EARLY BRITISH BOTANISTS AND TUEIR GARDENS 307 



The Gootlj^er Manuscripts include his translations of Theophrastus 

 and Dioscorides, and his index to Gerard ; an interleaved copy of 

 How's Phytologia which came into Goodyer's possession and con- 

 tains corrections and notes by him and by the author ; and a copy of 

 Johnson's Descrlptio Itineris .... Gantianum, with additions and 

 indexes in his own and Johnson's hands — "this little volume has the 

 great sentimental interest of being the germ from which all British 

 floras are descended." This copy is later (pp. 27G-S) described at 

 length, with facsimiles of pages showing Johnson's MS. index of 

 the genera mentioned and How's additions, and examples of the notes 

 of the latter. 



The chapter headed " Notes on Contemporary Botanists mostly 

 from Goody er's books and papers," includes a vast amount of infor- 

 mation hitherto unpublished concerning Parkinson, Lobel, Thomas 

 Johnson, and William How, and relating to others of whom less is 

 known — among them some who are not to be found in our Bio- 

 graphical Index, for the second edition of which Mr. Gunther 

 supplies throughout his volume much matarial. It is tempting to 

 linger over these, but to notice the book at the length to which ib is 

 entitled by its interest would extend this notice to undue proportions. 

 We must therefore content ourselves with saying with reference to 

 the four whom we have named that the Goodyer MSS. supply many 

 details hitherto unpublished, and that, as has been already indicated, 

 all students of the botany of the period must consult Mr. Gunther's 

 volume. The care with which he has conducted his researches is 

 exemplified by the pages of notes (pp. 267-270) " on American, Ber- 

 mudan, and Oriental plants " in a hand at first unknown, which 

 proved to be written by John Parkinson, from whom a letter, made 

 legible by much perseverance in removing the *' ink-scrawling " 

 with which it had been covered, is reproduced in facshnile. The 

 horticultural notes transcribed "were evidently extracted by Parkinson 

 from Francis Bacon's Naturall Historie, Century v. 1627 ; but 

 another possibility should not be lost sight of, namely, that Bacon 

 may have derived part of his horticultural knowledge from the dis- 

 tinguished botanical writer who two years later dedicated his Para- 

 disiis in Sole to Queen Henrietta Maria." To How eighteen pages 

 are devoted, the greater part of them to his MS. records which, 

 giving as they do in many instances localities of the plants named, 

 will afford useful material for future authors of local floras. 



Among the contemporaries of whom Mr. Gunther supplies details 

 are those who, though well known in other capacities, have not 

 hitherto been associated with botanj^, in which, however, they seem 

 to have been proficient. One of these was William Mount (1545- 

 1602), Master of the Savoy in 1594, an expert in the making of dis- 

 tilled waters, whose copy of Lobel's Icones (1581) contains numerous 

 MS. notes on plants, chiefly of Kent, which are here transcribed. 

 These include, b<jsides names and localities, references to medical and 

 other uses and general information, — we note on p. 259 a ciu-ious 

 misprint — one of the very few in the volume — where Turner's 

 " Middow Saffrone " is printed " Widdowe Saffrone." Of Kichard 

 Garth (d. 1597) who filled the post of Senior Clerk in Chancery — "an 



