296 Historical and Descriptive Accoimt 



But the successor of the latter, one Miiller, who seems to have had little taste 

 as a botanic cultivator, neglected the more rare and valuable plants. 



In the year 1744, when Frederick the Great was on the throne, LudolfF died ; 

 and the king appointed Gleditsch director ; and afterwards conferred on the 

 Society the title of Academy of Sciences, whereby the splendour of the garden 

 was again restored. But' the exertions of Gleditsch were in a great measure 

 counteracted by the negligent conduct'of the acting gardener. During the seven 

 years' war, when, it maybe said, science slept, it received almost a death-blow : 

 the enemy not only destroyed the gateway, but extended their ravages to the 

 hot-houses ; so that the cultivation of the plants was obliged to be given over 

 for a time. About this period, it was flooded in spring with water ; so that 

 what plants remained of consequence were utterly destroyed. At the return 

 of peace, the king gave orders that the garden should be surrounded by a wall; 

 the houses were put into repair, and considerable additions made to them ; and 

 these were soon decorated with those plants that had escaped the ravages of 

 invaders, and many new ones. Two acres were allotted for the cultivation of 

 exotic plants in the open air, and one for trees and shrubs ; the remaining part 

 was cropped with vegetables. 



From this time till 1786, in which year Gleditsch died, little mention is made 

 of improvement, with the exception of removing the houses with oblique roofs, 

 and in their place erecting others with high upright fronts, similar to those 

 common in Germany^to this day ; and it is not to be wondered at that the loss 

 of a great many plants was the result. 



After Gleditsch, Professor Meyer succeeded as director ; and it may be ne- 

 cessary here to mention, that, a few years previous to Gleditsch's death, Stiel 

 had become gardener ; but he, like some of his predecessors, looked upon the 

 interests of the garden as a secondary consideration; and Meyer, from his 

 medical profession, and the multiplicity of other business which he had to 

 attend to, was prevented from devoting that time and talent to the garden 

 which the interests of such an establishment required. 



Such was the state of affairs in 1801, when the celebrated Willdenow, who 

 may be said to be the father and founder of the present flourishing establish- 

 ment, undertook the direction of the gaixien. Willdenow took quite a diifer- 

 ent view of things from those who had gone before him ; and, with an industry 

 only equalled by his perseverance and love for the science, he soon caused the 

 face of the garden to assume a different appearance. In the place of Stiel, he 

 appointed one Siedle, from Dresden, as gardener. A green-house was built, 

 32 ft. long; the lines of beeches and oaks, which ran in different directions 

 through the grounds, were cleared away, and an additional two acres taken in, 

 which is now planted as an arboretum. Nor was it at home only that he was 

 busy ; he took advantage of every opportunity in opening a correspondence 

 with botanists and botanical cultivators, both at home and abroad, from whom 

 he received large supplies of plants and seeds. For the same purposes, he made 

 botanical excursions through Italy, France, and Holland, and considered no- 

 thing a toil which tended to advance the interests of the garden. It is well 

 known how successful he was in raising ferns from the sweepings of his dried 

 specimens; and I have been told it was not uncommon, in spring, to see him 

 busy at the potting board, shifting plants with his own hands. The progress 

 which the garden made under his direction can only be fairly ascertained by 

 referring to the catalogue, which, in 1801, when he first undertook the manage- 

 ment, contained only 1200 specimens, including indigenous plants, but which, 

 in the space of seven years, had accumulated to 6350, among which were many 

 rare plants belonging to the genera Bankszrtr, Piper, Cassia [ ? -Acacia] Mi- 

 mosa, Melaleijca, Protea, jBrica, Strelitzi«, ifVum, Passiflora, Cestrum, &c. 

 Those tribes which seem to have been his favourites were, mesembryanthe- 

 mums, stapelias, and ferns, of which he drew together large collections. In 

 1802, an alteration took place, which assisted him greatly in putting his plans 

 into execution. On the resignation of Seidle, he was succeeded by the present 

 indefatigable and truly scientific director. Otto ; who found a wide field for 



