Letter 3759

Breyne received the books and Philosophical Transactions, which Sloane had sent him last year. Mr Sellius was the carrier. He received Mr Martyn’s work and Mark Catesby’s Natural History of Carolina. Breyne will pay for any books Sloane sends. He discusses Catesby’s work and wants to see the ‘Botanical Essay of ye Society of Gardners’. Breyne is worried to hear that Sloane is feeling unwell. He wants to send Sloane ‘a Natural History of our Polish Cochenille’. 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).