BOTANICAL INFORMATION'. 533 



The herbarium of the Botanic Garden, under the general 

 direction of Dr. Fischer and of his assistants, Dr. Meyer and 

 Ave-Lallemant, is under the especial care of Mr. Meins- 

 hausen, a young man who accompanied Schrenck into Soon- 

 garia ; there appeared to be also one or two young men at 

 work as assistants. The space allotted to it is small; the 

 different collections it consists of are, as yet, separate, and all 

 tied up in bundles, so that it is difficult to judge of its extent; 

 but it must be considerable. It contains the herbarium of 

 the late Dr. Mertens, of Bremen, left by him in very good 

 order, containing about twenty-five thousand species, and 

 especially rich in European plants ; that of Schrader, of Got- 

 tingen, bulky, but of less value ; that of Schumacher, of Co- 

 penhagen, containing, like other Danish herbaria, a great 

 many of Rohr's Cayenne plants, Thonning's African ones, &c; 

 very rich sets of Turczaninow's, Sowitz's, and Schrenk's plants, 

 and those of other Russian collectors, besides miscellaneous 

 collections. The library is also very good. What both herbaria 

 are chiefly deficient in, appear to be East Indian, South 

 American (except Brazil and Guiana), and Antarctic plants. 

 Dr. Fischer himself has been at work at Astragali, and has 

 prepared for press a detailed Monograph of the section of the 

 Tragacanthecs ; and with Dr. Meyer, he is now publishing the 

 first part of a folio work, under the title of " Jardin de Saint 

 Petersbourg," to contain coloured drawings and descriptions 

 of interesting plants which have flowered here. This first 

 part has a short account and drawing of the new Palm-house, 

 m the state it had attained last season, and figures and 

 descriptions of ten species, amongst which is a very 

 nandsome Brazilian Almeidea. Dr. Fischer possesses a 

 Private herbarium, arranged in large double sheets like that 

 °f the Academy of Sciences, and apparently containing a very 

 considerable miscellaneous collection in good order. 



I met here Professor Trautvetter, of Kieflf, who is at work 

 0n the plants brought by Middendorf from Northern and 

 Arctic Russia: and as there are but few aids at Kieff, 



