BOTANICAL INFORMATION, 
VOYAGE TO JAPAN. 
By Ph. Fr. de Siebold. (Botanical Part. ) 
Dr. Zuccarini, of Munich, has circulated 
the following prospectus respecting a Flora 
.of Japan. ** FLoRA Japonica, sive Plante 
quas in imperio Japonico collegit, de- 
scripsit et parte in ipsis locis pingendas 
curavit Dr. Ph. Fr. de Siebold: Sect. 
prima, continens Plantas ornatui vel usui 
inservientes.” “ Of all the countries of 
Asia,” says M. Zuccarini, * Japan and 
China were, till lately, the least accessible 
to the scientific researches of Europeans, 
especially as regards their natural history. 
China we know little beyond the in- 
formation collected during various com- 
mercial or political expeditions, which is 
necessarily vague, owing to the extremely 
suspicious disposition of the natives. It 
is true that Thunberg and Kempfer suc- 
ceeded in obtaining correct details on those 
more limited islands which compose the 
kingdom of Japan; still their publications 
exhibit many proofs of the severe restric- 
tions and difficulties under which the au- 
thors laboured. We hope, therefore, to 
forward the cause of science, by announc- 
ing a work which shall afford universal 
information on the botanical productions 
of this country, the result of an expedition 
that was undertaken and completed under 
the most advantageous circumstances. M. 
Siebold's voyage to Japan is generally 
known. During his long residence (from 
1823 to 1830) in this empire, he was ena- 
bled to explore the country more fully than 
any of his predecessors. The Botanic 
Garden, established at Dazima in 1824, 
by order of the government of the Bel- 
gian East Indies; the journey which this 
Naturalist made to the Imperial Court at 
Jedo, two years after, when he accompanied 
the Dutch Embassy, and the connexion 
Which he formed with the natives, have all 
been favorable to his botanical researches. 
“specially, during his expedition to Jedo, 
he took the opportunity of cultivating an 
intimate acquaintance with the most emi- 
nent physicians and naturalists in the 
Country. To their diligent aid he owes 
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the collection in his herbarium, and, in the 
Botanic Garden, of the plants found in the 
different provinces of this empire, and the 
successive accumulation of about two thou- 
sand species, which he not only examined 
on the spot, but caused, in great part, to 
be drawn by different European and Ja- 
panese artists, whose designs amount to 
upwards of seven hundred in number. 
Fruits, seeds, and other remarkable por- 
tions of plants, mostly preserved in spirits 
of wine, with specimens of woods, of me- 
dical preparations, and of such materials 
as the vegetable kingdom affords, for com- 
merce and domestic use, render this collec- 
tion still more valuable. Finally, the dis- 
coveries made, subsequently to M. Sie- 
bold's departure, by M. Bürger, and at- 
tested by the many and highly interesting 
collections which he has transmitted, afford 
the most certain assurance of the satisfac- 
tion of our wishes. 
In Japan, where agriculture and horti- 
culture, in their various branches, had at- 
tained to such a degree of perfection as to 
supply the wants of the inhabitants, at a 
period when little attention was paid to 
them in Europe, all researches, tending to 
elucidate these subjects, must infallibly 
prove of unusual interest. With this view 
the Botanic Garden of Dezima was chief 
stocked with such plants, whether indi- 
genous or introduced from Chi rea, 
and other adjacent countries, as were pe- 
culiarly interesting for utility or ornament ; 
and there, too, was collected the informa- 
tion which could be obtained from the 
natives and from the extensive literature 
of Japan. The extent and importance of 
these materials have induced us to form a 
separate publication of them, wich wilt 
It will be the more interesting to amateurs, 
as, of many centuries of these plants, con- 
veyed in a living state, by the author, to the 
Low Countries, the larger portion succeed 
perfectly well in the open air or in cool 
stoves; from which circumstance we may 
hope to see them soon disseminated in our 
gardens. 
