Febrnary 15, 1877. 1 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



121 



of Stockholm, Upsal, Tnrin, Lisbon, Philadelphia, New York, 

 &o., the Imperial Acad. Naturas Cnriosornm, and the Royal 

 Academy of Sciences at Paris, Honorary Member of the Hor- 

 ticnltural Societies of London and Chelmsford, and the first 

 President of the Linniean Society. 



He was the sou of a respectable dealer in the woollen trade 

 at Norwich, where he was bom December 2nd, 175'.i,and where 

 he was educated for trade, bat changing his plans of life he 

 went to Edinburgh in 1780 to pursue the study of medicine. 

 He had previously attached himself to botany and natural 

 history, and at Edinburgh obtained the gold medal given to 

 the best proficient in botany at that university. 



Upon removing to London to perfect his professional know- 

 ledge he became acquainted with Sir Joseph Banks, that emi- 

 nent patron of natural science and of all its ardent admirers, 

 upon whose recommendation he purchased in 178i the cele- 

 brated Linnsan collection, comprising the epistolary corre- 

 spondence of the great Linnaeus and his son, together with 

 everything that belonged to those eminent men relating to 

 natural history or medicine. So highly was this collection es- 

 teemed, that the King of Sweden, hearing it was sold, actually 

 sent o2 a ship to bring back the vessel which contained it ; 

 but fortunately for the interests of science the precious lading 

 arrived in England before the vessel could be overtaken. 



From that period the life of Mr. Smith was devoted to the 

 ardent pursuit of the science, and his numerous works will 

 constitute a perpetual monument of that fame which no living 

 author more duly merited or more justly obtained. 



Having purchased the Linnaaan collection and settled in 

 London as a man of acknowledged science in the year 1786, 

 he graduated as a physician at Leyden, and in that and the 

 following year he visited most of the classical and celebrated 

 places of France and Italy. The account of these travels was 

 published in 17'.t3 under the title of " A Sketch of a Tour on 

 the Continent," in three vols. 8vo., a work which at once 

 raised the subject of our memoir into the first class of literary 

 society. Upon his return to London, Dr. Smith, in conjunc- 

 tion with his friend Dr. Goodenough, Lord Bishop of Carlisle, 

 who was one of the original Vice-Presidents, and Thomas 

 Marsham, Esq., who became Treasurer, set about establishiug 

 the Linnsean Society, of which Dr. Smith was the original Pre- 

 sident, and to which distinguished office he was annually acd 

 unanimously chosen from that period to the time of bis doath. 



In Febrnary, 1788, a few friends met together at the Doctor's 

 house at Chelsea, among whom were Dr. Goodenough, Messrs. 

 Marsham, Lightfoot, Latham, and Dryander. It was at this 

 time agreed that a Natural History Society might be .formed 

 on a more extensive scale, and that the new institution might 

 with propriety bear the name of Linnssan after that of the 

 great Swedish naturalist. 



At the end of the month a meeting was held at the Marl- 

 borough coffee house, the rules fixed and printed the 18th of 

 March following. After this proceeding other members were 

 chosen by ballot, and Sir J. Banks, the Earl of Gainsborough, 

 and the Duo de Noailles made honorary members. 



The first meeting was held April 8th, 1788, when " An Intro- 

 ductory Discourse on the Rise and Progress of Natural History " 

 was read by the President. This forms the first article in the 

 " Transactions of the Linnteau Society." 



In 17'J2 Dr. Smith was invited to give some instructions in 

 his favourite science to tho Queen and the Princesses at their 

 rural and elegant retreat of Frogmore near Windsor, and how 

 well he was calculated for such an appointment, those who 

 have derived delight and improvement from his lectures at the 

 Royal Institution, at Liverpool, at Bristol, &o., can amply attest. 



In the following year he retired from London to reside in his 

 native city, and with occasional visits to the metropolis, whero 

 be had a very numerous circle of scientific friends, as well as 

 an extensive acquaintance in the highest ranks of society, to 

 whom he was warmly attached, and by whom he was recipro- 

 cally esteemed, Norwich became his constant residence. 



In 1814 Dr. Smith received the honour of knighthood at the 

 hands of the Prince Regent, and who had become patron of 

 the Linnffian Society. 



The Horticultural Society was pleased to enrol the name of 

 Sir James Edward Smith as one of its honorary members in 

 conjunction with those of the Duke of York, Prince Leopold of 

 Sax9 Coburg, and Sir Humphry Davy. 



The health of Sir James Edward Smith had been for some 

 time declining, but pursuing the even tenour of his soientifio 

 pursuits, and blessed with every comfort which a congenial 

 onion can aflord, hia time glided on withont the slightest le- 



laxatiou of ardour in his botanical pursuits, while his latest 

 and even his unfinished works attest there was no diminution 

 either of his zeal or his success in affording information. Al- 

 though none of his friends could be altogether unprepared for 

 the melancholy event, still the decease of Sir James was some- 

 what sudden. Tho feebleness of his frame seemed to have 

 in some degree recovered a little of its former tone during the 

 last week of his existence, so that he was enabled to pursue 

 his accustomed labours, and even to enjoy the exercise of 

 taking a walk without any great fatigue. He was attacked, 

 however, on Saturday, March 15th, with such an alarming 

 degree of debility as almost immediately to extinguish the 

 hopes of his recovery. Under this attack he gradually sunk. 



Fig. 18.— Sir Jamos Edward Smitb. 



Among the numerous works of which Sir James E. Smith 

 was the author it may be desirable here to point out one or 

 two perhaps besides his " Tour," as those upon which his fame 

 was in a great measure reared, and upon which it may be said 

 to be permanently established. Of these " English Botany " 

 is entitled to the first consideration, as containing a description 

 and a coloured figure of every plant known to be indigenous. 

 This work consists of thirty-six octavo vols., and contains 

 2592 figures of British plants. 



It is a curious but a melancholy coincidence that on the very 

 day he entered his library for the last time, the packet con- 

 taining the fourth volume of his " English Flora " reached 

 him, and he had the gratification of witnessing the completion 

 of a work upon which his friends have frequently heard him 

 express an opinion that it was the one which would eventually 

 redound most to the estimation of his knowledge as a botanist 

 and his credit as an author. This work is dedicated to Sir 

 T. G. Cullum,for fifty years the intimate friend of the deceased. 



The productions of Sir J. E. Smith, as an author, during 

 the long space of forty-two years, filled a multitude of volumes, 

 besides tracts and contributions to scientific journals. Be- 

 sides those already noticed he was the author of amongst 

 others the following distinct publications :— Dissertatioqumdam 

 de Generatione complectens, Leyden, 1780 ; Dissertation on 

 the Sexes of Plants, from the Latin of Linnrous, Lond., 1786; 

 Plantarum Icones hactenns inedita;, plerumque ad Plantas in 

 Herbario Linnfcano conservatas delineatas, Fascic. i. 1789, 

 ii. 1790, iii. 1792; Reliquim Eudbeckianai, tfcc, Lond., 1789 ; 

 Spicilegium Botannicum, Fascic. i. and ii., 1792 ; Linnffii 

 Flora Laponica, 1792 ; Specimen of Botany in New Holland, 

 1793; Icones pictas Plantarum rariarum, &c., 1793; Natural 

 History of the rarer Lepidopterous Insects of Georgia, 1797 ; 

 Tracts relating to Natural History, 1798 ; Flora Britannioa 

 cum notis J. J. Ecimer, 1800-1804 ; Compendium Florie Bri- 



