18 ESSAYS. 
well-filled shelves are protected by pieces of binder’s board, 
and secured by a cord, which is the more necessary as the 
doors are not closed by doors or curtains. 
The royal Bavarian herbarium at Munich is chiefly valua- 
ble for its Brazilian plants, with which it has been enriched 
by the laborious and learned Martius. The North American 
botanist will, however, be interested in the herbarium of 
Schreber, which is here preserved and comprises the authentic 
specimens described or figured in his work on the grasses, the 
American species mostly communicated by Muhlenberg. The 
Graminee of this and the general herbarium have been re- 
vised by Nees von Esenbeck, and still later by Trinius. It was 
here that the latter, who for many years had devoted himself 
to the exclusive study of this tribe of plants, and had nearly 
finished the examination of the chief herbaria of the conti- 
nent, preparatory to the publication of a new Agrostographia, 
was suddenly struck with a paralysis, which has probably 
brought his scientific labors to a close. 
The imperial herbarium at Vienna, under the superinten- 
dence of the accomplished Endlicher, assisted by Dr. Fenzl, 
is rapidly becoming one of the most valuable and extensive 
collections in Europe. The various herbaria of which it is 
composed have recently been incorporated into one, which is 
prepared nearly after the English method. It, however, pos- 
sesses few North American plants, except a collection made 
by Enslin (a collector sent to this country by Prince Lich- 
tenstein, from whom Pursh obtained many specimens from 
the southern States), and some recent contributions by 
Hooker, etc. There is also an imperfect set of plants collected 
by Henke (a portion of which are from Oregon and Califor- 
nia), so far as they are yet published in the “ Reliquae Hn- 
keane” of Presl, in whose custody, as curator of the Bohemian 
museum at Prague, the original collection remains. 
The herbarium of the late Professor Sprengel still remains 
in the possession of his son, Dr. Anthony Sprengel, at Halle, 
but is offered for sale. It comprises many North American 
plants communicated by Muhlenberg and Torrey. The her- 
barium of Schkuhr was bequeathed to the university of Wit- 
