\ 111 



BIOGRAPHIES OF BOTANISTS 



The portraits on the frontispiece of this hook represent three periods in 

 the history of South African Botany. Thunberg and Burchbll laid the 



foundations; Drege and Harvi.y, each in his own way, supplied the materials 

 for the building, and constructed the edifice; MacOwan and Bolus, working 



hand in hand for a considerable time, fitted it up internally. 



Let those who are taking their places see that the halls are made 

 comfortable for the larger number of students expected from new South 

 Africa. 



Carl Pehr Thunberg, 1743 — 1828, a pupil of Linnaeus, studied 

 botany and medicine in Holland and came to the Cape in 1772, staving here 

 until 1775. During his journeys into various parts of the country he made 

 extensive collections of plants and published the results of his observations 

 after his return to Sweden. While professor of botany at Upsala he issued 

 numerous botanical papers and finally published his "Mora Capensis," 1807 — 

 1820, the first comprehensive description of Cape plants. It is remarkable 

 that a considerable number of species collected by Thunberg have not been 

 re-found since. 



The genus Thunbergia (Acanthaceae, Vol. Ill) with nearly 100 species 

 is widely dispersed, occurring in South Africa, Tropical Africa and India. 



William John Burchell, 1782 — 1863, a highly cultured explorer, had 

 been at St Helena for five years when he came to Capetown in 18 10. From 

 here he undertook several journeys into the interior and penetrated into the 

 countries beyond the Orange River as far north as Litakun, at that time a 

 large native town, now a missionary establishment called Kuruman. In his 

 book "Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa," which contains numerous 

 coloured drawings from his own hand, painstaking accuracy is combined with 

 a most charming style and beautiful language. Many of his descriptions <>t 

 South African scenery, e.g. the view from the top of Table Mountain and t In- 

 sight of the mighty Orange River when in full Hood, are poems written 

 in prose. 



Among other valuable observations which he made he was the first to 

 draw attention to the occurrence of mimicry plants, comparing them directly 

 with the protective resemblances possessed by some toad locusts of the Karoo, 

 which are indiscernible from the pebbles among which they rest. 



The genus Burchellia (Rubiaceae, Vol. 111) is a very ornamental evergreen 

 shrub, with bright scarlet flowers. 



Johann Franz Drege, 1794 — 1881, a citizen of Altona (Germany), 

 came to South Africa in 1826 in order to explore it botanically. He spent 

 nearly eight years in traversing the country from South to North and West to 

 East in various directions ami collected about 8000 species of plants, repre- 

 sented by over 200,000 specimens, recording in each case details of locality, 



