A BRIEF ANALYSIS OF THE WORK OF CARL THUN- 

 BERG ON THE PROTEACE.E:. 



By E. p. Piiilltps. Af.A., D.Sc, F.L.S., 



Di-'c'isioji of Botany, Pretoria. 



Read July 1 1. 1919. 



The author, when at Kew in 19 io. and working in con- 

 junction with Dr. O. Stapf and Air. J. Hutchinson on a mono- 

 graph of the South African Protcacccc for the "Flora Capensis," 

 was fortunate in having the opportunity of examining the 

 s])ecimens in Thunberg's herbarium. At the rec^uest of the 

 Director of Kew, the authorities at the University of Upsala 

 very kindly sent all Thunberg's material to Kew on loan. At the 

 time several notes were made on the collection, which were 

 intended to appear before the publication of the " Flora Capensis," 

 but for several reasons there has been a long delay in putting 

 these notes together. 



Carl Peter Thunlierg" was borri at Jonkoping, in Sweden. 

 November nth, 1743, and in 1761 entered the University of 

 LTpsala. With the aid of a small scholarship he pursued his 

 studies in botany in Holland, and soon after accepted a post 

 of assistant ship's surgeon, and sailed for the Cape, where he 

 landed in April, 1772. Thunberg spent three years in South 

 Africa, and travelled from Cape Town, along the Drakenstein, 

 ])ast Piquetberg, the Winterhoek, the Bckkeveld, to the OHphant's 

 River. Westward he journeyed by the Zwartberg, past Swellen- 

 dam, the Outeniquas, over the Karroo to the Gamtoos, the Sun- 

 days and Visch River. Thunberg left the Cape for Java in 

 March, 1775 and returned to Sweden in March, 1779 to take 

 up the }X)st of Demonstrator in Botany in the Royal Academy 

 at Upsala. After the loss of the famous Linnean herbarium to 

 Sweden, when it was bought by the English botanist.^ Sir James 

 Smith. Thunberg offered his own rich collection to the Univer- 

 sitv. After teaching for many years he died in 1828. 



During his sojourn at the Cape, Thunberg collected 79 species 

 of Protcacccc. Fie published descriptions of these, but only 

 recognized the genus Protca except in the case of Brahieum of 

 Linn?eus, which he ui)held. His collection is spread over the 

 following geneta: Brabiciini (i species), Aulax (3 species). 

 Lcucadendron (21 species), Proiea (12 species), Lcucospermiini 

 (14 species), Mimetcs (3 species), DiastcJla (4 species), Scrruria 

 (11 species), Spafalhi (3 species), SpataJlopsis (2 species'). 

 SoroccpJwlus (2 species). Thunberg was the discoverer of 



* Presidential Address bv Professor MacOwan, Trans, S. Afr, Philos. 

 Soc, TV., Pt. I. 



