459 



sides at the University of Lund. The worthy and accu- 

 rate Afzelius, well known in England, who accomplished 

 a hazardous botanical expedition to Sierra Leone, is the 

 coadjutor of Professor Thunberg ; and the difficult sub- 

 ject of Lichens, under the hands of Dr. Acharius, is be- 

 come so vast and so diversified, as to be almost a science 

 of itself. 



Denmark has always possessed some acute and learned 

 botanists, and has, more than most other countries, been 

 supplied with dried specimens of plants, as an article of 

 commerce, from her West or East Indian establishments. 

 Oeder, the original author of the Flora Danica, and Mul- 

 ler its continuator, have distinguished themselves ; but 

 their fame is inferior to that of the late Professor Vahl, 

 who studied under the celebrated Linnaeus, and who is the 

 author of several excellent descriptive works. He under- 

 took no less than a new Species, or, as "he entitled it, 

 Enumeratio, Plant arum, an admirable performance, cut 

 short by his death at the end of the second volume, which 

 finishes the class and order Triandria Monogynia. It is 

 almost superfluous to mention, that Afzelius and Retzius, 

 as well as Vahl, in all they have given to the world, have 

 followed the system of their great master. The Flora 

 Danica, chiefly a collection of plates, with few synonyms 

 and no descriptions, has come forth, from time to time, 

 for above fifty years past, in fasciculi, without any order, 

 and is still incomplete. It was undertaken by royal com- 

 mand, and, in a great measure, at the sovereign's expense; 

 though regularly sold, except some copies presented to 

 certain distinguished men, as Linnaeus. 



After the example of Denmark, Sweden, &c. Russia 

 has been desirous of promoting, throughout its vast de- 

 pendencies, an attention to natural knowledge. Nor 

 was any country ever more fortunate in the possession of 

 an active and intelligent naturalist. The celebrated 

 Pallas successfully devoted a long life to these pursuits, 

 and to the communication of his discoveries and obser- 



