373. Botany, in Germany, has been considered an important part of the endowment of every university; whence the number of botanical gardens in that part of Europe is very numerous: they are generally rich in such plants as will live without any artificial protection, but poor in such as require a stove or greenhouse. The gardens of Berlin and Schonbrunn are, however, noble instances of perfection in all the departments of an useful and scientific botanical collection. The catalogue of the Berlin garden for 1825, enumerates 5791 species, many of which are new. At Schonbrunn, celebrated as the storehouse whence the Jacquins have for so long a time drawn their inexhaustible treasures of botany, great additions have been making since the peace of 1814, by the construction of new hothouses, and the enclosure of a larger quantity of ground. The Emperor of Austria maintains botanical collectors in various distant countries The late King of Bavaria, at whose private charge Drs. Spix and Martius were for a long time occupied in exploring the riches of Brazil, did not cease to extend his patronage to them after their return, but nobly provided the means of making the world acquainted with the result of their discoveries, in a manner equally worthy of the monarch and the man of science. The work on Brazilian palms, by Dr. Martius, is one of the most splendid and perfect botanical productions the world ever beheld. It is well known that the Prussian government, under the advice of Count Altenstein, has also long maintained collectors not only in Brazil, which seems to be a favourite country with the German princes, but also at the Cape of Good Hope and in the Isle of France.
