Obituary :—Sir J. E. Smith. 395 



being only fragments, for want of patronage by the public. Such 

 were his Plantarum Icones hactenus inedita ; Icones pictce Plantarum 

 rariorum ,• Specilegium Botanicum ; and " Specimens of the Botany of 

 New Holland." One of these literary projects, " English Botany," 

 however, did not suffer the shipwreck experienced by the others, but 

 has received the encouragement it deserved. This is not attributable 

 to its execution being superior to the other works which have failed, 

 but because it treats of the plants of our own country, in which all 

 are interested. It has the singular merit of being the only national 

 Flora" which has given a figure and description of every species native 

 to the country whose productions it professes lo investigate $ and 

 while other works of a similar kind have enjoyed the patronage of 

 foreign Crowns, and have even been supplied with funds to carry 

 them forward in their tardy progress, this work has been rendered 

 complete by the patronage of the public alone, and was brought to a 

 successful termination in 1814, by the united efforts of the President 

 of the Society, and of Mr. Sowerby, the draughtsman and engraver. 



In the year 1793 appeared in the Memoirs of the Academy of 

 Turin, of which he was* a Member, his essay DeFilicum Generibus 

 dorsiferarum, and which was republished in English in his "Tracts on 

 Natural History." 



Soon after our author's marriage in 1796 he removed to Norwich, 

 his native place, where he continued to reside, paying occasional visits 

 to London, for the remainder of his life. 



The next considerable work upon which the reputation of our au- 

 thor is built, is the Flora Britannicu, which appeared in the years 

 1800 — 1804. It is remarkable, like all his other labours, for accu- 

 racy in observing, accuracy in recording, and unusual accuracy in 

 printing. It comprises descriptions of all the phsenogamous plants, 

 of the Filices, and the Musci ; and every species has been carefully 

 collated with those which Linnaeus described. Being written in the 

 Latin language, the information is condensed into a small compass j 

 while it has the rare advantage of having had every synonym com- 

 pared with the original author. 



The Compendium Flora Britannicce has gone through four editions, 

 and is become the general text-book of English botanists. It is per- 

 haps the most complete example of a manual furnished on any subject. 



While he was engaged in the Flora Britannica, the executors of 

 the late Professor Sibthorpe selected him as the fittest person to en- 

 gage in editing the splendid posthumous work of that liberal patron 

 of science ; a task for which the unrivalled attainments of the Presi- 

 dent, and his personal friendship with the Professor, peculiarly quali- 

 fied him. The drawings which were made by Ferdinand Bauer, and 

 the letter-press which was written by Sir James Smith from scanty ma- 

 terials furnished by Dr. Sibthorpe, are both worthy of so munificent an 

 undertaking. To complete the work, which is to consist of ten folio 

 volumes, and 100 coloured plates in each, Dr. Sibthorpe bequeathed 

 a freehold estate at South Leigh, in Oxfordshire ; which, after the 

 completion, is to be charged with the support of a Professor of Rural 

 Economy in the University of Oxford. 



3 E 2 The 



