158 PETER COLLINSON AND JOHN BARTRAM CH. 



likeness of the plants from which they came. 1 The time 

 was ripe for one who should survey afresh the whole 

 range of vegetable life, define its forms, and rank them in 

 an ordered system. Carl von Linne, or Linnaeus, as he 

 was known in Latin literature, achieved this great work, 

 and though the system he built has met the common fate 

 of systems, and has been superseded by the more natural 

 methods of Jussieu and others, yet he laid foundations 

 deep and firm upon which all later observers were glad to 

 build. The only visit to England which was paid by the 

 Swedish botanist occurred in the summer of 1736, before 

 Fothergill settled in London. Amongst those whom 

 Linnaeus met in the metropolis, and with whom he 

 entered into terms of friendship, was Peter Collinson, a 

 man like unto himself in the interest he took in all things 

 living and growing. 



Peter Collinson was born in I6Q3, 2 in a house opposite 

 Church Alley, St. Clement's Lane, London. He was a 

 member of the Society of Friends throughout his life, 

 and although he was intimate with men of rank and 

 position he retained much of the Friendly simplicity of 

 character. In partnership with his brother James, he 

 carried on the business of a wholesale woollen draper or 

 mercer, at the sign of the Red Lion in Gracechurch Street, 

 and opened a large trade with the American colonies, 

 from which he derived a considerable income. 



Collinson was fond of natural history from his youth, 

 a lover of flowers and of gardening, and of watching the 

 metamorphoses of insects. These pursuits brought him 

 to the notice of naturalists, especially of Sir Hans Sloane, 

 whom he often visited, and whose large collections, which 

 were the nucleus of the British Museum, were in part 

 arranged by Collinson. He was, as we shall see, early 

 elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, and was also one 



1 Gerard, Herball, 1597, p. 1391 ; Josselyn, New England's Rarities Dis- 

 covered, 1672 ; N. Grew, M.D., F.R.S., Catalogue of Rarities belonging to the 

 Royal Society, 1681, p. 254. 



2 Jan. 28, 1693/4. His father was Peter Collinson of Gracechurch 

 Street, haberdasher, and his grandfather, James Collinson of Penrith, who 

 was son to Peter Collinson of Hugal Hall, Windermere. His mother was 

 Elizabeth, daughter of Peter Hall of Southwark. 



