48 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



cousisting of 11 volumes, ranging- from 1S00-1S33, the last seven- 

 teen years being in course o£ compilation. 



The genesis of the International Catalogue of Scientific Litera- 

 ture was then brietiy described, and the means adopted for the 

 collection and classification of titles given. The Linnean Society 

 had contributed the titles of papers and books issued within the 

 United 'Kingdom, amounting to about 2300, that is practically 

 the whole of the literature of the country for 1901 ; and the first 

 part of the volume devoted to Botany for 1901 was now in the 

 hands of the printers, for early publication. 



April 3rd, 1902. 



Mr. E.. Morton Middleton, F.L.S., exhibited two unpublislied 

 letters (lent to him by Mr. Frederick Barker) in the handwriting 

 of Linnaeus. The first was addressed to " Mr. Eiehard Warner, 

 London," and re-addressed by John Ellis ''Alt his house, att 

 Woodford, Essex." It was written from Upsala, September 29, 

 1758, and enclosed by Linnaeus in a letter of the same date to Ellis, 

 which was published in Sir J.-E. Smith's 'Correspondence of 

 Linnaeus,' vol. i. pp. 102-104. Concerning the letter to Warner, 

 Smith adds a footnote (p. 103), " This letter does not appear," so 

 that it had been missing for more than 80 years when discovered 

 by Mr. Middleton. The letter relates mainly to " Wameria "' 

 (Gnrdeiiia jlorkla). Ellis ni'ged Linnaeus to name the genus 

 Wcu-neria in honour of Warner, who declined the compliment ; 

 Ellis then proposed Aiir/usta, but Linnaeus objected to adjectival 

 generic names ; afterwards Ellis suggested Gardenia, which LinnsBUS 

 adopted. The second letter, dated Upsala, April 18, 1769, is to 

 David van Hoyen, of Leyden. In it, Linnaeus states that he has 

 received with surprise from Mexico (!) a leaf of "the nut-bearing 

 tree with maidenhair-like leaves," adding a reference to Ivaemp- 

 fer's 'Amoenitates Exoticae,' where the first figure of Ginglco 

 hiloha appears. Linnaeus's own copy of this book is in the Society's 

 library. There is no doubt that the letter refers to his first sight 

 of the plant, though whether the leaf was actually sent from 

 Mexico cannot now be determined. The original letters, together 

 with a long holograph one from Sir J. E. Smith to IS', Wallich on 

 Nepalese plants, written in 1819, published in Smith's Memoir, 

 and exhibited at the same time by Mr. Morton Middleton, are now 

 in the possession of Mr. J. Cosmo Melvill, F.L.S. The following 

 are copies : — 



Viro acutissimo 



D"° RiCARDO Warnero 



s[alutem] p[lurimam] d[icit] 

 Caeolus LinnjEus, Eques. 



Pro Uteris quibus ine cohonestare voluisti [gratias] devotissimas 

 reddo, mihique gratulor ex amicitia domini Eilisii, qua tarn acuto et 

 sapienti viro innotuerim. 



