, a doctor of physic in the university of Hanau, and a member of
, a doctor of physic in the
university of Hanau, and a member of the academy of
naturalists, was born at Hanau in 1637. He went to Amboyna, and became consul and senior merchant there, which
did not prevent his employing his leisure moments in collecting the plants of that country; being so fond of botany
as to acquire great skill in it without any instruction. Although he lost his sight at the age of forty-three, he could
discover the nature and shape of a plant by his taste and
feeling. He comprised all the plants which he had collected in the country where he settled, in twelve books,
and dedicated them to the governor and council of the India
company in 1690. They were not, however, printed then;
but John Burman published them from 1740 to 1750, 7
vols. fol. which have commonly the date of 1751, under
the title of “Herbarium Amboinense,
” Hortus Malabaricus,
” are generally not
more than half the size of nature. The original drawings
still in existence are said to be very fine. Rumph also
left, “Imagines piscium testaceorum,
” Leyden, The political History of Amboyna,
”
which has never been printed, but a copy is deposited in
the India company’s chest at Amsterdam, and another at
Amboyna.