Page:Transactions of the Natural History Society of Northumberland, Durham, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1838 Vol.2.djvu/154

144 observed that, after the lapse of ten years, specimens of Lecanora atra, portions of which I had chipped from a stone wall, had not again formed the circular patches of crust, which is their natural mode of growth. Considerable obscurity still hangs over the manner of the reproduction of these stone-like plants, though it appears evident that the minute particles of the crusts of various species must be viviparous, for who can believe that so common a plant as Lecidea incana, which covers walls and rocks in almost every situation, can alone be propagated by sporules or seeds from its shields ; for these shields, though sufficiently conspicuous, have been noticed but twice in England; in Hampshire by Mr. L YELL, and in Sussex by Mr. D. T URNER.

In the preceding pages, a few habitats of rare plants are given on the authority of the works of T URNER, R AY , W ILSON , Synopsis of British Plants, by J OHN W ILSON , 8vo. Newcastle upon Tyne, 1744.—B ROWN, in his Prodromus of Australian Plants, p. 490, has named a genus belonging to the order Convolvulacece after him, accompanied with the remark, "In memoriam Joannis Wilson auctoris operis haud spernandi" A compliment not to be despised, coming from such high authority. The first volume of W ILSON 's Synopsis was printed in 1744, by J OHN G OODING, on the Side, Newcastle upon Tyne, but the author does not appear to have received sufficient encouragement to induce him to publish the second volume. It was to have contained the Fungi, Mosses, Grasses, and Trees, which he says were omitted, "to avoid raising the price of the first volume too high by enlarging the bulk of it too much." From Dr. P ULTNEY, we learn, "That in the year 1762, a person here, into whose hands the MS. had passed, meditated the publication of it with a new edition of the first volume, which was out of print, and much called for, but the design never took effect." W ILSON appears to have paid frequent visits to this place, and delivered lectures to a Botanic class, but with what success I know not. To the English Flora, he added Valeriana rubra, on Ely Minster, and on walls in many other places, on the authority of Mr. M ARTIN, and Allium Schaenoprasum, in a place called Chivey-syke, in Cartmell Fell, in Lancashire, about six miles from Kendal. Botanists, since his time, have disputed the right of these plants to be considered truly indigenous, not being mentioned by R AY ." The former is abundant on Limestone rocks and walls in the north of France, and the latter is certainly wild on Basaltic rocks at Wall-town Crags, and Copping Crags by the Wansbeck, near Kirkwhelpington, Northumberland. In an interleaved copy of the Synopsis, once the property of the late Mr. R OBERT H ARRISON, is the following notice of W ILSON 's death. "Newcastle Journal, July the 27th, 1751. —We hear from Kendal, in Westmorland, that last week, died there, Mr. J OHN W ILSON, a noted Botanist of that place, and author of a Synopsis of British Plants, after Mr. R AY 's method. He had uncommon natural parts, which (without the advantage of a learned education), by his own industry in study and application, he had so much improved, as to become, perhaps, one of the most knowing herbalists of his time; and was, besides, a most facetious and agreeable companion, of a just, ready wit, a quick descernment, a firm integrity, and candid intention, which made him vastly beloved by all his friends and acquaintance, who deeply regret the loss of so valuable a man."