Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London - University Library

LIXXEAN SOCIETY OF LOXDOI^. 29
appeared the first edition of his ' Manuel de la Flore Belgique.'
This is a small octavo volume of 23G pages, and contains, over and
above descriptions of genera and species, directions for forming a
herbarium, a bibliography of Belgian botany, an account of the
geographical regions and their characteristic plants, a discussion
on the nature of species, and a glossary of terms. It is an
eminently useful and practical book, and did much to revive a love
for botany in Belgium, which for many years had been almost
entirely neglected. The ' Manuel' passed through several editions
(the 5t!i in 1884), and the flora of Belgium being similar to that of
England, has been found very useful in this countrx'. In the
second edition the descriptive part is considerably enlarged, and
a good deal of the subsidiary matter omitted. The number of indigenous
Belgian flowering plants and A'ascular cryptogams is, in this
second edition, estimated at 1240. Cropin aluays took a moderate
view of species, neither uniting nor dividing excessively. In 1861
he was appointed a professor at the State School of Horticulture
at Ghent, a position which he held up to 1870. In 1862 the
reviving love for botany led to the formation of the ' Socit'te
I'oyale botanique de Belgique,' under the presidency of the veteran
Dumortier. Crepin was at the beginning a member of the council,
and after his removal to Brussels filled for nearly thirty years the
office of secretary. The publications of this society now amount
to forty volumes ; to these Crepin was one of the most prolific
contributors, his papers ranging over a wide field, including, in
addition to original papers, which very often deal with Roses, reviews
and reports of excui'sions. The more important of his papers
on Hoses were reprinted in a separate form under the title of
'Primitiae Monographise Eosarum.' Of these the second part,
which contains careful original descriptions of the Asiatic E-oses,
is the most valuable.
In 1871 Crepin was appointed Curator of the Herbarium of
the Botanic Garden at Brussels, and from that date to his death
he lived in the metropolis. During his summer holidays he
usually visited Switzerland, devoting his attention principally to
the rich Kose-flora of the lower part of the Rhone vallej^ He
was elected a Correspondent of the Brussels Academy in 1872, a
Member in 1878, and a director of the scientific division in 1888.
About 1873-75 he paid much attention to palaeontology, and
contributed several papers on the subject to the Memoirs of the
Academy. Many of the fossil plants in the Brussels Museum
bear labels in his neat legible handwriting. In 187G he became
Director of the Brussels Garden, and under his management both
the living and dried collections were greatly increased. He paid
two visits to England during his term of office, and annotated
copiously the Roses at Kew and the British Museum. In 1879
Dumortier died, and Crepin wrote his elnge for the Memoirs of
the Academy, as he did afterwards that of Decaisne in 1881, and
Edouard Morren in 1887. He set his heart upon publishing a
general monograph of Roses, and for this he accumulated a very