Necrology of 1889. 



227 



Though orchids were the special object of his affections — and he had 

 amassed an extensive collection of typical specimens in his herbarium, 

 which we hope will be secured for Kew — the professor contributed largely 

 to our knowledge of the plants of Central Europe. In his own special line 

 he was a veritable Triton among minnows, and his loss will be severely 

 felt for some time to come." — The Gardening World. 



"It must not, however, be supposed from our remarks that Professor 

 Reichenbach was exclusively an orchidographer. He is best known to 

 horticulturists in this field, but botanists have to thank him for the zealous 

 collaboration he gave to his father's grand undertaking, the Icones Florae 

 Ger?nanicce et Helvetica; — a work devoted to the description and illustration of 

 the plants of Central Europe, and of which Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach, 

 the younger, edited the later volumes, and illustrated them with his own 

 hand, contributing no fewer than 1,500 drawings. The first volume of this 

 extensive and valuable publication which Professor Reichenbach edited, 

 was, naturally enough, that devoted to the Orchids of Europe. It bears the 

 title l^entamen Orchidographice Enropece, and is dated 1851. 'For ten years,' 

 says the Professor in the preface of the volume, ' I had devoted myself to 

 the study of orchids.' Since 1841, then, our Professor had most diligently 

 studied orchids, often in association with Lindley, who repeatedly acknowl- 

 edged his obligations to the subject of this notice. 



' ' In consequence, it is scarcely possible to take up a set of volumes of peri- 

 odical botanical literature, German, French, or English, or any work devot- 

 ed to the enumeration of the floras of distant lands, without meeting traces 

 of the Professor's industry and research. Our own columns in particular 

 have been enriched with very numerous descriptions of the orchids that 

 have been from time to time introduced into cultivation. Of separate pub- 

 lications we may mention the well known Xenia Orchidacea, which has ap- 

 peared in occasional fascicles from 185 1, with about goo drawings from the 

 Professor's pencil, and the Observations on the Orchids of Central America. 

 Professor Reichenbach is also the other of the synopsis of orchid lore con- 

 tained in the sixth volume of Walper's Annals. 



" Professor Reichenbach always took a lively interest in horticultural ex- 

 hibitions, both on the Continent and in this country, and was frequently 

 called on to act in the capacity of judge, especially where orchids or new 

 plants were concerned. At the several Horticultural and Botanical Con- 

 gresses Professor Reichenbach generally took a prominent part." — The Gar- 

 deners' 1 Chronicle . 



Professor Reichenbach' s collection of specimens and draw- 

 ings is now the property of the Imperial Hof Museum, in 

 Vienna, that institution having accepted the peculiar terms of 

 the will. The will provides that the specimens are to be seal- 

 ed up for a quarter of a century, a provision which has called 

 forth regret and disappointment from the scientific world. 

 This provision of the will reads as follows : 



"My herbarium and my botanical library, my instruments, collection of 

 seeds, etc. accrue to the Imperial Hof Museum in Vienna, under the condi- 

 tion that the preserved orchids and drawings of orchids shall not be exhi- 

 bited before twenty-five years from the date of my death have elapsed. 



