Gents Mag 1791 p.806

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	Gentleman's Magazine 1791 p.806 Mr. Isaac Thompson, an eminent land-surveyor, resident at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, may be reckoned his steadiest patron, and warmest encourager; for he frequently accompanied this gentleman, when travailing in the line of his profession, under the character of an assistant,- an employment that left him at full liberty to examine the vegetable productions of the different places visited by them. But it is difficult to determine, at present, what experience he gained from his connexion with Mr. Thompson; and the author of the present essay has scarcely any other means of discovering what were his opportunities of attending to the places of growth of the rarer plants, besides his own work the Synopsis, where the observations are in a great measure confined to Westmoreland and Northumberland. Perhaps this was done to accommodate his friends, who were numerous in those counties, and for whose use the book was chiefly intended: however, it appears from the volume itself, that he was not entirely unacquainted with the South of England. This work was published in the year 1744; it comprehends that part of Ray's method that treats of the more perfect herbs, beginning at the fourth genus, or class, and ending with the twenty-sixth. He promises, in the preface, to compleat the performance at a future period, provided his first attempt should meet with a favourable reception from the publick; but did not live to fulfil his promise, being prevented by indisposition from finishing a second volume, which was intended to contain the Fungi, Mosses, Grasses, and Trees. He died July 15, 1751, after lingering through the last three or four years of life in a state of debility that rendered him unfit for any undertaking of the kind. Some papers left by him on the subject passed into the hands of Mr. Slack, printer at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, but were never published. Among these were some drawings, but it is not certain whether they were representations of rare plants, or figures intended to illustrate the technical part of the science. The writings of Linnaeus became popular in England a short time after his death, and very soon supplanted all preceding systems; otherwise the character of Wilson had been better known to his countrymen at present. His Synopsis is certainly an improvement on that of Ray; for, besides some correction in the arrangement, many trivial observations are left out of it, to make room for generic and specific descriptions, the most essential parts of a botanical manual.- He did not increase the catalogue of British plants much, only adding two to Ray's number, as distinct species, the Allium schoenopprasum, and the Valeriana rubra; but he was the first who introduced the Circea alpina to the notice of the English botanist, as a variety of Chutitiana, growing near Sedberg, in Yorkshire.

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