[xxviii] 



Museum annotatcd by Brown which displays the characters stated in 

 his diagnosis. In accordance with Bennett's will, duplicates were given 

 to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Royal Botanic Garden, Edin- 

 burgh; there are also some at Melbourne and Sydney. 



PREPARATION OF BROWN'S 'PRODROMUS' 



The preparation of Brown's Prodromus began, in a sense, as soon 

 as he landed at King George's Sound. 'My plan', he wrote to Banks 

 on 6 August 1803 (cf. Hist. Rec. N. S. W. 5: 182), 'has been to describe, 

 as far as time would allow me, every plant we met with, uncertain in 

 many cases whether those which I was inclin'd to suppose known might 

 not in reality be new species. The descriptions amount to about 1,600'. As 

 noted above, Brown kept handy on board ship a 'classified herbarium 

 of small specimens of every species collected' apart from the main col- 

 lection so that he could study them continuously during the tedious 

 months of voyaging on the open sea. 'In arranging the collection', he 

 stated, 'I at first follow'd Jussieu's Ord's Naturalis; but I soon found 

 the plants of doubtful affinity so numerous that I judg'd it better to 

 use the Linnaean method'. It was Brown's first-hand experience of the 

 inadequacies of both systems that led him by his own observations so 

 much to improve Jussieu's. 



In a report to William Marsden, Secretary of the Admiralty, in 

 January 1806 (cf. 77/5/. Rec. N.S.W. 6: 19) Banks recommended, pro- 

 bably at Brown's instigation, that 'he do with as little delay as possible 

 publish at his own expense a succinct account of all such plants as he 

 shall think worthy to be communicated to the public', receiving a go- 

 vernment salary while so engaged. Banks reported on 18 June 1807 (cf. 

 Hist. Rec. N. S.W. 6: 269) that Brown spent two days a week selecting 

 specimens of his for the public collection and that the rest of his time 

 'he has been occupied in re-examining the species, in completing his 

 descriptions, in ascertaining synonyma where necessary, and, lastly, by 

 examination of the plants already publish'd belonging to the same na- 

 tural orders, in endeavouring to establish the character and ascertain 

 the affinities of such in his collection as appear'd to him to constitute 

 new genera'. By then Brown had dealt with 688 species, among which 

 546 were considered new, 40 new genera being represented. On 2 June 

 1809 (cf. Hist. Rec. N.S. W. 7: 160) Brown stated that he had now 

 described 1600 species, of which 1300 were as yet unpublished, with 



