Letter 3688

The bearer is a man from Schaffhausen, Switzerland, called John Amman. The latter was recommended to Breyne ‘for his erudition and skill in Philosophie, Mathematicks and Physick, but chiefly in Botanick and Natural History’. Breyne recommends Amman to replace the late John Gaspar Scheuchzer as Sloane’s librarian. Breyne is grateful for the gift of books Sloane sent by Mr Vallius. He sends his thanks to Mr Sallius. Johann Philipp Breyne (1680-1764) was a German botanist, zoologist, and entomologist known primarily for his work on the Polish cochineal, or Porphyrophora polonica, used in red dye production. He became a fellow of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in 1715 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Philipp_Breyne).