92 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



the taller vegetation on the steep side of the large " island." 

 Jmicus conglomeratus, Luzula multiflora, Carex caryojyhyllea, 

 C. flacca, Anthoxanthum, Aira caryophyllca and prcecox, Gynosurus 

 cristatus, Kceleria, Dactylis glovierata var. congesta, Poa annua, 

 Festuca rottboellioides , F. ovina, Bromus Jiordeaceus. Narchis and 

 Pteris grow on the heathy tops just behind the cliff edge, in 

 quantity about Mewslade Bay and eastwards. 



SIGISMUND BACSTKOM, M.D. 



(fl. 1770-1799.) 



By James Britten, F.L.S. 



In this Journal for 1905 (pp. 290-307) will be found an 

 account of Lightfoot's Visit to Wales in 1773 which is stated to 

 be " reproduced from Solander's transcript in the Department of 

 Botany." The statement had generally been accepted ; it had on 

 more than one occasion been printed and had never been called in 

 question. We in the Department had observed ,the handwriting 

 elsewhere in the library and in the Herbarium, and, although 

 it was more precise than that of Solander, it seemed possible 

 that, when taking pains with his caligraphy, he might have been 

 the scribe. But about the time the paper referred to was printed, 

 doubt began to enter our minds ; it will be noticed that in the 

 account of the Banks and Solander collections which immediately 

 precedes it (pp. 284-290) the transcript of the original Solander 

 MS. (in the same hand) is not assigned to any writer, but is 

 described as " by some one imperfectly acquainted with botanical 

 terminology or unable to read the draft, as it contains numerous 

 errors," and we had begun to refer to the writer as "the clerk." 

 It was not very long after this that, turning over the portion of 

 the Banksian correspondence preserved at Kew, my eye fell upon 

 a letter undoubtedly in the characteristic handwriting of " the 

 clerk," and his name was revealed as Sigismund Bacstrom. 

 Further letters showed him to have been employed by Banks in 

 the work of his herbarium, and, as everything connected with 

 that national possesion is of interest, I determined to put together 

 what could be ascertained concerniog him. This determination I 

 now propose to put into practice, facilities having been courteously 

 placed at my disposal by the authorities at Kew for the transcrip- 

 tion of the more interesting portions of the letters, of which seven 

 are preserved in the Banksian correspondence. 



Of Bacstrom himself little is known apart from the letters. 

 His name suggests a Swedish or Danish nationality, and it may 

 be that Solander, himself a Swede, introduced him to Banks, by 

 whom he was employed in 1772. Such details as are known of 

 his life can be obtained from the letters, w^hich show him as a 

 man of varied interests and accomplishments, although his career 

 during the thirty years of which we have knowledge cannot be 

 deemed a successful one. He wrote English perfectly in a neat 



