LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON. 



lxxxvii 



the vegetable world in general ; so that there was no muddy ditch, 

 no old wall, no stock of a tree, no rock or dell, no pool of water or 

 bay of the sea that did not add to his delight, nor open to him a wide 

 field for investigation or enjoyment. 



Mr. Borrer received his earliest encouragement in his favourite 

 pursuit from one or two of the officers of a camp which had been 

 formed near his father's house, and who passed much of their leisure 

 time in his company. 



The ' English Botany ' is a work in which he took, from the first, 

 the highest interest, and he would frequently ride to Lewes to get 

 the number a day sooner than he could otherwise have obtained it. 



Being always of a very studio as habit and of great energy and 

 perseverance, he soon raised himself to considerable eminence in the 

 botanical world, and had early in life a large botanical correspondence, 

 though, being naturally fond of retirement, he never sought what is 

 called society for its own sake. 



The greatest encouragement in his botanical pursuits was after- 

 wards derived from his acquaintance with Dawson Turner, Esq., 

 with whom he spent much of his time, and corresponded for many 

 years, and who introduced him to the present Sir "W. J. Hooker, 

 with whom, as with Joseph "Woods, Esq., and the late Edward 

 Forster, he formed an intimacy and friendship which remained un- 

 disturbed for more than half a century. 



At the age of twenty-nine he married the eldest daughter of 

 N. Hall, Esq., at that time a banker in Brighton, when he went to 

 live in a house built for him by his father at Henfield. 



In 1805, Mr. Borrer became a Fellow of the Linnean Society. 

 He was also a member of the Royal Society and of the Wernerian 

 Natural History Society of Edinburgh. He was for many years in 

 the commission of the peace for the county of Sussex, though he 

 never took an active part in public business. 



In 1810 he was engaged, in company with Sir W. J. Hooker, in 

 a botanical tour in Scotland ; and at another period he visited Nor- 

 mandy with a similar object. Of these tours he has left no record, 

 and, with this one exception, his investigations were confined to the 

 British Isles. 



In carrying out his botanical researches, Mr. Borrer showed great 

 energy, being for many years, when informed of the discovery of a 

 new plant, in the habit of personally visiting its site, On some 

 occasions, having observed plants whilst travelling by rail, he has 

 stopped at the next station and proceeded to the spot by post. In 



