Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
April,  1906. 
London  Botanic  Gardens. 
175 
The  annual  excursions  were  confined  to  the  members  of  the 
Society  and  their  friends,  and  those  who  participated  in  them  were 
known  as  "  Socii  Itinerantes."  From  Johnson's  account  of  these 
excursions  we  learn  that  the  itinerant  members  used  to  travel  con- 
siderable  distances,  sometimes  going  as  far  afield  as  Anglesea  or 
Bath.  The  number  of  members  taking  part  in  the  excursions 
appears  to  have  dwindled  as  time  went  on,  and  the  task  of  col- 
lecting plants  for  the  General  Herborizing  came  to  be  associated 
with  the  duty  of  the  Society's  Demonstrator  of  Plants.  This 
is  made  apparent  by  the  following  abstract  from  the  instructions 
issued  in  1773  by  the  Garden  Committee,  in  connection  with  the 
office  of  Demonstrator  of  Plants : — "  He  [z.  e.,  the  Demonstrator  of 
Plants]  is  expected  to  make  some  annual  excursion,  for  two  days  at 
least,  preparatory  to  the  Society's  General  Herborizing,  inviting  two 
or  three  of  the  ablest  botanical  members  to  his  assistance.  The 
intention  being  to  collect  such  vegetables  as  are  not  commonly  found 
in  the  environs  of  the  metropolis,  to  be  demonstrated  by  him  at  the 
meeting  appointed  for  that  purpose  .  .  .  ."  The  plants  thus 
collected  were  exhibited  to  the  members  on  a  day  specially  appointed 
for  the  purpose  in  July.  The  office-bearers  of  the  Royal  Colleges 
of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  were  invited  to  these  exhibitions,  which 
were  held,  until  1836,  at  some  inn  in  the  suburbs.  At  this  function 
the  Demonstrator  gave  to  the  assembled  guests  a  description  of 
the  specimens  collected  and  the  demonstration  was  followed  by  a 
dinner  where  "  haunches  of  venison  formed  conspicuous  elements  of 
the  entertainment."  With  the  advent  of  Lindley  as  Professor  of 
Botany  and  Prcefectus  Hovti,  in  1836,  the  practice  was  inaugurated 
of  holding  the  annual  exhibition  of  plants  and  General  Herborizing 
at  the  Society's  hall  instead  of  at  an  inn.  When  the  office  of  Pro- 
fessor of  Botany  and  Prcefectus  Horti  was  abolished  in  1853  the 
annual  exhibition  inevitably  disappeared  with  it,1  although  the  dinner 
was  continued. 
The  other  herborizings  to  which  allusion  has  been  made  were 
designed  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  Society's  apprentices.  Five  of 
these  in  each  year  were  ultimately  established,  viz.,  two  in  May,  one 
1  It  is  reasonable  to  assume  that  these  botanical  demonstrations  were  kept 
up  during  the  whole  period  of  Lindley's  tenure  of  office,  as  there  is  no  record 
of  his  role  having  been  modified  in  this  direction.  I  have,  however,  been 
unable  to  find  any  overt  indication  of  the  fact. 
