. AMERICAN ae 
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, &c. 
is 
vis : ; = 
Ant. I.—Notices of European Herbaria, particularly those most ~ 
interesting to the North American Botanist.* 
Tue 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 
. travellers, or from specimens communicated by residents of the _ 
country, who, induced by an enlightened curiosity, the love of 
_ flowers, or in some instances, by no inconsiderable scientific ac- 
quirements, have thus sought to contribute, according to their op- 
portunities, to the promotion of botanical knowledge. From the 
great increase in the number of known plants, it very frequently. - 
happens that the brief descriptions, and even the figures, of older ‘ 
authors ate found quite insufficient for the satisfactory determina- 
tion of the particular species they had-in view; and hence it be- 
comes:necessary to refer to the herbaria where the original speci- 
mens are preserved. In this respect, Bn collections of the early 
authors possess an importance far exc ing their, intrinsic value, 
since they are seldom large, and the specimens often imperfect. 
With the introduction of the Linnean nomenclature, a rule 
_ absolutely essential to the perpetuation of its advantages was also 
: established, viz. that the name under which a genus or species 
Js first published shall be retained, except in certain cases of ob- 
vious and paramount necessity. An accurate determination of 
. _the Linnean Species is therefore of the first importance ; and . 
~ this, in numerous instances, is only to be attained with certainty 
by the inspection of the herbaria of Linnzeus and those authors — 
a We ee 
* Communicated for this Journal by the author. - of 
Vol. xz, No. 1.—Oct.-Dec. 1840, 1 — 
