The Rey. Dr. Hincks on the Flora of Ireland. 7 
Irish Divine Mr. Heaton, who is quoted by Dr. How in the 
Phytologia Britannica” for several plants, and also by Dr. 
Merret. He could find no living person acquainted with so 
many, and whether K’Eogh also made use of the same MS. 
or not, I have found their Irish names generally to agree. 
The number of species enumerated by Threlkeld (exclusive 
of all Cryptogamous plants, except the Fern tribe), was 473. 
Mackay’s species in 1836 were 1054, and those of England 
1436. When amongst those of Threlkeld we find Ardutus 
Unedo, Dryas octopetala, Menziesia polifolia, Euphorbia Hi- 
berna, Saxifraga umbrosa, Epipactis ensifolia, Osmunda re- 
galis, Asplenium viride, and other rare plants, some peculiar to 
Ireland, can we fairly say of such a country, that “its botany 
was as much unknown as that of an island in the Pacific”? 
May we not rather say that this collection made by Threlkeld, 
of plants observed by himself or by his predecessors, was a re- 
spectable foundation for future botanists to build upon? and 
that it should be estimated not by the knowledge of the present 
day, but by that of the period before the introduction of the 
Linnzan system? Amongst those whose discoveries were pre- 
vious to Threlkeld’s work, were Llhwyd and Sherard. She- 
rard’s visit, as far as I can ascertain, was in 1695 or 1696, before 
he went abroad with Lord Howland afterwards Duke of Bed- 
ford; and he spent part of his time at Moira, not far from Lough 
Neagh, with SirArthur Rawdon. Amongst his discoveries were 
Subularia aquatica, Epipactis grandiflora, Lithospermum mari- 
timum, Drosera longifolia (previously by Mr. Heaton), An- 
dromeda polifolia, and probably others I .have not noticed. 
The Murrogh of Wicklow is given by Mr. Mackay as one of 
the habitats of Lithospermum maritimum, where it grows 
plentifully ; and this is the habitat.given by Sherard. Now 
is it not interesting to know, that nearly a century and a half 
before Mr. Mackay’s work this habitat was known? True, 
the designations of the plants are not such as to lead a Lin- 
nean botanist to recognise them without some labour; and 
the alphabetical arrangement is bad, though perhaps not 
much worse than if the author had adopted Gerard’s, C. 
Bauhin’s, or even Ray’s arrangement; and I cannot help 
regretting that Mr. Mackay did not consider it an object to 
study Threlkeld’s work, and make it the foundation of his 
labours. The appendix was supplied by Dr. Thomas Moly- 
neux, the brother of Locke’s distinguished friend, and a man 
more known for his exertions to promote science in Ireland 
than for the honour of a baronetage, still enjoyed by his 
descendant. This Appendix contains a more bare list of the 
plants found than Threlkeld’s own, and a few are thus given 
