38 



ii 



of the petiole; " veins " for the divisions (if any) of the petiole; 

 veinlets " for the primary branches sent off from the midvein or 

 veins ; and ** veinulets " for the secondary branches sent off from the 

 veinlets. 



Mr. Bicknell stated that the total number of plants observed by 

 him in flower this year up to date was thirty-five. 



Prof. Wood reported that he had received from Dr. E. C. Howe 

 a specimen of Carcx Sidlivantii^ Boot, collected near the Cruton 

 aqueduct at Yonkers. 



M. W. Van Denburg, M. D., of New York City, was elected an 

 active member, and two new names were proposed for membership. 



7,1. Coe F. Austin — This well-known botanist died on the iSth" 

 of March, 1880, at his home, Closter, New Jersey, where he was born 

 on the 20th of June 1831. His health had been failing for a year, 

 but the close was rather sudden. 



After completing his education at Rankin's Pinkerton Academy, 

 Austin, who was endowed with the true mind of a naturalist, devoted 

 his time to the study of Chemistry and Botany. Becoming soon 

 most interested in Botany, he accepted the position of Curator of the 

 herbarium of Columbia College, but abandoned it to give his whole 

 time to the study of the Mosses and Hepaticae, and to the search 

 for and collection of these plants. 



Without a sufficient supply of books, but with an incomparable 

 perseverance, he soon became an adept in this department of botan- 

 ical science, and, helped by Sullivant and other American bryologists, 

 he was able to prepare the publication of his first work on Mosses, 



As a collector, Austin pursued his explorations with indomitable 

 energy and remarkable success, enriching the American flora with a 

 large number of species, either new or as yet undiscovered in this 

 country. The first work of his, the " _ , 



tion of 450 specimens, raised to 550 by a supplement in 1878, repre- 

 senting above four hundred species, the rest being varieties not less 

 valuable to students.* 



Mr. Austin contributed in 1869, an article to the Proceedings of 

 the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, containing 47 species 



Musci 



> 



of Hepaticae, 



Hepaticae Bor 



icanae which comprised 150 specimens, 30 of which were varieties, 

 and 15 species previously published. 



Work of this kind can be performed only by true devotion to 

 science. It demands a prodigious amount of research in the field 

 for procuring the specimens, and an arduous labor to separate the 

 species, (for mosses mostly grow mixed together) and then for the 

 determination of each specimen, which has generally to be done 

 by microscopical examination. It is therefore easv to understand 



* This work is the more valuable since noching else of that kind can now be 

 ined for American Bryology, as no copies of the Muni Alles-hanienses bv Sulli- 

 . nor of the Musci Ex.<iirrafi hv ^nlliv kr T ^^.^r nv^ 



Musci 



left for sale. The 



left by Austin will soon be disposed of. The same remarks are applicable to his 

 other important work— the Hepaticae Boreali- A me7 icanae, 



L 



