10 Notices of European Herbaria, 



shelves are also made to draw out like a case of drawers. This 

 method is unrivalled for elegance, and the facility with which 

 the specimens may be found and inspected, which to a working 

 botanist with a large collection, is a matter of the greatest conse- 

 quence. The only objection is the expense, which becomes very 

 considerable when paper worth at least ten dollars per ream is 

 employed for the purpose, which is the case with the principal 

 herbaria in England : but a cheaper paper, if it be only suffi- 

 ciently thick and firm, will answer nearly as well. The Bank- 

 sian herbarium contains authentic specimens of nearly all the 

 plants of Alton's Hortus Keioefisis, in which many North Ameri- 

 can species were early established. It is hardly proper, indeed, 

 that either the elder or younger Alton should be quoted for these 

 species, since the first edition was prepared by Solander, and the 

 second revised by Dryander, as to vol. 1 and 2, and the remain- 

 der by Mr, Brown. Many American plants from the Physic gar- 

 den at Chelsea, named by Miller, are here preserved, as also from 

 the gardens of CoUinson, Dr. Fothergill, (who was Bartram's cor- 

 respondent after Collinson's death,) Dr. Pitcairne, &.c. There 

 are likewise many contributions of indigenous plants of the Uni- 

 ted States, from Bartram, Dr. Mitchell, Dr. Garden, Fraser, Mar- 

 shall, and other early cultivators of botany in this country. The 

 herbarium also comprises many plants from Labrador and New- 

 foundland, a portion of which were collected by Sir Joseph 

 Banks himself; and in the plants of the northern and arctic re- 

 gions it is enriched by the collections of Parry, Ross, and Dr. 

 Richardson. Two sets of the plants collected by the venerable 

 Menzies in Vancouver's voyage, are preserved at the British Mu- 

 seum, the one incorporated with the Banksian herbarium, the 

 other forming a separate collection. Those of this country are 

 from the North West Coast, the mouth of the Oregon river, and 

 from California. Many of Pursh's species were described from 

 specimens preserved in this herbarium, especially the Oregon 

 plants of Menzies, and those of Bartram and others from the 

 more southern United States, which Pursh had never visited, 

 although he often adds the mark v. v. (vidi vivani,) to species 

 which are only to be met with south of Virginia. 



The herbarium of Walter still remains in the possession of the 

 Fraser family, and in the same condition as when consulted by 

 Pursh. It is a small collection, occupying a single large volume. 



