50 
MEMOIR OE RAY. 
he received considerable assistance from many of 
his scientific friends, especially Mr Skippon, Sir Hans 
Sloan e, Dr Tancred Robinson, and Mr Dale ; but it 
demanded on his part the most persevering and in- 
defatigable industry. It is truly characterized by 
Linnaeus as opus immensi laboris. It embodies all 
that is valuable in preceding writers, and forms a 
complete epitome of the botanical lore of the age. 
It likewise gives the substance of many works, such 
as the Hortus Malabaricus, which are inaccessible, 
from their rarity, to the generality of readers. To its 
value as a compilation are added all the practical 
knowledge, original observation, and critical discern- 
ment of its author. The descriptions are frequently of 
great length, and in general remarkably accurate. To 
these are added the place of growth, time of flowering, 
qualities, and uses. Under the latter head the author 
has collected much curious and interesting informa- 
tion. The usefulness of this elaborate work is, how- 
ever, greatly impaired by the difficulty in identifying 
the species, from the vagueness of the generic and 
specific characters. This inconvenience would have 
been in a great measure obviated by the proposal 
made to Ray by the Bishop of London, to have en- 
graved figures of the whole ; but the difficulty of 
accomplishing this was found to be so great, that the 
design was ultimately abandoned.* 
Two editions of the catalogue of English plants 
■ * 
Philosophical Letters, p. 319-320. 
