194 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



to furnish me with some biographical details regarding her 

 father, supplementing, and in some points correcting, those given 

 in Prof. May's article. The following are the chief facts thus 

 ascertained : — 



Patrick Matthew was born on Oct. 20, 1790, at Eome, a farm 

 held by his father, John Matthew, on the banks of the Tay near 

 Scone Palace. His mother, Agnes Duncan, was related, though 

 in what degree is not known, to the family of Admiral Duncan, 

 the famous ancestor of the present Earl of Camperdown. From 

 her he inherited the estate of Gourdiehill, near Errol, in the Carse 

 of Gowrie. He was educated at Perth Academy and at the Uni- 

 versity of Edinburgh, but on his father's death he took over the 

 management of Gourdiehill before attaining his twentieth year. 

 In 1817 he married his cousin. Christian Nicoll. He travelled a 

 good deal in France, Spain, and Germany, residing for some time 

 in Hamburg and in Holstein, where he acquired some property. 

 He died at Gourdiehill on June 8, 1874. 



Matthew was a frequent contributor to local newspapers, as 

 well as to the Gardeners' Chronicle and the Mark Lane Exp'ess, 

 on social and political questions and on agricultural matters. 

 Besides the book on Naval Timber, he published one in 1839 on 

 Emigration Fields, and, in 1864, a political pamphlet on Schlesivig- 

 Holstein. It is on the title-page of the latter that he describes 

 himself as " Solver of the problem of species " (see letter from 

 Darwin to Hooker, October, 1865). It does not appear that he 

 ever met Darwin, but they corresponded at intervals, and Miss 

 Matthew has kindly allowed me to see three letters from Darwin 

 to her father, in which Matthew's claim to priority is acknow- 

 ledged in the most friendly way. 



It is of interest to notice that some expressions used by 

 Matthews, e.^. the reference to "population-preventive checks," 

 on p. 247 of his Naval Timber, suggest that he, like Darwin and 

 Wallace, had been reading Malthus's Principles of Population. 



SOME LITTLE-KNOWN BBITISH BOTANISTS. 

 By James Britten, K.S.G., F.L.S., and G. S. Boulger, F.L.S. 



(Concluded from p. 131.) 



Maude, M. F. (fl. 1848). ' Scripture Natural History.' 



Maxwell, E. (d. before 1839). Lieutenant, 11th Dragoons. 



Meen, Margaret (fl. 1790). Botanical artist. 



Meyrick, William (fl. 1755-94). Of Birmingham. 



Middleton, W. (fl. 1812). Of Poppleton Lodge, Yorkshire. 



Miller, William (fl. 1851). Of Belfast. 



Millett, Charles (fl. 1834), M.D. Collected in China. 



Milner, Mary (fl. 1848). Of Appleby. 



Mitchell, James (fl. 1838), E.N. Described Mentha crispa. 



MoLLOY, Mrs. (fl. 1840-55). Of W. Austraha, 



