Memoir of the late Thomas Purton, Esq. 607 



died, and was buried, having nearly completed his 65th year ; 

 leaving a wife and family of seven surviving out of thirteen 

 children, to lament his loss. Mr. Purton was always habitu- 

 ated to literary pursuits; and, before he commenced the study 

 of botany, had devoted much of his time to astronomy and 

 mathematics: the former study he entered seriously upon about 

 the year 1805 or 1806, and soon found it a most agreeable and 

 useful recreation, much engaged as he was in the regular prac- 

 tice of his profession. He had for his coadjutor his near neigh- 

 bour and esteemed friend, the Rev. W. S. Rufford of Bad- 

 sey, who possessed an excellent collection of dried plants, and 

 was of great assistance to Mr. Purton in the early period of 

 his devotion to the science. Mr. RufFord's lamented death 

 occurred in the summer of this year. 



In the latter period of his life, Mr. Purton devoted much 

 of his time to the acquirement of several of the modern lan- 

 guages. A MS. which he has left behind him contains a 

 vocabulary of words in the English, French, Italian, Spanish, 

 German, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages ; in the title- 

 page of which, dated Nov. 8. 1822, is the following ob- 

 servation : — "As my chief purpose in forming a vocabulary 

 of each word, is to forward me in knowledge sufficient to 

 make out the sense of each language respectively, many words 

 will be omitted, especially among the verbs and adjectives." 

 The MS. still remains in the possession of the family. 



Mr. Purton possessed an excellent botanical library, rich in 

 several foreign works: those of Acharius, Fries, and Agardh. 

 He was also in possession of that valuable work, the Stirpes 

 Cryptogamce Vogcso-Rhenancc of Mougeout and Nestler ; a 

 work extending to eight quarto volumes, containing in each 

 100 specimens of dried cryptogamic plants, which were of the 

 greatest utility to him in the satisfactory investigation of the 

 more minute tribes of plants, to which he more particularly 

 directed his attention. He was also much indebted to his 

 friend Mr. Sowerby, for the great assistance rendered to him 

 in the discovery and elucidation of many species which had 

 hitherto been undescribed, but which were afterwards more 

 generally made known in Sowerby's work on the British 

 .Fungi. He had amassed a very large collection of well-dried 

 specimens of i<ungi, lichens, &c. ; which, together with an ex- 

 tensive though unarranged hortus siccus of British plants, 

 have been consigned, through the liberality of his executors, 

 to the Worcester Natural History Society, where, it is to be 

 hoped, they will be long and carefully preserved as a me- 

 morial of his labours. Amongst his numerous botanical 

 friends and correspondents, from whom he derived much 



