Mackay's Flora Hibernica. 5^5 



and animals which must have followed the destruction of the forests. Such 

 birds as fed on the seeds of trees, and found protection amid their branches, 

 must have disappeared, or have been greatly diminished in number, from a de- 

 ficiency of food and shelter ; and many species of insects may have been ex- 

 tirpated, or, at least, had their geographical range much circumscribed ; and, 

 doubtless, the same occurrences had a similar effect in limiting the range and 

 number of such plants as flourish in the shade. It is well known that some 

 seeds retain their vitality for many years when buried in the earth, and vege- 

 tate when called forth by favourable circumstances ; we may therefore ho{)e 

 that, as plantations increase, not only will the country reassume its former 

 beauty, but rare plants may become more frequent, or some that have been 

 apparently lost may again appear. 



" It is only in the incidental notices of historians that we obtain any know- 

 ledge of the extent of the Irish forests, or the trees the}' contained ; and it 

 was not till a recent period that any attempt was made to investigate the ve- 

 getable productions of the country. The first attempt towards a natural his- 

 tory of Ireland was by Dr. Boates, who pubhshed, in 1652, a work entitled 

 * Ireland's Natural History,' which contains interesting matter respecting the 

 forests of Ireland, but no systematic catalogue of its indigenous plants. Dr. 

 Boates is the only writer of any note until Threlkeld's work made its appear- 

 ance, in 1727; but in the intermediate period the botany of Ireland was not 

 altogether neglected. The Rev. Mr. Heaton, who resided in Dublin, com- 

 municated several rare plants to How and Merret. About this time, also, two 

 eminent English botanists, Llhwyd and Sherrard, visited the country, and be- 

 stowed some attention on its natural history. To Dr. Sherrard we are in- 

 debted for the first notice of Subularia aquatica in Ireland, which he found 

 growing in Lough Neagh. Threlkeld's work, entitled ' Synopsis Stirpium Hi- 

 bernicarum,' is extremely imperfect, as the characters of the plants are seldom 

 given, and the arrangement is alphabetical ; it is, however, a work written, as 

 Dr. Pulteney observes, in a quaint and amusing style, containing many 

 sound observations, and evincing a pretty extensive learning. In 1735 Dr. 

 K'Eogh published a similar treatise, which is now rare, and of inferior value to 

 that of Threlkeld. 



" By far the most eminent Irish naturalist of this period was Dr. Molyneaux, 

 the earliest describer of the fossil elk, and who first made known the occur- 

 rence of the remains of the fossil elephant in Ireland. He also contributed a 

 catalogue of rare plants, which is published in an appendix to Threlkeld's 

 work : and it is to be regretted that so excellent an observer has not enriched 

 our literature with more extensive publications. These observers were suc- 

 ceeded by the writers of the statistical surveys of the different counties ; works 

 chiefly undertaken under the auspices of the Royal Dublin Society, and which 

 contain valuable information on statistics and agriculture, and some of them 

 useful botanical details. I may more particularly mention the histories of 

 Cork and Kerry by Dr. Smith, which possess very considerable merit and ac- 

 curacy with regard to the localities of plants, as I found during my botanical 

 excursions through that part of the country. In 1772, Dr. Rutty published 

 his natural history of the county of Dublin ; a work conceived on a good plan, 

 and containing much useful information. The next botanical works were those 

 of Dr. Wade, who published his Flora Dubliniensis in 1794, and in 1804 his 

 Plants Rariores, or habitats of the rarer plants found by him in Ireland. 

 These publications are not without merit, and were considered by him as only 

 preparatory to a more extensive work (a Flora Hibernica), which he stated 

 his intention of pubhshing. This work, he says, was deferred until " as soon 

 as genuine and valuable materials could be collected for the purpose, conceiv- 

 ing that no work of a similar nature ought to make its appearance, or be con- 

 sidered genuine and valuable, unless the author has it in his power to answer 

 for the habitats, or places of growth, of the different objects noticed." In 1804, 

 the MuscologiaB Hibernicse Spicilegium of Dawson Turner, Esq., appeared, 

 which has the merit of being the earliest publication devoted to the mosses of 



