22 INTRODUCTION 



natural propriety and courtesy of manners gained him the 

 respect and esteem of all who knew him." He died, aged 

 eighty-four, in 1819. 



Dr. Sibthorp was succeeded by Dr. George Williams, of 

 C.C.C., who continued in possession of the chair till his 

 death in 1834. 



The Curator of the Garden was William Baxter, an in- 

 defatigable botanist, appointed in 1813. During the earlier 

 years of his curatorship " Botany had sunk at Oxford to 

 its lowest level. Dr. Williams, although an elegant scholar, 

 added nothing to botanical science, and for practical instruc- 

 tion in botany the undergraduates in Oxford had recourse 

 to the teachings of Mr. Baxter." * He got together a nearly 

 complete collection of living British grasses and willows and 

 brought the collection of hardy herbaceous plants to a high 

 level. No one better understood 



The culture suiting to the several kinds 



Of seeds and plants, and what will thrive and rise, 



And what the genius of the soil denies. DRYDEN'S " Georgics," 



But in Dr. Williams' time he was denied the opportunities 

 which his talents deserved. In 1851 he retired upon an 

 inadequate pension and was succeeded by his son, W. H. 

 Baxter. 



A letter written by Professor Schultes,t of Landshut, in 

 Bohemia, describing his visit gives us a good idea of the state 

 of things in 1824 : 



" We were anxious to take advantage of one of those clear 

 days which are so uncommon in England, in order to visit 

 Oxford, which is only about fifty-eight miles distant from the 

 metropolis. We performed the distance in less than six hours, 



* Quoted in Druce's " Oxford Flora," from Card. Chron., Nov. 4, 

 1871. 



f Hooker's " Botanical Miscellany," vol. i- ; also see " Phil. Mag." 

 1829. 



