84 Botany. 



(1760-1818), who contributed largely to the herbarium and 

 worked at the material therein preserved, obtained by previous 

 collectors ; the results of his researches are included in his 

 "Prodromus" (1783), where he pays a high tribute to Banks 

 " Non poterunt immortales perillustris hujus viri digne satis 

 celebrari laudes " ; Henri de Ponthieu sent plants from the 

 Caribee Islands in 1778; William Wright (1735-1819) and 

 Roger Shakespear from Jamaica, the latter collected in 1777-82 ; 

 Alexander Anderson (d. 1815), plants f rom Demerara in 1791 and 

 later from the St. Vincent Garden, of which he was curator ; 

 John Greg, plants from Dominica, collected 1777. 



ROBERT BROWN'S HERBARIUM. 



At the death of Robert Brown in 1858, his herbarium came 

 into the possession of John Joseph Bennett, then Keeper of the 

 Department of Botany. It mainly consisted of the very valuable 

 and interesting collection made by Brown in his capacity as 

 naturalist during the voyage of H.M.S. Investigator, commanded 

 by Captain Flinders, on the coast of New Holland and Van 

 Diemen's Land in 1802-5, and included nearly 3,900 species, 

 among them being the types of Brown's " Prodromus Florse 

 Novse Hollandise." The herbarium during Bennett's lifetime 

 was kept at the Museum, and was accessible to botanists ; it was 

 largely employed by Bentham in the preparation of his " Flora 

 Australiensis." On Bennett's death in 1876, the Museum 

 became possessed of a complete and very fine series of the 

 Australian plants, with all Brown's notes, and of the remainder 

 of his herbarium ; this contained Australian plants from 

 Baxter, Sturt, Mitchell and Labillardiere, Brown's own collec- 

 tions in Timor and at the Cape, and various specimens from 

 other collectors, including types of species described by Brown. 



Mr. Murray desires to state that advantage has been taken 

 of Mr. Britten's unique knowledge of the history of the botanical 

 collections. He, with Mr. Gepp's help, has completed the work. 



