76 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANl 



SAMUEL COEBYN'S CATALOGUE OF CAMBRIDGE 

 PLANTS. 



By G. Claridge Deuce, M.A., F.L.S. 



Some years ago, on the death of the veteran botanist WilHam 

 Pamplin in 1899 (see Journ. Bot. 1899, 521), his herbarium, contain- 

 ing plants of his Welsh parish, Llanderfel, near Bala, and a con- 

 siderable quantity of botanical correspondence came into my pos- 

 session. Among the latter was a list of Cambridge plants, in the 

 handwriting of Samuel Corbyn. Of this botanist I have been 

 unable to obtain little information, but an examination of the 

 books at Trinity College revealed the fact that he was admitted 

 to that college (from Worcestershire) on June 18, 1648. It is 

 somewhat remarkable that Ray, who was his contemporary at the 

 same college, has never referred to Corbyn, who was evidently a 

 capable botanist, in any of his works. Whether religious differ- 

 ences, which then ran high, was the cause can only be surmised. 



There is a letter dated Nov. 4, 1656, from Trinity College, 

 showing that he was for some time in Cambridge, which I 

 conjecture may have been written to William How. It runs as 

 follows : — 



" Sir, — Some of your plants are gratefuUie accepted of to us 

 as being rare, so shall I have heare sent you a Catalogue of 

 those plants out of our gardens with which we conceive you are 

 not furnished, and shall request that you in your letter to mee, to 

 returne a Catalogue of your garden or field plants which you thinke 

 are rarities with us soon we shall thinke of convenient wayes to 

 make exchanges. I shall be readie to acknowledge youre favours 

 I have or may receive from you. I am your friende to serve you. 

 — S. Corbyn. 



" Trin. Coll. in Cambridge, Nov. 4, 1656. 



" I know not whether you may be furnished with most of 

 those all ready therefore you may be pleased to write [me] word that 

 those are which you desire and I with friends shal endeavour to 

 supplie you if I can, and I shall in like manner upon further in- 

 tercourse acquainte you with our desires. In youre next letter I 

 shall intreate the seeds of those which I indicated from you." 



Then follows a list of forty-seven species, including "Pulsa- 

 tilla, Gramen Parnassi, Myrtus Brabantica, Osmunda regalis, 

 Antirrhinum minimum, Herba Paris, Pes Cati flo. albo, Jacobaea 

 montana lanuginosa, Triorchis, Rubeola arvensis repens, and 

 Calamintha montana minor," which may be presumed to be wild 

 plants of the vicinity. 



Corbyn' s list of Cambridge plants is especially interesting 

 since it precedes Ray's Catalogus by three years. His names are 

 taken from Gerard, Herbal, 1633 (he abbreviates the reference to 

 the Herbal to " G.," or Parkinson, Theatrum, of 1640, which is 

 cited as " P."). I have added modern synonymy. Two plants, 

 Melampyrum cristatum L. and Senecio paludosiis L. are mentioned 



