DRYANDER, Jonas, a Swedish naturalist of eminent talents, and a distinguished pupil of the great Linnaeus, was born in 1748. His father, a clergyman near Gottenburg, died during the minority, if not the infancy, of his son; in consequence of which the care of the education of the latter devolved on a maternal uncle. This was Dr Lars Montin, a member of the Stockholm Academy, known to the world by several botanical writings, and, amongst others, by an inaugural dissertation on the genus Splaclιnum, published under the presidency of Linnaeus, 28th March 1750; and reprinted in the Amaenitates Academicae, vol. ii. 263. The early education of young Dryander, as far as we can learn, was chiefly in the University of Gottenburg; but he afterwards removed to Lund, where he took his degree of master of arts, or doctor in philosophy, under the presidency of Lidbeck, in 1776; on which occasion he published a dissertation, fungos regno vegetabili vindicans. He combated the ideas of certain philosophers, who, led by analogy rather than observation and judgment, were disposed to believe that fungi might, like corals and corallines, be the production of animals. But though Mr Dryander thus asserted the vegetable nature of these bodies, he subsequently imbibed, from his friend and preceptor Linnaeus, an insuperable dislike to their use as food; nor could the most delicate mushrooms of the most luxurious table ever tempt him to overcome this prejudice. We know not at what period he went to study at Upsal, nor how long he remained there. He became for some time domestic tutor to a young Swedish nobleman, after which he visited England, under the patronage of his countryman the well-known Dr Solander, who introduced him to the acquaintance of Sir Joseph Banks; and on the sudden death of Solander in 1782, he succeeded to the place of that eminent man, in the confidence and friendship of his distinguished patron. He was, in like manner, domesticated under the roof of Sir Joseph as his librarian, and continued in that situation as long as he lived. Mr Dryander also held the offices of librarian to the Royal and the Linnaean Societies. He was one of the first founders of the latter in 1788; and took a principal interest in all its concerns, especially in drawing up its laws and regulations, when this society was incorporated by royal charter in 1802. He, moreover, fulfilled the duties of a very active vice-president, till the time of his decease, which happened towards the end of October 1810, in the sixty-third year of his age. His remains were deposited in the vault of St Ann’s Church, Soho, the funeral being attended by a number of his friends, principally members of the Linnaean Society.

The acknowledged publications of Mr Dryander on the subject of botany consist of the following dissertations: 1. An Account of the Genus Albuca, in the Stockholm Transactions for 1784, in Swedish; 2. Observations on the Genus Begonia, in the Transactions of the Linnaean Society, vol. i. In this essay twenty-one species are determined, with an indication of nine doubtful ones, though the genus was previously supposed to consist of a solitary species only. 3. On Genera and Species of Plants which occur twice or three times in Professor Gmelin’s edition of Linnaeus’s Systema Naturae; Trails, of Linn. Soc. vol. ii. These corrections unfortunately extend no farther than the class Octandria. Their author intended to have completed them, but other occupations intervened; and the book which was the object of his correction soon fell into absolute neglect, as far as regards botany; insomuch that its errors, however great and numerous, became harmless. 4. Lindsea, a new Genus of Ferns ; Trans, of Linn. Soc. vol. iii. This genus is distinguished from Pteris, by the involucrum opening outward. 5. Botanical Description of the Benjamin Tree of Sumatra, in the Phil. Trqns. vol. lxxvii. The tree in question, about which great mistakes had arisen, is here shown to be a species of Styrax. This paper has been republished and translated.

The principal works published under the superintendence and correction of the subject of this memoir, were, the Hortus Kewensis of Mr Alton, printed in 1789, and about half the second edition of the same work, interrupted by his death; as well as Dr Roxburgh’s Plants of the Coast of Coromandel, a splendid and highly valuable publication, for which the world is indebted to the munificence of the East India Company. To both these the critical learning and accuracy of Mr Dryander were most usefully applied, especially in the typographical department. It would be vain to seek for an error in the printing of any thing which had passed through his hands. We have only to regret that the same critical correctness was not extended as a principle to every other department of the works in which he took a part. Had this been the case, the erroneous essential character of Oldenlandia, copied in Hortus Kewensis from Linnaeus and Willdenow, would not have been allowed to contradict the plate and description of Roxburgh, cited underneath. But, above all, various inaccuracies and faults in nomenclature are propagated and confirmed by an authority which Mr Dryander himself never intended to give. He has often assured the writer of this notice, that, had he published in his own name, he would not have adopted such inaccuracies; which is mentioned here to prevent the errors of others being laid to his charge. The popular Species Plantarum of Willdenow being the avowed guide, the author of that work must be responsible for matters which it did not come within the scope of the author or editor of the Hortus Kewensis to correct. Many subjects, however, are most skilfully elucidated in this publication, as well as in the sequel of its second edition by Mr Brown, and these cannot escape the discrimination of an intelligent reader. Practical botany was but a secondary or occasional pursuit of Mr Dryander, and he had a diffidence of his powers, and a consequent distaste for the technical and descriptive parts of the science. The descriptions he had prepared for Mr Bauer’s splendid figures of Ericae, published by Mr Alton, were readily and even gladly thrown into the fire, on occasion of a difference of opinion respecting the intended title of the work.

The study in which this most acute and correct man found ample scope for the exercise of his talents was bibliography. His Catalogus Bibliothecae HistoricoNaturalis Josephi Banks, is a model for all future writers in this line; but a model rather calculated to check than to excite imitation. A work so ingenious in design, and so perfect in execution, can scarcely be produced in any science; so faultless a specimen of typography we have never elsewhere seen. The frank and unvarnished sincerity of Mr Dryander’s character was secondary only to his universal and fastidious exactness upon every subject that came under his notice. He could not be a silent witness of the slightest injustice, misrepresentation, or. misconception. His impatience of contradiction arose more from the quickness of his penetration into the confusion and inaccuracy of ordinary intellects and characters[7:8:222], than from any natural severity. All clearness, honesty, and precision himself, he had little indulgence for those who fell short of his standard, and these were the greater part of mankind. On being asked what share Dr Smith had in the composition of the Flora Grceca, he replied, with a vehemence which startled the inquirer, “Every word !” When teazed, as was too often his lot, by the questions of the heedless and superficial, he never neglected the duties of the office he had undertaken, if he coul¢ not always conceal his impatience under their performance. But when the humblest cultivator of real science applied for his assistance, all his stores were laid open; the most condescending liberality graced his conversation; and he was careful that what he communicated should not only be heard but understood. The versatility of his genius and conversation was no less admirable than their exactness. Whether the subject were a question in science, or a point of history; the politics of Europe, or the tittle-tattle of an obscure German court; the literary talents and performances of any distinguished man, or his private transactions; the intrigues for a place at court, a professorship, or a domestic establishment; he was sure to throw some light upon it. Few men are more missed in the circle in which he moved, nor can his place in general society be readily supplied. (x. x.)