THREE OLD ESSEX HERBARIA. 
By W. G. CLARKE, F.G.S. 
T HERE are bow in the possession of Mr, W. H. Freeman, 
of High Street, Brentwood, three herbaria, two made 
by his father and the other by his grandfather. Two of 
these are in bound quarto volumes, with the plants well- 
preserved and beautifully mounted, the paper used being first 
class. Each specimen is named ; and, in the two volumes, I 
found one error only. Unfortunately, however, localities are 
not given, though there is every reason to believe that most 
of the plants Were collected in Essex. 
The older of these two herbaria is described as a “ Hortus 
Siccus and is dated 1808. It was the work of John Freeman, 
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who was born in 1784, at Chipperheld, Herts, and died in 1864. 
He became assistant to Dr. Newman at his school at Bromley- 
by-Bow, and subsequently at Stratford, afterwards becoming 
proprietor of the latter, a Well-known educational establishment 
opposite the present Passmore Edwards Library and Museum. 
John Freeman was a prominent Baptist and examiner 
in Hebrew, Chaldee, and Syriac, of the students of Stepney 
College. Both as an astronomer and botanist, he was well 
known to the scientific men of his day. He was a close friend 
of Mr. Brewer, author of the Flora of Reigale, and, as a cousin 
of the wife of Mr. F. E. Hulme, F.L.S., enjoyed his intimate 
friendship. The plants in this herbarium include Campanula 
rapunculus, Lavatera arborea, and Euphorbia portlandica , as well 
as many others, all probably collected in the neighbourhood 
of Stratford. 
The other herbarium was made by Joseph Freeman, 
L.C.P., who was born at Bromley-by-Bow in 1813 and died 
in 1907. The specimens were collected between 1832 and 1837, 
and include Lathyfus macrorrhizus, Sedum album, Mentha 
hirsuta, Trientalis europcea (from Scotland), Narihecium ossi- 
fragum, Hyoscyamus niger, Glaucium luteum , Geranium striatum, 
Datura stramonium, Campanula trachelium, C. hederacea (found 
in a. bog at High Beech), Ophrys apifera, Paris quad ri folia, 
Hutchinsia alpina (from the Alps ; presented by Dr. McCi eight), 
Acer as antliropophora, Ophrys muscifera, and Orchis ustulata. 
The presence of these orchids is probably accounted for by the 
