Dr, Sherard, 149 
He died Auguft 12, 1728 ; and, by his 
v/ill, gave three thoufand pounds, to pro- 
vide a falary for a profeffor of botany at 
Oxford, on condition, that Dr. Dillenius 
ihould be chofen firft profeffor. He ereded 
the edifice at the entrance of the garden, for 
the ufe of the profeffor ; and gave to this 
eftabhfliment his botanical Ubrary, his Her- 
barium^ and the Pinax, 
Dr. Sherard was among the laft of 
thofe ornaments in England, of that aera 
w^hich LiNN^us calls the golden age 
of botany.'' Having from his eariieft years 
a relifh for the ftudy of natural hiftory, 
and in his youth acquired a knowledge 
of EngUp botany, his repeated tours to 
the continent, and his long refidence ia 
the Eaft, afforded ample fcope far his im- 
provement; and the acquifition of affluence, 
joined to his learning, and agreeable quali- 
ties, rendered him, after his return home, 
a liberal and zealous patron of the fcience, 
and of thofe who cultivated it 
Some 
* Vaillant firft devoted the name Shcrardia to a 
new genus, which was afterwards alHmilated with the 
L 3 Vervain^ 
1 
