PROGRESS OF BOTANY IN SCOTLAND 219 



of information the book shows ; yet he necessarily knew 

 only a very limited part of Scotland, and most of the country 

 remained untouched. 



Few have done more to widen our knowledge of the 

 native flora, especially of the mountains, than George Don 

 of Forfar, whose discoveries contributed much to later 

 volumes of Sowerby's "English Botany" in its first edition. 

 A brief account of his life and labours was given by Mr. 

 John Knox in the "Scottish Naturalist" in iSSi ; and this 

 was followed in the same journal in 1884-85 by Mr. G. C. 

 Druce who analysed clearly and fully " The botanical work 

 of George Don of Forfar," and showed how unfair had been 

 the criticisms passed upon it by Professor Walker-Arnott, 

 and too generally accepted for a time by other botanists. 

 There is reason to believe that Don made mistakes through 

 issuing specimens grown in his garden at Forfar from seeds 

 or plants that he believed he had brought into it from 

 localities in Scotland, but that he had received from abroad ; 

 and it is therefore necessary to ask confirmation before 

 accepting as natives of Scotland several of the species issued 

 by him as such. Yet it is remarkable how many of " Don's 

 reputed discoveries " have been confirmed by their re- 

 discovery, often after many years, some of them in or near 

 the localities named by him. Of this our present issue 

 affords a remarkable example in the rediscovery this year of 

 Carcx divisa near Montrose, recorded by Mr. Barclay. 



In the earlier years of last century many additions were 

 made to Scottish records, as is evidenced by W. J. Hooker's 

 "Flora Scotica," which appeared in 1821 ; and several local 

 floras appeared, such as Hopkirk's "Flora Glottiana," Greville's 

 "Flora Edinensis," Johnston's" Flora of Berwick- upon - 

 Tweed," Patrick's " Indigenous Plants of Lanarkshire," 

 Dickie's " Flora Abredonensis," Murray's unfortunately in- 

 complete " Northern Flora," and Gordon's " Collectanea for 

 the Flora of Moray." Of these some give descriptions of 

 the plants, while others only give localities. 



" The New Botanist's Guide to the Localities of the 

 Rarer Plants of Britain," of which the volume (II.) relating 

 to " Scotland and the adjacent Isles" was issued in 1837 by 

 Mr. H. Cottrell Watson, is a very valuable enumeration of 



