37 6 FLORA OF OXFORDSHIRE. 
He then removed to University College. In 1677 he published his 
Natural History of Oxfordshire and in 1686 The Natural History of 
Staffordshire. Ray in his Synopsis gives him great approbation. Plot 
was the first Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, in 1683. He was also 
Secretary to the Royal Society, and was appointed by the Vice-Chancellor 
Professor of Chemistry. He edited the transactions of the Royal Society 
from pages 143 to 166 inclusive, and held his Oxford appointments for 
seven years, leaving a large collection of curiosities to the Ashmolean 
Museum, which had been described in his county histories. 
In 1687 he was made Secretary to the Court of Honour, and in 1688 re- 
ceived the title of Historiographer to James the Second. In 1694 he was 
nominated Mowbray Herald Extraordinary. He also published a register 
and history of the weather at Oxford in 1684. He left a quantity of 
MSS., including a large collection for the natural history of Kent. He 
died, at his house in Kent, in 1696, and was buried in Borden church, 
which contains a marble monument to his memory. There is a portrait 
of him in the Oxford Almanack for 17471. 
Plot’s Natural History of Oxfordshire is divided into ten Chapters. 
Chapter 1, ‘The Heavens and Air,’ which includes accounts of Floods and 
Storms; ‘the Echoes,’ one of which in Woodstock Park returned 17 syl- 
lables in the daytime, and 20 syllables at night. Chapter 2 is devoted to 
an account of ‘The Waters, describing the various rivers by which the 
county is drained. Plot dwells with great emphasis on the ‘ salubrious’ 
situation of Oxford, and gives instances of extreme longevity. ‘The 
Mineral Springs’ are described and some curious hypotheses raised in 
accounting for their various peculiarities. Chapter 3 treats of the various 
kinds of ‘Earth and Soils;’ and Chapter 4 of ‘Stones.’ Chapter 5, on 
‘Formed Stones,’ is an account of the fossils, many of which are figured, 
Some extremely shrewd suggestions are made by Plot in this chapter, 
which is very interesting as read by the light of the Geology of the present 
day. Chapter 6 on ‘Plants.’ Chapter 7 describes ‘The Brutes,’ which 
includes Birds, Beasts, and Fishes. Chapter 8 is on ‘Men and Women;’ 
Chapter g on the ‘Arts;’ and Chapter 10 on the ‘Antiquities of the 
County.’ It is the chapter on Plants which requires notice here. 
Plot first begins by describing some new species, which he figures. 
These are Viola hirta and palustris, Geranium dissectum, Potentilla pro- 
cumbens, Sagina apetala, Monotropa, and Scirpus acicularis. Chenopo- 
dium rubrum is described but not figured. The plates and descriptions 
are very good. Then follow Vinca major, Trifolium arvense, and Ginanthe 
Jistulosa. He confirms Ray’s record for Cephalanthera grandiflora, and 
identifies it with Gerarde’s Helleborine flore albo. Plot also differentiates 
two species of Epipactis—i.e. latifolia and violacea, which Ray had 
1 See also the Biography of Dr. Plot in the Second Edition of the Natural History 
by Dr. Llwyd. There is an oil painting of Dr. Plot in the Bodley Gallery and a very 
valuable engraving of him in the Hope Collection. 
