245 
-eentury ‘its importance declined very much, and was quite over- 
shadowed by. the fame of Count Alexis Rasumowsky’s arden at 
rorenki, near Moscow. This garden owed its existence entirely 
to the enlightened taste and the generous liberality of its owner, and 
iis dissolution after his death in 1822 appeared inevitable. In 
those circumstances the Emperor Alexander decided on the com- 
‘plete reorganisation of the old garden on Apothecaries’ Island, 
‘and F. EK. L. Fischer, who since 1804 had directed es garden. at 
Gorenki with so much success, was entrusted with t 
This was begun early in 1823, and proceeded with such rapidit 
that three years later the last of the glasshouses was pies 
Their total length ran to about 1600 m. * ‘and the ey cost over £19,000. 
At the same time a sum of £3178 was granted for the purchase of 
plants and the annual budget of sig Garden was fixed at about £2200. 
In 1824 F, EK. L. Fischer himgelf went abroad to visit the more 
important Gardens of Germany, France and England, returning 
‘with 3230T species of living plants. In Eng land Fischer vis sited | 
the Royal Gardens at Kew, the garden of the Horticultaral iycenial 
Chiswick, and the Botanic Gardens of Chelsea, Edinburgh, Glase 
and Liverpoo 1, In London alone the purchases amounted to a tl 
£1600, whilst the plants presented were estimated to have equalled 
if not exceeded that sum in value. F alderman, a gardener with 
the Royal Horticultural Society, was engaged as “head gardener for 
St. Petersburg, and he and Goldie, another English gardener who 
had travelled in America, were entrusted with the task of taking the 
collection of treasures safely to St. Petersburg. By 1830 the number 
of species in cultivation had risen to over 12 000. At the same time 
the great library of the Gorenki garden and that of Dr. Stephan were 
taken over and an annual grant of £180 made for the maintenance 
of the library. Thus the foundation was laid for a botanical library 
‘which as to completeness has for a long time been unequalled and 
‘even now has but few rivals in the world. In a similar wa pro- 
vision was made for the establishment of a herbarium, the nucleus — 
of which was formed by what was then left of Professor Stephan’s 
‘Russian collections, by Riedel’s Brazilian herbarium, and other sets. 
Fischer’s own herbarium (containing about 60,000 species) remain 
his private property until his death, when it was purchased for the 
Botanic Gardens from his widow. F. E. Fischer's tas 
was greatly facilitated by the wide connections he had formed 
whilst still at Gorenki. He counted among his personal friends Sir 
“William Hooker, with whom he corresponded up to the end o 
his life 
The “A pothecaries’ Garden at the time of its reorganisation had 
its name altered to that of Imperial Botanic Garden, while it was at 
the same time transferred from the Medico-chirurgical Collegium to 
the Ministry of the Interior and, in 1830, to the Ministry of the 
¥ Fischer ‘= Bow 1831, p. 99) says “750 Sarschinen oder 4130 anglische 
Fuss.” Asa “sarschine” or a, is equal to 7 ft. (English), hoe must 
be some iaistate § in this statement, ine conversion into metres was made from 
the reg wr as given in “sas 
e figure given by ‘Fischer himself in Verhandl. Verein. Befrd. 
Gartenb. in a "*% Preuss. Staat. pe hp. a irepent) i ; see also English translation 
in Bot. Mag. vol, Ixxi, me end, p. 
31104 A2 
