THE POET GRAY 
excellent in their succinct statement of distinctive characteris- 
tics, and in the variety of information conveyed in them. They 
are, almost without exception, confined to fact, but now and 
then there is a sentence in them which reveals the poet. For in- 
stance, his note on the Gentianella is: ^^Planta humilis^ Jlos am- 
plus limho Julgentissime cceruleo^ quo nihil in herbis pulchrius.'''' 
On Coffea he writes : " Una e tribiis istis mysteriosis plantis, 
quas vel misericors vel iratus Deus orbi proposuit. Witsenii curd 
ex Arabia Felici semen in Javam delatum est: nunc in Amer- 
ica colitur et frugem copiose profert. Arbu^cula est rectissima, 
12 pedes alta^Jlore albo odoratissimo, Jractu rubro (H: Cliff:). 
Pasqua, a Greek, servant to Mr, Edwards, a Smyrna mer- 
chant, set up the first Coffee-House in London about 1652 in 
St. Michael's Cornhill Churchyard."" The entry opposite Nico- 
tiana is : " Opere Joh. Nicotii, legati apud Lusitanos, Gallis pri- 
mum innotuit anno 1660. Herba nunc per orbem adorata, licet 
venenata."" 
In addition to the notes with which these volumes are crowded, 
and even of more interest, as an illustration of Gray's gifts and 
accomplishments, are a multitude of pen-and-ink drawings of 
birds, of insects and of mollusks and testacea. These drawings, 
as may be seen from the facsimiles contained in this volume, 
are the work not only of a good observer, but also of a skilful 
draughtsman. In the spirit with which the characteristic features 
( 16) 
