THE HISTORY OF MYCOLOGY IN ESSEX. 175
Ray's European herbarium is in the Department of Botany.
It was bequeathed by him to his friend and neighbour Samuel
Dale, of Braintree. Dale in his turn left it and his own
herbarium to the Apothecaries' Society (1739), by whom they
were transferred to the British Museum in 1861. There are no
fungi in either of these herbaria. In the Sloane Manuscripts
4045, f. 35, there is a letter which shows that Dale planned to
write a flora. It is dated Braintree, Aug. 20th, 1717. "At
the request of Mr. Innys I am now going to finish the History
of English Plants, which I many years ago began and made a
considerable progress in it then, but have long discontinued
it by reason of the death of Hen. ffaithorn: I am very sensible
that the late Mr. Buddie made many discoverys in English
Plants not mentioned by Mr. Ray in his last Synopsis and he
being dead his work is not likely to be published: And being
acquainted that his copy is in your hands, my humble request
to you is that you will please to vouchsafe me the perusal of it,
and I do assure you it shall be safely return'd, and right done to
the Author; and will be an additional obligation to
Sr Your most humble and oblidged Servt
S. Dale."
A further letter (4045, f. 56) says: "Mr. Buddie had write
a Synopsis, Cataloge or some such thing on English Plants
which he did one time shew me, and told me he intended to
publish it, and had gone so far as to draw the Dedication &
Preface, but that which hindred him in his design was this:
Having either in Dedication or Preface said that the Method
was with the Approbation of Mr. Stonestreet and others, but
they not approveing of it made him decline it. This latter
part I had from Mr. Stonestreet more than once; and the same
if I mistake not from Mr. Rand." (Oct. 3rd, 1717).
The Rev. Adam Buddie (c. 1660-1715) was for a short time
Rector of Great Fambridge, Essex. He had a considerable
reputation as a botanist, particularly as a cryptogamist. He
bequeathed his herbarium and manuscripts to Sloane. His
herbarium, undoubtedly the most trustworthy and accurately
named of the period, is numbered 114 to 130, making six volumes
of the Sloane Herbarium. Very few of the older botanists
attempted to preserve fungi and consequently those in Buddie's
herbarium are of particular interest. Only one or two are
localized, however, and none are given as from Essex.