102 THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
for £500 less than their valuation—the price paid is said to have
been £1,500—and they now form part of the Hunterian Museum
at Glasgow.
Linnaeus gave the name Fothergillea to a genus of Hamame-
lidaceae, a hardy deciduous shrub with scented flowers. In a
letter from which a quotation was made on p. 91 Fothergill
wrote to Linnaeus: "I tender my thanks that thou hast chosen
"me also among the Lovers of Plants. But I blush, when I
"consider my short and slender pursuit of the science. Thy
"kindness however will always have from me the honour it
"deserves, with a grateful record of thy act. I have ordered
"the plant in question [Fothergilla Gardeni] to be sent to thee as
"soon as possible."
The name was published by the younger Linnaeus in his
Supplementum Plantarum, 1781, "In memoriam Jo. Fothergill,
"Angli, medici & indagatoris Historiae naturalis inclitissimi,
"cui plurima in Botanicis & Zoologicis debuit b.m. parens & ego.''
It is of interest to note that the younger Linnaeus wrote to
Fothergill when his father died:—
"Carolus a Linne, Filius nobilissimo & experientissimo Medicinae
"& Botanices Professor Upsaliae, Dno. Doctori Fothergill, S.P.D.
"Lento per biennium morbo intabescens, omnibus tandem pro-
"stratis corporis viribus, vitae statione septuagenarius: decessit
"pater opt. Archiater & Eques de Stella polari Carolus a Linne d.
"IV Maura Jan. MDCCLXXVIII.
"Hunc mihi totique domui Ejus luctuosum casum, exigente id
"non sincera minus in TE observantia mea, ac, quae beate defunctum
"TIBI junxit, amicitiae necessitudine obsequiossisime significandum
"putavi.
"Ut vero, qui TE coluit, viri post funera beati memoriae faveas,
"quaque ille, dum in vivis erat, apud TE valuit, gratiae haeredem
"constituas Filium, quo decet verborum honore contendo, Deum
"immortalem precaturus, velit, in singulare scientiarum decus &
"emolumentum, TIBI, Vir Nobilissime extentum omnique felicitatis
"genere refertum vitae spatium concedere. Dabam Upsaliae d. X.
"Cal. Febr. MDCCLXXVIII."
Dr. Fothergill attained a great reputation as a physician, but
he had many public activities. He was a friend of Benjamin
Franklin, who wrote of him that he " was among the best men
"I have known, and a great promoter of useful projects."
The useful projects in which he was interested were numerous.
He was mainly responsible for the founding of the famous Quaker