360 THE FORSTER HERBARIUM. 



Pohjpodium Phegopteris L. East side of the dell at Maes 

 mynan, near Caerwys, just in Flintshire, the boundary of Denbigh- 

 shire being close at hand. 



Eqxuaetum palnstre L. Sandhills between Prestatyn and the 

 Point of Air. — E. limosum L. Low ground below Meliden. 



THE FOESTER HERBARIUM. 

 By Jajies Britten, F.L.S. 



The acquisition by the Kew Herbarium of some of the plants 

 collected by the Forsters in the latter half of the last century was 

 made the text of an interesting article by Mr. Hemsley in ' Nature ' 

 for Sept. 24. The article, however, seemed to me to require 

 supplementing, inasmuch as Mr. Hemsley gave a somewhat 

 erroneous impression as to our previous knowledge of these plants. 

 I therefore wrote to ' Nature,' pointing out certain particulars 

 which I thought should be placed on record. The Editor declmed 

 to insert my letter, and I print it here.* 



Mr. Hemsley's article is as follows : — 

 " Botanists will learn with pleasure that this herbarium, a 

 portion of the collections of Cook's second voyage, has been 

 acquired by exchange from the Liverpool Corporation for the Kew 

 Herbarium ; and it will be incorporated in the general collection. 

 From the introduction to the ' Catalogue of Plants ' in the Botanic 

 Gardens at Liverpool, published in 1808, it appears that the pro- 

 prietors of that establishment possessed, at that date, about 3000 

 specimens of dried plants, collected by the late Dr. Forster, in his 

 voyages to the South Seas, with large and valuable contributions 

 from his friends and correspondents. How these plants came into 

 their possession is uncertain, but they could hardly have been 

 presented to them by Mr. Shepherd, the Curator, as stated by Sir 

 Joseph Hooker in the introductory essay to his ' Flora Novg3- 

 Zelandiffi,' or his name would almost certainly have been men- 

 tioned as the donor. At least this may be inferred, because on the 

 very next page a very high tribute is paid to Mr. John Shepherd 

 for his services to the Garden. Be that as it may, the collection 

 will shortly be accessible to botanists generally, thanks to the per- 

 severance of Sir Jose]5h Hooker and the sensible view of the 

 matter taken by the present members of the Corporation when it 

 was represented to them that these dried plants where practically 

 useless where they were, but would be valuable at a botanical 

 establishment like Kew. This act of the Corporation deserves to 

 be recorded, because some thirty years ago, when Sir Joseph 

 Hooker was engaged on his ' Flora Novae -Z elan diie,' he applied to 

 the then custodians of the collections to transmit it temporarily to 

 Kew for comparison and publication, and his request was refused. 



* Mr. Carruthei's has before called attention (Journ. Bot. 1880, p. 35, 

 footnote) to the action of the Editor of ' Nature ' in matters of this kind. 



