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HISTORY OF LICHENOLOGY
he however carries his theory of metamorphosis too far and unites together
widely separated plants. Meyer was the first to describe the growth of the
lichen from spores, though his description is somewhat confused. Possibly
the honour of havingfirst observed their germination should be given to a later
botanist, Holle 1 . The works of both Wallroth and Meyer enjoyed a great
: and well-merited reputation they were standard books of consultation for
2
many years. Koerber who devoted a , long treatise to the study of gonidia,
confirmed Wallroth's theories: he considered at that time that the gonidia
in the soredial condition were organs of propagation.
Mention should be made here of the many able and keen collectors who,
in the latter half of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth,
did so much to further the knowledge of lichens in the British Isles.
Among the earliest of these naturalists are Richard Pulteney (1730-1801),
whose collection of plants, now in the herbarium of the British Museum, in-
cludes many lichens, and Hugh Davies (1739-1821), a clergyman whose
Welsh plants also form part of the Museum collection. The Rev. John
Harriman (1760-1831) sent many rare plants from Egglestone in Durham
to the editors of English Botany and among them were not a few lichens.
Edward Forster (1765-1849) lived in Essex and collected in that county,
more especially in and near Epping Forest, and another East country
botanist, Dawson Turner (17/5-1858), though chiefly known as an algologist,
gave considerable attention to lichens. In Scotland the two most active
workers were Charles Lyell (1767-1849), of Kinnordy in Forfarshire, and
George Don (1798-1 856), also a Forfar man. Don was a gardener and became
eventually a foreman at the Chelsea Physic Garden. Sir Thomas Gage of
Hengrave Hall (1781-1823) botanized chiefly in his own county of Suffolk ;
but most of his lichens were collected in South Ireland and are incorporated in
the herbarium of the British Museum. Miss Hutchins also collected in Ireland
and sent her plants for inclusion in English Botany. But in later years, the
principal lichenologist connected with that great undertaking was W. Borrer,
who spent his life in Sussex : he not only supplied a large number of specimens
to the authors, but he himself discovered and described many new lichens.
American lichenologists were also extremely active all through this
period. The comparatively few lichens of Michaux's 3 Flora grouped under
" Lichenaceae " were collected in such widely separated regions as Carolina
and Canada. A few years later Miihlenberg 4 included no fewer than 184
species in his Catalogue of North American Plants. Torrey 6 and Halsey 6
botanized over a limited area near New York, and the latter, who devoted
himself more especially to lichens, succeeded in recording 176 different forms,
old and new. These two botanists were both indebted for help in their work
1 Holle 1849.
4
Muhlenberg 1813.
2 Koerber 1839.
5
Torrey 1819.
3 Michaux 1803.
* Halsey 1824.