fupplemental to thefe, came out in 1704; enumerating upwards of 11,700 plants.

Mr. Ray was not merely a botanift; he embraced all the parts of natural history. He was the editor of Willughby's Ornithologia, in 1676. To this work of his deceased friend he gave method, and supplied a large fhare of valuable materials. He also tranflated this work into English, and published it with large additions, in 1678.

The Icthyology remaining yet unpublished, Mr. Ray, in 1684, arranged the materials.

He wrote the two first books himself; revised, methodised, and enlarged the whole: by the affiftance of Bishop Fell it was printed at Oxford; the Royal Society being at the whole expence. It came out under the following title: Francifci Willugbbei Armig. De Hiftoria Pifcium, Libri quatuor, &c. Oxon. 1686. fol.'

To Zoology, confidered as a science, he might be said to have given birth, in these kingdoms. Mr. Ray had been urged to undertake a Fauna Anglica, and a history of foffils, but age and infirmities began to opprefs him. In 1693, however, he published, Synopfis me tbodica Animalium Quadrupedum, & Serpentini generis. Lond. 8vo. In 1693 and 1694, he finished his Synopiis of Birds and Fishes; but fo fcanty was the tafte for natural history at this period, that the мss. lay unpublished till 1713. His active and indefatigable mind prompted him, at the age of 759 to begin a work on infects, but he did not live to finish this work: it was published by Dr. Derham in 1710. 4to.'

The talents of Ray were not confined to natural history; he had a relifh for philological enquiries, and published A Collection of English Proverbs, 1672 and 1678; reprinted many times: and A Collection of English Words not generally used, in 1674 and 1691.'

To these talents, Ray united that of a theologift. His firft publication was College Exercifes, or Common Places. These he wrought up, and trufted to the care of his friend Dr. Tancred Robinson, who printed them under the title of The Wisdom of God manifefted in the Works of the Creation. 8vo. 1691. It was reprinted the next year; the 11th edit. was published in 1743, and the 12th in 1758, and it has been tranflated into foreign languages.'

The favourable reception which this work met with, encouraged Mr. Ray to publifh, Three Phyfico-theological Difcourfes concerning the primitive Chaos and Creation; the general Deluge; and the future Conflagration, 1692, 1693, 1713, 1721, 1732.

In 1700, he published, A Perfuafive to a holy Life, from the Happiness which attends it both in this IVorld and in the World to come. Reprinted in 1719.

Befides all thefe works, he was a great contributor to the Philofophical Tranfactions; and communicated the provincial catalogues of plants in Camden's Britannia, published in 1695, by Gibson.

Mr. Ray died Jan. 17, 1704-5, in the 78th year of his age. His papers were entrusted by his widow to Dr. Derham, who, after publishing the Hiftory of Infects, felected a number of his

letters,

letters, and printed them in 1718, under the title of Philofophi cal Letters, between the learned Mr. Ray, and several of his Correfpondents.

The character of Mr. Ray cannot be contemplated by thofe who have a true relish for the ftudies of nature, without a high fentiment of refpect and gratitude; nor by thofe who confider the exemplarinefs of his life as a man, and his qualifications as a divine, without veneration.'

Chap. 21. Poetical Botanifts. Cowley wrote, before the Restoration, his two first books on Plants, although they were not published till 1662. The remaining four were added in the edition of 1668; and the whole were republifhed, with other poems, in 1678.

Chap. 22. Dr. Chriftopher Merret: Pinax rerum NaturaFum Britannicarum, 1667. This work was undertaken to fupply the deficiencies of How's Phytographia. The plants are ranged alphabetically by the Latin names. The number is upwards of 1400; but there are many varieties and exotics. Several British plants, however, make their first appearance in the pinax. The zoological and mineralogical parts are very fuperficial.

Dr. Marret publifhed fome other fmall treatifes; was among the earliest members of the Royal Society, and contributed feveral papers, which were printed in the Philofophical Tranf

actions.

Chap. 23. • Dr. Robert Morifon was born at Aberdeen in 1620; and being driven into exile by his attachment to the royal caufe, was taken into the patronage of the Duke of Orleans, and appointed intendant of his fine garden at Blois, in 1650. In this fituation he became known to Charles 11. who, on the death of his uncle in 1660, invited Morifon into England. He had the title of King's Physician, and Royal Profeffor of Botany, with an appointment of 2001. a year, and a houfe, as fuperintendant of the royal gardens. In this fituation he remained till 1669, when he was elected Botanic Profeffor at Oxford. He died Nov. 10, 1683.'

Morion's first publication, was a fecond edition of Abel Bruyner's Hortus Blefenfis, 1669. It contains the rudiments of his method of claffification; the errors of Cafp. and John Bauhin, &c. He was alfo the editor of Paolo Boccone's Icones et diferitiones rariorum plantarum Melite, Galliæ et Italia. Oxon. 1674. 4to.

This

As a fpecimen of his great work, the hiftory of plants, Morifon published, in 1672, Plantarum umbelliferarum diftributio nova. specimen excited the attention of the learned, augmented Morifon's patronage, and encouraged him to profecute his great work, of which the first volume came out under the title of Plantarum Hifloria Univerfalis Oxonienfis, Pars fecunda, &c. fol. 1680. The first part, on trees and fhrubs, was never printed: but Schelhammer tells us that he faw the whole work perfect in the hands of the author. The five firft claffes only of the herbs were published by the author. The third

part

part, or more properly the fecond volume, was published by Jacob Bobart, in 1699."

Chap. 24. A fhort history of the rife and progress of system, method or claffification of plants, from its origin to its revival in England-Gefner, Cæfalpinus, Columma. Ray and Morifon laboured at the fame time on this fubject. Ray's fyftem made its first appearance in Bishop Wilkins's Real Character, 1668, but was not detailed in his Methodus till 1682. Morifon's appeared in the Hortus Blefenfis, 1669, and was exemplified in his Hiftory of Plants, 1680. Rival fyftems were foon constructed -on the fruit, by Knaut in 1687, Herman in 1690, Boerhaave in 1710-on the flower, by Rivinus, in 1690, Tournefort in 1694, Ruppius in 1718, Magnol in 1720, Ludwig in 1737.

Chap. 25. Difcovery of the fexes in plants. The antients had an imperfect idea of them in the date and fig-tree, but applied the diftinction of fexes to many plants, in which there is no fuch diftinction. Cæfalpinus is the first who mentions the doctrine of the fexual analogy between plants and animals. Adam Zalwziausky, a Polish writer, in 1592, is alfo faid to have diftinguished the fexes. But no progrefs was made on this subject, till Dr. Grew, in a lecture on the anatomy of flowers, read before the Royal Society, Nov. 6, 1676, proved that the fexual procefs was general among vegetables, and that the duft of the anthere was endowed with an impregnating power. In 1695, Camerarius feems to have been the first who gave ftability to the doctrine by experiments. Morland in 1703, Geoffroy in 1711, Vaillant in 1718, Blair, Bradley, Fairchild, Miller, &c. affifted in the fame career. Tournefort and Pontédera rejected the doctrine: Alfton and Spallanzani have written profeffedly against it. In 1732, Linnæus founded his fyftem on this doc

trine.

Chap. 26. Thomas Willifel, collector of plants for Merret. Morifon, Ray and Sherard. Dr. Robert Plott, the first who sketched out a plan for A Natural Hiftory of Counties, exemplified in that of Oxfordshire 1677, and Staffordshire 1679. Leigh's Lancashire, &c. 1700. Robinfon's Westmorland, 1709. Moreton's Northamptonshire, 1712. Borlafe's Cornwali, 1758. Wallis's Northumberland, 1769. Sir George Wheler, the traveller into Greece, enumerates feveral hundreds of the plants of that country, gives engravings of fome, and introduced feveral into our 'gardens.

(In a future number we shall notice the fecond volume.)

ART. V. Jacobi Dickfon Fafciculus Plantarum Cryptogamif carum Britannia. London. 1785. 4to. For the Author in Covent Garden, and G. Nicol.

Ejufdem Fafciculus Secundus. 1790. British Plants of the Clafs Cryptogamia, No. 1 and 2.

THE

THE plants of the clafs Cryptogamia were very long before they attracted the notice even of Botanifts, who are yet far from having attained a perfect knowledge of them. The labours, however, of the accurate Dillenius, brought us acquainted with a very confiderable number of this minute and difficult tribe and the microfcopic obfervations of Hedwig have caft a new light upon it.

British moffes and fungufes were little noticed by our old writers, or even by Ray himself in his earlier works. The third edition, however, of the Synopfis, from the labours of Dillenius, added to thofe of Ray, may boaft a very confiderable lift of the clafs Cryptogamia. Thefe have been reduced to the Linnean names and fyftem, by Mr. Hudfon, in his Flora Anglica, the late Mr. Lightfoot in his Flora Scotica, and Mr. Relhan, in his Flora Cantabrigienfis. Thefe gentlemen also have made confiderable additions to our former ftock, and by their judicious obfervations have cleared up many obscurities.

Mr. Dickfon is eminently qualified by his zeal, activity and accuracy, both to bring us acquainted with many new plants in their clafs, and to elucidate the doubts and difficulties which adhered to the old ones. He alfo enjoys the willing affiftance of those who are best skilled in this difficult department of Botany; he has a keen eye, adapted to the fcrunity of nature's minuteneffes; and he has made feveral extenfive journeys into the remoter parts of the Island, which had been little fearched by former Botanifts, and yet are rich in productions of this class.

The author dedicates his performance to Sir Jofeph Banks, of whofe ample library he was permitted the full ufe, and under whofe patronage he writes. He informs us that his general defign is to publifh fuch British plants only of the clafs Cryp→ togamia, as have not made their way into the Floras of Hudson, Curtis, and Lightfoot; except in a few cafes, wherein he has found, by infpecting the Linnean and Dillenian herbariums, that errors have crept into the denomination. Where the plant has not been figured in any former work, or, what is worse, has been figured unfaithfully, he gives a faithful reprefentation, elegantly engraved by Sir Jofeph Banks's artist.

The first fafciculus contains 17 Moffes, of which five are new; that is, have not appeared in any prior publication.

Ten are figured in the firft plate; namely, 1. Phascum ferratum. 2. P. alternifolium. 3. P. axillare. 4.Mnium ofmundaceum. 5. Bryum viridulum. 6. B. capillaceum. 7. Hypnicum ftellatum. 8. H. penuatum. 9. H. framineum. 10. Jungermannia Sphagni.-Twenty four Alga, whereof five are new, and nine figured in the fecond plate: viz, 1. Lichen coccineus. 2. L. Spheroides. 3. L. querneus. 4. L. pezizoides. 5. L. canefcens. 6. L. luteus. 7. L. upfalienfis. 8. L. tenuiffimus. 9. L. cochlea

tas.-Forty-two Fungi; of which three only have not been noticed in print. Six are figured in plate the third, viz. 1. Agaricus fordidus. 2. Boletus ftrobiliformis. 3. Sphæria ento morhiza. 4. Lycoperdon coliforme. 5. L. fragile. 6. Mucor urceolatus.

Most of the plants are defcribed, unless they have been fufficiently noticed before by Dillenius and others. The places of growth are fet down, with the time of flowering, in fome inftances; and the name of the firft British discoverer, when the plant was communicated to Mr. Dickfon by any of his friends.

We learn, that in the cafe of the dry rot, which is often fo fatal to fir timber exposed to moisture in close places, and communicating with the wall, that a fpecies of fungus is produced, called Boletus lacrymans; by Mr. Hudfon Agaricus pectinatus; and figured in the 3d edition of Ray's Synopfis (t. 1. f. 5.) under the name of Agaricus coriaceus longiffimus, pectinatim inferne divifus.

The fecond fafciculus contains 60 Moffes, 27 Algæ, and 11 Fungi. Of the Moffes 19 are new; of the Alga 8; of the Fungi none: nor are any of these figured. in plates four and five there are figures of the following Moffes. 1. Fontinalis alpina. 2. Splachnum tenue. 3. Bryum calcareum. 4. B. ftelligerum. 5. B. flavefcens. 6. B. reticulatum. 7. B. obtufum. 8. B. patens. 9. B. tetragonum. 10. B. Zierii.-in plate 5. 1. B. marginatum. 2. B. cubitale. 3. B. dealbatum. 4. Hyperum Smithii. 5. H. asplenioides. 6. H. pulchellum, 7. Jungermannia curvifolia. 8. Hypnum molle. 9. Fung. pauciflora. 10. 7. macrorhiza.

In plate 6, thefe Algae are figured: 1. Lichen membranaceus. 2. L. fufco-luteus. 3. L. oculatus. 4. L. calvus. 5. L. gibbofus. 6. L. cæfius. 7. L. carnofus. 8. L. faturninus. 9. L. Mufcicola. 10. L. vermicularis.

The fecond fafciculus clofes with two pages of fynonyms to be added to those of the first: and a lift of plants, with all of which, except one, Mr. Dickfon has now firft enriched the Britifh Flora in his two late expeditions into Scotland. Thefe are, 1. Veronica alpina. 2. V. faxatilis. 3. Phleum alpinum. 4. Draba ftellata. 5. Hieracium molle. 6. H. villofum. 7. H. fpicatum. 8. Erigeron alpinum. 9. Salix retufa. 10. Acroftichum ilvenfe, Huds. 11. Polypodium Oreopteris.

It frequently happens, that in contemporary publications, new plants are given by the respective authors under different names. Hence arifes confufion and a multiplication of false fpecies. The public therefore will be glad to be informed from undoubted authority, that Lichen canefcens of Dickfon is L. incanus of Relhan. L. fcrupofus, Dicks. excavatus, Relh. Tremella mefenterica Dicks. juniperina, Relh. Helvella mefenterica, Dicks. Tremella corrugata, Relh. Sphæria memmosa, Dicks. §. mammiformis, Relh.

M. T.

ART.