The Scottish Naturalist. 127 



and receiver, the fact that botanists were far less particular about 

 the nativity of specimens some half century ago ; and also that 

 George Don not having had a scientific education, was loose 

 even among the loose in his (?) indications and reports of lo- 

 calities, the presumption of frequent errors becomes very strong. 

 Hence I come to the conclusion that every thing reported by, 

 or from, Don, and remaining unverified after modern search, ought 

 to be excluded from our list of native plants and their stations ; it 

 being safer in science to take the chance of losing a few small 

 truths of small detail, than to run the great risk of mingling many 

 errors with our presumed facts. Still I do not see that anything 

 at present known of his conduct or any necessary inferences from 

 known facts would sufficiently warrant us in charging him with 

 intentional deception or wilful falsehood. My individual impres- 

 sion is that George Don's report of species and stations, though 

 many of them were doubtless correct, cannot safely be relied on 

 in strict science unless confirmed afresh, but that a fair degree of 

 moral confidence should still be given to his statements." (Cybele 

 JBrita?mica, note under Lychnis alpina ; suggested by Arnott's ac- 

 cusation of Don's sowing the plant in Clova). 



After this important statement and summary of his opinions by 

 one so well qualified to judge, it will be well to quote at length 

 the list of unverified plants recorded by Don from Sir Joseph 

 Hooker's Student's Flora, and afterwards give the various opin- 

 ions expressed by Dr. Arnott in the British Flora, Dr. Boswell 

 in English Botany, and Mr. Watson in the Cybele Compendium, 

 later on supplementing these with my own opinions formed after 

 seeing Don's original specimens in his collection of grasses and 

 rushes, and in the nine volumes of his fasciculus of British plants 

 in the possession of Mr. John Knox of Forfar ; and a collection 

 of plants sent in a living state to the fourth Countess of Aylesford 

 (for the purpose of painting some volumes of English plants, still 

 probably in existence at Packington Hall), and afterwards pre- 

 served by her and kindly lent me by her granddaughter, Miss C. 

 E. Palmer ; while reference will also be made to Sir James E. 

 Smith's English Flora, to Gardiner's Flora of Forfar, to Hooker's 

 Flora Scotica, &c. 



(The following contractions will be used in the subjoined notes : 

 St. Ft. — Hooker's Studenfs Flora; Brit. Ft. — Arnott's British 

 Flora; C. C. Brit. — Watson's Compendium of the Cybele Britan- 

 nica ; Cyb. Brit. — Watson's Cybele Brita?mica ; Eng. B. or E. B. 

 — Sowerby's E?iglish Botany, edited by Dr. Boswell Syme ; Bab. 

 Man. — Babington's Ma?iual of British Botany ; Gard. Fl. F — 

 Gardiner's Flora of Forfarshire ; PI. of Forfar — Don's Plants of 

 Forfarshire.) 



These species are as follows : — 

 Ra?iunculus alpestris L. Clova mountains. 



" Don, never confirmed," St. Ft., " apparently from Don's 



