670 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. [aNNO 17()2. 



name of the Cape Jasmine, though it has been but a few years in this country. 

 It was first brought here, 17^4, from the Cape of Good Hope by Capt. Hutch- 

 enson, in the Godolphin Indiaman, and by him presented to Richard Warner, 

 Esq.y of Woodford Row, Essex ; in whose garden it long remained without the 

 least sign of vegetation ; but at last proved to be the most beautiful shrub that 

 has been introduced among us for a long time. And in bed the botanic world is as 

 much indebted to the abovenamed gentleman, for his skill and care in the preser- 

 vation of the plant, as for his generosity in communicating it to the public. 



When this plant first appeared, it was thought a new and unknown one to the 

 European botanists ; and though it came to blossom freely, the flowers unfortu- 

 nately proved double. For notwithstanding the fructification is the only material 

 thing in plants, whence they can be sufficiently known and described, yet 

 double flowers are really a kind of monsters in the vegetable kingdom, as their 

 principal parts are too much altered and distortetl, for any thing to be determined 

 from them with certainty. It therefore still remained a difficulty to ascertain 

 what tribe this shrub belonged to; and the only way of forming anyjudgment, was 

 by considering all its parts accurately, comparing them with other known plants, and 

 thus by analogy finding out its affinity, and thence its proper place in the vegetable 



into England, and was recommended by Linnaeus, whose pupil he had been, to Mr. Peter Collinson, 

 and other botanists, as well as to George Edwards, thewell-known ornithologist. By Mr. Collitison 

 he is said to have been first recommended to the trustees of the British Museum, where he was some 

 time afterwards appointed assistant librarian in the department of natural history. When Dr. Solan- 

 der first arrived in England, his principal attention seems to have been turned to botany, Linnaeus 

 therefore particularly recoiiraended him to the notice of Edwards in order that he might improve his 

 knowledge iu ornithology. The following is an extract from Linnaeus's letter to Edwards on this 

 subject. 



*' Has tibi, vir nobilissime, traditurus literas D. Dan. Solander meus totus est : hie in animum 

 induxit Angliam adire, ut coguitione proficiat apud nobilissimos Anglos, apudquos haec scientia hodie 

 unice floret. Imprimis vero tua authoritas eura allicuit, qui summum suum habet oblect.Tmentum in 

 animalium historia. Estimbutus varia cognitione zoologica, sed, ut verum fatear, minus in ornitho- 

 logicis versatus quam in reliquis partibus : te itaque praeceptorem habere avidissimus est." In 176'8 

 Dr. Solander accompanied Mr. (now Sir Joseph) Banks, his warm and liberal benefactor, in the 

 voyage made round the globe by the celebrated Capt. Cooke, and during the various opportunities 

 afforded, was indefatigable in collecting plants and other objects of natural history. In the year 1773 

 he succeeded, on the death of Dr. Maty, to the office of under librarian at the British Museum, in 

 which situation he continued till his death, which took place in May, 1782, inconsequence of an 

 apoplectic stroke. As to the person of Dr. Solander, we are informed by the authors of the Biogra- 

 phical Dictionary, in 15 vols. 8vo, that '• he was a short, fair man, rather fat j with small eyes, and 

 good humoured expressioii of countenance." He was considered as a person of very extensive know- 

 ledge, to which was added a mode of communication not only remarkable for its readiness, but for 

 its peculiar modesty. There are said to be some papers by Dr Solander scattered in the memoirs of 

 various philosophical societies ; but in the Transactions of the Royal Society of London the present 

 paper, reliative to (be Gardenia, seems to have been his only production. 



