oOO Anniversary Address of the Linnean Society, 



instituted expressly for him, of which he took possession in January 

 1816, and the Botanic Garden, established towards the close of the last 

 century, with the assistance of funds bequeathed for that purpose by 

 the celebrated Bonnet, was greatly augmented, partly by assistance 

 derived from the Government, and partly by voluntary subscription. 

 Several Fasciculi of the ' Plantes rares du Jardin de Geneve' attest the 

 interest which he took in its success. 



'*In 1816 he visited England for the purpose of consulting the Her- 

 baria of our country with a view to the general system of plants, the 

 publication of which he then meditated, and during his stay here com- 

 municated to the Linnean Society a paper entitled " Remarks on two 

 Genera of Plants to be referred to the Family of Rosacece." These are 

 Kerria and Purshia, previously strangely misunderstood, and as strange- 

 ly misplaced in distant and very dissimilar families. His memoir on 

 this subject, the only one by M. DeCandoUe which has a place in our 

 'Transactions,' is contained in the twelfth volume. 



In 1818 appeared the first volume of his intended ' Regni Vegetabilis 

 Systema Naturale,' which was followed by a second in 1821. But the 

 plan of this work was obviously too vast for accomplishment by indi- 

 vidual industry, however great ; and after the publication of these two 

 volumes, M. DeCandolle recognized the necessity of confining himself 

 within narrower limits. In the year 1814 he commenced the publica- 

 tion of his ' Prodromus Systematis Regni Vegetabilis,' the title of 

 which indicates his intention at some future period to resume the more 

 extensive work. But even this * Enumeratio Contracta,' as he desig- 

 nates it, proved too mighty a labour, and the remaining seventeen 

 years of his life, all that his unwearied energy could accomplish was 

 the publication of seven volumes, completing probably about two- 

 thirds of the contemplated task. The value of these important manuals, 

 in the present state of Botanical science, can only be estimated by those 

 with whom they are of necessity in daily use. On many of the more 

 interesting families on which they treat, he simultaneously published a 

 series of descriptive memoirs. 



" It is the great merit of this important work, that, far more than any 

 other approaching it in extent, it is founded on actual observation. 

 M. DeCandoUe's own herbarium was extremely rich ; he had visited 

 and carefully examined many of the most extensive collections, 

 and especially those of Paris ; and many entire collections as well as 

 separate families, on which he was specially engaged, were from time 

 to time submitted to his examination by their professors. He had 



