\ 
THE 
MONTuULY MAGAZINE E. 
AUGUST 
Nee 188.] 
pm — 
#* As long as thofe who write are ambitious of making Converts, and of giving to their Opinions a Maximum of 
[1 of Vou. 28. 
saree 
1, 1809. 
ec 
*© Influence and Celebrity, the moft extenfively circulated Mifcellany will repay with the greatet Effect the 
6: Suriofity of thofe who read either for Amufement or Inftruction.”——JOHNSON, 
ORIGINAL COMMUN ICATIONS. 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
On the mevxons of taking off IMPREs- 
SIONS Of PLANTS. 
Omnes artes que ad humanitatem pertinent, 
habent quoddam commune vinculum, et 
guasi cognatione quadam inter se con- 
tinentur. 
Cicero. 
N the Monthly Magazine of July last 
appeared an Essay on * An elegant 
Method of obtaining very neat and 
pleasing Repre sentations of Plants,” un- 
der the sign ature of Wditam Pybus, o¢ 
Hull, (paved36.) 
It is indeed pleasing, to see any new 
means of tacilitating science, and of 
rendering familiar to its. votaries. the 
products of nature; and hence, the li- 
beral intentions of ithis writer claim ge- 
neral approbation; but I doubt whether 
the utility of the method he has recom- 
mended equaily corresponds with his 
-hopes. The process of applying the solu- 
tion of Indian-ink would be tedious, and, 
from its tendency to diy, would prove 
inconvenient, 
[ should not have raised objections, 
had I not been in possession of a method, 
which I presume to think superior, by 
which the collector of plants might trans, 
fer on paper an impression in the Space 
‘of iittle more than a single minute. 
~ About fifty years ago, I was in the 
habit of amusing leisure, by thus taking 
off icons of plants, being early fond of 
botany; although at that time I had 
access only to ‘Gerard’s Herbal, and I 
think I still retain a volume of impres- 
sions I then made. 
In 1774, I published this method in 
my Naturalist’s Companion, which was 
copied into several periodical works, and 
‘particularly into the Annual Register, 
about that’ period. My valued friend, 
the late Barbeu Dubourg, who published 
Oeuvres de Franklin, Paris, 1773, 4to. 
translated the Naturalist’s Companion 
into French; and it afterwards acquired 
a German dress. The third section is 
‘entitled, £4 Directions, for bringing over 
» Moyuey: Mar. No. a 
‘Seeds and Plants from distant Cones 
The work being out of print, L 
tries,’ 
shall quote verbatim. that part of thes 
Section, 
subject. 
** The impressions of plants, well taken 
off upon paper, look very little inferior 
to the best drawings, and may be done 
with very little trouble. For this pur- 
pose, some printer’s ink, and a pair of 
printer’s balls, suchas are used for laying 
the iuk on types, are necessary. After 
rubbing these balls with a little of the 
ink, lay the plant between them, and 
press it so as to give it sufficient colour: 
then take the plant, and lay it carefully 
on a sheet of paper, and press it with 
the hand, to- give the impression of, the 
plant to the paper, which, may be after- 
wards coloured according to nature; a 
piece of blotting-paper may be. placed 
betwixt the plant and the hand, to pre- 
vent the latter from being dirtied by the 
ink.” But if white paper be employed, 
instead of  blotting-paper, we acquire at 
the same moment two impressions, or 
both surfaces of the same plant. 
About twenty years ago, 
Frenchman visited London, to teach 
pupils, at the premium of one gumea 
each, how to convey upon paper, im- 
pressions of plants. He waited upon 
me for the same subscription. After he 
had a little explained himself, I shewed 
him- my volume, impressed after the 
which applies to, the present 
manner hé proposed to divulge as a new - 
discovery, which was known even before 
he had existence. . 
T imagine that this ingenious art has 
been long practised in Germany, as well 
as here; for I have in my library, a folio 
volume, done in this manner, by Chris- 
topher Gottheb Ludwig, entitled, Ec 
typa vegetabilium usibus medicis pre- 
cipue destinatorum, et in Pharmacopoliis 
obviorum variisque modis preparatorum, 
ad nature similitudinem expressa. Hala 
' Magdeburgia, 1760;” but whether this 
be a rare book, or not, 1s unknown to 
Joun Coaxrey Lertsom. 
Sambrook-court, July 13,1809. 
A ‘Lares Ze 
. 
a young. 
