THOMAS WALTER (1740 ?-88) AND HIS GKASS 71 



brationes stirpiura plus mille contineus : necnon, generibus novis non 

 paucis, speciebus plurimis ncvisq. oniata. Auetore Thomas Walter, 

 Agricola." The preface, which is in Latin, is dated : " Carolina? 

 Meridionalis, ad Ripas Fluvii Santee, 30 Dec, 1787 " : the author 

 apologizes " si nonnulli in compositionem subitaneum irrepserint 

 crrores," and says : " Stirpes plus mille hoc opere comprehendi 

 mirum fortasse videatur, quum cognitum fuerit vix non omnes col- 

 lectas fuisse ex area non ampliore quam quae linea bis duplicata 

 quinquaginta millium passuum circumscribi potest : etiam multse 

 adhuc latent, ut quotidie docet experientia." Many of the grasses 

 and cryptogams, he adds, remain untouched, as well as many trees, 

 shrubs, and herbs, with the fructification of which the author Avas 

 insufficiently acquainted. 



The fullest account of Walter's botanical work is that given 

 by Eraser in his Short History of Agrost is Cornucopice (1789) — a 

 rare folio publication devoted to the description and history of a grass 

 found independently by Walter and himself, of which more will be 

 said. Having described his journey to Charlestown, Fraser continues : 

 " The botanical description of many of the plants which I found,, 

 are contained in the Flora Caroliniaka with the author of which,, 

 the late Mr. Walter, I became acquainted soon after my arrival 

 in Carolina. He had collected, when I went into that country,, 

 plants which afforded him six hundred and forty descriptions. I 

 increased his work, by the specimens I produced to him, to one 

 thousand and sixty, amongst which are upwards of two hundred 

 new species, and thirty new genera ; of all w T hich, as well as the 

 other plants in the Flora, I have now dried specimens in my posses- 

 sion, and many valuable living plants. Many of the most valuable 

 specimens and living plants I collected are still remaining in my 

 hands, undescribed. 



" I cannot pass over this part of my narrative without paying the 

 tribute which I owe to the memory of this excellent man : it is to 

 the friendship which he shewed me that my perseverance in con- 

 tinuing these researches was in a great measure owing ; and I 

 found in him all that knowledge of the science to which I myself 

 was not sufficiently equal, and which greatly contributed to give 

 a proper direction to nry enquiries. 



" Mr. Walter, in the midst of the woods in America, without the 

 aid of books, or learned collectors of natural history, made his descrip- 

 tions with an accuracy that is allowed to be by no means inferior to 

 the most eminent botanists in Europe, and which discovers that he 

 possessed ability far bej r ond my humble praise." 



The relationship between Walter and Fraser was evidently very 

 friendly, apart from their joint business interest in the grass. 

 Walter) commemorated Fraser in his Flora in the genus Frasera 

 and in Magnolia Frasera, a plate of which — " presented to Thomas 

 Walter, Esq r ., as a testimony of gratitude and esteem by his much 

 obliged humble servant John Fraser" — faces the title-page. Fraser 

 dedicated to Walter the shrub first published as Cliftonia : Endlicher 

 {Genera 1118) cites as a synonym of this " WalferianaFr&ser msc." 

 and it appears in Fraser' s List (see Journ. Bot. 1S90, 485) as 



