BROWN, ROBERT (1773-1858), British botanist, was born on Dec. 21 1773 at Montrose, and was educated at the grammar school of his native town, where he had as contempo raries Joseph Hume and James Mill. In 1787 he entered Mari schal college, Aberdeen, but two years afterwards removed to Edinburgh university. In the year 18o1 he was offered the post of naturalist to the expedition fitted out under Capt. Matthew Flinders for the survey of the then almost unknown coasts of Australia. In 1805 the expedition returned to England, having obtained, among other acquisitions, nearly 4,000 species of plants, many of which were new. Brown was almost immediately ap pointed librarian of the Linnean Society. In 1810 he published the first volume of his great work, in Latin, the Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen, which did much to further the general adoption of A. L. de Jussieu's natural system of plant classification. With the exception of a supplement pub lished in 1830, no more of the work appeared. In 1810 Brown became librarian to Sir Joseph Banks, who on his death in 1820 bequeathed to him the use and enjoyment of his library and col lections for life. In 1827 an arrangement was made by which these were transferred to the British Museum, with Brown's con sent and in accordance with Sir Joseph's will. Brown then be came keeper of this new botanical department, an office which he held until his death on June Io 1858, in Soho square, London.
In 1825-34 his works up to that date were collected and published in four divisions by Nees von Esenbeck, in German, under the title of Vermischte botanische Schriften (Leipzig and Nuremberg) . In 1866 the Ray Society reprinted his complete writings, the Prodromus alone excepted.