4° Dr. Smitu’s Introductory D: par 
which require no abilities in their compofition, and anfwerno purpofe 
when done. A French writer, whom I am tired of naming, has 
declared himfelf of this opinion; and his own practice has been fo 
conformable to it, that he has never favoured the world with an 
‘account of the plants of, Senegal, a country which he went pur- 
pofely to inveftigate. Happily all good botanifts have not imitated 
him, or we fhould never have feen Scopoli’s ineftimable Flora 
Carniolica, the various Floras of Allioni, De Gorter, Gunner, 
Hudfon, Gouan, Leers, Pollich, Weis and many others, which 
have been of great ufe to local, and indeed general botany; and 
even if every one of the valuable works juft mentioned had been 
ufelefs, who would not have thought them fufficiently atoned for 
by the Flora Lapponica and Flora Suecica of Linnzus? 
‘Iam now led to confider the fervices rendered to natural hiftory 
du of this : man, and others, who have 
undertaken Pandos and Jalonen journeys, on purpofe to ex= 
amine the productions of countries hitherto not at all or but 
flightly inveftigated. And what praife does not the ardour of fuch- 
active promoters of fcience deferve? As no one ever felt more of 
this ardour than Linnzus, when the humble attractions of an 
arctic flora incited him to undertake his painful Lapland tour; fo 
_I think none has been fo fuccefsful as this great man in exciting 
the fame fpirit in others, Before I fpeak of his pupils, however, 
the order of time obliges me to mention Buxbaum and Gmelin. 
The former may be flightly paffed over. He was fent by the 
Peterfburg Academy to collect plants in the Levant. The fruits 
of his labours are publifhed in five Centuriz, with wretched plates 
and very indifferent defcriptions. The fame fociety were much 
more fortunate in their choice of Gmelin to undertake the 
examination of Siberia. That country had before been vifited by 
Gerber and fome other botanifts, but their acquifitions were 
trifling 
