I 4 HISTORY OF LICHENOLOGY 



he however carries his theory of metamorphosis too far and unites together 

 widely separated plants. Meyer was the first to describe the growth of the 

 lichen from spores, though his description is somewhat confused. Possibly 

 the honour of havingfirst observed their germination should be given to a later 

 botanist, Holle 1 . The works of both Wallroth and Meyer enjoyed a great 

 and well-merited reputation : they were standard books of consultation for 

 many years. Koerber 2 , who devoted a long treatise to the study of gonidia, 

 confirmed Wallroth's theories: he considered at that time that the gonidia 

 in the soredial condition were organs of propagation. 



Mention should be made here of the many able and keen collectors who, 

 in the latter half of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nine- 

 teenth, did so much to further the knowledge of lichens in the British Isles. 

 Among the earliest of these naturalists are Richard Pulteney (1730-1801), 

 whose collection of plants, now in the herbarium of the British Museum, in- 

 cludes many lichens, and Hugh Davies (1739-1821), a clergyman whose 

 Welsh plants also form part of the Museum collection. The Rev. John 

 Harriman (1760-1831) sent many rare plants from Egglestone in Durham 

 to the editors of English Botany and among them were not a few lichens. 

 Edward Forster (1765-1849) lived in Essex and collected in that county, 

 more especially in and near Epping Forest, and another East country 

 botanist, Dawson Turner (1775-1858), though chiefly known as an algologist, 

 gave considerable attention to lichens. In Scotland the two most active 

 workers were Charles Lyell (1767-1849), of Kinnordy in Forfarshire, and 

 George Don (1798- 1 8 56), alsoaForfar man. Don was a gardener and became 

 eventually a foreman at the Chelsea Physic Garden. Sir Thomas Gage of 

 Hengrave Hall (1781-1823) botanized chiefly in his own county of Suffolk ; 

 but most of his lichens were collected in South Ireland and are incorporated in 

 the herbarium of the British Museum. Miss Hutchins also collected in Ireland 

 and sent her plants for inclusion in English Botany. But in later years, the 

 principal lichenologist connected with that great undertaking was W. Borrer, 

 who spent his life in Sussex : he not only supplied a large number of specimens 

 to the authors, but he himself discovered and described many new lichens. 



American lichenologists were also extremely active all through this 

 period. The comparatively few lichens of Michaux's* Flora grouped under 

 " Lichenaceae " were collected in such widely separated regions as Carolina 

 and Canada. A few years later Miihlenberg 4 included no fewer than 184 

 species in his Catalogue of North American Plants. Torrey 8 and Halsey 6 

 botanized over a limited area near New York, and the latter, who devoted 

 himself more especially to lichens, succeeded in recording 176 different forms, 

 old and new. These two botanists were both indebted for help in their work 



1 Holle 1849. J Koerber 1839. 3 Michaux 1803. 



4 Mtthlenberg 1813. 5 Torrey 1819. 6 Halsey 1824. 



