THE FLOKA OF WALES. 17 



The herbarium of another botanist, J. E. Bicheno (1785-1851), 

 is now deposited at the Royal Institution, Swansea. He was brought 

 into contact with the district by being engaged for some time in 

 mining speculations in South Wales, and he then resided at Tymaen, 

 near Pyle, Glamorganshire. In connection with Swansea the name 

 of Lewis Weston Dillwyn (joint author of the Botanist's Guide) 

 should also be mentioned, and particulars of his works relating to 

 the flora of the district are given below. 



The Biographical Index of British and Irish Botanists, by Messrs. 

 Britten and Boulger, may also be consulted for short notices of 

 Welsh botanists, exclusive of such as are now living. 



Of works in Welsh, the earliest which gives any account of 

 plants is the Meddygon Mydd/ai, being the medical practice of 

 Rhiwallon, of Myddfai, in Carmarthenshire, and his sons, written 

 in the 13th century and later, and published by the Welsh MSS. 

 Society in 1861. Its notices are naturally officinal. Several other 

 medical MSS. in Welsh, containing more or less botanical matter, 

 are believed to be still preserved in different collections, and 

 reference to some of them is made in Y Traethodydd for 1873 

 (pp. 158-161). Early in the 17th century two Welsh lists of 

 plant-names appeared almost simultaneously, namely, that con- 

 tributed by "Master Robert Davyes, of Guissaney, in Flintshire," 

 to Thomas Johnson, and printed by him at the end of his edition 

 of Gerard's Herbal in 1633, under the title "A Catalogue of the 

 British Names of Plants." This contains about 240 names ; "the 

 greater part of them are accurate, but there are among them many 

 mistakes." The other list is a Welsh-Latin " Botanologium," added 

 by Dr. John Davies, of Mallwyd, to his Welsh-Latin Dictionary 

 ("AntiquaB LinguaB Britannicse et Lingufe Latmae Dictionarium 

 Duplex" (Lond., 4to, 1632), and reproduced verbatim in the 

 Origines GalliccB, of Boxhorn (Amsterdam, 1654, 4to). This list 

 contains about a thousand Welsh names of plants, and has been 

 the foundation of nearly all subsequent lists of the kind, such as 

 have been inserted, according to Dr. Davies's example, in various 

 Welsh dictionaries, e. g. : 



(1.) Thomas Jones's Welsh-English Dictionary (Lond., 1688 ; 

 2nd ed., Shrewsbury, 1760; 3rd ed., Shrewsbury, 1777). This has 

 Dr. Davies's Welsh list of plants with their English instead of their 

 Latin equivalents. 



(2.) John Rhydderch's English and Welsh Dictionary (Shrews- 

 bury, 1725, 8vo), to which is appended "A Compendious Herbal: 

 or the names of most of the Physical Herbs, Trees, and Fruits in 

 English and Welsh." 



Similar lists were also published in Thomas Richards's Welsh- 

 English Dictionary ("Antiquae Linguae Britannicae Thesaurus," 

 Bristol, 1753, 8vo ; 4th ed., Merthyr Tydfil, 1838), and in Caer- 

 vallwch's [Thomas Edwards] English- Welsh Dictionary (Lond., 

 1850; 2nd ed., 1864). 



The best and most authoritative performance of this kind, how- 

 ever, is the Rev. Hugh Davies's JVelsh Bota7iology, published in 

 1813, but as its references are confined for the most part to 



Journal of Botany. — Yol. 36. [Jan. 1898.] g 



