172 Bibliography. 
this botanical museum, a notice of the herbaria it now contains, an 
enumeration of the botanists and botanical collectors who have contrib- 
uted to enrich it, with a geographical table, bringing together methodi- 
cally the names of such botanists or collectors, and the localities from 
which their plants were derived. To this is added a brief history of all 
the larger herbaria of Europe, and a general account of the principal 
botanical travellers and collectors, from Belon and Tournefort down to 
our own days. The volume closes with a notice of the botanical library 
of M. Delessert, which is pronounced to be the most complete known 
collection of books upon any one branch of science. It were greatly 
to be wished, therefore, that the excellent proprietor would publish a 
complete detailed catalogue of this invaluable library, which, as a Bib- 
liotheca Botanica, would supply a great desideratum. Although this 
work is restricted to the botanical museum, we must not forget to men- 
tion that M. Delessert also possesses an unrivalled cabinet of shells— 
embracing the collection of Dufresne, and especially that of Lamarck, 
which itself comprises 13,288 species, and at least 50,000 individuals. 
The conchylogical cabinet is, however, entirely distinct and separate 
from the botanical museum; which last, as Laségue remarks, is always 
‘objet d’une predilection toute particuliére,” on the part of its pos- 
sessor. 
In a short chapter on the statistics of vegetables, M. Laségue has 
given some interesting details on the successive increase in the number 
of species preserved in herbaria or described in general works. Thus, 
in 1546 Lonicer indicated 879 species of plants. In the first edition of 
the Species Plantarum, published in the year 1753, Linnzeus described 
5,938 plants; which number, in his later works, is raised to 8,551 
species. In 1807, Persoon enumerates 25,949 species. In 1824, 
Steudel enumerates 50,649; in 1841, he gives a catalogue of 78,000 
phanerogamous plants, which, with the estimated number of the Cryp- 
togamia, raises the amount to 91,000; and the number of species since 
made known, enabled our author to raise the sum to 95,000 in 1844. 
It is equally interesting to notice the progressive increase in the described 
species of particular families or genera. Thus, in 1773, Linneeus knew 
14 species of Oak; Persoon in 1807 enumerated 82; we now know 
196. The described species of Violet, at these three periods respec- 
tively, are - - - - - 195.55, R72 
Of Potentilla, = - ° - - = 22, Sao TSe: 
Astragalus, - - - - - 33, 169, 515. 
Oxalis, - - - - - 13, 102, 308: 
Carex, - - - - - 29, 209, 439. 
Senecio, - - - : - 26, 135, 684, etc. 
