OXFORD PHYSIC GARDEN 17 



about five acres in extent, situated " without the East Gate of 

 Oxford, near the river Cherwell." A great deal of labour had to 

 be expended upon the land after it had been secured : it was so 

 low-lying that, as Anthony Wood says, "much soil was conveyed 

 thither for the raising of the ground to prevent the overflowing 

 of the waters" at the expense of Lord Danvers, who also caused 

 to be built what Baskerville describes as " a most stately wall of 

 hewen stone 14 foot high with 3 very considerable Gates thereto, 

 one whereof was to the cost of at least five hundred pounds." 

 The work proceeded but slowly, in consequence of the troublous 

 times through which the country was passing, so that it was not 

 completed until 1632. Even then the actual installation of the 

 garden was delayed. About 1637 the Earl of Danby seems to 

 have arranged with the well-known John Tradescant to act as 

 gardener, but there is no evidence that Tradescant ever dis- 

 charged the duties of the post: moreover, he died in the following 

 year. Very shortly after this, though the exact date is not known, 

 the Earl appointed Jacob Bobart to take charge of the Garden. 

 Jacob Bobart was a German, born at Brunswick about the year 

 1599. He was an excellent gardener : under his care the garden 

 flourished so well that the catalogue which was published 

 in 1648 anonymously, though doubtless drawn up by Bobart, 

 enumerated no less than 1600 species of plants in cultivation. 



It had been the intention of Lord Danby to provide the 

 University not only with a Physic Garden and a Gardener, but 

 also with a Professor of Botany. For this purpose he bequeathed 

 certain revenues : " but so it was that the times being unsettled, 

 and the revenues falling short, nothing was done in order to the 

 settling of a Professor till 1669." When the establishment of 

 the Professorship had become possible, the University pro- 

 ceeded to elect Morison the first Professor of Botany, being 

 influenced by the reputation which his recently published 

 Praeludia Botanica had secured for him. Thus, after the lapse 

 of nearly half a century, was Lord Danby's design completely 

 realised. 



Morison's chief occupation at Oxford was the preparation of 

 his long promised magmim opus, the Historia Plantarum Uni- 

 versalis Oxoniensis. It was planned on a most extensive scale, 



o. B. 2 



