ESSAYS. 



EUROPEAN HERBARIA. 1 



The vegetable productions of North America, in common 

 with those of most other parts of the world, have generally- 

 been first described by European botanists, either from the 

 collections of travelers, or from specimens communicated by 

 residents of the country, who, induced by an enlightened curi- 

 osity, the love of flowers, or in some instances by no inconsid- 

 erable scientific acquirements, have thus sought to contribute, 

 according to their opportunities, to the promotion of botanical 

 knowledge. From the increase in the number of known 

 plants, it very frequently happens that the brief descriptions, 

 and even the figures, of older authors are found quite insuffi- 

 cient for the satisfactory determination of the particular spe- 

 cies they had in view ; and hence it becomes necessary to refer 

 to the herbaria where the original specimens were preserved. 

 In this respect, the collections of the early authors possess an 

 importance far exceeding their intrinsic value, since they are 

 seldom large, and the specimens often imperfect. 



With the introduction of the Linnaean nomenclature, a rule 

 absolutely essential to the perpetuation of its advantages was 

 also established, namely, that the name under which a genus 

 or species is first published shall be retained, except in certain 

 cases of obvious and paramount necessity. An accurate de- 

 termination of the Linnsean species is therefore of the first 

 importance ; and this, in numerous instances, is only attained 

 with certainty by the inspection of the herbaria of Linnaeus 

 and those authors upon whose descriptive phrases or figures 

 1 American Journal of Science and Arts, xl. 1. (1841.) 



