XXXVUl PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



In 1839 Dr. "Welwitsch was commissioned by the Tnio Itineraria 

 of Wiirtemberg, of wMch he was a member, to explore and collect 

 the plants of the Azores and Cape-Yerd Islands. He accordingly 

 left Vienna in the summer of that year, and came to England, whence 

 he sailed at once for his destination. In July he arrived at Lisbon, 

 where he found himself imavoidably detained ; and ultimately made 

 arrangements for remaining in Portugal through the winter instead 

 of proceeding to the Atlantic islands. In a few weeks he acquired 

 a good knowledge of the Portuguese language, and then devoted 

 himself to the investigation of the flora of the country. He never 

 returned to Austria, nor, indeed, left the country of his adoption till 

 1853, except for short visits to Paris and London. During this 

 period he had the care, at different times, of the Botanic Gardens of 

 Lisbon and Coimbra, and was superintendent of the Duke of 

 Palmella's gardens at Cintra and in Alemtejo, as weU as having the 

 general supervision of the Duke's gardens throughout Portugal. 

 He also explored a great part of the kingdom, and made very large 

 collections. No less than 56,000 specimens were sent to the TJnio 

 Itineraria for distribution, and complete series were deposited in 

 the herbaria of the Academy of Sciences at Lisbon and at Paris. 



The lower plants were the objects of Dr. "Welwitsch's special study. 

 In the neighbourhood of Lisbon, in the years 1847-52, he added 250 

 of the larger Fungi to those enumerated in Brotero's ' Flora ' ; and 

 in his zeal after Algae, in which he found the Tagus very rich, he was 

 accustomed to spend hours " up to his waist in water " day after 

 day. In the second volume of the ' Actas ' of the Lisbon Academy 

 (1850) he published the " Genera Phycearum Lusitanae," and other 

 results of his work in the Cryptogamia were published in 1858 in an 

 " Enumeration of the Musci and Hepaticae collected in Portugal in 

 ] 842-50 by Dr. Welwitsch," by Mr. Mitten, and in " Notes on the 

 Fungi," by the Eev. M. J. Berkeley. He himself published little else 

 on Portuguese plants ; but his working copy of Brotero's ' Flora 

 Lusitanica ' is filled with valuable notes and additions. Besides his 

 botanical investigations. Dr. Welwitsch devoted considerable time to 

 the mollusca and insects of Portugal, and formed large collections. 



It was in 1850 that the Government of Queen Dona Maria first 

 resolved to explore the Portuguese possessions on the West Coast of 

 Africa, with the double object of obtaining scientific information on 

 the products of the country and of forwarding its material interests. 

 The project was laid before the Cortes in that year, and received the 

 royal assent. Dr. Welwitsch was selected to carry out the scientific 



