BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 531 



culty of communication or the want of time on the part of 

 the generality of botanists for keeping up distant correspon- 

 dence, he has experienced much disappointment in not receiv- 

 ing the expected acknowledgment from those to whom he 

 has sent specimens. 



I much regretted not having the opportunity of making 

 acquaintance with Professor Wahlberg, who is absent on an 

 excursion into Scania. The younger Agardh, now devoted 

 to Alga, resides at Lund, which did not come within our tour. 

 Besides these individuals, I understand that Professor Blytt, 

 in Christiana, has a good herbarium, and has well investi- 

 gated the Norwegian Flora : and Dr. Hartmann, a medical 

 man at Gevle (to the north of Upsala), has published an octavo 

 Flora of Scandinavia, in the Swedish language, and a Com- 

 pendium of the same, under the title of " Excursions Flora." 

 Both these are according to the Linnsean system. 



St. Petersburg, August 8, 1846. 

 We came here from Stockholm by the Finland steamer 

 Storfiirsten, which touches at Abo, Helsingfors and Revel. 

 The only botanist I met with by the way was Professor 

 Tengstrom, at Helsingfors, who lectures in the University 

 there, and superintends the Botanical Garden, in which 

 he lives. The situation is very pretty, and the collection of 

 plants in the garden is good, much better than I should have 

 expected to find ; but there are neither working botanists nor 

 herbarium or library of any extent, everything of that kind 

 having been destroyed by the fire at Abo before the University 

 was removed. St. Petersburg contains two great botanical 

 collections, that of the Academy of Sciences and that of the 

 Botanical Garden. The herbarium of the Academy of Sci- 

 ences is under the direction of Dr. Carl Anton Meyer, 

 and under him, Dr. Rupprecht, but without at present any 

 assistance for the mechanical part of the business. It is con- 

 tained in two large, and a small room, round which are 

 arr anged the cabinets with mahogany glazed doors— useful in 

 enabling you to see where the genera are, without opening 



