224 THE I.ATE ME. LODDIGES. 



hills of Chekiang, and the other is a curious Ranunculaceous 

 herbaceous plant obtained in a garden near Shanghae ; there are 

 dried specimens of both amongst ray specimens in the Garden of 

 the Horticultural Society, which may one day lead to their being 

 again introduced. 



XXXIII. — The late Mr. George Loddiges. 



Since the publication of the last part of this Journal, the Hor- 

 ticultural Society has sustained a heavy loss in Mr. Loddiges, 

 who, as one of the Council, for many years took an active part 

 in the management of its affairs. 



Mr. George Loddiges was a son of the late Mr. Conrad Lod- 

 diges, who founded the celebrated nursery at Hackney ; he was 

 born on the 12th of March, 1786, married a daughter of the 

 Rev. James Creighton in the year 1811, and died on the 5th of 

 June, 1846, after a long and painful illness. As one of the 

 partners in the great nursery of Conrad Loddiges and Sons, he 

 applied himself more particularly to giving a scientific character 

 to the large collections of rare plants cultivated there. In doing 

 this he was always able to command the assistance of his scientific 

 friends, to whom his unbounded liberality in the communication 

 of even the rarest plants required in their investigations greatly 

 endeared him ; but he was also most efficiently aided by his own 

 very extensive practical knowledge of plants, and an energy that 

 knew no fatigue. The collections of Orchids, Palms, and Ferns, 

 assembled in the stores at Hackney by Mr. Loddiges' untiring 

 zeal and munificent expenditure are unrivalled in extent, the 

 Orchids alone amounting in the year 1845, to 1916 species and 

 varieties, and the Palms to 280. And these rare plants were 

 brought together with all the zeal and enthusiasm of a botanist, 

 without regard to the advantages of trade. It was not, however, 

 alone in such classes of plants that the collections formed by the 

 skill of Mr. Loddiges were remarkable. It is probable that no 

 private establishment ever contained anything like an approach 

 to such multitudes of rare species belonging to every cultivable 

 division of the Vegetable Kingdom. This was sufficiently proved 

 by the work called the ' Botanical Cabinet,' which represents 

 2000 figures of plants growing in the Hackney Nursery, 1700 

 of which were drawn by Mr. Loddiges himself. 



Nor was it alone in that branch of science which is connected 

 with his trade that the knowledge of Mr. Loddiges was con- 

 spicuous. He was an excellent ornithologist, and a most skilful 



