1 806.] Accouni of the Life, Kc. of the late Mr. Vahl. 



463 



many curious plniUs from the South- 

 Ainericati Spanilh provinces ; niid tlie 

 French botanifbs lately communicated to 

 htin the new difcovenes made in the 

 South-Sea under Captain Bajd;n. Thus 

 liis collection was increalbd to aii ur.com- 

 mon number, afid certainly it is not 

 equalled by any other with regani to the 

 number ot' the Ipccies and their true dc- 

 lignation. 



In Order to k-eep pn^e with the difco- 

 verics with ^^ hich otiier nituraliits en- 

 riched the Icicnce, he did not think it 

 enough to receive their plants, — he alfo 

 willied to polTcls their often very expcn- 

 jive publications. On this lie fpent con- 

 fiderable fums, and thereby coUetted 

 an uncommonly complete botaniOal li- 

 brary. Alio iifvd l;e a moll e.xtenfive 

 knowledge of tlx- literature of natural 

 hiliory. And inanv have in that refpect 

 had occaiion to aiiniirc the Itrensith of 

 bis memory. If any perfon who wanted 

 to know what had been written on fame 

 branch or other of that fcicnce, apphed 

 to \'ahl, he never applied in nm. The 

 profelVor had read aitonilliingly nmch ; 

 not even a book o\' fr:^'.vels, that contained 

 any thing on natural hiliory, but he was 

 intimately acquainted with it : his aji- 

 plication was unequalird. 



His writings are, bclides the Flora 

 Danica, G vols., and a threat many tracts 

 in the ^lemoirs of the S iciety of Na- 

 tural llillory, Symboliv Boliinka', 3 \ols.; 

 Krlogie Americana:, 2 vwls., (the third vo- 

 lume is ready for the prefs ;) IJecadts 

 Iconuiii, 3 \oh. : and la!t of all, Enuwt- 

 ratio F/antarum vci ah ipjh rcl ab ul'ds 

 vljerruturum, of which it may in more 

 than one rof])e-ftl3c faid, tion plua ultni. 



Tiiis beini^ thft laft of his works, and 

 ^•ndcH'd the ripe refslts of the refearchos 

 of his w hole life, it will not be improper 

 here to fay a f^-w words of its nature and 

 importance. The full title of it is, Mar- 

 tini I'ahUi F.niimaatio Plantarvm, vcl 

 <ib aliis Tfl ah ipl'o t)bl'tj~vaturij/n^ ciun 

 eariim Diffi-rnitiin fiicdjicig, Hi/tWHijnm /<>• 

 Left is et ]}cl\ript'u4iiibns fiiccincli;, vol. 1, 

 Havnia-, ]o04. The fcooi>d volume has 

 hki-wilV' been publilhcd liuce his death. 



About fifty years ajio Liun.Tus gave to 

 the lovers of botany the fii'lt truly fylie- 

 niatic, and, a^cordiui; to the knowledge 

 t)f his tinv?, cou'iplete Catalogue of 

 Plants, founded on firm principles. Six 

 thouiand fpecics which it contained raif- 

 I'd the adonilhment of the age ; and the 

 (•^inception, phmnini', and execution of 

 tlie work, juftly gained innnortality to its 

 /B^thur. Linno; js himic'l( lived to L'c this 



number doubled, and in the fsmio pro- 

 portion the knowledge of plants has 

 been enlarged lince his death, fo tliat 

 it will hardly be faying too in i^ch, if we 

 maintain tltat the number of dilfcrent 

 fpecies now known amounts to jnoie 

 than thirty thoufand. 



Wliile new dilcovcries in different 

 parts of the world thus gave a wiiler 

 Icope to the icicnce of botany, Reichart, 

 Muiray, W'ildenow, and others, endea- 

 voured to coilcCl thefe diicoveries in nevr 

 editions of the Works of Linnuius ; but 

 what pains foever they took to poUett all 

 the fpecics, it was foun perceived not 

 only that tlieir works were far from be- 

 ing complete, but even that the lyftem,' 

 on account of the increafe, wanted con- 

 liderable improvements. But it wa; no 

 ealy matter to remedy this want ; to 

 collect all into a uniform whole, to model 

 the lyllem according to the ama7ingly 

 increaling number, to determine the va- 

 lue of the dirt'crent claifes, to form new 

 liable geaera, to difcriminate real fj^ecies 

 from xaricties produced by incidental 

 circumltances, — this was uot within the 

 reach of €Vi;i-y oive's capacity ; this re- 

 quired . an uncommon indefatigable ap- 

 plication, united to an unconquciable at- 

 tachment to the fcicnce, a difcerning 

 Rud comi)rehenlivc eye, a fund of know- 

 ledge diawn fioni nature, acquaintance 

 will) tlie difcoveries of others, and many 

 tiivourable circun',f'ances, — this required 

 aiiother Linu»;us, a man like Marrin\'ahl. 

 The autlior, therefore, is perfectly right 

 when, in tho Prvjfacc to the Etiutiieratio, 

 he fays, that it is " epi<s urduum : genera 

 Jirmu condcrc, fpecies ad prepria genera 

 rcferr-e, dilftnntius fpevijicai; conciiiwi-s, 

 Jiubiles, per fpiaws for mare, fpecies a rari' 

 etatihus difccryicrc, fipKnymiamfcLeSum ct 

 vcram eriicrc, adiimbrutionein ultO'iori 

 dijiinclioni fpecierum infcrvituram €/ab<M 

 7'ure." Tills vpits urd-uiim is begun in 

 the volumo before us, and little mufl he 

 be able to iippreciate a w ork of that nu- 

 ture, who docs not here difcern the com- 

 prehcnllvo iylleinatic fpirit of Linna;us, 

 the riiiid criticil'm of Haller, the acute- 

 nelis of Jullicu and Giartner in forming 

 generit, and finally a fund of knowledge 

 and mfiterials only to be acq'vired by 

 him, who, fiirnilhed with thofc qualities, 

 had the good fortune to enjoy, through a 

 ierics of years, ih« conrtdence of the 

 founder of the fyflein ; to tiavel through 

 moftof the provinces of Europe, and ie- 

 veral of thole of Africa ; to have ncc ac- 

 cefs to the molt conliderablo herbariums ; 

 to be peifonally acquainted w ith the moli 

 3 N a" difiin^uiflipd 



