jr;c il 



■ 'w 



'^■• 



.-. h 



32 



MR, JAMES BRITTEN ON SOME 



^Mnsannn Zeylanieum/ which M'as edited by William SherarJ from 

 Hormaun's notes and plants in 1726, the lierbarium was lost sight of for 



sonio years. Gilnthcr, when he sent it to Linn^rus w^as unaware of its 

 history and value : this appears from the dedication to the former in the ' Flora 

 Zeylnnica/ in which Linnscns, identifying it as Ilernuinn's herbarinm, 

 writes : '' Gratulor orbi erudlto, quod liic ThesaiiruSj qui per 50 annos fuerat 



mnnibus versatus, ot in BarLarorum hominum 

 vicissitudinc iteruni emerserii ot ah interitu fuorit 



suppressus, 



indio-naruni 



ult 



scrinns sepuitAis^ reruni 

 vindicatus." 



It seems somewhat strange thai, tlieir existence being known, the Cape 

 plants of this herbarium should h:ivo remained practically unnoticed. There 

 IS a considerable number oE them, for the most part good specimens, many 

 named gouerically in Llnnajus^s hand witli occasional reference to Burman : 

 two of them, as Trimcn points out {I. c. 132) are included by mistake in 



LinntLMis's ' Flora Zeylanica,' and, us Cinghalese :ind Cape plants are mixed 

 up even on the same folios^ ''it is surprising tliat [Linna?us] avoided the 

 iiu^lusion of more/' The only reference I find to the collection is that by 

 Robert Brown in the preface to his paper on the Proteacca? in Trans. Linn, 

 Soc. X., where he notes (p. 31') the existence tlierein of three plants of the 

 ord(4% to whicli Linnaz-us had attached names. 



In the preface to tlie * Flora Zeylanica^ (1748) Linnccus gives a biography 

 of Hermann, from whicli avc learn that his early enthusiasm for botany 

 nearly cost him his life. When he v/as ten yeai'S old while collecting ^ilants, 

 he fell Into tlie water and was almost drowned *. Of his visit to the Cape, 

 Linii;cus writes-: ^* .... in ultimum Africse Caput B. Spei adscendit ; banc 

 terrani nuUus Botauicorum unquam antca c'alcaverat. boiic Deus quani 

 niulb'c, quam raraj & quam miral>iles planta?, uuo codemque die, se Hennanni 

 oculis offerunt. Faucis diebus solus & unicus TTcrmanr.us hic plures detegit 

 novas plantas AfiMcanas^ quam Botanici omues, qui unujuam in mundo ante 

 euru exstifere.^' After enunuM-ating the more inqiortant plants discowred hy 

 Ilei'mjinn, LinuE)eus continues : '' Inde misit Ilernummis in Flonc castra 

 plures novas plantas quam antea alius, quibus adhuc snperbiunt Jlwrti 



Hinc famam seuqjiternani sibi com])aravit sunimus Inventor," 



Eu 



'oprei 



In the preface to his 'Flora Capensis ' (1759) Linnaeus writes: ^'Primus 

 fuit Botanicus qui })ropriis oculis Cajdtis bonai spei plantas visitaret, sub 

 itinere in Zeylonam insulam. Collegit hic octingentis {^-ic) circiter plantas, 



et radices in Euroj>am 



eo tejnpore plane novas, quarum varia semlna 

 ransmisit. 



An interesting letter from George London (t 1713), successively gardener 

 to Bishop Compton at Fulham, to AVilliani and Mar}' and to Anne, is in 



* ^^ riciutarmii amor lu tenello emu lacte ita at^ceiidiLur, nt puer decenuis plantas lectunis 

 in aquis incidoiis pa^ne sunTocatus fuisset, nisi fata euQi ad inajores traiisfretandas aquas des- 



tiuassent " (p. 11), 



