LINNBAN HEEBARIUM. 19 



some cases the native plant is represented only by a specimen from 

 a foreign country. 



It can never be too emphatically stated, that it would be 

 unjust to judge Linne's methods by modern ones, to condemn 

 the pioneer because he could not foresee the latest developments, 

 and to hold his collections cheap because the specimens are small 

 and too often imperfect. The difficulties of travelling and sending 

 specimens in those days quite sufficiently account for these 

 imperfections. 



Signs employed. 



The herbarium itself has been so often described in the memoirs 

 mentioned in the bibhography, that a detailed account is not 

 wanted here. Besides the small size, both of paper and the actual 

 specimens, a modern observer is struck with the want of informa- 

 tion as to the collector, place, and time of receipt. Linne, it is 

 certain, trusted to his memory, using abbreviations and arbitrary 

 signs to remind him, should occasion require, of the circumstances 

 under which he acquired the specimens. Some of these signs offer 

 no difficulty, such as K for Kalm ; others have been held as more 

 doubtful, as Sp. for Sparrman, which is correct. The younger 

 Hartman was puzzled by the use of the sign V^ the Greek capital 

 delta reversed, but Linne was accustomed to use many of these, 

 which were usual among medical men of his time. This particular 

 sign means aqiia^ easily guessed from Agrostis stolonifeym \J : tica 

 (Hartman, p. 28) or Veronica Anagall. V (Sp. PI. ed, 1, p. 12), 

 the latter when written out being Veronica Anagallis-aquatica, 

 this pre-Linnean name appearing in the synonymy. Scandix 

 Fecten $ (Sp. PI. ed. 1, p. 256) is now invariably written in full 

 as Scandix Pecten- Veneris, the $ being the astronomical sign used 

 for the planet Venus, as well as by the mineralogist for copper. 

 A long catalogue might be compiled of Linne's signs in his various 

 works, but as he used the same sign at times with different 

 meanings, it need not be pursued further. 



But ever since the herbarium came into the possession of the 

 Society, three signs stand out as especially enigmatic, they are 

 numbers 1, 2 and 4 in the following : — 



1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. H. 



Hartman in his preface says : — " One of these signs very often 

 occurs, either with a specific name or alone, what their meaning is, 

 has not yet been made out ; by comparison they seem neither to 

 indicate localities, person's names, the duration of the plants, 

 annual, biennial, perennial or the like," but he also points out 

 that No. 2 above is confined to Siberian plants. My own first 

 reference to the herbarium, in August 1874, made me ask 



5*2 



