rPsTTRODUCTION CXIU 



canina,' which evidently refers to R. arvensis. Another edition of the 

 History was published in 1705, but it added nothing to the flora of 

 Oxfordshire or Berkshire. Adanson's genus Plotia, named after Plot, 

 is the Mijrsine of Linnaeus. There is a half-length portrait of Plot 

 in oils in the Bodleian Library ; he is represented sitting in the gown 

 of a Doctor of Civil Law. A very valuable engraving of him is pre- 

 served in the Hope Collection. 



Dr. Plot had many of the characteristics of the scientific collector, 

 Hearne, writing in 1705, relates that Mr. Pullen of Magdalen Hall 

 states that a very remarkable stone was lent to Dr. Plot, who never 

 returned it, replying, when he was asked for it, ' that it was a rule 

 amongst antiquaries to receive and never restore.* The inscription 

 on Plot's monviment, Hearne says, was written by Dr. Hudson, and 

 Dr. Lhwyd added it to the account which he drew up of Dr. Plot's 

 life at the beginning of the second edition of the Natural History of 

 Oxfordshire. The original copy of this work, given by Dr. Plot to Bobai-t, 

 is in the Library of the Botanic Garden at Oxford. 



Robert Morison was born at Aberdeen in 1620, the son of John Morlson, 

 Morison and Anna Gray. He was educated at Aberdeen, being Robert. 

 designed for the Church ; but he devoted himself to the study of 

 Mathematics, till he was diverted from it by becoming interested in 

 Medicine and Botany. He took the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 

 1638. His scientific pursuits were interrupted for a time at least by 

 his loyalty, which induced him to join the army of King Charles, 

 and he received a dangerous wound in the shoulder at the battle of 

 Brigg, near Aberdeen, in which Middleton, the General of the 

 Covenanters, was victorious. After the downfall of the Royal cause 

 Morison, with many of his compatriots, retired to Paris. ' There,' we 

 read, 4ie was employed as tutor to a young gentleman of fortune named 

 Bizet, and sedulously cultivated at the same time the studies necessary 

 for his profession, learning the art of simpling or knowledge of plants 

 and herbs under M. Roobin ; and making great progress therein, in 

 a short time, to the wonder of all, he was, upon Roobin's recom- 

 mendation, taken into the service of Gaston, Duke of Orleans.' In 

 1648 he took the degree of Doctor of Physic at Angers. He had 

 charge of the Duke's garden at Blois from 1650 to 1660, and during 

 this period he devoted himself to the study of practical and theoretical 

 botany, and began to plan a System. His royal patron, we are told, 

 delighted to confer with him on the subject, and sent him on several 

 botanical journeys to different parts of France, to Burgundy, the 

 Lyonnois, Languedoc, and Brittany, for the purpose of enriching his 

 garden, a catalogue of which was printed in 1653 by Abel Brunyer, 

 physician to the Duke. A copy of this catalogue, with Morison's 

 manuscript notes, is in the Library of the Botanic Garden at Oxford. 



h 



