­jecture that it was soon after the publica­tion of the Seventh Decad of his Pharmaco­botanologia, in 1728.

Dr. BLAIR's first publication was inti­tuled "Miscellaneous Observations in Phy­sic, Anatomy, Surgery, and Botanicks." 8^o, 1718. In the botanical part of this [Page 135] work, he insinuates some doubts relating to the method suggested by PETIVER, and others, of deducing the qualities of vege­tables, from the agreement in natural cha­racters; and instances the Cynoglossum, as tending to prove the fallacy of this rule. He relates several instances of the poisonous effects of plants; and thinks the Echium Marinum (Pulmonaria Maritima Lin.) should be ranked in the genus Cynoglossum, since it possesses a narcotic power. He describes, and figures, several of the more rare British plants, which he had discover­ed in a tour made into Wales. e. g. The Rumex Digynus: Lobelia Dortmanna: Alis­ma Ranunculoides: Pyrola Rotundifolia: Al­chemilla Alpina, &c.

But the work by which Dr. BLAIR ren­dered the greatest service to botany, origi­nated with his "Discourse on the Sexes of Plants," read before the Royal Society, and afterwards greatly amplified, and pub­lished, at the request of several members of that body, under the title of,

BOTANICK ESSAYS. 1720. 8^o. pp. 414. with four copper-plates. This treatise is [Page 136] divided into two parts, containing five es­says. The three first, concerning what is proper to plants; the two last, what is com­mon to plants and animals.

• Essay I. On the Structure of Flowers. The Distinction and Definition of the se­veral Parts.
• Essay II. Definition of the Fruit, and the several Kinds.
• Essay III. Of the different Methods of dis­posing Plants. Analysis of the seve­ral Methods of Classification, with Critical Remarks on each.
• Essay IV. On the Generation of Plants. The Concurrence of Sexes necessary. Variety of Reasons in Favour of this Doctrine. The several Opinions re­lating to the Nature and Use of the Farina. Mr. MORLAND's Opinion confuted.
• Essay V. Of the Nourishment of Plants. The Folio Seminalia. The Vegeta­tion of Annuals, and of Trees; and the Structure of the Parts explained. That there is a Circulation of the Sap in Vegetables.

[Page 137] Dr. BLAIR's treatise, as far as I can find, was the first compleat work, at least in the English language, written on the sub­ject; and the author shews himself well ac­quainted, in general, with all the opinions, and arguments of authors, on the matter of each essay. The value of these Essays must not be estimated by the measure of modern knowledge, though even at this day, they may be read by those not criti­cally versed in the subject, with instruction and improvement. A view of the several methods then invented, cannot be seen so connectedly exhibited in any other English author. Dr. BLAIR strengthened the ar­guments in proof of the Sexes of Plants, by sound reasoning, and some new experi­ments. His reasons against MORLAND's opinion, of the entrance of the Farina in­to the Vasculum seminale, and his refuta­tion of the Lewenhoekian theory, have met with the sanction of the moderns. If his theory of vegetation, of the nourishment of plants, and his arguments in favour of the circulation of the sap, do not meet with the approbation of the present age, it [Page 138] must at least be granted, that they are as rational in the principle of them, as those of his predecessors.

Pharmaco-botanologia: or, "An Alphabe­tical and Classical Dissertation on all the British Indigenous and Garden Plants of the New Dispensatory." Lond. 1723-1728. 4^o. The genera and species are de­scribed, the sensible qualities and medicinal powers are subjoined, and the pharmaceu­tical uses.

In this work the author notices several of the more rare English plants, discovered by himself in the environs of Boston. The work was imperfect, being carried no far­ther than the letter H.

Dr. BLAIR was the author of the fol­lowing papers in the Philosophical Transac­tions.

The Anatomy and Osteology of an Ele­phant, with an historical Account of that Animal. N^o 326. 327. 358. Vol. xxvii. p. 53. and 117. and Vol. xxx. p. 385. This Account was also separately published in 4^o. 1711, illustrated with figures.

The heat of the weather when the ani­mal died, occasioned a precipitate dissection; [Page 139] but the rarity of the occasion added such zeal to the anatomist, that it is matter of surprise that Dr. BLAIR could so amply gratify the comparative anatomist, as he has done in this paper. He has supplied the deficiency of some articles, and illustrated others, from the History of the Dissection of an Elephant which perished at Dublin; published by Dr. MOULINS, in 1682.

An Account of the Asbestus, or Lapis Amianthus, found in the county of Angus, in Scotland. N^o 333. Vol. xxvii. p. 434.

A Dissection of a Child emaciated. N^o 353. Vol. xxx. p. 631. At five months old the child weighed only five pounds. Dr. BLAIR could find no vestige of the omen­tum, and queries whether this atrophy might not originate in the want of that membrane. The absence of this part was probably the consequence, rather than the cause of this infant's disease.

An Account of a Boy who lived a con­siderable Time without Food. N^o 364. Vol. xxxi. p. 28.

A Method of discovering the Virtues of Plants by their external Structure. N^o 364. [Page 140] Vol. xxxi. p. 30. Dr. BLAIR thinks it probable that even the ancients were led, in many instances, by the comparison of the habit, to ascribe similar virtues to plants; and, in others, by the conformity in the sensible qualities of taste and smell.

Observations on the Generation of Plants. N^o 369. Vol. xxxi. p. 216. An Experi­ment by Mr. Philip MILLER, who, on sepa­rating the Male Spinach from the Female, found that the Seeds ripened; but on being sown, did not vegetate. Instances of Hybrid Productions among Savoy and other Cab­bage Plants. Observations on Variegations in Plants: on the Impregnation of Flowers, by the Bees and other Insects carrying the Farina from Flower to Flower^*.

DR. WILLIAM SHERARD.

WILLIAM SHERARD, or Sherwood, the son of George Sherwood, of Bushby, in Leicestershire, was born in 1659, and educated at Merchant Taylors' School, till he was entered at St. John's College, Oxford, in the year 1677. Of this college he became a Fellow, and took the degree of Bachelor of Law, Dec. 11, 1683. After this time, he accompanied Lord Viscount Townshevd in his travels; and discharged [Page 142] his trust with so much reputation, that he was prevailed on to take the charge of Wriothesly, grandson of William, first Duke of BEDFORD; and made a second tour to the continent, with equal satisfaction to the noble family who confided in him.

He returned from this tour, as I con­jecture, about the year 1693; and commu­nicated to Mr. RAY a Catalogue of Plants, which he had remarked on Mount Jura, Saleve, and the neighbourhood of Geneva. This was published as a Supplement in RAY's "Sylloge Stirpium Europaearum." About this time we find he was in Ireland, with his friend Sir Arthur RAWDON, at Moyra; of whom mention has been made in the article SLOANE.

In travelling, SHERARD gratified his fa­vourite passion, and formed connections with the most celebrated characters on the continent, HERMAN, BOERHAAVE, and TOURNEFORT. He was very early skilled in English botany; and although his publi­cations are few, there is no doubt that he had bestowed great assiduity in the study of English plants. Need I allege any farther [Page 143] evidence, than the obligations, already men­tioned, which Mr. RAY acknowledges for assistance in his "History of Plants." He travelled early into various parts of England, and was ever attentive to make discoveries. He made the tour of the West as far as into Cornwall. He searched the island of Jersey, and communicated a List of Plants to Mr. RAY, to be inserted in the first edition of the Synopsis, printed in 1690.

He is said to have been the author of a book published under the name of Samuel WHARTON, "Schola Botanica; sive, Cata­logus Plantarum quas ab aliquot Annis in Horto Regio Parisiensi Studiosis indigitavit Jos. Pet. TOURNEFORT." Amst. 1689. 12^o. It was reprinted in 1691, and 1699. If indeed SHERARD was the author of this book, he must have attended the lectures of TOURNE­FORT three several seasons. It contains a rude sketch of TOURNEFORT's Method of Botany, exemplified in a large catalogue of plants; among which are innumerable va­rieties, some new species collected by TOURNEFORT himself in the Pyrenaean [Page 144] Mountains, and others introduced by the care of M. FAGON.

It is to SHERARD also, that the learned owe the publication of HERMAN's "Para­disus Batavus, continens plus centum Plantas affabre Aere incisas, et Descriptionibus illus­tratas." 4^o. Lugd. Bat. 1698. He wrote a preface to this work, in which he relates the difficulties he met with, in reducing the author's papers into method; and which contains an account of other works of HERMAN. This preface is dated from Ge­neva, in April 1697; at which time, I ap­prehend, SHERARD was on his third tour, on the continent.

In the year 1700, Mr. SHERARD com­municated to the Royal Society a Method of making several China Varnishes, which were sent from the Jesuits in China to the Great Duke of Tuscany. It was published in the Philosophical Transactions, N^o 262. Vol. xxii. p. 525. And the next year he communicated to the Society a paper from Dr. J. DEL PASSA, on the poisonous Ef­fects of the Indian Varnish on the human Skin; which on the naked Skin of Poultry [Page 145] proved quite harmless. How soon after this time he was engaged in any public employment, I cannot determine: but, in 1702, he was one of the commissioners for sick and wounded seamen at Portsmouth; and, I believe, was soon after appointed consul at Smyrna; a department, which, it is probable, his desire of investigating the plants of the East had no small share in inducing him to accept. But SHERARD's knowledge and taste was not confined to the study of botany. Mr. MARTYN in­forms us, that, ‘"in 1705, with Antonio PICENINI, he visited the seven churches of Asia. In 1709 and 1716, he transcribed the Monumenta Teia, and caused the Sigean inscription to be copied and sent to Eng­land; and the learned Dr. CHISHULL de­dicates his account of it to him."’ He also sent an account of the island raised near Santorini, in the Archipelago, on the 12th of May, 1707; which was printed in the Philosophical Transactions, N^o 314. Vol. xxii. p. 67.

During his residence at Smyrna, he had a country house at a place called Sede [...]. [Page 146] It is not yet forgotten as the residence of SHERARD. In 1749, HASSELQUIST vi­sited this retreat, and viewed, with all the enthusiasm of a young botanist, the spot where ‘"the regent of the botanic world,"’ as he stiles him, spent his summers, and cultivated his garden. Here SHERARD collected specimens of all the plants of Na­tolia and Greece, and began that famous Herbarium, which at length became the most extensive that had ever been seen as the work of one man, since it is said final­ly to have contained 12,000 species. And here he is said to have begun the much-celebrated Pinax, to which he continued to make accessions throughout his life. He returned into England, in 1718. Soon after which time, he had the degree of Doctor of Laws conferred upon him by the Uni­versity of Oxford.

In 1721, Dr. SHERARD communicated to the Royal Society an Account of the Poison Wood Tree of New England, which he had received from Mr. MORE. It does not appear that the species had been ascer­tained till Dr. SHERARD pointed it out as [Page 147] the Arbor Americana alatis Foliis, &c. Pluk. Phytogr. t. 145. f. 1. (Rhus Vernix Lin.) This observation is printed in the Phil. Trans. N^o 367. Vol. xxxi. p. 147.

In this year he returned to the continent, and made the tour of Holland, France, and Italy. Whilst at Paris, he found VAIL­LANT in a declining state of health; but, anxious to preserve his papers from obli­vion, VAILLANT had solicited BOER­HAAVE to purchase, and to publish them. SHERARD negociated the business, and spent the greatest part of the summer with BOERHAAVE, in reducing the manuscripts into order. To SHERARD, therefore, prin­cipally, the learned owe the Botanicon Pa­risiense, which was published in 1727. BOERHAAVE prefixed to this work a Latin letter, written by Dr. SHERARD, giving an account of this transaction; which is also more fully explained in the preface. It was in this tour, that, being in search of plants in the Alps, he narrowly escaped be­ing shot by a peasant for a wolf.

On his return, he brought over with him the celebrated DILLENIUS, with [Page 148] whom he had before corresponded, and whom he had encouraged to prosecute his enquiries into the Cryptogamia class, and in publishing his Plantae Gissenses. SHERARD had himself been among the earliest in England, to promote attention to this hi­therto neglected part of nature; and in this DILLENIUS had already excelled all who had written before him.

Although Dr. SHERARD had acquired a considerable fortune in Asia, yet he lived with the greatest privacy in London, wholly immersed in the study of natural history; except when he went to his brother's seat and fine garden at Eltham. Dr. DIL­LENIUS assisted him in his chief employ­ment, the carrying on his Pinax, or Col­lection of all the names, which had been given by botanical writers to each plant; being a continuation of Caspar BAUHINE's great plan.

Dr. SHERARD was, in a particular man­ner, the patron of Mr. Mark CATESBY; and himself affixed the Latin names to the plants of "The Natural History of Caro­lina."

[Page 149] He died August 12, 1728; and, by his will, gave three thousand pounds, to pro­vide a salary for a professor of botany at Oxford, on condition, that Dr. DILLENIUS should be chosen first professor. He erected the edifice at the entrance of the garden, for the use of the professor; and gave to this establishment his botanical library, his Her­barium, and the Pinax.

Dr. SHERARD was among the last of those ornaments in England, of that aera which LINNAEUS calls ‘"the golden age of botany."’ Having from his earliest years a relish for the study of natural history, and in his youth acquired a knowledge of English botany, his repeated tours to the continent, and his long residence in the East, afforded ample scope for his im­provement; and the acquisition of affluence, joined to his learning, and agreeable quali­ties, rendered him, after his return home, a liberal and zealous patron of the science, and of those who cultivated it^*.

[Page 150] Some manuscripts of Dr. SHERARD's were presented to the Royal Society by Mr. ELLIS, in the year 1766.

J. SHERARD.

James, the brother of William SHERARD, was born in 1666. He practised physic as an apothecary in London, and was early and strongly attached to his brother's favourite pursuit. Having become eminent and opu­lent in his profession, he cultivated, at his country seat, at Eltham, in Kent, one of the richest gardens that England ever possessed. It was also the retirement of his brother, the consul, after his return from Smyrna; and is immortalized by the pen of DILLE­NIUS. Mr. SHERARD is not known as an author; but his name frequently occurs in RAY's Synopsis, for his discoveries of rare English plants; of which he had great knowledge, as he is said to have had of na­tural history in general; and his zeal for [Page 151] botany was singularly great. To these he added a relish for the elegant and polite arts; and particularly for music, in which he was eminently skilled.

He inherited the bulk of his brother's fortune; and, in the latter part of his life, had the degree of Doctor of Physic confer­red upon him, if I mistake not, by the University of Oxford; and was admitted a member of the College of Physicians. He married Susanna, the daughter of Richard Lockwood, Esq but died without issue, Feb. 12, 1737, N.S. and was buried in the church of Evington, near Leicester; where his widow erected a monument to his me­mory, of which I insert a copy below^*. She survived him more than four years.

DILLENIUS.

AFTER SHERARD, I am led in chronological course, as well as by other associations, to a character of the highest worth in botanical science. That harmony of taste, and co-operation of de­sign, which first connected SHERARD and DILLENIUS, hath inseparably united their names, as long as their works shall endure. DILLENIUS, though not an Englishman born, is gratefully naturalized by a nation, [Page 154] to whose botanical fame he gave an emi­nence it had not experienced from the time of RAY. It was no mean sacrifice to re­linquish his country, his friends, his con­nexions, and his prospects from a profes­sion, which is, at least sometimes, lucrative, that he might devote himself to the culture of science, in a foreign land, where the ex­tent of his views was most probably bound­ed by the precarious hope of a professorship alone.

John Jacob DILLENIUS^* was born at Darmstadt, in Germany, in the year 168 [...]. It appears that he had his education, prin­cipally at the university of Giessen, a city of Upper Hesse; and where, probably, his fa­mily had considerable interest and con­nexions; since I find two of his contempo­raries of the same name, of whom, one was [Page 155] a professor of medicine, and dean of the fa­culty of physic at that place; and the other, Poliater, or public physician; an office, I believe, not uncommon in Germany, though unknown here; and which DILLENIUS himself held in the same city. He was very early made a member of the Academia Cu­riosorum Germaniae. He communicated se­veral papers to that society, which were published in their Miscellanea Curiosa. The earliest, that I find, was a Dissertation, in the Third Century of Observations, about the year 1715, concerning the plants of Ame­rica which are naturalized in Europe. This is a subject which might again be taken up by a skilful hand, to great advantage. The result of observation, and communication on this matter, would unquestionably prove, that a far greater number of plants than we are aware of, which are now thought to be indigenous in Europe, were of exotic origin. Besides the most obvious method, from the garden to the dunghill, and from thence to the field, amongst a variety of other causes, the importation of grain has introduced a great number: the package of merchan­dise, [Page 156] and the clearing out of ships, have been the means of dispersing many. The English Flora, as it now stands, cannot con­tain fewer, perhaps, than sixty acknowledged species; and a critical examination would probably investigate a much greater num­ber.

In the Fourth Century of the same work, we find a critical dissertation on the (Cahve) coffee of the Arabians: and on European coffee, or such as may be prepared from grain or pulse. DILLENIUS gives the re­sult of his own preparations made with pease, beans, and kidney beans; but says, that from rye comes the nearest to true coffee, and was with difficulty distinguished from it.

In the Sixth Century, he has described and figured four species of dubious plants; three of the Spergula genus, now Arenariae; and a Veronica.

In the Appendix to this Century, DIL­LENIUS gave the first specimen of his ac­curate examination of some plants of the Cryptogamous class; which he afterwards pursued so greatly to the improvement of [Page 157] botany. In this paper, DILLENIUS treats on the propagation of plants in general; but more particularly on that of the Ferns, or capillary plants; and of the Mosses, which had hitherto been considered as destitute of flower and seed. He describes the flowers of that genus, which he afterwards called Lichenastrum, and which was named by MI­CHELI, Jungermannia. He delineates two of the Chara genus; some of the Confervae; and several of the more perfect plants, parti­cularly the Chondrilla. He fixed the genus Radiola; Corrigiola, &c. and particularly the Centunculus; and Cameraria, which was afterwards called Montia. To these he sub­joins many curious observations on the use of the petals and stamina, all tending to confirm the doctrine of the sexes of plants; observa­tions on the root of the Equisetum; on the dust of the Antherae, and on the different shape of that in the Orchis, which he says is conical; and of that in the Ophrys, which is round.

In the Ninth Century of the same work, he relates an experiment he made concern­ing [Page 158] the Opium which he prepared himself, from the poppy of European growth.

In the Eighth Century, he appears as a zoologist, in a paper on Leeches; and de­scribes two species of the Papilio genus.

In 1719, he published his "Catalogue of Plants growing in the neighbourhood of Giessen;" a work which established his character as one of the most accurate botanists of the age. It bears the follow­ing title:

"Jo. Jac. DILLENII, M.L. Ac. Nat. Cur. Coll. Catalogus Plantarum sponte circa Gissam nascentium, cum Appendice, qua, Plan­tae post editum Catalogum circa et extra Gis­sam observatae recensentur, Specierum novarum vel dubiarum Descriptiones traduntur, et Ge­nera Plantarum nova, Figuris aeneis illustrata, describuntur: pro supplendis Institutionibus Rei Herbariae Josephi Pitton TOURNEFOR­TII." Frank. ad Maen. 1719. 8^o. Cum tab. xvi. Cat. pp. 240. App. pp. 174. Cui subjicitur Examen Responsionis Aug. Quir. RIVINI.

It is dedicated to the heads of the uni­versity of Giessen; and contains the plants [Page 159] of the neighbourhood, confined to a circuit of not more than a German mile and a half. Of this tract he has given a map in his book.

The author has prefixed "A Critical Ex­amination of the Methods of arranging Plants," published by RAY and KNAUT, who had founded their classical distinctions on the fruit; and of those published by RI­VINUS, and TOURNEFORT, founded on the flower. In the end, he gave the preference to RAY's system, and adhered to it through­out his life. His criticism on RIVINUS brought upon him the resentment of the author, at that time far advanced in years, who answered his objections. DILLENIUS had written in a stile that was but too re­prehensible; and can only be excused, in some measure, as natural to the warmth of a young author; though it has been gene­rally acknowledged, that he had the advan­tage in the argument.

Nothing can shew the early skill and in­defatigable industry of DILLENIUS more strongly, than his being able to produce so great a number of plants in so small a tract. [Page 160] He has not enumerated fewer than 980 species, of what were then called the more perfect plants; that is, exclusive of the Mushroom class, and all the Mosses. DIL­LENIUS entered minutely into the examina­tion of this class; and, by his diligence and discoveries, extended the bounds of that field, which the English botanists had so successfully cultivated before him. More had been done in England in this way than in any other nation. The Pinax of Caspar BAUHINE contains but fifty species; so little had the Musci been regarded before. The first edition of RAY's Synopsis, printed in 1690, not more than about eighty kinds; whereas by the investigations of the English botanists, particularly of DOODY, SHERARD, VERNON, LLHWYD, ROBIN­SON, PETIVER, BOBART, and others, this order was so far augmented in the second edition of the same work, in 1696, as to contain upwards of 170 species.

DILLENIUS was, however, the first wri­ter who examined them with a view to ge­nerical characters, and divided the Mosses, and Mushrooms, each into separate genera. [Page 161] It is in this book that we first meet with Bryum, Hypnum, Mnium, Sphagnum, Liche­noides, and Lichenastrum, as generical names. The four first of these, were terms in use with the Patres Botanici, although neglected by the restorers of the science, who had ranked all under the general term Muscus; except the Lichen, Lycopodium, and Polytri­chum. To demonstrate his accuracy and diligence, it may be observed, that, in the environs of Giessen alone, DILLENIUS dis­covered more than 200 species of Mosses, of which 140 were new: of the Mushroom order he enumerates 160, of which up­wards of 90 were such as he judged had not been noticed by any author before. The plants in this catalogue are disposed in the order of flowering, throughout all the year. The places of growth are sub­joined, with critical observations on many of the species.

The Appendix contains a list of twenty plants, additional to those of the Cata­logue, discovered in the immediate environs of Giessen; and an enumeration of upwards of 100 species, observed by the author, be­yond [Page 162] the bounds circumscribed in the Ca­talogue. This renders the book, in a great measure, a Flora of the plants of Hesse. Then follows a description of the new spe­cies of the Catalogue. These are succeeded by the establishment of his new genera of Mosses, Fungi, and a variety of others, a­mounting to near 100, of which some of former authors are here only amended; but the far greater part are of his own con­structing, and entirely new; and the parts of fructification separately delineated, in 16 copper-plates. This part of his work has been of great authority with succeeding writers; and many of these characters have stood the test of the Linnaean system.

The merit of this work fixed the cha­racter of the author, as a perfectly scienti­fic botanist, and attracted the notice of all the eminent professors, and admirers of the science: among others, that of Mr. William, afterwards Dr. SHERARD, to whom we owe that DILLENIUS was brought to Eng­land, and in the end fixed in the professor­ship at Oxford. SHERARD was, at that time, among the few who patronized and cultivated the science in England. He was [Page 163] lately returned from Smyrna; and having regretted the neglect of the Cryptogamia class, he was so enamoured with the disco­veries of DILLENIUS in that branch, that he entered into correspondence with him, and procured specimens from him, and afterwards brought him to England. No man was more closely devoted to a favourite muse than DILLENIUS was to Flora; and, after his arrival in England, he pursued his study with uncommon ardour, and corre­sponding diligence. The acquisition of so able a man, was probably an additional mo­tive with the Consul, to attempt the revi­val of botany in the university of Oxford.

DILLENIUS came into England in Au­gust 1721, where he had not long resided before he undertook a work that was much desired; that of publishing a new edition of the Synopsis Stirpium Britannicarum of RAY. It had been last printed in 1696, and was become scarce. DILLENIUS hav­ing firmly attached himself to RAY's sys­tem, and even improved it in some parts (though he intimates in one of his letters to a friend, that he was not allowed to [Page 164] make all the changes he wished for), and being furnished with ample means of en­larging the book, by his discovery of new species of Cryptogamia, and by the estab­lishment of new genera; being also enabled, by the discoveries of many ingenious men, whose names he enumerates in the preface, greatly to enlarge English botany; and, through the skill and assistance of Dr. RI­CHARDSON, Mr. James SHERARD, and others, being sufficiently qualified to add the old British, if I may so say, to the Eng­lish botany, he published a third edition in 1724, much to the satisfaction of all the lovers of the science throughout Europe. Twenty-four plates of rare plants were add­ed to this edition; and, besides many valu­able notes, and emendations in the genera, the addition of new species was very great. The accumulation to this book from DIL­LENIUS's own discoveries, and from the communications of others, whose names are mentioned in the preface, particularly those of Dr. SHERARD and Dr. RICHARDSON, amounted to near 40 new Fungi, as many Marine plants, upwards of 150 Mosses, and [Page 165] considerably above 200 other plants, which had been discovered to be natives of Britain, since the publication of the second edition; the whole number of British plants being about 2200, as they stand in this book. But here it may be observed, that botanists had not at that time sufficiently established specific distinctions; and this number could not stand the test of the Linnaean rules, which has since reduced the number to fewer than 1800.

DILLENIUS seems to have divided his time, before his establishment at Oxford, principally between the country residence of Mr. James SHERARD, at Eltham, in Kent; the Consul's house in town; and his own lodgings, which, in the year 1728, were in Barking Alley.

In the year 1727, Dr. THRELKELD pub­lished his Synopsis Stirpium Hibernicarum, in which he had introduced some severe strictures on DILLENIUS, principally level­led at the introduction of his new generical names. He also inveighs against him for unnecessarily multiplying the species of [Page 166] plants. See the articles, Anagallis aquatica, Dens Leonis, Lichenoides, Muscus trichoides, Stellaria, &c. DILLENIUS, though dis­pleased with the harsh and coarse language of THRELKELD's criticisms, had temper enough to forbear entering into any con­troversy on this occasion. He probably did not think THRELKELD's objections of any force sufficient to influence men of judg­ment in the science, as the Irish botanist had but little regarded any true principles of generical distinction. In a letter he wrote soon after the publication of the Irish Flora, after complaining of the grossness of THRELKELD's censures, he informs his correspondent that there was but one plant recited in the book, which was not known before as a native of Ireland. This, he adds, is the Pseudo-stachys Alpina of Caspar BAUHINE (Stachys Alpina Lin.); and this he had inserted on the authority of Mr. HEATON's manuscript.

About this time he had it in contempla­tion, to publish a new edition of the Synopsis, with the addition of the old British names; [Page 167] and the times of flowering—an article neg­lected in the former editions. This design was laid aside, and an Appendix intended, for which ample materials were in hand, received from different quarters, particularly from Dr. RICHARDSON, of North Bierly, in Yorkshire; and from Mr. BREWER, who had resided two seasons at Bangor, purposely to investigate, and collect the plants of Snow­don, and the neighbouring parts. BREWER was very successful in his researches, and sent at different times great numbers of scarce plants to DILLENIUS. This Ap­pendix also miscarried. In the mean time, all these exertions were favourable to the purpose he ever had in view, of completing the Historia Muscorum. Wales was a pro­ductive source of new subjects in this way, and DILLENIUS availed himself of BREW­ER's researches.

Whatever might be the precise nature of his engagement with the Consul, it appears that DILLENIUS, being doubtful of the success of the Oxford scheme, had formed a design of residing some time, [Page 168] if not finally settling, in Yorkshire. In a letter to a correspondent of that county, dated Dec. 16, 1727, he writes thus: ‘"Pray Sir, how is it to board in that country? if I have done here, and Ox­ford fails, as its likely it may do, I could resolve to go and live there some time, if not for good and all; if any small business should encourage it."’ Ever since his residence in England, his employ­ments had been various, and important, and his assiduity as distinguished as his abilities. Since his arrival in 1721, he had published the Synopsis, of which he designed, if he did not himself engrave, all the figures. He soon after began the Hortus Elthamensis. He collected materials for a new edition of, or Appendix to, the Synopsis. He never lost sight of his Historia Muscorum. Addi­tional to all which, the business of the Pi­nax appears to have been pursued with vigour. In a letter dated Dec. 26, 1727, he says, ‘"We have entered almost all au­thors; but to put it in order, and to write it fair, will require some years still."’

[Page 169] In August 1728, his friend and patron, Consul SHERARD, died; in consequence of whose will, his establishment at Oxford took place soon after; the university wav­ing the right of nomination, in considera­tion of Dr. SHERARD's benefaction.

DILLENIUS.

DILLENIUS was now arrived at that situation, which had probably been the main object of his wishes; and which he considered equally as the completion of his hopes, the asylum against future disap­pointments, and the field of all that grati­fication, for which his taste and pursuits prompted him to wish, and qualified him to enjoy. Add to all this, he was placed in the society of the learned, in the com­pletest sense of that word, and at the foun­tain of every information, which the stores of both antient and modern erudition could display, to an inquisitive mind.

[Page 171] The plan of the Hortus Elthamensis had been laid so early as the year 1724, imme­diately after publishing the Synopsis; and some of the plants were figured and described be­fore Dr. SHERARD's death. The work was now carried on with vigour, and was print­ed in 1732, under the following title:

"HORTUS ELTHAMENSIS, seu Planta­rum rariorum quas in Horto suo Elthami in Cantio coluit Vir ornatissimus et praestantissi­mus Jacobus SHERARD, M.D. Soc. Reg. et Coll. Med. Lon. Soc. Gulielmi, P.M. Frater, Delineationes et Descriptiones, quarum Histo­ria vel planè non vel imperfectè à Rei herba­riae Scriptoribus tradita fuit. Auctore Jo­hanne Jacobo DILLENIO, M.D." Lond. Fol. pp. 437. Tab. 324.

In this elegant and elaborate work, of which LINNAEUS says, "est opus botanicum quo absolutius mundum non vidit," are de­scribed and figured, with the most circum­stantial accuracy, 417 plants, all drawn and etched with his own hand, consisting principally of such exotics as were then rare, or had been but lately introduced into Eng­land. A few of the more rare English and [Page 172] Welch plants were included. They are dis­posed in the alphabetical order. The fi­gures are of the natural size as much as may be. The synonyma of former authors are quoted and accompanied by copious critical examinations and observations, the better to ascertain the species. Several new genera are established, many of the new Gerania are figured, and a very copious history of the genus Mesembryanthemum given; with a synoptical view of all the species, of which fifty-four are described and figured in this work^*.

We find by the list of graduates, that DILLENIUS was admitted to the degree of Doctor of Physic in St. John's College, April 3, 1735.

In the summer of 1736, LINNAEUS visit­ed the Professor at Oxford; and, although DILLENIUS did not relish the sexual system, about that time first divulged, yet LIN­NAEUS returned with the highest opinion of [Page 173] his merit; and, as I have observed on an­other occasion, expressed himself in these terms: ‘"In Anglia nullus est qui genera cu­rat vel intelligat praeterquam DILLENIUS."’

LINNAEUS, after this time, corresponded with him, sent him his Flora Lapponica, and dedicated to him the Critica Botanica. On which occasion the Professor sent his acknowledgments in the following terms, in a letter, dated Aug. 18, 1737: ‘"Vidi, accepi et legi Floram tuam Lapponicam multa cum voluptate; utinam plures istiusmodi nobis prostarent tali studio, et cura elaboratae, in hac te virum praestitisti."’

During this period, DILLENIUS held fre­quent correspondence and communication with HALLER, whom he esteemed, proba­bly the more, on account of the affinity of his system with that of RAY, which he had himself adopted. It appears, that he con­sidered HALLER as almost the only man qualified to carry on the Pinax, and wished him to have been his successor.

About this time, he was employed with Dr. SHAW, in reducing to order and ascer­taining, that learned traveller's collection of [Page 174] Oriental plants. As they were all dried spe­cimens, and the collection extensive, con­sisting of 640 species, it required the aid of an able hand to distinguish and apply syno­nyms to so considerable a number. This catalogue, therefore, which is annexed, with the engravings of a few of the plants, to the first edition of Dr. SHAW's elaborate work, may be considered eventually, as the work of the botanical Professor.

After the completion of the Hortus El­thamensis, he pursued his "History of Mosses" with great diligence. It has been observed before, that he had extended his researches into this part of nature, much further than any preceding botanist, having been the first discoverer of a great number of species, and having separated those here­tofore described together by the general term Muscus, into several genera, under the names of Sphagnum, Fontinalis, Bryum, and Hypnum; taking his distinctions, as well from the habit of the plant, (to which the accurate HALLER thought he paid too much regard,) as from the figure and situation of that part of the sructification which is [Page 175] now considered as the capsule. By means of the excellent botanical library of the SHERARDS, and free access to their ample Herbarium, and that of Mr. DU BOIS, who had, with Mr. DOODY and several others, signalized themselves by their discoveries this way some years before, DILLENIUS enjoyed advantages which perhaps no other situation could have afforded. Besides which, to give himself all further opportu­nities that Britain allowed of making dis­coveries in this department, he took a jour­ney himself into Wales, in the summer of 1726. In this excursion he was attended by Samuel BREWER. They examined Cader Idris, and took up their residence at Ban­gor; searched Snowdon, Glyder, the Isle of Anglesea; and visited the Iste of Man. Mr. GREEN, a clergyman of those parts, was useful in directing their researches, and in assisting DILLENIUS in the Welch names of places, and of plants. The Rev. Little­ton BROWN, M.A. Fellow of the Royal Society, is also commemorated, as having communicated many specimens of the Cryp­togamous tribe to our author, collected by [Page 176] him in Wales, Shropshire, and Herefordshire; and thus, by the communications of these, and many other friends, whose aid he has gratefully acknowledged^*, he was enabled to bring his work to that degree of perfec­tion, which would have been impracticable in many other situations. In 1741 it was published from the Sheldon press, under the following title:

"HISTORIA MUSCORUM, in qua circi­ter sexcentae Species veteres et novae, ad sua Genera relatae, describuntur, et Iconibus ge­nuinis illustrantur; cum Appendice, et Indice Synonymorum. Opera Jo. Jac. DILLENII, M.D. in Universitate Oxoniensi Botanices Pro­fessoris SHERARDINI." 4^o. 1741. pp. 552. Tab. 85.

All the subjects of this volume were drawn, and engraved with his own hand. It comprehends all those plants which [Page 177] come under the name of Musci and Algae in the Cryptogamia class of the sexual sys­tem, except the Fucuses, some of the Ulvae, Confervae, and a very few others. The au­thor's method is throughout as follows; at the head of each genus he gives the ety­mology of the name; his reasons for adopt­ing that name, and applying it to the sub­ject; then the definition of his genus, fol­lowed by the subordinate distinctions for the arrangement of the species.

In treating on each species, he gives, 1. A new specific character, in terms intended to distinguish it from others of the same genus, or subdivision. 2. The description of the species at length; distinguishing also, with great care, the several varieties; and referring each to the several figures on his plates. 3. The general places of growth; and under the more rare species, the par­ticular places where they have been found, or from whence he had received them: to these is subjoined the time when each is found in heads, or in its most flourishing state. 4. The synonym of every author at length, disposed in chronological order; [Page 178] noticing at the same time such as are refer­able to varieties; and frequently subjoining a number of critical observations. 5. The uses of particular kinds, whether in the general oeconomy of nature, or in medicine, or the other arts and conveniences of life. A summary view of the uses of several kinds appears in the preface; but in the body of the work, DILLENIUS has, with great dili­gence, collected numerous authorities on these heads; which sufficiently evince, that this almost unnoticed tribe of vegetables hold a more considerable importance^* in the scale of utility, than a superficial view may suggest.

[Page 179] When we consider the minuteness of the objects of his investigation, the accuracy of his descriptions, the critical examination and nice discrimination of each species, the labour and skill the author has exhibited in the selection of the synonyma, and the dis­position of them into chronological order, which is a highly meritorious part of the plan, "The History of Mosses" must be considered as a very extraordinary perform­ance: and, notwithstanding any subsequent improvements in the arrangement of species, or in the reduction of them in consequence of more perfect observations, or even in the microscopical discoveries of HEDWIG re­specting the Genera, DILLENIUS's work must long be the basis of knowledge in this part of nature, and must remain with pos­terity as an almost unexampled instance of patience, ingenuity, and science, in the au­thor. This work, moreover, possesses a su­periority over every other botanical publica­tion [Page 180] that I am acquainted with, in having a complete index of the synonyma at length. An addition of the highest utility in works of this kind! and which those who are con­versant with the writings of LINNAEUS can­not but regret the want of, in the Species Plantarum.

The whole impression of DILLENIUS's "Mosses" was only 250 copies, of which 50 were on imperial paper. The original edition having become extremely scarce^*, an impression of the plates, with the names only annexed, was taken off in the year 1768, and published by John Millan. I here remark, that this was the first book printed in England, in which any of the Linnaean specific characters were exhibited. Both the Flora Lapponica, and the Hortus Cliffortianus, are quoted in this volume.

[Page 181] There is little doubt that DILLENIUS intended to have prosecuted the Fungusses, as he had done the Mosses; and he appears to have had this design in contemplation early after he came to England. In a letter, written in Dec. 1726, he informs his cor­respondent, that ‘"He was busy in painting Fungi;"’ and makes this employment an apology for not answering his letters in due time. We know that he corresponded with Dr. DEERING on this subject; who was himself well skilled in the knowledge of these productions, and had painted a great number, some of which he communicated to the Professor.

I have been informed, that Dr. DILLE­NIUS was of a corpulent habit of body: this circumstance, united to his close appli­cation to study, probably tended to shorten his days. He was seized with an apoplexy in the last week of March, 1747; and died on the 2d of April, in the 60th year of his age.

There is a portrait of him in the pic­ture gallery, or school, at Oxford, in which he is represented in the academical habit; [Page 182] with this inscription—Jacobus DILLENIUS. M.D. Botanices Professor primus, in Acade­mia Oxonienfi; but I have never heard that any engraving was made from it^*.

I have never been able to acquire that information my curiosity hath prompted me to wish for, relating to the domestic character, habits, temper, and dispositions of Dr. DILLENIUS. Of those whom I have conversed with, who were his con­temporaries, I have learned, that he was modest, temperate, and gentle in all his conduct: that he was known to few who did not seek him; and, as might be ex­pected, from the bent of his studies, and [Page 183] the close application he gave to them, that his habits were of the recluse kind. If it be allowable to form any opinions of men from the perusal of their letters, some that I have seen, written by him, would sug­gest, that he was naturally endowed with a placid disposition, improved by a philo­sophical calmness of mind, which secured him in a considerable degree from the ef­fects of the incidental evils of life. I will at least lay before the reader, in the note^*, [Page 184] a transcript from one of his letters, written to a friend, labouring under the pressure of adverse fortune; which seems to confirm this idea^*.

RICHARDSON.

AMONG those whom DILLENIUS has recorded in the preface to the third edition of RAY's Synopsis, and in his Historia Muscorum, as having amplified Eng­lish botany, the names of the SHERARDS, and of Dr. RICHARDSON, obtain a superior distinction. The merit of Dr. RICHARD­SON, both from his undoubted skill in the sci­ence, and his well known patronage of those who cherished it, demand a more particular commemoration than I am able to give; [Page 186] since I am unacquainted with any further circumstances relating to him, than that he was educated a physician, and lived at North Bierly, in Yorkshire. There he resided upon his own estate, which was ample enough to render the practice of physic totally unne­cessary to his well-being, from any lucra­tive views. He had travelled into various parts of England, for the investigation of plants, and had been successful in his tour into Wales, having more especially made discoveries in the Cryptogamia class. His garden was well stored with exotics, and with a curious collection of English plants. He was happily situated to favour his pos­session of the latter, with which his store was replenished from time to time by the assistance of Samuel BREWER, and Thomas KNOWLTON, both instances of strong at­tachment to botanical pursuits, and both resident in the same county.

Dr. RICHARDSON lived in intimacy and correspondence with Sir Hans SLOANE, Dr. DILLENIUS, and other celebrated botanists of his time. I do not find that he pub­lished on his favourite amusement; but his [Page 187] name occurs in the Philosophical Transac­tions, as author of the following papers.

On subterraneous Trees, or Fossil Wood, found at Youlé, near York. Vol. xix. p. 526.

Observations in Natural History in York­shire. A Boy who lived to seventeen years of age, without any Secretion of Urine, in whom Nature supplied this deficiency by a constant Diarrhoea. On the Trouts of the Welch Lakes; on the Ermine; the Nut­hatch; and the Regulus Cristatus; the He­lix Pomatia. Vol. xxviii. p. 167.

A Relation of the Fall of a Water Spout in Lancashire, which tore up the ground se­ven feet deep, formed a deep gulph near half a mile in length, and destroyed the surface of ten acres of land. Vol. xxx. p. 1097.

A Letter from Dr. Richard RICHARD­SON, F.R.S. to Sir Hans SLOANE, Bart. concerning the Voraciousness of the Squilla Aquae dulcis in destroying the young Fry of Carp and Tench in Ponds. Vol. xxxviii. p. 331.

A Case from Mr. William Wright, Sur­geon of Bradford, concerning a large Piece [Page 188] of the Thigh Bone (5½ inches long) taken out, and its place supplied by a Callus.

Dr. RICHARDSON died at an advanced age, about the year 1740.

BREWER.

I reluctantly pass over the names of many others, mentioned in the Synopsis, whose services, although they were not writers on the subject, might justly call for respectful notice: but, not being able to produce any satisfactory or interesting anecdotes relating to them, I must content myself with refer­ring the reader to a list of them, collected with no small pains, by the present Profes­sor of Botany at Cambridge, and published in the Preface to his Plantae Cantabrigien­ses.

Having however mentioned the name of Samuel BREWER, his connection with DIL­LENIUS will not allow me to refuse a pro­per tribute to his memory; since his passion for English botany, and his skill and assi­duity, enabled him to afford singular assist­ance to the Professor, particularly in the subjects for his "History of Mosses;" as in [Page 189] some instances he had done in the Synop­sis, for the plants of Mendip and Chedder Rocks.

He was originally of Trowbridge, in Wilts, in which county he had a small estate. He was engaged at one time in the woollen manufactory of that place; but, I believe, proved unsuccessful in business. He attended DILLENIUS into Wales, An­glesey, and the Isle of Man, in the summer of 1726; and afterwards remained the win­ter, and the greater part of the next year, in that country; making his residence at Bangor, and taking his excursions to Snow­don and elsewhere, often accompanied by the Rev. Mr. GREEN, and Mr. William JONES. While in Wales, it was intended that he should have gone over to Ireland, to make a botanical tour through that kingdom; but that expedition never took place. So long a residence gave him an op­portunity not only of seeing the beauties of summer plants, but of collecting the Cryp­togamia in winter, when they flourish most. Here he received instructions from the Pro­fessor, collected specimens of every thing [Page 190] rare, or unknown to him before, and sent them to DILLENIUS, to determine the spe­cies, and fix the names. I have seen a ca­talogue of more than two hundred plants, many of which were ill ascertained before, all sent at one time, with the references to the Synopsis affixed by DILLENIUS. This journey appears to have been designed to promote the "Appendix to the Synopsis."

In 1728, Mr. BREWER went into York­shire, and resided, I believe, the remainder of his days at Bradford, in that county, in the neighbourhood of Dr. RICHARDSON, by whose beneficence he was assisted in various ways. After his retirement into Yorkshire, he meditated, and nearly finished, a work which was to have borne the title of "The Botanical Guide;" but it never ap­peared. I cannot determine the time of his decease, but am assured he was living in the year 1742.

HARRISON.

At a somewhat later period, we find the name of Thomas HARRISON, a tradesman at Manchester, who furnished DILLENIUS [Page 191] with specimens for his history. In his younger years he had collected a large Her­barium. I have been informed by one who inspected it in the year 1762, that it con­tained, at that time, near 4000 specimens, including both exotic and indigenous plant [...]. Among the latter, the Filices were the most complete part; the other Cryptogamia being but few, and the collection in general not rich in British species. In order to accommodate the specimens to the largest sized paper, luxuriant plants of the smaller kinds had been chosen; a circumstance disadvantageous to the distinctions of such plants.

Mr. HARRISON's Herbarium hath, I be­lieve, since been purchased, at a consider­able price, and is deposited in the Manches­ter library.

COLE.

Mr. Thomas COLE, another of the corre­spondents of DILLENIUS, was a dissenting minister at Gloucester, of whom I have heard the following anecdote: That he had col­lected an Herbarium, which, in a flight of [Page 192] religious zeal, and repentance, at having mispent his time in accumulating, he com­mitted to the flames. Mr. COLE certainly forgot, at that moment, that the key to useful science is the knowledge of things. To collect the productions of nature, in order to admire and contemplate in his works the great Author of all, is in itself surely not only innocent, but laudable; and, when the view is extended to the utility of man, still more meritorious. If the sight of Mr. COLE's collection might teach but one peasant to distinguish that plant, which could alleviate his own, or the affliction of his neighbour, or his friend, surely it had not been made in vain.

IRISH BOTANY.

IRELAND has been so little distin­guished for the production of writers on the subject of these sketches, that it has not been in my power, till this late period, to introduce to the reader's notice, any pro­fessed work on the Flora of that kingdom. The distracted state of the country, during a great part of the last century, had doubt­less no small share in retarding the progress of learning and science among the Irish. It does not appear, that, until the middle of that period, any enquiries had been made even into the natural history of the country in general.

[Page 194] Gerard BOATE, a Dutch physician, be­gan "Ireland's Natural History," which was published by Samuel HARTLIB in 1652, 12^o. Of this the 10th, 11th, and 12th chapters treat on Agriculture. But the second part of the work, in which the author intended to have given the Vegeta­bles, was never published; if indeed it was ever written.

There is a Mr. Zanche SILLIARD, an apothecary of Dublin, mentioned by PAR­KINSON, who seems to have possessed some botanical knowledge. But the earliest in­telligence that I can find of any real bota­nist, a native of Ireland, is of a Mr. HEA­TON, a divine, who lived at Dublin. I cannot collect any anecdotes of him; but I find his name attached, as the first disco­verer, to many plants in HOW's Phytologia, and to some in MERRETT's Pinax; and, from the number and rarity of the subjects recorded, he must have been a person of considerable knowledge in his way. It appears from the same authorities, that he had been much in England, having pointed out the natural places of many rare plants [Page 195] of this country. He is thought to have left a manuscript on the subject, which it is conjectured was written about the year 1641, and from which THRELKELD took the Irish names of plants, who says, they were much more copious and exact than he could collect from any living authority. In the number of plants, it greatly exceeds any list we have extant of the old British names, or of those in the Erse tongue, among the Highlanders.

Towards the latter end of the century, some information was received relating to the natural history of Ireland, from the tour of Dr. LLHWYD, as recorded in the Philo­sophical Transactions; and Dr. William SHE­RARD, on his visits to Sir Arthur RAW­DON, at Moyra, noticed many of the rare plants of that region.

Soon after this time, the establishment of the Philosophical Society at Dublin contri­buted to advance, among other sciences, that of natural history; and, of those who exerted themselves to promote these pur­suits, were the two brothers, Dr. Wil­liam and Dr. Thomas MOLYNEUX. Their [Page 196] papers are numerous, and are extant in the Philosophical Transactions.

Dr. Thomas MOLYNEUX was professor of physic in the university of Dublin, and phy­sician to the state, and to the army. About the beginning of this century, he drew up some account of the spontaneous vegetables of Ireland; which evidence, that he had applied to the study in a scientific manner.

He communicated his papers to Dr. THRELKELD, who incorporated some of them into the body of his Synopsis, and placed the remainder at the end. Of Dr. THRELKELD I now proceed to give some account.

THRELKELD.

Caleb THRELKELD, the author of the first treatise on the plants of Ireland, was born the 31st of May, 1676, at Keiberg, in the parish of Kirkoswald, in Cumberland. In the year 1698, he commenced master of arts in the university of Glasgow, and soon after settled at Low Huddlesceugh, near the place of his birth, in the character of a dissenting minister. He had acquired a [Page 197] taste for botany and physic during his re­sidence at Glasgow; and continued to make a considerable progress in these studies, in­somuch, that, in 1712, he took a doctor's degree in physic at Edinburgh; and the next spring, having a straight income, and a large family, he removed to Dublin, and settled there in the united character of the divine, and physician. Finding himself like­ly to succeed, in little more than a year, he sent for his family, consisting of a wife, three sons, and three daughters. His prac­tice as a physician, soon increased, so far as to enable him to drop his other character entirely, and devote himself wholly to phy­sic. In 1727, he published his "SYNOPSIS STIRPIUM HIBERNICARUM;" and died, after a short sickness, of a violent fever, at his house in Mark's Alley, Frances Street, April 28, 1728; and was buried in the new burial ground belonging to St. Patrick's, near Cavan Street; to which place his ob­sequies were attended by a set of children, educated by a society of gentlemen, to which institution he had acted as physician. And my memorialist adds, that he was much re­gretted [Page 198] by the poor, to whom he had been, both as a man, and as a physician, a kind benefactor.

It does not appear that Dr. THRELKELD published any other work than the follow­ing, though he meditated a general history of plants:

"SYNOPSIS STIRPIUM HIBERNICA­RUM, alphabetice dispositarum; five, Com­mentatio de Plantis indigenis, praesertim Dublinensibus instituta. Being a short Treatise of Native Plants, especially such as grow spontaneously in the vicinity of Dublin; with their Latin, English, and Irish Names, and an Abridgment of their Virtues; with several new Discoveries. With an Appendix of Observations made upon Plants, by Dr. MOLYNEUX, Phy­sician to the State in Ireland. The first Essay of the Kind in the Kingdom of Ireland. Auctore CALEB THRELKELD, M.D. Dublin, 1727." 8^o. pp. 262.

The author, after a dedication to the Archbishop of Armagh, and a preface, which, though written in a quaint stile, proves him to have been a man of some [Page 199] erudition in the science, enumerates all the plants he had observed in the environs of Dublin, and of all such as he had gained authentic intelligence, from other parts of the kingdom. He gives, first, the old La­tin names, generally from Caspar BAU­HINE's Pinax; then the English name; and afterwards the Irish; subjoining some account of the quality of the plant, and its use in medicine, and oeconomy.

He has moreover interspersed some curi­ous observations: to instance, under the Betula, or Birch Tree, he says, ‘"The Irish grammarians remark, that all the names of the Irish letters, are names of trees."’

Under Brassica, he observes, ‘"That the word is only the Celtic Praisseagh put into a Latin termination; the Latin be­ing no other than the Celtic language cloathed with the Aeolic dialect, as Eng­lish is the Saxon or Dutch language cloathed with Normandy French, as all antiquaries will allow."’

It is observable, that THRELKELD no­tices the good effects of the Lythrum Sa­licaria, in a dysentery: a simple since his [Page 200] time so strongly recommended by De HAEN^* in the same disorder; and in ob­stinate diarrhoeas. He also speaks in high terms, and from his own experience, of the powers usually attributed to the Meny­anthes trifoliata, or Bog-bean. He quotes from Dr. VAUGHAN a case of the fatal ef­fect of the Mackenbay, or Euphorbia Hy­berna. Dr. MOLYNEUX has observed, that the Genista spinosa, or Whins (Ulex euro­peus Lin.) although common in other parts of Ireland, is not seen in the pro­vince of Connaught. A singular fact, if the observation be sufficiently accurate.

In the Appendix, printed from the papers of Dr. MOLYNEUX, the reader meets with several curious observations. Among others, an instance of the effects of the roots of common Henbane upon several persons, who having eaten them instead of skirrets, were affected with vertiginous symptoms, and in one case a frenzy ensued, which held the person two or three days. The work con­cludes with the Index of Irish names of [Page 201] plants, from the manuscript supposed to have been written, as heretofore observed, by Mr. HEATON.

THRELKELD's Flora is not rich in the number of plants, since it does not contain more than 535 species. The author ap­pears to have been better acquainted with the history of plants than with plants them­selves; and seems not to have studied bota­ny in a systematic way, as may be inferred from his strictures on the third edition of RAY's Synopsis, noticed under the article DILLENIUS.

KEOGH.

"Botanologia Universalis Hibernica; or, A General Irish Herbal, calculated for this Kingdom; giving an Account of the Herbs, Shrubs, and Trees, naturally pro­duced therein, in English, Irish, and La­tin; with a true Description of them, and their Medicinal Virtues and Qualities. By John KEOGH, A.B. Chaplain to the Right Hon. the Lord Kingston. Corke. 1735." 4^o.

[Page 202] Not having seen this work, I cannot give the reader any further information relating to it.

SMITH's HISTORIES.

In the County Histories of Ireland, publish­ed under the direction of the Physico-his­torical Society of Dublin by Charles SMITH, we meet with catalogues of the rare plants in each district. These lists, however, not being drawn up with sufficient knowledge of the subject, want that authenticity, which the critical botanist would expect, and have not greatly enlarged the botany of Ireland.

In that of "The antient and present State of the County of Down," 1744, 8^o, the author speaks of the Savin as indigenous—a privilege which will scarcely be allowed to it in that kingdom; although Dr. MO­LYNEUX, and after him THRELKELD, had recorded it. When it is recollected for what nefarious purposes it was originally intro­duced into many gardens, it may readily be conjectured to be the perpetuated offspring [Page 203] of original culture, in a favourable situa­tion.

In that of "The County of Waterford," many very common plants, and a consider­able number of the marine species. There occurs also a case, confirming the poisonous quality of the Hemlock Dropwort.

In that of "The County of Cork," 1750, 2 vols. 8^o, several of the Alpine, and other rare plants, occur; such are the Dryas oc­topetala, Sedum dasyphyllum, Euphorbia hy­berna: but what will the critical botanist say, when he sees in this list the Androsae­mum Ascyron!

Ireland may with reason be proud to enumerate, among its choice productions of Flora, the Arbutus of Killarney; neverthe­less, its right as an aboriginal, is with great probability of truth contested by Mr. SMITH, in his "History of the County of Kerry," 1756, 8^o; in which he considers it as having been introduced by the Monks of St. Finnian, who founded the abbey in the sixth century.

I conclude my remarks on Irish botany with observing, that the varied clime, the [Page 204] different site of the country throughout Ireland; its mountains, lakes, creeks, and moors, unquestionably afford scope to a great variety of vegetables; and the poverty of THRELKELD's Flora has left a rich harvest to the Irish botanist: for, notwith­standing the considerable time elapsed since the publication of his book, and the lauda­ble attempts of the Dublin Society, I know not that Ireland has since been examined by any person of acknowledged abilities in the science. What might not such an ad­venturer expect, from a country, which nurtures on its mountains the Andromeda Daboecia, the Dryas octopetala, and the Saxifraga umbrosa of the Alps; and, on the borders of its enchanting lakes, the Ar­butus Unedo of Greece.

MARTYN.

AT the dawn of learning, the seeds of botany had been first sown in Eng­land, by Dr. TURNER, at Cambridge. They can scarcely, however, be said to have ger­minated, until a century afterwards, under the fostering care of Mr. RAY. By his cultivation, they took root, although not invigorated by public support. In the mean time, through the munificence of the Earl of DANBY, Oxford experienced the benefit of a public institution in aid of this science, and botany flourished under the care of MO­RISON. [Page 206] After his time, to the establish­ment of DILLENIUS, it languished; no pub­lication marked its progress; and its history at Oxford is void of interesting facts. Nearly the same languor prevailed after the time of Mr. RAY at Cambridge, and botany attained no strength till the time of Dr. MARTYN, who, under the patronage of the university, gave the first public lecture in that depart­ment, in the year 1727.

Of this learned botanist, I am now, in the order of time, to present the reader with some account: and here I find myself agree­ably anticipated by the relation of his life and writings, prefixed to his "Dissertations on the Aeneids of VIRGIL," printed in 1770, 12^o, and drawn up by his most respectable son, and successor in the professorship; with whose friendship and correspondence, I have on this occasion a sincere pleasure in ac­knowledging, I have long been honoured. Hence I shall briefly recite from these anec­dotes, only the leading circumstances in the life of Dr. MARTYN, as connected with his professorial character; and conclude with a short account of his botanical writings.

[Page 207] John MARTYN was born in the city of London, Sept. 12, 1699, and was designed by his father for the profession of a mer­chant; but his early and strong propensity to learning and science, in the end over-ruled that design. He had from his youth an attachment to botany; and this taste was further excited by his acquaintance with Mr. WILMER, afterwards demonstrator at Chelsea Garden; and confirmed by an inti­macy with, and the countenance of, Dr. SHERARD, in the year 1719. In the year 1720, he translated from the French, Dr. TOURNEFORT's "History of the Plants growing about Paris;" and having pro­jected a like catalogue of the plants about London, he collected, with unwearied dili­gence, the native plants of the environs; making for this purpose sometimes very ex­tensive excursions, and almost ever on foot. He had once conceived a scheme for form­ing a method from the Seed-leaves, and had sown a great number of seeds in order to observe the difference between them. He early became acquainted with DILLENIUS, and co-operated with him in forming a so­ciety [Page 208] of botanists, which consisted of seven­teen members. This society kept together till the year 1726. He continued, during the years 1723 and 1724, to make his excur­sions in search of plants more frequent, and extended them farther, into Middlesex, Sur­rey, Essex, and Kent. At the same time he studied Insects, continued his observations on the Seed-leaves, and made many others on the Sexes of Plants. He had, several years before this time, translated from the Latin, an ode on that subject, presented to CAMERARIUS, and printed in that Author's epistle De Sexu Plantarum. The translation may be seen in BLAIR's "Botanic Essays."

In the summer of 1724, he travelled into Wales, by Bath and Bristol, returning by Hereford, Worcester, and Oxford; by which he extended the objects of his studies, and augmented his collection of English plants; insomuch, that at length it comprehended 1400 specimens.

In 1725 and 1726, he read lectures in botany in London, and was recommended by Dr. SHERARD and Sir Hans SLOANE to exercise the same function at Cambridge; [Page 209] where, on the death of BRADLEY, he was chosen Professor of Botany; and continued to give lectures for several years, until the want of a garden, and his long absence from the business of physic, which he had engaged in, rendered it incommodious to him.

In 1727, Dr. MARTYN was admitted a member of the Royal Society; and was so active in the committee for regulating the library and museum, in 1731, that he had his bond for annual payment cancelled by an order of council, as an acknowledgment of his services.

In 1730, he was admitted of Emanuel College, with an intention to have pro­ceeded regularly with the degrees in physic; but his marriage, and his attention to the practice of the profession, prevented him from finishing his design. In the mean time, he read lectures in Botany and the Materia Medica, both at Cambridge and in London, in the years 1730 and 1731. In the beginning of the year 1733, he was elected Professor of Botany by the unani­mous voice of the university.

[Page 210] Dr. MARTYN had practised physic for three years in the city, but on account of an asthmatic complaint, removed in the year 1730 to Chelsea; where he continued the exercise of that prosession, until his retire­ment to Streatham, in 1752. In 1761, he resigned his professorship; and soon after, in gratitude for the favour of having chosen him, and his son after him, to this post, he presented to the university his botanical li­brary, consisting of upwards of 200 vo­lumes; his Hortus Siccus of Exotics, con­taining 2600 specimens; near 250 drawings of Fungi; his collection of Seeds, and Seed Vessels; and his Materia Medica.

He removed to Chelsea about a year be­fore his death; which event took place on the 29th of January, 1768.

The Professor was the author of the fol­lowing publications:

TABULAE SYNOPTICAE Plantarum Offi­cinalium ad Methodum Raianam dispositae. 1726. fol. pp. 20. Dedicated to Sir Hans SLOANE.

METHODUS PLANTARUM circa Canta­brigiam nascentium. 1727. 12^o. pp. 132. [Page 211] This is Mr. RAY's Alphabetical Catalogue, reduced to the order of his system, with the generic characters taken from RAY's Me­thodus emendata et aucta, from VAILLANT, DILLENIUS, SCHEUCHZER, and others, much improved and corrected by Mr. MAR­TYN's own observations. All the plants of Mr. RAY's two Appendices, of 1663 and 1685, now become extremely rare, amount­ing to 84 species, are inserted in this ma­nual, which was printed for the use of his pupils, on his first reading lectures at Cam­bridge. A sheet and an half of a new edition, containing more than 150 species, not con­tained in RAY's Catalogue, was printed as part of a new edition; but it was not car­ried farther: these were, Submarine Plants, Funguses, Mosses, Capillaries, Apetalous and Juliferous Plants. And, as the genius of RAY still continued to animate his succes­sors, the Cambridge Flora has since been much augmented and improved, not only by the skill and assiduity of the present Professor, and the labours of the late Mr. LYONS, but more recently still, by the [Page 212] diligent researches and accurate discrimina­tions of the Rev. Mr. RELHAN.

HISTORIA PLANTARUM RARIORUM Decades quinque. Fol. max. 1728-1732. This was the most sumptuous and magni­ficent work of the kind, that had ever been attempted in England. It was dedicated to the Royal Society, and was designed to contain such curious plants, as had not been figured before, in their natural size and co­lours; with the descriptions, and the cul­ture and uses. The extraordinary expence of this work prevented its progress. The plates were mezzotinto, and printed in pro­per colours. These Decads, among many other rarities, contain several Gerania, the Milleria, Martynia, Gronovia, Turnera, se­veral Passiflorae, Cassiae, and many North-American plants.

In 1729, having entertained a design of reading a course of lectures at Oxford, he pub­lished "The first Lecture of a Course of Bo­tany, being an Introduction to the rest." 8^o. 1729. pp. 24. tab. 84. It is an explana­tion of the technical terms of the science.

[Page 213] In the year 1720, Dr. MARTYN, as hath been observed, had made a Translation of TOURNEFORT's "History of Plants about Paris;" and at the same time meditated a Catalogue of those of the environs of London. The latter was never finished; nor was the Translation published, till twelve years afterwards, when it appeared under the following title: "TOURNEFORT's His­tory of Plants growing about Paris, with their Uses in Physic; and a Mechanical Account of the Operation of Medicines. Translated into English, with many Ad­ditions, and accommodated to the Plants growing in Great Britain." In 2 vols. 8^o. 1732.

"The Six Alphabets" of TOURNEFORT are reduced into one; all the useful obser­vations, both from the edition which came out by the united care of SHERARD and BOERHAAVE, and from that which was published by Bernard de JUSSIEU, are ex­tracted. The Translator added also the English names, and the places where the plants grow in England. He disposed the Mosses according to DILLENIUS's method; [Page 214] and the Mushrooms and Capillary Plants, after a new method of his own.

Of the papers published by Dr. MAR­TYN, in the Philosophical Transactions, the following have relation to the subject of this work.

Rare Plants observed in a Journey into the Peak of Derbyshire. N^o 407. Vol. xxxvi. p. 22 and 28. In this paper, the Author has taken occasion to separate the Lac­tuca sylvestris murorum flore luteo of BAU­HINE and RAY from that genus, and gives it the name of Scariola. LINNAEUS justifies the distinction, but calls the genus Phrenan­thes.

An Account of a new Species of Fungus. N^o 475. Vol. xliii. p. 263; with a Figure. Dr. MARTYN classed this singular pro­duction among the Boleti. He takes the opportunity, in this paper, of exhibiting a Synoptical Table of his distribution of the whole order of Fungi: of which it is suffi­cient to say, that it does not materially dif­fer from that of DILLENIUS. The figure was copied in BLACKSTONE's Specimen Bo­tanicum; and the Fungus has been consi­dered [Page 215] by the author of the Flora Anglica, as a variety of the Clavaria Hypoxylon Lin.

A Remark concerning the Sex of Holly. Vol. xlviii. p. 613. Dr. MARTYN first observed the Holly Tree to be Dioecious, in his own garden at Streatham, in Surry. Dr. WATSON, Mr. MILLER, and subsequent botanists, not only found his observations true, but discovered, that the same trees bore also hermaphrodite flowers. This oc­casioned the removal of it, in the Flora An­glica, to the class Polygamia. But as it does not appear that the remaining species of the Ilex are subject to the same change, the genus stands in the works of LINNAEUS in the Tetrandrous class as before.

It is not without the strictest justice that the term indefatigable is applied to this learned man. His avocations from business were wholly devoted to the cause of litera­ture, which he contributed to serve in va­rious ways. The numerous works he was engaged in, and the variety of his manuscript remains, amply testify this truth. At one time he was concerned in a periodical pa­per. He was a coadjutor with Mr. EAMES, [Page 216] in abridging the Philosophical Transactions; and was employed in writing the first three volumes of the "General Dictionary," in which the lives of BELLONIUS, BOCCONE, and BRUNSFELSIUS, were written by him. He translated BOERHAAVE's "Treatise on the Powers of Medicine;" HARRIS's "Treatise on the Acute Diseases of Infants;" and, jointly with Mr. CHAMBERS, gave, in 5 volumes in octavo, in 1742, a Translation, or rather an "Abridgment of Philosophical Papers, from the Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris."

Dr. MARTYN was the author of thir­teen papers, printed in the Philosophical Transactions. His Translation of the Geor­gics and Bucolics of VIRGIL, with his notes upon this his favourite poet, hath extended his fame among the learned of all nations. To the classical reader in general, they af­ford ample satisfaction; but to those who join to such elegant enjoyment, a knowledge of the learned Editor's favourite science, these volumes must afford a gratification, which they will in vain seek for elsewhere. His great knowledge both of antient and mo­dern [Page 217] science, relating to plants, enabled him to appropriate the modern appellations, with a degree of judgment, that has been highly approved of by those who know the difficulty of the undertaking, under that almost total want of specific distinction, which occurs in the writings of the an­cients.

In the year 1737, our Author entered into correspondence with LINNAEUS. It is one of those notices that can only oc­cur to a lover of similar studies, that he was, if not the first, at least one of the earliest English writers, who announced the northern genius to the British reader. This was done by the Professor's extract from the Flora Lapponica, printed in the edition of the Georgics in 1741. It was some years afterwards, before the system of the Swede made any progress in England.

I shall only remark further, that besides the obligations which literature in general owes to this learned Professor, that which I call more strictly English botany, received considerable augmentation from his labours; particularly from his methodizing "The [Page 218] Cambridge Catalogue" of Mr. RAY, and from the additions he made to his Transla­tion of TOURNEFORT's book^*.

CATESBY.

ALTHOUGH the ingenious author, whom I commemorate in this chap­ter, does not strictly rank among the im­provers of indigenous botany; yet I cannot pass over in silence, a man, to whom the science owes one of its most elegant, and superb productions. Mr. Mark CATESBY was, I believe, one of those men, whom a passion for natural history very early al­lured from the interesting pursuits of life; and it led him at length to cross the Atlan­tic, that he might read the volume of na­ture in a country but imperfectly explored, and where her beauties were displayed in a [Page 220] more extended and magnificent scale, than the narrow bounds of his native country exhibited. It is but too true, that the world at large will for ever treat with ridicule and disdain that man, who, thus deserting the paths that lead to riches, to preserment, or to honour, gives himself up to what are commonly deemed unimportant and trifling occupations. Few will give him credit for that secret satisfaction, for that inexhausti­ble pleasure, which the investigation of na­ture, in all her objects, incessantly holds forth to his mind; or believe, that such employment can possibly compensate for the solid treasures of gain.

Mark CATESBY was born about the lat­ter end of 1679, or the beginning of the next year. He acquaints us himself, that he had very early a propensity to the study of nature; and that his wish for higher gratifications in this way, first led him to London, which he emphatically stiles ‘"the center of science;"’ and afterwards impelled him to seek further sources, in distant parts of the globe. The residence of some re­lations [Page 221] in Virginia favoured his design; and he went to that country in 1712, where he staid seven years, admiring, and collecting the various productions of the country, without having laid any direct plan for the work he afterwards accomplished. During this residence, he communicated seeds and specimens of plants, both dried, and in a growing state, to Mr. DALE, of Braintree, in Essex; and, some of his observations on the country, being communicated by this means to Dr. William SHERARD, procured him the friendship and patronage of that gentleman. On his return to England, in 1719, he was encouraged by the assistance of several of the nobility, of Sir Hans SLOANE, Dr. SHERARD, and other natu­ralists, whose names he has recorded, to return to America, with the professed de­sign of describing, delineating, and painting the more curious objects of nature. Caro­lina was fixed on, as the place of his resi­dence, where he arrived in May 1722. He first examined the lower parts of the coun­try, making excursions from Charles Town; [Page 222] and afterwards sojourned, for some time, a­mong the Indians in the mountainous regions at and about Fort Moore. He then extend­ed his researches through Georgia and Flo­rida; and having spent nearly three years on the continent, he visited the Bahama Islands, taking his residence in the Isle of Providence; carrying on his plan, and par­ticularly making collections of fishes, and submarine productions.

On his return to England, in the year 1726, his labours having met with the ap­probation of his patrons, Mr. CATESBY made himself master of the art of Etching; and, retiring to Hoxton, employed himself in carrying on his great work, which he published in numbers of twenty plants each. The first appeared in the latter end of the year 1730; and the first volume, consisting of 100 plates, was finished in 1732: the second, in 1743; and the Appendix, of twenty plates, in the year 1748.

A regular account of each number, writ­ten by Dr. Cromwell MORTIMER, Secretary of the Royal Society, was laid before the [Page 223] Society as it appeared, and printed in the Philosophical Transactions; in which the Doctor has sometimes interspersed illustra­tive observations. See N^o 415. 420. 426. for Vol. i.; N^o 432. 438. 441. 449. 484. for Vol. ii.; and N^o 486. for the Appen­dix.

The whole work bears the following title: "The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands; con­taining the Figures of Birds, Beasts, Fishes, Serpents, Insects, and Plants; particularly the Forest Trees, Shrubs, and Plants, not hitherto described, or very incorrectly sigured by Authors; to­gether with their Descriptions, in French and English. To which are added, Ob­servations on the Air, Soil, and Waters: With Remarks upon Agriculture, Grain, Pulse, Roots. To the whole is pre­fixed a new and correct Map of the Countries treated of." By Mark CATES­BY, F.R.S. Tom. I. 1731. pp. 100. tab. 100. Tom. II. 1743. pp. 100. tab. 100. Account of Carolina, &c. pp. 44. Appen­dix, [Page 224] tab. 20. pp. 20. Fol. imperial, fig. 407.

The number of subjects described and figured in this work stands as below:

In this spendid performance, the curious are gratified with the figures of many of the most beautiful trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants, that adorn the gardens of the pre­sent time. Many also of the most useful in the arts, and conveniences of life, and several of those used in medicine, are here for the first time exhibited in the true pro­portion, and natural colours. It is only to be regretted, that, in this work, a separate exhibition of the flower in all its parts should be wanting; in defect of which, several curious articles have not been ascertained. It is a requisite of modern date, and with­out [Page 225] it, every figure, especially of a new spe­cies, must be deemed imperfect.

Most of the plates of plants exhibit also some subject of the animal kingdom. To these my plan does not extend; but I will in the note^*, enumerate some of the most remarkable of the vegetable class. As Mr. [Page 226] CATESBY etched all the figures himself, from his own paintings, and the coloured copies were at first done under his own in­spection, and wherever it was possible, every subject in its natural size, this work was the most splendid of its kind that England had ever produced. I do not know that it [Page 227] had been equalled on the continent, unless by that of Madam MERIAN, which, how­ever, falls greatly short in extent. Seventy-two Plates of CATESBY's work were copied by the Nuremberg artists, and published in 1750. His "Observations on Carolina, &c." were separately printed in folio, at the same place, in 1767.

[Page 228] Mr. CATESBY was the author of a pa­per, printed in the forty-fourth volume of the Philosophical Transactions, p. 435, "On Birds of Passage;" in which, in opposition to the opinion that birds lie torpid in ca­verns, and at the bottom of waters, he pro­duces a variety of reasons, and several facts, [Page 229] which his residence in America offered, in support of their migration in search of pro­per food. His voyages across the Atlantic, had taught him the ability of these wan­derers to take long flights. He mentions, in another place, his having seen Hawks, Swallows, and a species of Owl, in 26 deg. of N. latitude, at the distance of 600 leagues from land. He shews, that birds unknown before to the country, find their way annu­ally into various parts of North America, since the introduction of several kinds of grain: of this the Rice-bird, Emberiza ory­zivora, and the white-faced Duck, Anas discors, are, among others, instances too sufficiently known and felt by the inhabi­tants.

Mr. CATESBY was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society soon after his second re­turn from America, and lived in acquaint­ance and friendship with many of the most respectable members of that body; being ‘"greatly esteemed for his modesty, inge­nuity, and upright behaviour."’

Before his death, he removed from Hox­ton to Fulham, and afterwards to London; [Page 230] and died at his house behind St. Luke's church, in Old Street, Dec. 23, 1749, aged 70, leaving a widow and two children^*.

His work has been re-published in 1754 and in 1771. To the last edition a Linnaean index has been annexed; but it is by no means so copious or perfect as a work of such merit and magnificence demands.

HOUSTON.

THOSE who are conversant with the writings of MILLER, will recollect the frequent mention of the name of Dr. William HOUSTON; and that the exotic botany of England was greatly enriched by his means. If I err not, Mr. HOUSTON went first to the West Indies, in the charac­ter of a surgeon; and, upon his return, after two years residence at Leyden, took degrees in physic under BOERHAAVE. This was in 1728 and 1729. At Leyden, he institu­ted a set of Experiments on Brutes; some [Page 232] of which were made in concert with the late celebrated Van SWIETEN. They were afterwards published in the Philosophical Transactions, Vol. xxxix. under the title of "Experimenta de Perforatione Thoracis, ejus­que in Respiratione Effectibus." The result of which proved, contrary to the common­ly received opinion, that animals could live and breathe for some time, although air was freely admitted into both cavities of the thorax.

It appears that he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society soon after his return from Holland; and that he went immedi­ately to the West Indies. I am not able to ascertain his fixed residence in that part of the world, although I conjecture, it was principally at the Logwood Settlement; from whence he sent a description and figure of the Dorstenia Contrayerva, which were pub­lished in the Philosophical Transactions, Vol. xxxvii. This was the first authentic account received of that drug, although known in England from the time of Sir Francis DRAKE, or earlier. He also sent to his friend at Chelsea, the seeds of many rare and [Page 233] new plants, collected by him in the islands of Jamaica and Cuba; in the province of Venezuela, and about Vera Crux.

He fell a sacrifice to the heat of the cli­mate, and died in July 1733. He left, in manuscript, a Catalogue of Plants, collect­ed by himself in the places above men­tioned; together with some engravings done by his own hand. These came into the hands of Mr. MILLER; and, after his decease, into the possession of Sir Joseph BANKS, who, out of respect to the memory of so deserving a man, gratified the bota­nists with the publication of them, under the following title:

"RELIQUIAE HOUSTONIANAE, seu Plan­tarum in America meridionali, à Gulielmo HOUSTON, M.D. R.S.S. collectarum Icones, manu propria, aere incisae; cum Descriptioni­bus è Schedis ejusdem in Bibliotheca Josephi BANKS, Baronetti, R.S.P. asservatis." 4^o. 1781. pp. 12. tab. xxvi.

They contain the characters and descrip­tions of fifteen genera, and eleven species; of which, the last were all natives of the country about Vera Crux. HOUSTON's [Page 234] new genera are described in the method and terms of TOURNEFORT's system; and all, except one, consecrated to the memory of botanists; and, in this publication, they are referred to the denominations of the Lin­naean system, as far as possible^*.

DOUGLAS.

Of the genera constituted by HOUSTON, we find the Douglassia, in honour of James DOUGLAS, F.R.S. a celebrated surgeon and anatomist, afterwards M.D. and honorary Fellow of the College of Physicians, and Physician to Queen Caroline; whom it is just to introduce into these anecdotes, since he obtained a reputable rank among those, who in botany have been stiled "Monogra­phers," from having separately written on a single species or genus. He published a very scientific description of the Amaryllis sarniensis, under the title of "Lilium sarni­ense; or, a Description of the Guernsey [Page 235] Lily: to which is added, the Botanical Dissection of the Coffee-berry." Fol. 1725. pp. 35, and 22. tab. 2.

The roots of this beautiful ornament of our present stoves, were scattered from the wreck of a ship on the coast of that island; and being protected, as it has been thought, among the sand, by the Sea Reed, Arundo arenaria, after the interval of some years, sprung up, to the surprize of the inhabi­tants, and the delight of the florists and bo­tanists. This phenomenon will appear less wonderful in our days, when it is known, from the elegant work of Dr. THUNBERG, that from the congeniality of climate between England and Japan, one-fourth part of the indigenous plants of that very distant coun­try, appear to be also natives of England.

In his "Observations on the Coffee," Dr. DOUGLAS observes, that it was first mentioned by RAUWOLF in 1573, and first sent into Europe to CLUSIUS. See Clus. Exotic. p. 236.

Dr. DOUGLAS, besides many papers on Pathological and Surgical subjects, written between the years 1707 and 1732, which [Page 236] were printed in the Philosophical Transac­tions, drew up "A Botanical Description of the Saffron of the Shops;" accom­panied by a figure, which was also pub­lished in the same collections, Vol. xxxii. p. 441; and in Vol. xxxv. the most com­plete account to be met with concerning the "Culture and Management of it," as practised at Saffron Walden. In the same volume, "An Account of the different Kinds of Ipecacuanha;" the true distinc­tions of which were at that time but little understood.

The knowledge of Dr. DOUGLAS was not confined to exotic botany: he was ac­quainted with the plants of his own coun­try; and his name occurs in RAY's Synopsis, as having noticed some rare species^*.

KNOWLTON.

Thomas KNOWLTON was, in the earlier part of his life, gardener to Consul SHE­RARD; but I find him in that station at Lonesborough, in Yorkshire, in the service of the Earl of BURLINGTON, in the year 1728; in which place, I believe, he spent the greater part, if not the whole, of the remainder of his life. His zeal for English botany was uncommonly great, and recom­mended him successfully to the learned bo­tanists of this country. From Sir Hans SLOANE, he received eminent civilities. He merits notice in these memoirs, were it only to record his discovery of that singu­lar production, the Globe Conferva, or Moor Balls (Conferva Aegagrophila Lin.); which he first found in Wallingfen Mere. I have read a letter from him to a correspondent, written in the year 1728; and another in 1729: in one of which he relates his hav­ing waded near a quarter of a mile into the lake to collect them; which is not done [Page 240] without some difficulty, as they lie at the depth of from two to three feet. At an­other time he was more successful, and col­lected near a bushel at once. He describes them to his friend, under the name of Pil­las, or globular Balls of Moss, of the size of a tennis ball.

Mr. Thomas KNOWLTON was a man of general curiosity and observation; and, a­mongst other matters, not inattentive to the pursuits of the antiquary.

We find Extracts of Two Letters from him "to Mr. Mark CATESBY, F.R.S. concerning the Situation of the ancient Town Delgovicia, and of two Men of an extraordinary Bulk and Weight." Phil. Trans. Vol. xliv. p. 100. This Roman sta­tion was discovered on the Wolds, within two miles of Pocklington. Also,

"An Account of two extraordinary Deers Horns, found under Ground in different Parts of Yorkshire." Phil. Trans. Vol. xliv. p. 124; with figures. These were of two kinds: one seems to answer to the fi­gure of an horn, as described in Phil. Trans. N^o 422. p. 257; the other was adjudged [Page 241] to be the horns of the Moose Deer, so fre­quently dug up in Ireland, and were thought to be the first of the kind discovered in England.

Mr. KNOWLTON died in the year 1782, at the advanced age of ninety.

GORDON.

James GORDON, of Mile End, eminent for his successful cultivation of exotics, was well acquainted with English botany. I know not that he made himself known by any publications. He maintained a corre­spondence with LINNAEUS; and had the respect paid to him by the late Mr. ELLIS, of having the Loblolly Bay of CATESBY called by his name, when separated from the Hypericum genus.

MILLER.

Philip MILLER was born in the year 1691. His father was gardener to the Company of Apothecaries at Chelsea; and his son succeeded him in that office, in the year 1722. He raised himself by his merit, from a state of obscurity, to a degree of [Page 242] eminence, but rarely if ever before equalled, in the character of a gardener. It is not uncommon to give the term of Botanist, to any man that can recite by memory, the plants of his garden. Mr. MILLER rose much above this attainment. He added to the knowledge of the theory and practice of gardening, that of the structure and cha­racters of plants, and was early and practi­cally versed in the methods of RAY and TOURNEFORT. Habituated to the use of these, from his younger years, it was not without reluctance that he was brought to adopt the system of LINNAEUS; but he was convinced, at length, by the arguments of the late Sir William WATSON and Mr. HUDSON, and embraced it. To his superior skill in his art, the curious owe the culture and preservation of a variety of fine plants, which, in less skilful hands, would have failed, at that time, to adorn the conserva­tories of England.

His objects were not confined to exotics: few were better acquainted with the indi­genous plants, of which, he successively cul­tivated most of the rare species.

[Page 243] He maintained a correspondence with many of the most eminent botanists on the continent: among others, with LINNAEUS, who said of his Dictionary, Non erit Lexi­con Hortulanorum, sed Botanicorum. By foreigners he was emphatically stiled Hor­tulanorum Princeps. He was admitted a member of the Botanical Academy of Flo­rence, and of the Royal Society of London, in which he was occasionally honoured by being chosen of the council. Mr. MIL­LER was the only person I ever knew, who remembered to have seen Mr. RAY. I shall not easily forget the pleasure that enlightened his countenance, it so strongly expressed the Virgilium tantum vidi, when, in speaking of that revered man, he related to me that incident of his youth.

Mr. MILLER's infirmities induced him to resign his office in the Garden, a little time before his decease, which took place December 18, 1771, in the 80th year of his age. He left a very large Herbarium of Exotics, principally the produce of the Chel­sea Garden.

[Page 244] In the year 1728, Mr. MILLER com­municated to the Royal Society, "A Me­thod of raising some Exotic Seeds, which have been judged almost impossible to be raised in England." Phil. Trans. N^o 403. Vol. xxxv. p. 485. This consisted in suf­fering the Seeds to germinate in a bark bed, and then transplanting them into earth. By this method, he succeeded with all the hard-shelled fruits and seeds. He instances the Cocoa Nut; the Bonduc, or Nickar Tree (Guilandina Bonduc Lin.); the Abrus precatorius; the Horse Eye Bean (Dolichos urens); and several others.

"An Account of Bulbous Roots flower­ing in Bottles filled with Water." N^o 418. Vol. xxxvii. p. 81. This method of pro­curing early Hyacinths, Tulips, and Nar­cissuses, at that time lately discovered, is now well known, and daily practised.

Although he did not prefix his name to it, he was the author of "A Catalogue of Trees, Shrubs, and Flowers, which are hardy enough to bear the cold of our cli­mate, and the open air; and are propa­gated [Page 245] in the gardens near London." Fol. 1730. p. 90. tab. 21. The plates are co­loured, the arrangement is alphabetical, and the generical characters given. The Cata­logue consists chiefly of Trees and Shrubs; among which are several of the Coniferous kinds. Some varieties are interspersed.

"CATALOGUS PLANTARUM OFFICI­NALIUM quae in Horto Botanico Chelseiano aluntur." 1730. 8^o. pp. 152.

In 1731, he published his "Gardener's Dictionary," in folio, which has passed through many successive editions; in each of which it received such improvements, and augmentations, as have rendered it in the end the most complete body of garden­ing extant. It has been translated into va­rious languages; and the reception it has every where met with, is a sufficient proof of its superiority. The new edition of it, now under the care of Professor MARTYN, we doubt not, will extend to a late period, the reputation both of the author, and of the editor.

In the same, or the succeeding year, he published "The Gardener's Kalender," in 8^o; [Page 246] which has run through numerous edi­tions, and has been a manual, in its way, for the whole kingdom. To an edition of this work, in 1761, the author prefixed "A Short Introduction to the Knowledge of the Science of Botany;" in which he explains the Linnaean terms of art, and il­lustrates the characters of the classes in five copper-plates. This introduction was also sold separately.

Mr. MILLER held an extensive corre­spondence with persons in distant parts of the globe. From the Cape of Good Hope, from Siberia, from North America, and par­ticularly, by means of Dr. William HOUS­TON, from the West Indies, his garden, for a long series of years, received a plentiful and perpetual supply of rare, and frequently of new species, which his successful culture sel­dom failed to preserve. It was the remark of foreigners, that Chelsea exhibited the trea­sures of both the Indies. These advantages enabled MILLER to execute, what it was in the power of few to attempt—His "Figures of Plants, adapted to his Dic­tionary," which he began to publish in [Page 247] numbers in 1755, and which were com­pleted in 300 tables, making two volumes in folio, in 1760, were drawn from plants of his own garden. His original design was very extensive; no less than to give one, or more species, of all the genera: but it was found to be impracticable; and it was therefore confined to such as were the most beautiful, useful, and uncommon. Each number was accompanied with seve­ral pages of letter-press, containing the descriptions, and an account of the classes to which they belong, according to the sys­tems of RAY, TOURNEFORT, and LIN­NAEUS. As this work is well known, I shall only observe, that whether we consider the rarity of the subjects, the speciousness of those he selected for his purpose, or the ge­neral execution of the whole, England had not before produced any work, except the Hortus Elthamensis, and CATESBY's Caro­lina, so superb and extensive. In one re­spect, MILLER's plates had the advantage of the above mentioned, as they exhibited, much more frequently, the separate figures of the parts of fructification.

[Page 248] "The Method of cultivating Madder, as it is practised by the Dutch in Zealand." 4^o. 1758. Intended to excite the English, by the cultivation of this important article of trade, to supersede the importation of it from the Dutch; who have ‘"received from hence, for many years past, more than 180,000 pounds a year for this root;"’ and which, if properly carried on, would ‘"em­ploy a great number of hands from the time harvest is over till the spring, which is generally a dead time of the year."’

"A Letter to Mr. WATSON, relating to a Mistake of Professor GMELIN, con­cerning the Spondylium vulgare hirsutum." C.B. Phil. Trans. Vol. xlviii. p. 153.

MILLER adduces several reasons to prove, that the common Cow-Parsnep of Siberia, which the inhabitants make an ar­ticle of food, is not the common Cow-Parsnep (Heracleum Spondylium) of Caspar BAUHINE; but the Spondylium maximum of BREYNIUS: and further remarks the mistakes that have arisen from considering the common plants of one country as the common plants of another. On which oc­casion [Page 249] he observes, that the Parietaria, so frequent in England, is not the Parietaria Officinarum of Caspar BAUHINE, but the P. Ocymi folio of that author. In this sup­position, however, we may observe, that Mr. MILLER has not been followed by Eng­lish botanists of later date.

"A Letter to the Rev. Thomas BIRCH, D.D. Secretary to the Royal Society." Phil. Trans. Vol. xlix. p. 161. And,

"Remarks upon the Letter of Mr. John ELLIS, F.R.S. to Philip Carteret WEBB, Esq." in Vol. l. p. 430.

These letters relate to a discovery made by the Abbé MAZEAS, and the Abbé SAU­VAGES, on the black staining quality of three several species of American Sumach. Neither the lixivium of wood ashes, nor boiling wa­ter with soap, had any effect in weakening the tinge made by the juices of these plants. They were, 1. The Poison Ash, or Toxico­dendrum Carolinianum foliis pinnatis (Rhus vernix Lin.) 2. Toxicodendron triphyllum folio sinuato pubescente Tourn. (Rhus Toxicoden­drum). 3. Toxicodendrum triphyllum glabrum (Rhus radicans). Mr. MILLER considers the [Page 250] Abbe's discovery as having been long before anticipated by KAEMPFER; and adduces many reasons to prove, that the Sitzdsiu, or Arbor vernicifera legitima, p. 791. fig. 792. of that author, or the Varnish Tree of Japan, is no other than the first of these species, of which the staining quality is re­corded by KAEMPFER. This position drew Mr. MILLER into a controversy with Mr. ELLIS, who strongly insisted, that the Ameri­can and Japanese Toxicodendra were different plants. Mr. MILLER defends his opinion in the "Remarks." It is sufficient at this time to observe, that subsequent botanists of the first note, such as LINAENUS, REI­CHARD, and THUNBERG, have counte­nanced MILLER's opinion, by placing them under the same specific distinction with the Rhus vernix ^*.

BLACKWELL.

IT is a singular fact, that physic is in­debted for the most complete set of figures of the medicinal plants, to the ge­nius and industry of a lady, exerted on an occasion that redounded highly to her praise.

The name of Mrs. Elizabeth BLACK­WELL is well known, both from her own [Page 252] merit, and the fate of her unfortunate hus­band, who, condemned for crimes of state, suffered death on the scaffold in Sweden, in the year 1747.

We are informed, she was the daughter of a merchant in the neighbourhood of Aberdeen; of which city Dr. Alexander BLACKWELL, her husband, was a native, and where he received an university educa­tion, and was early distinguished for his classical knowledge. By some, he is said only to have assumed the title of Doctor, after his successful attendance on the King of Sweden; but I believe, the more proba­ble account is, that of his having taken the degree of Doctor of Physic under BOER­HAAVE at Leyden. After having failed in his attempt to introduce himself into prac­tice, first in Scotland, and afterwards in London, he became corrector to a printing press, and soon after commenced printer himself. But being prosecuted by the trade, and at length involved in debt, was thrown into prison. To relieve these distresses, Mrs. BLACKWELL, having a genius for drawing and painting, exerted all her talents; and, [Page 253] understanding that an Herbal of Medicinal Plants was greatly wanted, she exhibited to Sir Hans SLOANE, Dr. MEAD, and other physicians, some specimens of her art in painting plants, who approved so highly of them, as to encourage her to pro­secute a work, by the profits of which she is said to have procured her husband's li­berty, after a confinement of two years.

Mr. RAND, an eminent apothecary, was at that time Demonstrator to the Company of Apothecaries, in the Garden at Chelsea. By his advice she took up her residence op­posite the Physic Garden, in order to faci­litate her design, by receiving the plants as fresh as possible. He not only promoted her work with the public, but, together with Mr. Philip MILLER, afforded her all possible direction and assistance in the exe­cution of it. After she had completed the drawings, she engraved them on copper, and coloured the prints with her own hands.

During her abode at Chelsea, she was fre­quently visited by persons of quality, and many scientific people, who admired her [Page 254] performances, and patronized her under­taking.

On publishing the first volume, in 1737, she obtained a recommendation from Dr. MEAD, Dr. SHERARD, Mr. RAND, and others, to be prefixed to it. And being allowed to present, in person, a copy to the College of Physicians, that body made her a present, and gave her a public testimonial of their approbation; with leave to prefix it to her book. The second volume was finished in 1739, and the whole published under the following title:

"A curious Herbal, containing 500 Cuts of the most useful Plants which are now used in the Practice of Physic, engraved on folio copper-plates, after drawings taken from the life. By ELIZABETH BLACKWELL. To which is added, a short Description of the Plants, and their common Uses in Physic. 1739." 2 vol. fol.

The drawings are in general faithful; and if there is wanting that accuracy, which modern improvements have rendered neces­sary, in delineating the more minute parts, [Page 255] yet, upon the whole, the figures are suffi­ciently distinctive of the subject.

Each plate is accompanied with an en­graved page, containing the Latin and Eng­lish officinal names, followed by a short description of the plant, and a summary of its qualities, and uses. After these occur the name in various other languages. These illustrations were the share her husband took in the work. This ill-fated man, after his failure in physic, and in printing, became an unsuccessful candidate for the place of Secretary to the Society for the Encourage­ment of Learning. He was made Super­intendant of the Works belonging to the Duke of CHANDOS at Cannons, and experi­enced those disappointments incident to projectors. He formed schemes in agricul­ture, and wrote a treatise on the subject, which, we are told, was the cause of his being engaged in Sweden. In that king­dom, he drained marshes, practised physic, and was even employed in that capacity for the king. At length he was involved in some state cabals, or, as some accounts have it, in a plot with Count TESSIN, for which [Page 256] he lost his life, protesting his innocence to the last.

So respectable a performance as Mrs. BLACKWELL's, attracted the attention of physicians on the continent. TREW, of Norimberg, in the year 1750, engaged an artist of that place to copy Mrs. BLACK­WELL's plates, and himself supplied several defects in the drawings. He substituted some entirely new figures in the room of the ori­ginals, very considerably reformed and am­plified the text, translated it into German and Latin, and planned the addition of a sixth century of plates. He prefixed a most elaborate and learned Catalogue of Botani­cal Authors, but did not live to finish the work. The Fifth Century was published in 1765; and Dr. TREW dying in 1769, the supplemental volume, exhibiting plants omitted by Mrs. BLACKWELL, articles newly introduced into practice, and figures of the poisonous species, was conducted by LUDWIG, BOSE, and BOEHMER, and printed in 1773. Thus reformed, TREW's edition surpasses any other work of the same design. If there are imperfections in it, [Page 257] they were unavoidable, arising from the im­practicability of procuring recent specimens in some instances, and from an almost to­tal ignorance of the origin of others, defects still unsupplied in various articles.

DEERING.

Charles DEERING was a native of Saxony: He took his degrees in physic at Leyden; and, as Mr. MARTYN informs us, came to Eng­land first, in the train of a foreign ambassa­dor. This happened, I conjecture, before, or about the year 1720. He practised phy­sic and midwifery in London; and having a strong bias to the study of botany, became one of the members of the society estab­lished by Dr. DILLENIUS and Mr. MAR­TYN, which subsisted from the year 1721 to 1726.

In the year 1736, he removed to Notting­ham, under the recommendation of Sir Hans SLOANE. At this time he was married; but his wife did not long survive the re­moval to that place. He was at first well received; and is said to have been very suc­cessful in his treatment of the small-pox, [Page 258] which disease was highly epidemical at that place, soon after his settling there. But he incurred the censure of the faculty, by his pretensions to a nostrum. He published "An Account of an improved Method of treating the Small-pox, in a Letter to Sir Thomas PARKYNS, Bart." 8^o. 1737. pp. 52. By this tract it appears, that his medicine was of the antiphlogistic kind, and his regimen the cool one, which at that time had been adopted by very few, as ge­neral practice.

Dr. DEERING shewed his attachment to his botanical pursuits, by his assiduity in collecting such ample materials for his Ca­talogue in less than two years after fixing at Nottingham. He published it under the fol­lowing title:

"A CATALOGUE OF PLANTS naturally growing and commonly cultivated in divers Parts of England, more especially about Nottingham: containing the most known Latin and English Names of the several Plants; the Tribe they belong to; the Time of their flowering; and of those which are either Officinals or otherwise, [Page 259] of any known Efficacy, such Virtues are briefly mentioned as may be depended upon. To which is added, a general Distribution of Plants according to Mr. RAY; with an Explanation of some bo­tanical and physical Terms; and an al­phabetical List of Plants in Flower, for every Month in the Year. By Charles DEERING, M.D. Nottingham." 8^o. 1738. pp. 264.

The arrangement is alphabetical, and the number of plants about 850. The author was particularly attached to the subjects of the Cryptogamia class, in which his re­searches had been very successful. Of the number above mentioned, more than 200 belonged to the orders of Fungi, Musci, and Algae; among which, we meet with 27 which he considered as nondescripts, and 10 others not to be met with in the third edi­tion of RAY's Synopsis. He was assisted in this branch by his correspondence with the learned Professor at Oxford, who considered some of his discoveries as new, and speaks of his knowledge and assiduity in terms of applause. In page 89 of his posthumous [Page 260] work, the Nottinghamia Vetus et Nova, there occurs a list of some plants, discovered by the author after the publication of this Catalogue. These are principally of the Cryptogamous kind. Several of the more rare plants of the environs escaped the ob­servation of this assiduous man; among which may be mentioned particularly, that most virulent of all our English produc­tions, the Cicuta virosa, or, long-leaved Water Hemlock; which I remember to have seen growing in the Leen, near the Rock-holes, in Nottingham Park. That the Addenda to his "Catalogue" were not more copious may be attributed to his subsequent misfortunes, which undoubtedly damped the ardour of his pursuit.

Notwithstanding his early success, that ‘"adverse fatality,"’ which he himself alludes to in his "Letter on the Small-pox," still attended him. He was, unhappily, not en­dowed with that degree of prudence, and e­quanimity of temper, which are so necessary to the practice of physic; insomuch, that he very early lost the little interest which his character and success had at first gained. [Page 261] But as I would rather dwell on his merits, than on his failings, I shall observe, that be­sides his acquaintance with the antient lan­guages, he was master of many of the mo­dern tongues. His knowledge of that sci­ence which gives him a place in this sketch, was very considerable, and will be perpetu­ated, so long as DILLENIUS's "History" shall preserve estimation. He had a know­ledge of designing, and was an ingenious mechanic. After his failure in Physic, his friends attempted several schemes to alleviate his necessities. They procured him, among others, a commission in the regiment raised at Nottingham, on account of the rebellion. But this proved more honourable than profitable to him. He was afterwards em­ployed in a way more agreeable to his ge­nius, and talents; being furnished with ma­terials, and enabled by the assistance of John PLUMTREE, Esq and others, to write the History of Nottingham, which he dedicated to the Duke of NEWCASTLE. But he did not live to receive the reward of this la­bour. He had been troubled with the gout at a very early period, having been afflicted [Page 262] with it in his nineteenth year, and in the latter stage of his life, he suffered long confinements in this disease, and became asthmatical. Being at length reduced to a degree of poverty, and dependance, which his spirit could not sustain, oppressed with calamity, and complicated disease, he died April 12, 1749. Two of his principal cre­ditors administered to his effects, and buried him in St. Peter's church-yard, opposite the house in which he resided.

He left an Hortus Siccus of the plants of his "Catalogue," consisting of upwards of 600 species, in eight volumes, of the quarto form; besides separate tables of the Mosses, and a volume of paintings of the Fungi, ac­curately done by his own hand. Some part, if not the whole, of this collection, was, I believe, purchased by the Honourable Roth­well WILLOUGHBY, who had been one of his benefactors, while living, and inherited a portion of that taste, which distinguished his family in the time of Mr. RAY. He left also a manuscript treatise, in Latin, De Re obstetricaria.

[Page 263] His posthumous work was published by his administrators, George AYSCOUGH, prin­ter, and Thomas WILLINGTON, druggist, under the following title:

"NOTTINGHAMIA VETUS et NOVA: or, An Historical Account of the ancient and present State of the Town of Not­tingham, gathered from the Remains of Antiquity, and collected from authentic Manuscripts, and ancient as well as mo­dern Historians; adorned with beautiful copper-plates. By Charles DEERING, M.D. Nottingham. 1751." 4^o. pp. 370.

It is embellished with 24 copper-plates; among which are a plan, and two views of the town; a ground plan of the old castle; two views of the present castle; the three churches; and many other buildings. A view of the "Rock-holes" in the park; sup­posed by Dr. STUKELEY to have been the work of the Britons, enlarged and altered by the Saxons. But one of the most re­markable articles in this volume is, a com­plete description of that curious machine the stocking-frame, invented two centuries ago by William LEE, M.A. of St. John's Col­lege, [Page 264] Cambridge, a native of Woodborough, near Nottingham. I know not that so full an account of this complicated machine is elsewhere to be seen. All the parts are separately, and minutely described, in the technical terms; and illustrated by two views of the whole, and by a large table, delineating with great accuracy, every con­stituent part of the machine.

WILSON.

The subject of this article, like Tho­mas WILLISEL, and Samuel BREWER, is another instance of that unconquerable at­tachment to a favourite branch of know­ledge, which sometimes engrosses the minds of those, who, by their lot, have not been exempted from labouring in the lower, and mechanical offices of life.

From information which I received, more than twenty years ago, concerning John WILSON, I learned that he was originally an inhabitant of Kendal, in Westmoreland; and was employed in the manufacture of knit stockings, for which that town was so famous. That, at one time, he gave weekly [Page 265] lessons on botany, alternately, at that place, and at Newcastle. That many pupils re­sorted to him from the neighbouring parts of Scotland; insomuch, that in some sea­sons, he received sixty pounds a year, as the premium of his labours.

I must not, however, omit to observe, that this account does not coincide with another, which I have since met with in the "British Topography;" the respectable author of which informs us, ‘"That WIL­SON was a shoemaker, and by his intense application to his favourite study, lived most of his life in a state of indigence. A cow, of which his wife had the care, was the sole support of his family: and such was his infatuation, that he was once tempted to part with that most use­ful animal, to purchase MORISON's vo­luminous work, had not a neighbouring lady presented him with the book, and rescued the poor man and his family from beggary and ruin."’

In this representation of WILSON's con­duct, while men of sympathizing minds, [Page 266] and similar taste, must deplore that hard fate which reduced him to such necessity, they must yet more strongly censure a rash­ness, which could tempt him to risk, in so essential a manner, the welfare of his fa­mily.

As WILSON exhibited to the public, a singular proof of his knowledge in this his principal object, I am inclined to believe, that he must, originally, either have had some grammar education, or, impelled by his genius, must afterwards have acquired a knowledge of the Latin language. How else (except on the supposition of extraordi­nary assistance, of which I have no informa­tion) could he have made use of MORISON's "History," or have translated RAY's Sy­nopsis! In 1744, he published "A SY­NOPSIS OF BRITISH PLANTS in Mr. RAY's METHOD; with their Characters, Descriptions, Places of Growth, Time of Flowering, and physical Virtues, accord­ing to the most accurate Observations, and the best modern Authors; together with a Botanical Dictionary, illustrated [Page 267] with several Figures. By John WILSON. Newcastle upon Tyne." 8^o. 1744. pp. 272.

Throughout this work, the author has prefixed copious characters to each genus, taken, as it appears, from RAY and TOURNE­FORT; into many of which, in conformity to RAY's method, he introduces the form of the leaves, and the habit of the plant. By this means, having added, in most in­stances, short descriptions of the species, his book was an useful pocket manual, as far as it extended; for he begins with the Ca­pillary plants, and ends with the Bulbous rooted. He subjoins the particular places of the rare plants in the northern parts of England, from his own observations, and, partly from a manuscript of Mr. LAW­SON's. His remarks on the properties and virtues, additional to those from RAY, he has principally extracted from MILLER's "Botanicum Officinale."

WILSON has made some transpositions in the distribution of his subjects in this vo­lume, which prove that he had attentively examined plants, and was well acquainted [Page 268] with the system of RAY. Some of his al­terations will stand the test of modern accu­racy, though others may be less happy.

He has placed all the species of the Fu­maria genus together, in the Papilionaceous class; and, agreeably to the hint which DILLENIUS gives in the Synopsis, p. 316, has referred the Plantains, and Sponges, to the Monopetalous flowers succeeded by dry seed vessels. The removal of the Lysima­chiae siliquosae, the two Papavera corniculata, the Chelidonium, and the Balsamine, to the Si­liquose or Tetradynamous class of LINNAEUS, is less to be approved. By these changes, he has nearly annihilated RAY's twenty­second class of British herbs. In trans­posing of species, he has made more nume­rous alterations; some of which are suffi­ciently justified by modern improvements. Thus he has brought under one genus the Scordium and Scorodonia. He has referred the Raphanus rusticanus to the Cochlearia genus, as TOURNEFORT had done. The Chelidonium genus is separated from the Papaver, and a new characteristic note framed, but the name Papaver corniculatum [Page 269] preserved. The only two plants met with in this book, which do not occur in the Synopsis of RAY, are such as have a doubt­ful title to the appellation of indigenous: they are the Valeriana rubra, and Allium Schaenoprasum.

I believe he died about the year 1750, or soon after. He left the remaining part of his work, on the Graminaceous and Cryp­togamous tribes, compleat in manuscript. In the year 1762, a person of Newcastle, into whose hands the manuscript had passed, meditated the publication of it, with a new edition of the work now spo­ken of, which was out of print, and much called for; but the design never took effect.

BLACKSTONE.

IN 1737, John BLACKSTONE, an apo­thecary, in Fleet Street, London, pub­lished "FASCICULUS PLANTARUM CIR­CA HAREFIELD SPONTE NASCENTIUM:" with an Appendix, containing some short notes relating to Harefield. 12^o. pp. 118. The order observed in this small local cata­logue is alphabetical, and the synonyms taken from Caspar BAUHINE's Pinax, from GERARD, PARKINSON, and others in common use. These are followed by the [Page 271] general place of growth, the particular spot in the instances of rare plants, and the time of flowering. As scarcely any of the Mosses, or Fungi, are introduced, the number is small; only 527 species. The account of Harefield is very brief.

The same author published also, "SPE­CIMEN BOTANICUM quo Plantarum plurium rariorum Angliae indigenarum Loci natales illustrantur. Authore J. BLACKSTONE." 8^o. 1746. pp. 106. This small volume exhibits the particular places of growth of 366 species of the more rare English plants, and was so far a valuable addition to RAY's Synopsis. The arrangement is the same as in the Harefield Catalogue, and the syno­nyms drawn from the same authors; with the addition of a few from the works of LINNAEUS. It is embellished with two elegant engravings: one representing that singular variety of the Clavaria Hypoxylon, first figured in the Philosophical Transactions, N^o 475. and described as a Boletus: the other the Lycoperdon fornicatum, Fl. Ang. ed. 2. p. 644; but first described and figured in N^o 474. by the late Sir William WATSON.

[Page 272] The Loci natales, or, as some modern botanists quaintly speak, the Habitats, of a great number of the subjects in this little work, were communicated by the friends and correspondents of the author; of whom, as they hereby contributed to enlarge the bounds of English botany, it is but just to record their names.

From Yorkshire, the author was supplied with a great number by Mr. THORNBECK, a surgeon and expert botanist, at Ingleton, a spot rich in the choicest objects of a curious observer. Mr. DAWSON, a surgeon of Leeds, communicated also many rare spe­cies: as did Mr. VERNON, of Whitchurch, in Cheshire.

The observations of the late Sir William WATSON, Sir John HILL, Dr. WILMER, and Mr. HURLOCK, contributed to enrich this little Flora. I find also a manuscript Catalogue of Plants growing about Fevers­ham frequently referred to, written by John BATEMAN, A.M. This manuscript has since been the basis of a little work, pub­lished by the late Edward JACOB, F.S.A. under the title of "Plantae Favershamienses." [Page 273] Lond. 8^o. 1777. pp. 127. To which is annexed, a view of the Fossil Bodies of the island of Shepey. The plan of this catalogue is exactly that of Mr. WARNER's, in the "Plantae Woodfordienses."

In this volume, Mr. BLACKSTONE has introduced a few plants, not before record­ed as natives of this island: such are, the Epimedium alpinum; Aristolochia Clematitis; Limonium reticulatum; Fritillaria Meleagris; and Dentaria bulbifera. Subsequent authors have not allowed complete naturalization to the Epimedium, and probably that of some of the others is but of modern date. The two last were observed by Mr. BLACKSTONE in the environs of Harefield.

The author intended another volume of the Specimen, for which he had collected materials. He had also a taste for Topo­graphical Antiquities, and had made col­lections in that way, but did not live to publish them. He died in 1753^*.

[Page 274] The "Specimen Botanicum" of Mr. BLACKSTONE, I consider as the last book published in England, on the indigenous botany, before the system of LINNAEUS had gained the ascendancy over that of RAY: nor, unless it were within my plan to re­count single papers, occasionally printed in the Philosophical Transactions, or in other collections, am I able to mention any work of importance on exotic botany, before this revolution took place, which was not built upon, or at least did not exhibit some prin­ciples of, the new system. Whilst this event was taking place, which cannot be computed at fewer than twenty years, com­mencing from 1740, there were, however, several eminent and learned men, who, al­though they did not distinguish themselves by publishing separate tracts on the science, were occasionally improving it, by their [Page 275] various discoveries and communications, and, ever awake to its welfare, by the pa­tronage they extended towards it. I cannot omit to mention some of these, though it be out of my power either to do sufficient justice to their services myself, or to point out, in some instances, such memorials re­lating to their lives, as might properly gra­tify that curiosity, which esteem for their characters naturally excites.

COLLINSON.

As prior in point of time, I mention Mr. Peter COLLINSON, to whose name is at­tached all that respect which is due to bene­volence and virtue. I have the satisfaction of referring the reader to some account of Mr. COLLINSON, printed in 1770: and to fur­ther anecdotes, by Dr. LETTSOM, at the end of his "Memoirs of Dr. FOTHERGILL;" to which is annexed, a list of Mr. COLLIN­SON's papers, printed in the Philosophical Transactions, and in the Gentleman's Maga­zine ^*. In Mr. COLLINSON's time, England received large accessions to exotic botany [Page 276] from all parts of the globe; to which no one contributed more than himself, through his various correspondence, especially in America. He was indefatigable in his ex­ertions to procure the seeds of curious and useful vegetables, and equally free in distri­buting them. Natural History in all its parts, Planting, and Horticulture, were his delight. He cultivated the choicest exotics, and the rarest English plants. His garden contained, at one time, a more complete assortment of the Orchis genus, than, per­haps, had ever been seen in one collection before. He died August 11, 1768, in the 75th year of his age^*.

Numerous were the channels by which England was enriched with the seeds and specimens of American productions. BAR­TRAM was constantly employed in collect­ing. Governor COLDEN, of New York, and Dr. MICHELL, in Virginia, were frequent in their communications to MILLER, to CATESBY, to COLLINSON, and others. For [Page 277] Dr. FOTHERGILL's incessant exertions in the same designs, being at a later period, are too well known to be repeated here. Governor COLDEN sent to LINNAEUS up­wards of 200 species, the account of which was printed in the Upsal Acts for 1743 and 1744; and LINNAEUS, in his Flora Zey­lanica, gave to a plant of the Tetrandrous class, the name of his correspondent.

LOGAN.

Several ingenious gentlemen in America pursued botanical investigations with great success about this period. James LOGAN, Esq afterwards President of the Council, and Chief Justice of Pensylvania, instituted a set of Experiments on the Maiz, relating to the sexes of plants. They were first communicated in a letter to Peter COLLIN­SON, F.R.S. in 1735; and were printed in the Philosophical Transactions, Vol. xxxvi. p. 192. They were afterwards enlarged, and published in Latin, at Leyden, in 1739, under the title of "Experimenta et Melete­mata de Plantarum Generatione;" and repub­lished with an English translation, if I mis­take [Page 278] not, by Dr. FOTHERGILL, in 8^o. 1747. pp. 39. They have been considered, and appealed to, as among the most decisive in establishing the doctrine they were intended to illustrate and confirm.

MITCHELL.

Dr. John MITCHELL, then resident at Urbana, in Virginia, sent over, in 1741, the descriptions of thirty genera of plants, of which six were entirely new; others were corrected and amended. Among the most remarkable are, the Ginseng of America, Panax quinquefolium: the Liquid Ambar Styraciflua: the Malacodendron, afterwards called by CATESBY, STEWARTIA, in ho­nour of the Earl of BUTE: the Zizania aquatica. In the introduction, Dr. MIT­CHELL discourses on the principles of bo­tany, and appears to have paid attention to the Hybrid productions. This paper was separately published, in 4^o. at Nurenburgh, in 1769.

In 1743, he sent over to Mr. COLLIN­SON, an ingenious "Essay on the Causes of the different Colours of People in diffe­rent [Page 279] Climates." It was designed as a so­lution of the prize problem from the Aca­demy of Bourdeaux; but was published in the Philosophical Transactions, Vol. xliii. pp. 102-150.

The question concerning the cause of the black colour of the skin in Negroes, has exercised the pens of many philosophers and anatomists. What has perplexed the ques­tion the more is, that these ingenious wri­ters (among whom are principally Malpighi, Boyle, Winslow, Meckel, and Barrere) have differed about matters of fact that should seem to be cognizable by the senses.

It would be improper in this work to pursue the learned author through all his ingenious details and curious scholia on this subject; it must be sufficient to observe, that, on the Newtonian doctrine of the causes of colours, he deduces the colour of the skin of Negroes from the structure, after establishing certain propositions: 1. That the colour of White People proceeds from the colour which the epidermis transmits. 2. That the density of the skins of Negroes allows of no transmission of colour. 3. The [Page 280] part of the skin which appears black in Negroes, is the corpus reticulare cutis, and external lamella of the epidermis. 4. That the colour does not proceed from any black humour or fluid parts contained in their skins. 5. That the epidermis, especially its external lamella, is divided into two parts, by its pores and scales, 200 times less than the particles of bodies, on which their co­lours depend. Hence Dr. MITCHELL con­cludes, ‘"that the proximate cause of the colour of Negroes is threefold; viz. the opacity of their skins, proceeding from the thickness and density of the texture, which obstructs the transmission of the rays of light from the white and red parts below them; together with their greater refrac­tive power, which absorbs those rays; and the smallness of the particles of their skins, which hinder them to reflect any light."’ After which, he discourses on the influence of the sun, and the modes of life among the inhabitants of hot countries, as the remote causes of the colour of Negroes and In­dians.

Dr. MITCHELL returned to England, I [Page 281] believe, about the year 1747 or 1748; be­came a Fellow of the Royal Society; and was the writer of an instructive memoir "On the Preparation and Uses of the various Kinds of Pot-Ash." Phil. Trans. Vol. xlv. p. 541-563. And of "A Letter concerning the Force of Electrical Co­hesion." Vol. li. p. 390.

WARNER.

Richard WARNER, Esq of Woodford-Row, in Essex, merits a particular remem­branch at this period, for his regard to the science of botany, and the respect and ho­nour he ever shewed to the lovers of it. ‘"He was bred to the law,"’ as we are in­formed in the 'Anecdotes of Mr. William BOWYER,' ‘"and had chambers in Lin­coln's Inn; but, being possessed of a genteel fortune, resided at a good old house on Woodford Green."’ Here he maintained a botanical garden, and was very successful in the cultivation of rare exotics. He was not unacquainted with indigenous plants. The herborizations of the Company of Apothecaries were, once in the season, [Page 282] usually directed to the environs of Wood­ford, where, after the researches of the day, at the table of Mr. WARNER, the pro­ducts of Flora were displayed. The result of the investigations made in that neigh­bourhood, was published by Mr. WAR­NER, under the title of "Plantae Wood­fordienses; or, a Catalogue of the more perfect Plants growing spontaneously about Woodford, in Essex." Lond. 1771. 8^o. pp. 238. As none of the Graminaceous, or Cryptogamous tribes, are introduced, the list does not exceed 518 species. The or­der is alphabetical, by the names from RAY's Synopsis; after which follow the specific character at length, from HUD­SON's "Flora Anglica," the Linnaean class and order, the English name, place, and time of flowering. In the Preface, the au­thor enumerates the names of more than twenty of his friends, among whom are many of those alluded to above, by whose joint assistance he was enabled to enlarge his work beyond what his own observations might otherwise have allowed. Mr. WAR­NER was also distinguished for his polite [Page 283] learning; and eminently so, for his critical knowledge in the writings of Shakespeare, of whose plays he had long meditated to give a new edition; but desisted, on the ap­pearance of Mr. Steevens's proposals. In 1768, he published "A Letter to David Garrick, Esq concerning a Glossary to the Plays of Shakespeare." 8^o. This Glossary he continued to augment, to the last days of his life. He translated the Comedies of Plautus, left undone by Thornton, which were published in 1772 and 1774.

Mr. WARNER, in his youth, as is re­lated of the great LINNAEUS, had been re­markably fond of dancing; nor, till his passion ‘"for that diversion subsided, did he convert the largest room in his house into a library."’ He died April 11, 1775; and bequeathed his valuable books to Wad­ham College, Oxford, where he received his education; and left to the same Society an exhibition for a botanical lecture.

EHRET.

AMONG the various contingencies which favoured the introduction of the Linnaean system into England, it is not unimportant to mention the effect of the admirable pencil of the late Mr. EHRET. This ingenious artist brought with him, not only a general taste for botany, but a particular knowledge of the principles, on which the system of LINNAEUS was found­ed; and was among the first who displayed it, in the specimens of his art.

The father of George Dyonisius EHRET was gardener to the Prince of Baden Dur­lach ^*. [Page 285] Young EHRET very early shewed a taste for drawing, and painting the flowers of the garden. And although he received no instructions, yet such was his proficien­cy, that, whilst a very young man, he had painted 500 plants with a skill and accu­racy that was almost unexampled, under the disadvantages of so total a want of in­struction as our young artist had experi­enced. His merit, however, remained long unknown, or at least ineffectually noticed, until it was discovered by a gentleman of curiosity and judgment, who visited the garden, of which his father was the super­intendant. Fortunately for young EHRET, this stranger was a physician and a friend of the celebrated Dr. TREW, of Norimberg, to whom he justly supposed these paintings would be acceptable. EHRET by this means was introduced to TREW, who immediately purchased the whole 500 paintings, and ge­nerously gave him double the price at which the young artist had modestly valued them. [Page 286] The liberality of TREW, by which EHRET put 4000 florins into his pocket, inspired him with confidence in his own abilities, and such a share of ambition as inclined him to quit his home, and seek at once to raise his for­tune, and to gratify the desire he had to see the world. It appears that he was too much elated with his success; and, as the effect of some share of vanity, and a want of oeco­nomy not unusual in young men, he soon dissipated this sum, and, in quest of adven­tures, went to Basil, with the last, and those only a few, of his florins in his pocket. Here, shutting himself up, he, with great diligence, and singular exertion, stimulated now by pressing necessity, soon exhibited numerous specimens of his art; and, though he had learned to set a higher value upon them, found a demand beyond his indus­try to supply. Having thus recruited his finances, he journeyed into France, and re­sided some time at Montpelier, where he taught his art to a lady of fortune, who re­warded him generously, and, on his wish to remove, paid his expences to Lyons and Pa­ris. At the latter city he became known to JUSSIEU, and was for some time employed [Page 287] to paint the plants of the Royal Garden, under that eminent Professor's inspection. After a certain time, he exchanged his situ­ation at Paris, for that of London; but not succeeding to his mind, he soon returned to the continent. The precise time of his being first in England, I cannot ascertain; but it was, I conjecture, before his employ­ment in the garden of Mr. CLIFFORD, where LINNAEUS found him in the year 1736. From LINNAEUS himself he was taught attention to the parts of the flower, and hence became early instructed in the principles of the sexual system. His fine taste, and botanical accuracy, were, I ap­prehend, first publicly manifested in the figures of the Hortus Clissortianus, pub­lished in 1737; and, from that time, EH­RET became strongly attached to the prin­ciples of the Swede.

He returned to England about the year 1740, or soon after that period: and here he spent the remainder of his days. His first patron in this country was Taylor WHITE, Esq for whom he finished 300 paintings of plants. He soon after procured the patro­nage of Dr. MEAD, for whom he painted [Page 288] 200, and who generously advanced his price. In consequence of this countenance and protection, he obtained encouragement from Sir Hans SLOANE, and many other opulent lovers of his art. Dr. FOTHERGILL pro­cured large collections from him; and the late eminent patroness of natural history, the Duchess of PORTLAND, possessed, besides near 300 paintings of exotics, upwards of 500 of English plants, done on vellum, and highly finished, by this admirable artist.

Another of his patrons, and to whose obliging information I owe great part of the foregoing anecdotes relating to him, was Ralph WILLETT, Esq of Merly, in Dorset­shire; at whose seat Mr. EHRET was ac­customed, for many years, to spend several weeks in the summer season, and in whose friendship Mr. EHRET reposed, as executor in the last arrangement of his affairs. The library at Merly exhibits a copious collec­tion of exotics, done by EHRET: not fewer than 230 finished specimens on vellum; besides seventy on paper; and more than 500 in an unfinished state.

The first published specimens of his pen­cil, after his settlement in England, that I [Page 289] am acquainted with, were exhibited in the 44th volume of the Philosophical Transactions, N^o 478. for January and February 1746; by the figure of the Keratophyton flabelli­forme of RAY (Gorgonia verrucosa Lin.) for a paper written by Sir Hans SLOANE: and by two excellent figures of the Oe­nanthe erocata, and Cieuta virosa, in the same volume, intended to illustrate Mr. WATSON's observations on the fatal Qua­lities of those Plants.

Very early after his arrival in this king­dom, he began to paint figures of the rarest products of the English gardens, for his friend and first patron Dr. TREW; for whom, in the end, he finished 300. Of these, at different periods, 100 were engraved, and published in Decads, under the following title:

"PLANTAE SELECTAE, quarum Ima­gines ad exemplaria naturalia Londini in hortis curiosorum nutrita, manu artificiosa pinxit Georgius Dionysius EHRET, Germa­nus, collegit nominibus notisque illustravit Chr. Jacob. TREW, M.D. Norib. in Aes in­eidit et vivis coloribus representavit Jo. Jac. [Page 290] Haid. Augustanus." Decuria I. 1750. fol. reg.—Decur. X. 1773.

Seven Decads of this work were publish­ed at Dr. TREW's expence, during his life­time; and the remaining three by Dr. VO­GEL, after his decease. The whole is exe­cuted in so splendid a manner, as to consti­tute, at this day, one of the finest orna­ments of the botanical library.

The only publication of any importance in England, in which Mr. EHRET was en­gaged throughout, as far as I can find, was BROWN's "Natural History of Jamaica," printed in 1756, for which he drew all the figures, amounting to 40 tables. As they were principally taken from prepared and dried specimens, they cannot be numbered among his capital performances.

Mr. EHRET drew, and himself engraved, a set of tables of Exotics, two or three on each plate, to the number of fifteen; each table containing also a Butterfly of exotic origin. These were published at London, in 1748-1759. The last of these exhi­bits the Cape Jasmine, Gardenia florida, which had flowered for the first time in [Page 291] England, in the garden of Mr. WARNER, at Woodford, in the year 1758. A descrip­tion of this elegant plant; the generical character of the Laurus Sassafras; and the description of a new Lithospermum, all writ­ten by Mr. EHRET, were printed in the "Nova Acta Academiae Curiosorum." Tom. II. Norimb. 1761.

An Account of the Ophrys scapo nudo foliis radicalibus ovato-oblongis, dimidii scapi longitudine, described by GRONOVIUS in his "Flora Virginica;" with a figure. Vol. liii. p. 81. The Ophrys lilifolia of LINNAEUS: it was sent from Philadelphia by Mr. BARTRAM, and flowered in Eng­land, for the first time, in the garden of Mr. COLLINSON, in the year 1758.

An Account of a new Peruvian plant lately introduced into the English gar­dens; with a figure. Vol. liii. p. 131. This is the Nolana prostrata Lin. which flowered in the garden at Chelsea, for the first time in England, in 1761, now very common.

A Description of the Andrachne, with its botanical character, and a figure. Vol. [Page 292] lvii. p. 114. The Arbutus Andrachne, which first flowered in England, in 1766, in the garden of Dr. FOTHERGILL.

His ingenuity and knowledge of nature raised him to a degree of reputation among the literati, and obtained him the distinction of being chosen a Fellow of the Royal So­ciety. Besides the profit accruing from those numerous exhibitions of his pencil, he applied for many years, with great assidui­ty, to the business of teaching his art; and if his ingenuity did not meet with a reward equal to his merit, yet his labours, in the end, proved sufficiently lucrative, to afford him a moderate independence; though, to the last, he ceased not to employ his pencil.

He died in September 1770, in the 60th year of his age^*.

Mr. EHRET married the sister of Philip Miller, of Chelsea, by whom he left one son.

[Page 293] He was well versed in the botany of this country, and delighted in painting the indi­genous plants. He was ever best pleased when employed by scientific people; since his wish was always to follow nature, and to exhibit on his piece the true characters, without the smallest deviation for the sake of embellishment. Having early imbibed the principles of Linnaeus's system, he at­tended to the discrimination of the parts on which it was founded, with an accuracy that commanded observance; and while his excellence in delineating and painting drew admiration, and diffused a taste for the study of plants, the truth of his pencil in­structed those who beheld it in the prin­ciples of the science.

HILL.

About the year 1751, Dr. HILL began to publish on the subject of botany. His "History of Plants," printed in that year, although compiled and translated princi­pally from LINNAEUS, was not adapted to indigenous botany, nor sufficiently calcu­lated to instruct the student in the ultimate [Page 294] part of any system, the specific distinctions; since LINNAEUS had not as yet completed the exemplification by modelling the cha­racter throughout the whole; the Species Plantarum not being published till the year 1753.

I mean not to enter on any detail of his numerous writings, since they are well known, and most of them posterior to the limits of my plan. Although it may be difficult to reconcile the praises this au­thor bestows on LINNAEUS, in many of his writings, with the censures contained in his "British Herbal," yet his works had a fa­vourable influence in promoting the science in general, though not the Linnaean modifi­cation of it in particular^*.

WATSON.

AMONG those learned botanists of England, who early recognized the prevailing excellencies of the Linnaean sys­tem, must be ranked the late Sir William WATSON. At a period when Botany was feebly supported in these kingdoms, after the decease of the SHERARDS, and the re­tirement of SLOANE, his talents and his zeal enabled him, as far as the influence of [Page 296] an individual could extend, to sustain and promote this science, not only with his own countrymen, but with those learn­ed foreigners who visited this kingdom. Whilst, therefore, justice to his character and attainments, in the subject of this work, demand consideration, I feel an addi­tional motive to pay a tribute to his me­mory, arising from a grateful remembrance of the friendship and correspondence with which he honoured me.

Sir William WATSON was born in 1715, in St. John's Street, near Smithsield. His fa­ther was a reputable tradesman in that street, and died, leaving him very young. When he had attained to a proper age, he was sent to Merchant Taylor's School; and from thence was apprenticed to Mr. Richardson, apothecary, in 1730.

In his youth he had a strong propensity to the study of natural history, and parti­cularly to that of plants. This led him to make frequent excursions in a morning, se­veral miles from London; so that he became early well acquainted with the Loci natales of the indigenous plants of the environs of [Page 297] London; and, during his apprenticeship, he gained the honorary premium given annu­ally by the Apothecaries Company, to such young men as exhibit a superiority in the knowledge of plants, in those excursions made by the Demonstrator of Chelsea Gar­den; and instituted for the purpose of ini­tiating the apprentices of the Company in a science so necessary to the profession. This premium, as hath been observed in the course of the preceding pages, consisted of a handsomely bound copy of RAY's Synopsis. He continued, at times, throughout his life, to attend on these occasions, and meet his former associates with great pleasure and delight.

In 1738, Mr. WATSON married, and set up in business for himself. His skill, his activity, and diligence in his profession, soon distinguished him among his acquaintance; as did his taste for natural history, and his general knowledge of philosophical subjects among the members of the Royal Society, of which honourable body he was elected a member early in the year 1741; his two first communications being printed in the [Page 298] 41st volume of the Philosophical Transac­tions.

Soon after his admission into the Royal Society, Mr. WATSON distinguished him­self as a botanist. His earliest paper on this subject was, "An Account of the ce­lebrated HALLER's Enumeratio Stirpium Helvetiae, extracted from the Latin, and illustrated with a Conspectus of the au­thor's method, and with various obser­vations." This was printed in the Phi­losophical Transactions ^a.

In the same volume^b, and in the suc­ceeding^c, he excited the attention of the curious in this way, by some "Critical Re­marks on the Rev. Mr. PICKERING's Paper concerning the Seeds of Mush­rooms," which, that gentleman having seen a short time before, considered as a new discovery; whereas Mr. WATSON shewed, that they had been demonstrated several years prior to that period, by M. MICHELI, in his "Nova Plantarum Genera," printed at Florence in 1729.

[Page 299] But that which attracted the attention of foreign botanists particularly, was his de­scription of a rare and elegant species of Fungus, called from its form Geaster ^d. This was written in Latin, and accompa­nied with an engraving. It has since been called Lycoperdon fornicatum.

In the same volume are inserted some very instructive observations on the Cicuta, or Common Hemlock; occasioned by the death of two of the Dutch soldiers, quartered at Waltham Abbey, in Essex; which hap­pened in consequence of their having eaten this herb instead of Greens^e.

The death of two of the French prisoners in 1746, occasioned by their eating the roots of the Hemlock Dropwort, produced from Mr. WATSON a paper, which in an eminent manner exemplified his skill in the knowledge of plants. It abounds with curious and critical observations on that plant, and on the Sium Erucae folio of Cas­par BAUHINE (Cicuta virosa Lin.) with which it had been frequently confounded; [Page 300] as both had also been commonly mistaken for Water Parsnep. It is accompanied with engravings of the plants, from the excel­lent drawings of Mr. EHRET^f.

In the 45^th volume of the Philosophical Transactions, is printed a Translation, by Mr. WATSON, of a Letter to Sir Hans SLOANE, from Dr. GARCIN, of Neuchatel, containing a complete history of the Cypress of the an­tients; the Henna, or Alcanna of the Ara­bians, called by LINNAEUS Lawsonia inermis; a Shrub, famous for its use, both in medi­cine, and as a dye, all over the East, inso­much that, at Constantinople, the duty on this drug amounts to 18,000 ducats annu­ally^g.

In 1748, Mr. WATSON had an opportu­nity of shewing attention to M. KALM, dur­ing his abode in England, which was from February till August, when he embarked for America. He introduced him to the curi­ous gardens, and accompanied him in seve­ral botanical excursions in the environs of London. This eminent pupil of LINNAEUS, [Page 301] who was a Swedish divine, on his return home, became Professor of Oeconomy at Abo, where he died Nov. 16, 1779, aged 63.

The same civilities were manifested by Dr. WATSON to the present eminent Dr. PALLAS, of Petersburgh, during his abode in England, which was from July 1761, to April 1762.

In 1749, in company with Dr. MIT­CHELL, Mr. WATSON examined the re­mains of the garden, formerly belonging to the TRADESCANTS; of whom, see chap. 14. of this work. They found the Arbu­tus, and the Cupressus Americana, with other exotics, in a vigorous state, after having sus­tained the winters of this climate for 120 years. This situation had also afforded a proof, not often exemplified, of the large size to which the Common Buck-Thorn will grow. They found one about 20 feet high, and near a foot in diameter^h.

In 1751, were laid before the public, some very curious and interesting particu­lars, relating to the sexes of plants, which [Page 302] tended to confirm the truth of that doctrine in a remarkable manner. These were oc­casioned by a letter from Mr. MYLINS, of Berlin, informing Mr. WATSON, that a tree of the Palma major foliis flabelliformibus, which, although it had borne fruit for 30 years past, had never brought any to per­fection, until the flowers of a male-tree, brought from Leipsic, 20 German miles dis­tant, had been suspended over its branches. After this operation, the tree yielded, the first year, above 100, and the second, upon repeating the experiment, above 2000 ripe fruit; from which 11 young Palm-trees had been propagatedⁱ.

In the same volume are some remarks on the case of two women in Brabant, who had been nearly poisoned by eating the leaves of what had been called White Henbane; but Mr. WATSON proved, that it must have been the Hyoseyamas niger, since the white does not grow spontaneously in that coun­try. The same letter confirms the poison­ous effect of the Yew-tree upon horses^k.

[Page 303] Mr. WATSON paid the same tribute, in 1751, to the memory of Dr. Henry COMP­TON, Bishop of London, the friend and pa­tron of Mr. RAY, as he had done to that of the TRADESCANTS; and gives a list of 33 exotic trees, which were then remaining in the garden at Fulham. From this cata­logue may be inferred, not only the original splendour of the garden, and the zeal and taste the Bishop shewed in the cultivation of such numerous curiosities, but the facility with which trees of very different latitudes may become naturalized in England ^l.

In the same volume, page 301, we find "An Account of the Cinnamon Tree;" occasioned by a large specimen, equal in size to a walking cane, sent over by Mr. ROBINS to Dr. LETHERLAND, and which was exhibited to the inspection of the Royal Society. From this Account we learn, that three Cinnamon Trees, which were intend­ed to have been sent to Jamaica, were grow­ing in the garden of Hampton Court in the reign of King William.

[Page 304] In the year 1752, Mr. WATSON laid before the Royal Society two rare English plants; the Lathraea Squamaria, and the Dentaria bulbifera: the latter unnoticed both by Mr. RAY and DILLENIUS. These were discovered by Mr. BLACKSTONE, near Harefield ^m.

He also describes, in this volume, that singular vegetable production, noticed be­fore under the article of Thomas KNOWL­TON, as first discovered by him, and called Moor Balls, the Conferva Aegagropila of LINNAEUSⁿ.

Mr. WATSON, about this time, was the first, as I apprehend, who communicated to the English reader, an Account of a Re­volution which was about to take place among the learned, in Botany and Zoolo­gy, respecting the removal of a large body of marine productions, which had hereto­fore been ranked among vegetables; but which were now proved to be of animal origin, and stand under the name of Zoo­phytes, in the present System of Nature. It [Page 305] may be easily seen that this respects the Corals, Corallines, Escharae, Madrepores, Sponges, &c. and although even GESNER, IMPERATUS, and RUMPHIUS, had some obscure ideas relating to the dubious struc­ture of this class, yet the full discovery, that these substances were the fabrications of Polypes, was owing to M. PEYSSONNEL, physician at Guadaloupe. This gentleman had imbibed this opinion first, in 1723, at Marseilles; and confirmed it, in 1725, on the coast of Barbary. While in Guada­loupe, he wrote a volume of 400 pages in 4^o. in proof of this subject, which he trans­mitted in manuscript to the Royal So­ciety of London. This treatise, in which the author seemed to have put the matter out of doubt, as to the animal origin of these bodies, was translated, analyzed, and abridged, in 1752, by Mr. WATSON; and published in the Philosophical Trans­actions ^o, at a time when the learned were wavering in their opinions on this matter. M. TREMBLY's investigation re­specting [Page 306] the Fresh Water Polypes had pav­ed the way for the reception of PEYSSON­NEL's truths; and Mr. WATSON himself, in company with M. TREMBLY, had an opportunity, on the coast of Sussex, when on a visit at the Duke of RICHMOND's, in one of those annual excursions^p which for many years he seldom failed to make in the summer season, of verifying M. PEYS­SONNEL's [Page 307] system, in viewing the Polypes of the Corallines.

In 1753, was printed, "An Account of the Second Volume of the Flora Sibirica of GMELIN;" exhibiting some extracts relating to the cure of the venereal disease, in Siberia, by the decoction of a species of Cirsium, and an Iris: and on the distil­lation of a spirituous liquor from the ^q Spondylium, or Cow-Parsnep.

In the same volume of the Transactions ^r, some Observations, tending to determine what was the Byssus of the antients; occa­sioned by a substance which was sent over by Professor BOSE, of Wittemberg. It prov­ed to be no other than the common Byssus velutina, in a bleached state; whereas the Byssus of the antients was judged by Mr. WATSON to be, most probably, a Cotton; which is confirmed in a very elaborate and critical Dissertation, written by Dr. Rein­hold FORSTER, and published in 1776.

Remarks, additional to those of Dr. MARTYN, on the Sex of the Holly-Tree; [Page 308] which justified the removal of it from the Tetrandrous to the Potygamous class^s.

"Some Observations upon the Agaric lately applied after Amputations, with re­gard to the determining its Species^t." Some doubts had arisen relating to the exact species of the Styptic Agaric, which had just then excited the attention of the sur­geons, both in France and England. Mr. WATSON having written afterwards to M. Bernard de JUSSIEU at Paris, was assur­ed that the French surgeons had used the Agaricus pedis equini facie of TOURNEFORT, which is the Boletus igniarius Lin.^u.

In 1754, Mr. WATSON wrote an Ac­count of the first Edition of the Species Plantarum of LINNAEUS; which was pub­lished in the Gentleman's Magazine, p. 555 for that year. It is not only highly worthy of being read, for the useful information, and curious critical matter it contains; but also on account of its having produced from that celebrated Professor, a handsome letter, [Page 309] written in Latin; in which he takes occa­sion to acknowledge the candour, and skill of the author, in high terms; and vindi­cates himself for having, in his work above­mentioned, given to the Meadia (a plant so called by CATESBY, in honour of Dr. MEAD) a different name. LINNAEUS's Letter was printed the succeeding year, in the same publication^w.

In 1758, he had occasion to confirm the fatal effects of the Oenanthe crocata, or Hemlock Dropwort, by the death of a per­son at Havant, in Hampshire, from having taken about four spoonfuls of the juice of the root, instead of that of the Water-Pars­nep. It was observed, that in this in­stance, as in that of the French prisoners, all the sufferers were affected with the locked jaw^x.

These talents, it may be easily imagined, rendered him a welcome visitor to Sir [Page 310] Hans SLOANE, who had retired to Chel­sea in 1740. In fact, he enjoyed no small share of the favour and esteem of that veteran in science; and was honoured so far, as to be nominated one of the Trustees of the British Museum by Sir Hans him­self, who died Jan. 11, 1753.

After its establishment in Montagu House, Mr. WATSON was very assiduous, not only in the internal arrangement of subjects, but also in getting the garden furnished with plants; insomuch that, in the first year of its establishment, in 1756, it contained no fewer than 600 species, all in a flourishing state.

Having given ample specimens of the ge­nius and abilities of Mr. WATSON, as a na­turalist, we must now consider his talents in some other branches of knowledge. Among these, nothing contributed so much to ex­tend his fame, and enlarge his connexions with men of science, as his discoveries in [Page 311] electricity. He became early enamoured with the phaenomena of this wonderful agent in nature; an attention to which had been some time before excited, among the philosophers of Europe; and particularly in England, by Mr. Stephen GRAY, of the Charter-House; Granville WHELER, Esq Dr. DESAGULIERS; and others.

About the year 1744, Mr. WATSON took it up, and made several important dis­coveries in it. At this time, it was no small advancement in the progress of elec­tricity, to be able to fire spirit of wine. He was the first in England who effected this, and he performed it, both by the direct, and the repulsive power of electricity. He afterwards fired inflammable air, gunpow­der, and inflammable oils, by the same means. He also instituted several other experiments, which helped to enlarge the power of the electrician; but the most important of his discoveries was, the prov­ing, that the electric power was not created by the globe or tube, but only collected by them. Dr. FRANKLIN, and Mr. WIL­SON, [Page 312] were alike fortunate, about the same time. It is easy to see the extreme utility of this discovery in conducting all subse­quent experiments. It soon led to what he called ‘"the circulation of the electric matter."’

Besides these valuable discoveries, the Historian of Electricity informs us, that Mr. WATSON first observed the different colour of the spark, as drawn from diffe­rent bodies; that electricity suffered no re­fraction in passing through glass; that the power of electricity was not affected by the presence or absence of fire, since the sparks were equally strong from a freezing mix­ture, as from red hot iron; that flame and smoke were conductors of electricity; and that the stroke was, as the points of contact of the non-electrics on the outside of the glass. This investigation led to the coat­ing of phials, in order to increase the power of accumulation; and qualified him emi­nently to be the principal actor in those famous experiments, which were made on the Thames, and at Shooter's Hill, in the [Page 313] years 1747 and 1748; in one of which, the electrical circuit was extended four miles, in order to prove the velocity of electricity; the result of which convinced the atten­dants that it was instantaneous^y.

It ought also to be remembered, that [Page 314] Mr. WATSON conducted some other expe­riments, with so much sagacity and address, relating to the impracticability of trans­mitting odours, and the power of purgatives through glass; and those relating to the exhibition of what was called the "Glory round the Head," or the "Beatification," boasted to have been done by some philoso­phers on the continent; that he procured, at length, an acknowledgment from Mr. BOSE, of what he called "an Embellish­ment," in conducting the experiments; a procedure totally incompatible with the true spirit of a philosopher!

Mr. WATSON's first papers on the subject of Electricity, were addressed, in three let­ters, to Martin FOLKES, Esq President of the Royal Society, dated in March, April, and October 1745; and were published in the Philosophical Transactions ^z, under the title of "Experiments and Observations tending to illustrate the Nature and Pro­perties of Electricity." These were fol­lowed in the beginning of the next year [Page 315] (1746) by "Farther Experiments, &c.^a;" and these by "A Sequel to the Experi­ments, &c."

These tracts were collected, and sepa­rately published in octavo, and reached to a third or fourth edition. They were of so interesting a nature, that they gave him the lead, as it were, in this branch of phi­losophy; and were not only the means of raising him to a high degree of estimation at home, but of extending his fame throughout all Europe. His house became the resort of the most ingenious and illus­trious experimental philosophers that Eng­land could boast.

Several of the nobility attended on these occasions; and his present Majesty GEORGE III. when Prince of Wales, honoured him with his presence. In fact, there needs no greater confirmation of his merit, at that early time, as an electrician, than the pub­lic testimony conferred upon him by the Royal Society, which, in 1745, presented him with Sir Godfrey COPLEY's medal, for his discoveries in electricity.

[Page 316] After this mark of distinction, Mr. WAT­SON continued to prosecute electrical studies and experiments, and to write on the sub­ject for many years. Between the year 1745, the date of his first paper, and the year 1764, that of the last, we find all those papers which I have recited below^b. [Page 317] After writing the last of these, he was ap­pointed, by the Royal Society, one of the Committee in 1772, to examine into the state of the powder-magazines at Purfleet; and with the Honourable Mr. CAVENDISH, Dr. FRANKLIN, and Mr. ROBERTSON, [Page 318] fixed on pointed conductors as preferable to blunt ones; and again, was of the Com­mittee in 1778, after the experiments of Mr. WILSON in the Pantheon.

WATSON.

AS Mr. WATSON had constantly lived in London, he had been a curious observer of the wonderful increase and im­provement of that vast city. He was ac­quainted, in no ordinary degree, with its history, and its police in general; and had particularly attended to those circumstances that were more immediately the objects of [Page 320] the philosopher and the physician. This knowledge enabled him frequently to sug­gest useful hints; one of which highly de­serves to be mentioned, as it respects an object of great importance to the public.

In the hard winter of 1756, he wrote "Some Observations on preventing the freezing of Water in the Leaden Pipes of the City of London;" occasioned by the injudicious and ineffectual method, practised frequently, of strewing dung in the streets over the pipes. These were printed in the Gentleman's Magazine ^a for January 1757, p. 6. in which is pointed [Page 321] out a successful method of effecting the purpose, which he had himself employed in the severe winter of 1739-40. Other instances, besides this, occur, of his atten­tion to whatever might advance the wel­fare of the public. So early as the year 1742, he had laid before the Royal So­ciety "Some Observations upon Mr. Sut­ton's Invention to extract the foul and stinking Air from the Well and other Parts of Ships: With critical Remarks upon the Use of Windsails." In which he suggests several improvements in that useful invention^b.

In 1753, he published Mr. Appleby's Process for rendering Sea-water fresh^c.

In 1768, an Account of Mr. Charles MILLER's Experiments on the sowing of Wheat, and dividing the Root; by which means were produced, in one year, from one grain, 21, 109 ears, which yielded three pecks and three quarters of clean corn, weighing forty-seven pounds seven ounces; [Page 322] and the number of grains, calculated by the number in one ounce, might be 576,840^d. It is to be feared that this method can scarcely be reduced to advantageous practice on a large and agricultural plan.

In the same year, an Account of the Oil extracted from the American Earth-nut, or, more properly, Ground Pease ^e. This plant, like a few others of the same class, has the singular property of protruding its seed-vessel into the ground, where it ripens the fruit; hence it is named by RAY, Ara­chis Hypogaios. The oil of this pulfe is so mild and well tasted, and withal so easily procured, that it might bid fair to super­sede that of olives, or even oil of almonds. It is cultivated in North Carolina, and might advantageously be raised in the Sugar Islands^f.

As from the earliest times of the Royal Society, it had been customary to request of some member, properly qualified from his knowledge of the subject, to review, and [Page 323] lay before that body at their usual meetings, any such extracts from the numerous pub­lications which were sent to the Society, relating to discoveries in philosophy and the arts, as promised to be of general utility, that they might be recorded in the Philoso­phical Transactions, this office did not un­frequently fall upon Mr. WATSON. We find several papers of this nature bearing his name. Besides those which I have enu­merated, relating to natural history strictly, and electricity, are the following, as re­cited below^g.

Of his productions which have a more immediate reference to physic, the first was published in the Philosophical Transactions, N^o 459. "A Case wherein Part of the Lungs were coughed up." And in the succeeding Number, "An Observation re­lating [Page 324] to Hydatides voided per Vagi­nem ^h."

In 1744, an Account, and Analysis, of a Stone, which, when first taken out of the stomach of a coach-horse, weighed three pounds two ounces avoirdupois weight, and measured seventeen inches by sixteen.

On examination, it appeared to be not so much a concretion of the kind called Ega­gropila, as of the bezoardic textureⁱ. Mr. WATSON had afterwards an opportunity of exhibiting to the Society a Calculus, taken from the belly of a mare, which weighed fifteen pounds twelve ounces. Even this, however, was exceeded by one from a dray­horse belonging to Sir Henry Hicks at Dept­ford, which weighed nineteen pounds, ex­clusive of some of the crust broken off^k.

In 1749, he laid before the Royal Socie­ty, "An Account of the Vomito Prieto of Carthagena," called on the spot La Chap­petonade. This was extracted from Don ULLOA's Voyage to South America, just [Page 325] then published at Madrid ^l. This disease is described by SAUVAGES under the name of Vomitus rabiosus.

In the same volume, "Cases of the Fae­tus in Utero being differently affected by the Small-pox." In one of these, a fe­male child was born with evident marks of the small-pox upon her, and was not sus­ceptible of the disease when inoculated at four years old with her brother, who passed through it very favourably. The girl grew pale, and lost her appetite; but her indis­position wore off in two or three days. The other is the case of a lady, who had the small-pox to a great degree when seven months gone with child, which was at the same period of pregnancy under which the mother of the above-mentioned child passed through the distemper. The offspring of this lady, however, went through the dis­ease in the natural way, at the age of four or five years^m.

All who were acquainted with the ex­tent [Page 326] of Mr. WATSON's knowledge in the practice of physic, in natural history, and experimental philosophy, were not surprised to see him rise into the higher line of his profession. This event took place in 1757, previous to which he had been chosen a member of the Royal Academy of Madrid; and he was created doctor of physic by the University of Halle, under a diploma, bear­ing date September the 6th. The same ho­nour was conferred upon him by that of Wit­temberg about the same time. Soon after which he was disfranchised from the Com­pany of Apothecaries. He became a li­centiate of the College of Physicians in 1759.

This alteration in his circumstances and prospects, hazardous as it might be confi­dered by some, occasioned no diminution in his emoluments, but far the contrary. He had before this time removed from Alders­gate Street to Lincoln's Inn Fields, where he lived the remainder of his days; and now he found himself at greater liberty to pursue his studies, and carry on at more leisure the extensive literary connnexion in which he [Page 327] was engaged, both at home and abroad. He kept up a close correspondence with Dr. HUXHAM for many years. We find among his correspondents abroad, the names of M. PEYSSONNEL, CLAIRAUT, BOSE, the Abbé NOLLET, M. ALLEMAND, M. JUS­SIEU, and many others, as may be seen from the letters communicated by him to the Royal Society.

In October 1762, Dr. WATSON was chosen one of the physicians to the Found­ling Hospital, which office he held during the remainder of his life.

We find also two zoological articles laid before the Royal Society by Dr. WATSON. The first of these relates to the insect called the Vegetable Fly, which had imposed on the credulity of many, under the idea of its being an insect flying about with a vegetable growing on its back: whereas in fact it was nothing more than a fungus of the Clavaria genus, growing from the dead nymph of a Cicada, as well as from any other putrid animal substancesⁿ. The first author who seems to have counte­nanced [Page 328] this error, was Father TORRUBIA, in his "Apparato para la Historia naturali Espanola," printed at Madrid. Fol. 1754. He describes and figures a prickly plant, vegetating from a dead wasp. Both these productions are figured by Mr. EDWARDS, in the third part of his "Gleanings," tab. 335, 336.

The second paper is a Description, ac­companied by a large engraving of the American Armadillo, called Dasypus no­vemcinctus by LINNAEUS, the nine-banded Armadillo^o.

In 1758, was printed part of a letter to Dr. HUXHAM, being an account of some extraordinary effects arising from convul­sions, in a young lady, which ended in a deprivation of speech, and temporary blind­ness. These symptoms lasted fourteen months, and were at last suddenly removed after she had heated herself by four hours dancing^p.

"Some Observations relating to the Lyn­curium of the Antients;" tending to prove [Page 329] that it was the Tourmalin of the mo­derns^q.

In 1762, a Letter to Dr. HUXHAM, containing some Remarks on the Influenza of that year, and on the Dysentery which succeeded it^r.

Observations upon the Effects of Elec­tricity, applied to a Tetanus, or muscular rigidity, of four months continuance. For the first three weeks the stiffness was con­fined to the jaw, but afterwards extended to a total rigidity of the spine. Electriza­tion was continued for ten weeks with a sensible advantage, and the girl was wholly restored to health^s.

In 1764, Dr. WATSON laid before the Royal Society "An Account of what ap­peared on opening the Body of an Asth­matic Person." This was a young man, aged twenty-eight, who died after being afflicted with an asthma only two months. The lungs were found in an extraordinarily emphysematous state, and the pulmonary [Page 330] vein varicose in a great degree. A soreness of the chest, succeeded by a cough and a shortness of breath, had in this young man's case immediately succeeded a violent and long-continued vomiting; to which cause Dr. WATSON was inclined to attribute the origin of this disease^t.

Part of a Letter to Dr. HUXHAM, giving some account of the late cold weather, dated London, Feb. 14, 1767. By this it appears that the thermometer in London stood, when at the lowest, on the 19th, at eight in the morning, at 15″½: and on the same day, at Norwich, it was observed as low as seven degrees^u.

In 1768, Dr. WATSON published "An Account of a Series of Experiments, in­stituted with a view of ascertaining the most successful Method of inoculating the Small-pox." 8^o. These experiments were designed to prove whether there was any specific virtue in preparatory medi­cines: whether the disease was more fa­vourable when the matter was taken from [Page 331] the natural, or the artificial pock: and, whether the crude lymph, or the highly-concocted matter, produced different effects. The result was, what succeeding and am­ple experience has confirmed, that after due abstinence from animal food, and heat­ing liquors, it is of small importance what kind of variolous matter is used; and that no preparatory specifics are to be re­garded.

Of Dr. WATSON's papers on medical subjects, printed in other publications, it will be unnecessary to give a detailed ac­count; as they are well known to medical practitioners in general. Nevertheless, that the list of his productions may be complete, I shall recite them briefly.

"An Account of the good Effects of Mag­nesia in severe Vomitings^x."

"Observations on the Hydrocephalus in­ternus ^y."

"An Account of the Putrid Measles, as [Page 332] they were observed in London in the years 1763 and 1768^z.

"An Appendix to the Paper on the Hy­drocephalus internus ^a."

This disease, on which Dr. WHYTT, Dr. WATSON, and others, have lately writ­ten in so instructive a manner, deserves to be accurately noticed, and the knowledge of it strongly inculcated; as, in the coun­try at least, it is not unfrequently mista­ken, and treated as a putrid and comatose fever.

As Dr. WATSON lived in intimacy with the most illustrious and learned Fellows of the Royal Society; so he was himself one of its most active members, and ever zealous in promoting the ends of that in­stitution. For many years he was a fre­quent member of the council; and, during the presidentship of Sir John PRINGLE, was elected one of the vice-presidents; which honourable office he continued to fill to the [Page 333] end of his days. He was a most constant attendant on the public meetings of the Society; and on the private associations of its members, especially on that formerly held every Thursday, at the Mitre, in Fleet Street, and now at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, in the Strand.

In 1784, Dr. WATSON was chosen a Fellow of the Royal College of Physi­cians; and made one of the Elects. In the succeeding year, he communicated to the College, "An Account of a disease occa­sioned by transplanting a Tooth." This was inserted in the Medical Transactions; and this, I believe, was the last paper he wrote^b.

In 1786, he had the honour of knight­hood conferred upon him; being one of the body deputed by the College to congratu­late his Majesty on his escape from assassi­nation.

In general, Sir William WATSON enjoyed a firm state of health. It was sometimes interrupted by fits of the gout; but these seldom confined him long to the house. In [Page 334] the year 1786, the decline of his health was very visible to his friends, and his strength was greatly diminished, together with much of that vivacity which so strongly marked his character. He died May 10, 1787.

Sir William WATSON had a natural ac­tivity both of mind and body, that never allowed him to be indolent in the slightest degree. He was a most exact oeconomist of his time, and throughout life a very early riser, being up usually in summer at six o'clock, and frequently sooner; thus secur­ing to himself daily two or three uninter­rupted hours for study. In his younger days, these early hours, as I have before observed, were frequently given up to the purposes of simpling; but, in riper years, they were devoted to study. He read much and carefully; and his ardent and unremit­ting desire to be acquainted with the pro­gress of all those sciences which were his objects, joined to a vigorous and retentive memory, enabled him to treasure up a vast stock of knowledge. What he thus ac­quired, he freely dispensed. His mode of conveying information was clear, forcible, [Page 335] and energetic, and justified the encomium bestowed upon him by a learned foreigner, in a letter to a correspondent^c.

His attention, however, was by no means confined to the subjects of his own profes­sion, or those of philosophy at large. He was a careful observer of men, and of the manners of the age; and the extraordinary endowment of his memory had furnished him with a great variety of interesting and entertaining anecdotes, concerning the cha­racters and circumstances of his time^d.

On all subjects, his liberal and commu­nicative disposition, and his courteous be­haviour, encouraged enquiry; and those who sought for information from him, sel­dom [Page 336] departed without it. In his epistolary correspondence he was copious and precise; and such as enjoyed the privilege and plea­sure of it, experienced in his punctuality another qualification which greatly en­hanced its value.

Some of the first of Sir William WAT­SON's papers in the Philosophical Transac­tions, evince his early proficiency in the science of Botany, and especially his ac­quaintance with the English species: nor was he less skilled in exotics in his riper years. That he was very soon considered on the continent as highly respectable in this light, is manifest from his having been one of the few in England, whom Mr. CLIFFORD gratified with a copy of the Hortus Clif­fortianus; a work, at its first publication, only attainable by those whose studies and acquirements in the subject of it, entitled them to receive it from the munificence of Mr. CLIFFORD himself. In fact, all learn­ed foreigners, of the same bias in their stu­dies, brought letters of recommendation to him; and, on their return, failed not, both in their correspondence and in their wri­tings, [Page 337] to bear honourable testimony to his learning and abilities.

Sir William WATSON had learned to know plants by the system and nomencla­ture of RAY, when trivial names were unknown; and he was so singularly happy in a tenacious memory, as to be able to repeat, with wonderful promptitude, the long names which had been in use from the times of BAUHINE, GERARD, and PARKINSON; a task from which botanists are relieved, by the introduction of the Linnaean trivial epithets. He lived to see the system of his much-honoured country­man give way to that of the Swede, which began to take place in England about this period; and with which also he made him­self acquainted. His knowledge of plants, and the history of them in the various au­thors, was so eminently extensive, that his opinion was frequently appealed to as deci­sive on the subject; and by some of his in­timate friends he was usually called ‘"The living Lexicon of Botany."’ Had it been the lot of Sir William WATSON to have been devoted to Botany as an official em­ployment; [Page 338] or had the more important avocations of his profession allowed a fur­ther indulgence to his favourite bias, such an union of natural endowments and ac­quired knowledge as he possessed, must have placed him very high among the na­turalists of this age.

It remains for me to do justice to the worth of Sir William WATSON as a phy­sician, and as a member of society. But as these parts of his character have been already delineated with great truth and dis­crimination by my much-respected friend Dr. GARTHSHORE, I shall conclude this account by some extracts from the Memo­rial read by him to a society of physicians, of which Sir William had been the presi­dent.

‘"As a physician, his humanity, assiduity, and caution, were eminently conspicuous; and his exact observance of the duties of social politeness must ever be remember­ed with pleasure by all those who en­joyed the happiness of his acquaintance. The smile of benignity was always dis­played on his countenance; he invaria­bly [Page 339] continued the general, the ready, and the obliging friend of mankind; he was respectful to the elder and superior, en­couraging to the younger, and pleasant and easy to all with whom he had any intercourse. The same affability and good humour which adorned his character in public life, were preserved also in the bo­som of his family, and endeared him to those who were more immediately around him. He was scarcely ever out of tem­per, was always benignant and kind to his friends and relations—and, it would be injurious to his memory not to men­tion an anecdote which equally displays his humanity, and the warmth with which he interested himself in the cases of his patients—Not many years before his death, he was waked suddenly one morning very early by his servant, who came to inform him that his house had been broken open, and that his plate (which was of considerable value) was stolen—"Is that all?" said he, coolly—I was afraid you had brought me some alarming message from Mr. —, con­cerning [Page 340] whose dangerous situation I have been very uneasy all night^e."’

LINNAEUS.

AS I am now arrived beyond the pe­riod, when the name of LINNAEUS began to be celebrated throughout Europe, it will be necessary to recur to the circum­stances of his visit to this country, that the introduction and full establishment of his system in this kingdom, may be better illustrated. Here, had his reception been [Page 342] more encouraging to his wishes, it has been said, he was disposed to have taken up his residence. He had been some time in Hol­land, under the patronage, and in the house, of Mr. CLIFFORD. He had taken his de­gree of doctor in physic. He had gained the esteem of BOERHAAVE, and from him brought letters of recommendation to the literati of England.

The fame of Sir Hans SLOANE and his Museum, and the esteem in which LIN­NAEUS held the character of DILLENIUS, added to the desire of inspecting the She­rardian Pinax, were among the most power­ful motives that induced the Swede to visit England. This event took place in the spring of 1736. I am only able to ascer­tain the season of the year, from being in­formed of the pleasure he expressed, in meeting in the fields with those produc­tions of England, that are not spontaneously growing in Sweden. His delight particu­larly, in seeing under the hedges the Hya­cinth in full flower, can only be conceived by those who possess some share of that bo­tanical ardour which he possessed.

[Page 343] At this time, the sexual system existed only in its outline. Enough of it, how­ever, was manifested in the Florula Lap­ponica, printed in the Acta Upsaliensia, for the years 1732 and 1733, and in the first sketch of the Systema, in 1735, to exhibit its novelty. I know not that the Funda­menta Botanica, the Bibliotheca, and the Musa Cliffortiana, although they bear date in 1736, had reached England before the author: yet, notwithstanding the warm recommendation of BOERHAAVE, Sir Hans SLOANE, considered at that time as the Mecaenas of Botany in this island, gave the author, and his system, an unfavourable reception. At the age of seventy-six, we need not be surprised that the veteran should not feel disposed to learn a new system, from a young man, whom he could not but consider as an adventurer, both in fortune, in fame, and in science. SLOANE, more­over, had never paid sufficient attention to the improvement of science in the con­struction of generical characters; and this circumstance, probably, set him at a far­ther distance from embracing the system of [Page 344] LINNAEUS, which exhibited an arrange­ment so widely different from the unde­fined assemblage of the History of Ja­maica.

It must not however be understood, that Sir Hans SLOANE remained insensible to the genius and accomplishments of LIN­NAEUS: on the contrary, when he after­wards sent him his Flora Lapponica, Sir Hans SLOANE wrote him a letter, bearing date Dec. 20, 1737, expressive of the great pleasure he received in the perusal of it; exhorting him to elucidate the remaining parts of the natural history of his country, on the same plan.

DILLENIUS was highly sensible of his merit, and gave him the most polite recep­tion. But that he who had been so long versed in the systems of TOURNEFORT and RAY, and after having given improvement to the latter, by which he had deserved and received the applause, not of England alone, but of all Europe, should abandon that sys­tem, to embrace the hitherto uncounte­nanced novelties of LINNAEUS, could not reasonably be expected.

[Page 345] The journey into England however, was, on the whole, highly gratifying to LIN­NAEUS. He beheld with astonishment the collections of SLOANE, and, with rapture, the Herbaria of PETIVER, PLUKENET, BU­DELLE, and of many others there reposit­ed, whose names were familiar to him. At Oxford he inspected, with no less satisfac­tion, the Pinax of SHERARD, which he had eagerly wished to see published, and of which DILLENIUS had compleated about a fourth part. But an undertaking of that nature and extent, after the death of the first projector of it, demanded a patronage and an expence, not easily obtained.

About the time LINNAEUS made his tour into this country, indigenous botany was on the whole in a languishing state. It no longer felt that degree of support, which the SHERARDS, and Sir HANS, had afford­ed it. The Consul was dead; and the de­clining years of Dr. James SHERARD, and of Sir Hans SLOANE, began to withdraw them from the bustle, and almost from the business, of life. After the publication of RAY's Synopsis by DILLENIUS, in 1724, [Page 346] no work of magnitude on the English bota­ny, except the Historia Muscorum, in 1741, took place for many years; not that there were wanting several individuals, who were eminent for their knowledge of indigenous botany, and zealous in propagating it: as instances, I refer to the names of WATSON, COLLINSON, MILLER, and BLACKSTONE. The arrival however of LINNAEUS in Eng­land, and the consequent promulgation of his method, excited that curiosity which novelty will ever attract, and, although his system might be but little relished at the instant, by the English naturalists in gene­ral, there were yet a few into whose minds his doctrines silently insinuated themselves, and gained approbation.

In the year 1737, the next after LIN­NAEUS left England, he published the Ge­nera Plantarum, which compleatly un­folded the sexual system, as far as related to classical and generical characters; and in the same year exemplified it in the species, by the Flora Lapponica, and the Hortus Cliffortianus. At the same time, anxious as it should seem above all, to gain the ap­probation [Page 347] of DILLENIUS, he dedicated to him the Critica Botanica; in which he ex­plains his reasons for the change of names, and for the establishment of new distinc­tions, both of which, he well knew, would be considered as dangerous innovations.

These volumes soon found their way into the libraries of the curious in England; though the Hortus Cliffortianus was, at first, only dispersed through the munificence of Mr. CLIFFORD. The simplicity of the classical characters as the basis, the uni­formity of the generical notes, confined wholly to the parts of fructification, and that precision which marked the specific distinctions, advantages, of which all fore­going systems were destitute, soon com­manded the assent of the unprejudiced; and an interval of a few years, gave LINNAEUS's method a decided superiority with English botanists.

After the establishment of LINNAEUS in the professorship in the year 1741, the pub­lication of the Theses, afterwards, in a col­lected form, called the Amoenitates Acade­micae, commenced, and, in less than ten [Page 348] years, two volumes had been published. These tracts, by the variety of useful and entertaining knowledge, with which they abound, equally extended and augmented the reputation of LINNAEUS. They con­vinced his opposers, that his knowledge was not bounded by mere nomenclature, and systematic arrangement, as was re­proachfully objected.

CONCLUSION.

In England, Dr. MARTYN, in his Vir­gil, published in 1740; DILLENIUS, in his Historia Muscorum, 1741; and BLACK­STONE, in his Specimen Botanicum, 1746, had referred to the writings of LINNAEUS; and occasionally his name had been men­tioned in the Philosophical Transactions, and other periodical works: but, as yet, no translation of any part of his writings, or any publication on his plan, had been made in this country, until, in 1754, a Swedish pupil of the Upsal school arranged, by the generic and trivial names only, all the plants of RAY's Synopsis, according to the system of his master. This little tract was im­mediately [Page 349] transmitted to the Royal Society, and excited much attention among those professed students, and lovers of English botany, who obtained the perusal of it.

In 1756, Dr. BROWNE classed all his Jamaica plants, amounting to 1200 species, in the same method. The drawings having been made by EHRET, had the advantage of separate delineations of the flower and fruit.

In 1759, Mr. STILLINGFLEET pub­lished a Translation of several Tracts from the Amoenitates; and, by his own valuable additions, his instructive Preface, the judi­cious and learned notes interspersed through­out the book, by his own "Calendar of Flora," confirming and illustrating that of the Swede, greatly conduced to exalt the reputation of LINNAEUS in England. Of this learned and excellent man, the reader will find some memoirs in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1776, which were afterwards incorporated into "Anecdotes of Mr. Bow­yer" (see p. 300), and into the Biogra­phia Dramatica, 2d edition, 1782.

The next year, Mr. LEE, by his Trans­lation [Page 350] of the Elements of the Sexual System, much contributed to facilitate the know­ledge, and extend the progress and popu­larity of it, among the less learned of his countrymen, or such as were unable to re­cur to the Fundamenta, or Philosophia Bo­tanica of the author.

At this juncture, it is material among those circumstances which accelerated the progress of the new system, to mention the arrival of the late much-lamented Dr. SO­LANDER, who came into England on the first of July, 1760. His name, and the connexion he was known to bear as the favourite pupil of his great master, had of themselves some share in exciting a curio­sity which led to information; whilst his perfect acquaintance with the whole scheme enabled him to explain its minutest parts, and elucidate all those obscurities with which, on a superficial view it was thought to be enveloped. I add to this, that the urbanity of his manners, and his readiness to afford every assistance in his power, joined to that clearness and energy with which he effected it, not only brought [Page 351] conviction of its excellence in those who were inclined to receive it, but conciliated the minds, and dispelled the prejudices, of many who had been averse to it.

By all these preliminary advances, the learned were prepared to see the English botany modelled according to the rules of the Linnaean school. Dr. HILL seized the first opportunity of attempting it, in his Flora Britannica, 1760; but it was execu­ted in a manner so unworthy of his abili­ties, that his work can have no claim to the merit of having answered the occasion: and thus the credit of the atchievement fell to the lot of Mr. William HUDSON, F.R.S. who, to an extensive knowledge of English plants, acquired by an attention to nature, had, by his residence in the British Museum, all the auxiliary resources that could favour his design: access particularly to the Her­baria of almost all the assistants of RAY and DILLENIUS, mentioned in the Synopsis, gave him the opportunity of comparing the individual specimens of that work with his own; and thus enabled him to dispel a multitude of doubts and uncertainties, in [Page 352] which, otherwise, his application of the sy­nonyma might have been involved.

The sexual system was received nearly about the same time in the universities of Britain; being publicly taught by Mr. Professor MARTYN, at Cambridge, and by Dr. HOPE, at Edinburgh. The adoption of it by these learned Professors, I consider, therefore, as the aera of the establishment of the Linnaean system in Britain—a system, which, if I may be allowed the expression, had given the author of it a literary domi­nion over the vegetable kingdom; which, in the rapidity of its extension, and the strength of its influence, had not perhaps been paralleled in the annals of science.