Item data
Item Type:
Document
From:
Davall, Edmund
Sent from:
Orbe, Switzerland
To:
Smith, Sir James Edward
Summary:
Davall's letter forms the first eight pages. Apologises for not sending Smith anything with Mandrot. His poor health: the least exertion affects his eyes and stomach, and suffered violent inflammatory fever with a sore throat that spread to his gums and was in danger of going to his chest, prolonged by a late bleeding, until his urine became very thick and an abcess formed. Has been bled three times in eighteen hours and five times since January, losing 3 1/2 lb of blood and now drinking whey to thin his blood. His wife gave birth to premature son but he died after eleven days.
Has dried specimen of wild 'Ranunculus thora' from his garden for Smith. His garden: 'Cerastium latifolium' grown from roots gathered himself in Alps in full flower, 'Moehringia', 'Crataegus chamaemespilus', 'Turritis coerulea', 'Arenaria grandiflora', 'Androsace villosa' or 'Androsace obtusifolia', 'Aretia alpina' not yet flowered, 'Saxifraga hirculus'.
Continues letter on 21 May: managed to make up a parcel of plants to send with Mandrot, including [Horace Bénédict] de Saussure's [(1740-1799)] lichens.
Fifth folio is titled "Villars" and is a transcription, in French, of extract of letter from [Dominique] Villars 20 December 1791, following communication of Smith's discovery concerning 'Festuca spadicea'. Davall displeased at [Martin] Vahl's [(1749-1804)] impertinence [he claimed a discovery of Smith's as his own]; does not have a good opinion of men in general and passes for a misanthrope in Orbe because he prefers spending his time with plants. Consoles Smith with the fact that even if he is exposed to the impertinence of "some Empiricks as La Marck etc" at least he will "ever have the applause of good orthodox botanists & men of sense". Transcribes extract from preface of second volume of [Johann Christian Daniel von] Schreber's [(1739-1810)] edition of "Genera Plantarum" quoting Smith. Sends seed of 'Carduus crispus'.
Ninth and tenth folios are transcription, in French, of extract of letter from de Saussure 14 February 1792 accompanying lichens, which he [Davall] sends on to Smith, includes eight notes to recognise those de Saussure has.
Letter date:
18/21 May 1792
Languages:
English
Prev Ref No:
14.119
Additional Information:
Note type | Note |
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Finding Aids | Dawson, W R, (1934). "Catalogue of the manuscripts in the Library of The Linnean Society - Part I. The Smith papers: The correspondence and miscellaneous papers of Sir James Edward Smith", London: Linnean Society. |
Related Material | For Smith's reply of 27 June 1792, see JES/COR/14/50.
Linnaeus, C, and Schreber, J C D V (ed.), (1789 & 1791). "Genera plantarum eorumque characteres naturales secundum numerum, figuram, situm et proportionem omnium fructificationis partium. Editio octava post Reichardianam secunda ... curante D. Jo. Christiano Dan. Schreber ..." Francofurti ad Moenum: Sumtu Varrentrappii et Wenneri, 8th ed. |