250 BOTANICAL INFORMATION* 



and as the original specimens from wliich this great authority in Cryp- 

 togamous Botany derived the drawings engraved in his valuable work, 

 entitled ' Historia Muscorum/ which, as only 250 copies were ever 

 printed of it, has since become scarce. 



In the Library belonging to the Botanic Garden is a copy of the en- 

 tire worlc, and likewise one, of the Plates alone, as well as another ac- 

 companied with an abridgment of the letterpress ; prepared by Dille- 

 nius himseir, but never published. The subjects of the volume were 

 all drawn and engraved with his own hand. The specimens are 575 

 in number, belonging for the most part to the families of Algae, Musci, 

 and Lichenes. 



There is also a collection of British plants by Dillenius, intended to 

 illustrate the third edition of Eay's Synopsis, 



In alluding to the contributions made by Dillenius and Sherard to 

 the botanical treasures of the establishment, we must not forget the 

 Pinax, begun by Sherard, which was nearly perfected by himself, when 

 death suspended his labours, and prevented the publication of the re- 

 sults of so many years' patient labour and elaborate investigation. 



The original Pinax by Gaspar Bauhin, of which this was intended 

 as an enlarged and corrected edition, professed to be an index to the 

 works of Theophrastus, Dioscorides, Pliny, and the Botanists of modern 

 times, giving the names of the plants noticed by them, with their syno- 

 nyms and descriptive characters. 



Sherard's and Dillenius' Pinax, of which the greater part is still 

 preserved in MS. in the Library of the Botanic Garden, occupies no 

 less than 446 packages, divided into 11 books and 116 sections, the 

 plan and arrangement of Bauhin being adopted as the basis, but the 

 additions being exceedingly numerous, 



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6, Dr. John Sibthokp's Hebbarium. 



Amongst these are the original specimens engraved in his magnifi- 

 cent ' Flora Grseca,' but there are likewise many more, the whole con- 

 sisting of about 1600 specimens. They are arranged according to the 

 Linnsean system, and have lately been mounted by Mr. Baxter, sen. 



7. Dr. ShaVs Herbarium. 



This is the collection of Dr. Shaw, the celebrated traveller in Barbary, 

 and contains the specimens which have been engraved in his work. 



