8 



The Rev Dr. Hincks on the Flora of Ireland, 



a second time and even under a different name ; yet still it is 

 a valuable record, and deserving the attention of the Irish 

 botanist. Another old work often referred to, is the Botano- 

 logia Universalis Hibernica, or a "General Irish Herbal," by 

 Mr. K'Eogh, published in 1735. This gentleman was a 

 clergyman, chaplain to Lord Kingston, and seems to have 

 resided near Mitchelstown, the seat of that nobleman in the 

 county Cork, to plants in whose garden he often refers. 

 The garden of that nobleman's descendant, the present Earl 

 of Kingston, is perhaps the finest in Ireland ; and there is 

 attached to it, for the use of the gardeners, a library of valu- 

 able botanical works, many of them very expensive, under the 

 superintendence of the head gardener. Mr. K'Eogh also often 

 refers to the Barony of Burren, in the county Clare, from 

 which, I think it probable that he was a native of that county. 

 His names are nearly the same as those of Threlkeld, his 

 publication having taken place within eight years after. To 

 notice the medical virtues of plants was his great aim, and 

 this is done with respect to cultivated plants as well as wild 

 ones; but he states when got in gardens and when found 

 wild, so that the work is not without its use in ascertaining 

 the native plants then known. His botanical knowledge, 

 however, may not have been such as to justify the insertion 

 of plants merely on his authority, though it might direct at- 

 tention to look for them in the district pointed out. Galega 

 officinalis, Asclepias or Swalloivwort (species not mentioned), 

 Raima Christi or the Greater Spurge, and others, are said to 

 be wild in Burren. It is so unlikely that this should be so, 

 that it throws a doubt on his authority ; but if the district 

 were well examined, it might be found that other plants were 

 taken for them, which an indifferent botanist in the then rude 

 state of the science might mistake for them, as I have little 

 doubt that the Ruta sylvestris, wild rue, also said to be found 

 there, was a Thalictrum, as he has not noticed any of that 

 genus ; and T. majus and minus are said to be found in an 

 adjoining county, and generally known as Meadoiv-rue* . 

 This was suggested to me by a remark of Mr. Temple- 

 ton's, who, having seen it stated that savin grew wild on the 

 Mourne Mountains, and having diligently searched for it in 

 vain, thought that Lycopodium alpinum, Savin-leaved Club- 

 moss, which does grow there, and on other high mountains 

 in Ireland, gave rise to the report. It is at once more can- 

 did and more probable to suppose that men mistake through 



* My son, the Rev. W. Hincks, F.L.S., informs me that Caesalpinus 

 gave the names Ruta sylvestris and Ruta sylvestris altera, to Thalictrum 

 majus and minus, which confirms my conjecture. 



