60 PETER COLLINSON [1734-5. 



pleasure, so much time was lost which would turn to a more pro- 

 fitable account in thy own affairs. 



Thee writes for some botanical books ; and indeed I am at a 

 loss which to recommend, for, as I have observed, a complete 

 history of plants is not to be found in any author. For the present, 

 I am persuaded the gentlemen of the Library Company, at my 

 request, will indulge thee the liberty, when thee comes to town, 

 to peruse their botanical books : there is Miller's Dictionary, and 

 some others. 



Please to remember those Solomon's Seals, that escaped thee 

 last year. 



The great and small Hellebore are great rarities here, so pray 

 send a root or two of each next year. Please to remember all 

 your sorts of lilies, as they happen in thy way ; and your spotted 

 Martagons will be very acceptable. 



The Devil's Bit, or Blazing Star, pray add a root or two, and 

 any of the Lady's Slippers. 



My dear friend, I only mention these plants ; but I beg of 

 thee not to neglect thy more material affairs to oblige me. A 

 great many may be put in a box 20 inches or 2 feet square, and 

 15 or 16 inches high ; and a foot in earth is enough. This may 

 be put under the captain's bed, or set in the cabin, if it is sent in 

 October or November. Nail a few small narrow laths across it, 

 to keep the cats from scratching it. 



If thee could procure some layers of the woody vine, with 

 variegated leaves, it would be acceptable : also, a root of the 

 Aristolochia [by this is meant the Saururus cemuus, L., then 

 called Aristolochia, by some], which is of such sovereign remedy 

 for sore breasts, would be well worth having. 



I hope thee had mine, per Captain Davis, with a box with seeds 

 in sand, and two parcels of seeds per my good friend Isaac Norris, 

 Jr. One parcel I sent after him to the Downs ; but whether he 



for the beauties of Nature, attended by far more important consolations and 

 supports. 



The Philosophical Transactions and the Archceologia are enriched with several 

 of Mr. Collisson's papers. Dr. Fothergill published an account of his life. 



The garden at Mill Hill, so assiduously cultivated by this gentleman and his 

 son, and for many years abounding with rarities and beauties, fell afterwards 

 into most barbarous and tasteless hands. After a transient restoration by an 

 eminent botanist, it is now (1821), as far as we can learn, almost entirely stripped 

 of its chief curiosities. See Biographical Memoir in the first volume of the Cor- 

 respondence of Linn^us, and other Naturalists ; by Sir James Edward Smith. 



