1862.] JACOB RAYER. 181 



visit the less remote country between Canterbury and Folke- 

 stone, and the still better known parts of Kent which lie in the 

 vicinity of Rye and Winchelsea. When we have done this bit 

 of coast, which physically belongs to Kent though politically to 

 Sussex, we shall have perambulated the shores of this county 

 from Greenwich round to Beachy Head, a coast-line of not less 

 than a hundred and fifty miles. 



•llJilj ._;Ui:Ut '!:)■ >'i ■■ >' iL' .iJJiU iiti ■■tf OJ V^.S ^ 



JACOB EAYEE. 



For the brief notice of this worthy member of the botanical 

 brotherhood the writer is indebted to the 'Gentleman^s Magazine' 

 for 1797. .rnoooL 



The above estimable local botanist was born in March, 1735, 

 and at an earl}^ age had to provide for his own daily wants ; for 

 his parents were not affluent, and their son was not born ''with a 

 silver spoon in his mouth." He was, at the outset of his active 

 life, employed in the East India Company's Warehouse, but in 

 what capacity his biographer does not state. 



He had another employment, possibly as an amateur, in the 

 Galeuicallaboratory of the Apothecaries' Hall ; and here, it is pro- 

 bable that he first contracted a love for plants, and was initiated 

 into the mysteries of botanical science. 



It is related that he w as the box-bearer of the youthful Escu- 

 j lapians on their herborizing excursions ; and as such he lias 

 the honour of being represented in the vignette prefixed to Cur- 

 tis's 'Flora Londinensis.' It is related that he was patronized by 

 the demonstrators of the company, and especially by Mr. Stanesby 

 Alchorne, who held this office only two years, and by Mr. Wm. 

 Hudson, who lectured to the students four years; and the latter is 

 said to have presented him with a copy of his ' Flora Anglica.' 

 This donation is somewhat like the gift of ruffles to a shirtless 

 man ; unless Mr. Rayer took the trouble of learning the language 

 (i for the sake of the contents of the book. The writer of this no- 

 tice, only a few weeks ago, was told by a lady who had spent 

 some time botanizing on the Pyrenees, that a shepherd learned 

 Latin with the aid of the Cure, to enable him to investigate the 

 botany of this productive chain. 



Mr. Rayer's favourite botanical works were 'Gerard,' by John- 

 son, and John Parkinson's ' Theatre of Plants.' I once heard of a 



