88 



and Forster turned their attention to them, and the result of their la- 

 bours, with the earlier efforts of Borrer, and those of the eminent au- 

 thor himself, are given by Sir James Smith in his elaborate Flora, 

 until the appearance of which no British synopsis contained any at- 

 tempt at discriminating them. 



To Dr. Lindley we are indebted for a more decided step towards a 

 precise knowledge of our native species, than had been taken by any 

 of his predecessors. The clear, characteristic, and concise descrip- 

 tions, condensed by him from the work of Weihe and Nees, are at the 

 same time not only more precise, and recognizing many common 

 forms, not before in our English books, but also were far more avail- 

 able, from their very conciseness, than the elaborate descriptions of 

 Smith ; and it speaks much for the correct observation of these justly 

 celebrated authors, Weihe and Nees, that the circulation amongst Bri- 

 tish botanists, of these condensed descriptions of theirs, should, in a 

 short space of time, have done more to make us generally acquainted 

 with our own species of this genus, than all the previous efforts of 

 our own botanists. 



It would not be just, however, towards Dr. Lindley, to deny him 

 any other praise than for the great service he did us, in making us 

 acquainted with these authors ; for although his subsequent engage- 

 ments have led him to abandon the study of this genus, on which he 

 had worked so successfully, this was not until he had recognized 

 some new forms : and though he did not pursue the subject till he had 

 attained so accurate a knowledge as some who have followed him, the 

 account of them in his Flora was yet the first approaching to much 

 precision or completeness that had been published in this country, 

 both as regards the enumeration of forms or species, and characteris- 

 tic descriptions. 



But probably no one individual in this country has devoted so 

 much time and successful attention to this subject, as my excellent 

 friend Mr. Borrer. He has done so, however, in a way characteristic 

 of himself. Though he has published nothing, or very little, on this 

 subject, yet much that is valuable in the works of others, derives a 

 great portion of that value from the labours of Mr. Borrer, who is al- 

 ways ready to impart from his ample fund of information, and who, 

 more than almost any one, successfully pursues the study of Nature 

 without a thought of fame. In the British Floras of Smith, Hooker, 

 and Babington, in the local Flora of Leighton, and in 'English Bo- 

 tany,' a large proportion of the information on this subject is from 

 Mr. Borrer. For myself, I am indebted for an act of private libera- 



