Letter 3804

Richardson thanks Sloane for the books and mentions several he would like to procure. He has received no word from Mr Miller, though he was told that Chelsea Physic Garden is thriving. Richardson has compiled a list of all plants growing above ground. He will send the list to Mr Miller. Richardson discusses the contamination of water in Halifax and the means employed to cure the cattle who got sick drinking it. He relays the recipe for the medicine that was used. Smallpox is becoming a problem. Richardson was a physician and botanist who traveled widely in England, Wales, and Scotland in search of rare specimens. He corresponded and exchanged plants with many well-known botanists and naturalists (W. P. Courtney, Richardson, Richard (16631741), rev. Peter Davis, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2010 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23576, accessed 31 May 2011]).