I have taken the liberty of writing to you in English, being informed that you either can read it your self, or have some persons who translate it for you, and as I can with more freedom write in this, than in Latin, so I have chosen it. In your last letter you write that you have not for a long time recieved any thing from me,[1] which gives me great Concern, for the last October I gave to Doctor Solander above a hundred sorts of Seeds,[2] chiefly of such plants as were not in your former Species plantarum.[3] This parcel was Sealed with four Seals and directed for you. I have also at all the several times he has been at our Garden, furnished him with Specimens of such plants as I had reason to believe you had not seen. I also desired him to write to you many times[4] to inform me how many numbers of my figures of plants, as also how many Sheets of the Gardeners Dictionary[5] you had, that I might send you the remainder to compleat them, but he has told me the Ship was lost in the passage on board which your answer was sent. By his whole behaviour of late, I have great reason to believe the Doctor has used both of us very ill[6]: therefore I beg you will favour me with the name of your Correspondent at Stockholm, to whom I may direct parcels for you, which may arrive safe, beacuse I shall not trust to any person here, the care of sending them. I do propose to send you a parcel of Seeds by the last Ship which departs from hence in the autumn; and shall be glad to send you the remainder of my works when I know what are wanting. The seeds of the Rheum which you lost shall be sent you as I am fully informed it is the officinal Rhabarbarum. If you have seeds of your Rheum with palmated leaves I shall be very thankful for a few, as also of any other seeds you can spare. I should have wrote to you sooner, but as you wrote me that you had sent me a copy of your Species plantarum, and the sixth Volume of the Amoenitates Academicae,[7] so I waited to recieve them, which came to me four days past the person by whom they were sent never came to Chelsea. I suppose he was prevented by some other person. As I hear your Son[8] is making a Hortus Siccus, so I shall be very glad to contribute any Specimens of plants in our Garden to augment it: and have constantly for three years past furnished Doctor Solander with triplicates of those Specimens he wanted that he might supply your Son with one of each, but I shall be glad to know if he recieved them. I beg you will accept my best thanks for the Copy of your Species and plantarum and the 6 vol. of the Amoenitates, and am very sorry you have not my books compleat, beacuse I have figured your Hydrastis under the title of Warneria. There is also a new Species of Triumfetta figured. The seeds of both these plants with their titles I gave to Doctor Solander for you, but I fear they were not sent. There are several other things, which I can mention of intimations, which I gave to the Doctor of some plants which were wrong placed in your Species, and gave him Specimens of the plants to send you for your information; particularly the Casinae of which we have three sorts, viz the Paragua, which is foliis alternis semper virentibus, the Cassioberry tree, which is foliis oppositis deciduis. and one which is foliis oppositis semper virentibus, called by the Gardeners Hysson Thea. These do all differ greatly from the Maurocenia Hort. Cliff.[9] and the Phillyrea Capensis H. Elth.[10].
The Ilex should be placed in your 23d Class, as should also the Laurus, for all the Species of both Genera, have some plants wholly male, and others are hermaphrodite. The Toxicodendrons should be separated from the Rhus on the same account. We have four Species in our Garden, all which agree in the same characters. The Pimento of which I sent you Specimens are Dioecia, and the leaves are opposite.
I shall not trouble you at present with more instances; but if such remarks are agreable to you, I shall with great pleasure furnish you with more and send the Specimens for your further information. I am with great truth and esteem
My Lord
Your Lordships
Most Obedient
Humble Servant
NOTES
[1] Linnaeus to Miller, 13 March 1763.
[2] It appears that Solander performed this mission: see his letter to Linnaeus of 29 October 1762.
[3] Miller refers to Linnaeus’s Species plantarum, ed. 1 (1753).
[4] Miller was right in his supposition that Solander had not written to Linnaeus for a long time. With the exception of the letter of 29 October 1762, there was a break in the correspondence from May 1762 to December 1768. In September 1763, however, Solander added a few lines to a letter from Collinson to Linnaeus (LC630915-00).
[5] With “figures of plants” Miller probably refers to his Figures of the most beautiful, useful, and uncommon plants. The Gardener’s dictionary was Miller’s main work. It recorded the continuous growth of plants in the Chelsea Physic Garden, which belonged to the Society of Apothecaries of London. It went through eight editions in Miller’s lifetime, the first of which was published in 1731. There were in addition several abridged versions. The edition in question here is probably the seventh (1756-1759). On the publications of Miller, see Wall, Cameron and Underwood, A history of the worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London, 169, 409, n. 16, Stearn, “Philip Miller”, 390-391, and by the same author “The botanical importance of Philip Miller’s publications”, 169-189.
[6] Solander’s “behaviour”, his inactivity as a correspondent with Linnaeus during this period, has raised questions. An explanation might be his wish to stay in England and perhaps to obtain a position there, instead of going to St Petersburg as a professor of botany, which Linnaeus had planned for him (see Uggla, “Daniel Solander och Linné”, 41-47). On his supposed indifference towards Miller, a conclusive reason might have been Miller’s late and slow acceptance of the Linnaean classification and nomenclature. It was not until 1768, in the eighth edition of The Gardener’s dictionary, that Miller, follower of Joseph Pitton de Tournefort, adopted the Linnaean binomial nomenclature, attributing binomial names to many species unknown to Linnaeus! (see Stearn, “The botanical importance of Philip Miller’s publications”, 176-181). A characterisation of Miller and his garden is given in Solander’s first letter to Linnaeus from London, 1 July 1760; see also the survey of the whole of Solander’s stay in London by Uggla, “Daniel Solander och Linné”, 31-51.
[7] Miller must be referring to Linnaeus’s Species plantarum, ed. 2 (1762-1763); the sixth volume of Linnaeus’s Amoenitates academicae was published in 1763.
[8] Carl Linnaeus the Younger, Linnaeus’s son.
[9] Linnaeus, Hortus Cliffortianus.
[10] Dillenius, Hortus Elthamensis.