31 
He. was. greatly tempted to accept this opportunity for botanical 
distinction, but he had formed ties which were strong enough to 
keep him at home. Dr. Baldwin was appointed in his place and 
upon the death of Baldwin, who was an almost hopeless invalid 
from the start, the duties of botanist were performed by the sur- 
geon of the expedition, Dr. James. 
In 1820, Dr. Torrey published in Silliman’s Journal “A Notice of 
Plants collected by Capt. N. Douglas around the Great Lakes at 
the Head Waters of the Mississippi. 
In 1823, he contributed to the Annals of the Lyceum of Natural 
History “‘ Descriptions of some new or rare plants from the Rocky 
Mountains, collected by Dr. Edwin P. James.” 
The year 1824 was an eventful one to our friend. In it he pub- 
lished “A Flora of the Northern and Middle States, or Systematic 
Arrangement and Description of all the Plants heretofore discovered 
North of Virginia.” In this year he was married to Miss Eliza Rob- 
inson Shaw, and was settled at West Point as Professor of Chem- 
istry in the U. S. Military Academy. This Flora, the concluding 
pages of which were written on the morning of its author’s wedding 
day, is now rare, a large portion of the edition having been destroyed 
by fire. It contains over 500 species and includes the first twelve 
classes of the Linnean system. In this work the author first 
manifested his acuteness in diagnosis, and it is remarkable for its 
elaborate and minute descriptions. 
In this same year, 1824, we find “ Descriptions of New Grasses 
from the Rocky Mountains” in the Annals of the Lyceum, and a 
“Monograph of the North American species of Carex,” of which 
he was joint author with Schweinitz. Schweinitz had placed the 
paper in Dr. Torrey’s hands, to edit and supervise the printing of 
it, during the author’s absence in Europe. When Schweinitz found 
how much the value of his monograph had been increased by 
additions and revision, he insisted that ‘forrey’s name should appear 
as joint author, and that it should be quoted as Schweinitz & 
orrey. 
Portaccing that the Linnean system was to be supplanted by 
one founded upon a more profound knowledge of the structure of 
plants and broader views of their relationships, the Flora was 
not continued beyond its first volume, but its author, in 1826, pub- 
lished a Compendium which contained condensed descriptions of 
the plants enumerated in the first volume of the Flora and of 
those that would have been given in the second volume. 
As one of the few members of the Club whose botanical experi- 
ence extends far enough back to have used this Compendium as a 
text book, I can bear testimony to its great superiority to all other 
botanical works of its time. The name “ Compendium” was fitly 
chosen, as in copiousness, conciseness and compactness, it came as a 
8reat relief after the vagueness of other works. 
__ In 1826, Dr. Torrey read before the Lyceum “ Some Account of 
8 Collection of Plants made during a Journey to and from the 
ky Mountains,in the Summer of 1820, by Edwin P, James, 
