205 



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this appreticcship his taste for chcn^stry was cuhivatcd to svich 

 an extent that when he became himself a proprietor, in partner- 

 ship with Mr. Joshua Chapin, he pursued the study as a specialty; 

 and fitted himself for special work in that department. About 



! 



this time he was appointed lecturer on chemistry at the Franklin 

 Society of Providence, the position being purely an honorary 

 one. In 1840 the members of his class presented him with a 

 testimonial in the form of a copy of Turner's Chemistry, the 

 volume being still in the possession of his relatives. His peculiar 

 passion for tracing everything to its origin soon forced him into 

 the study of botany as explaining the sources of the vegetable 

 drugs with whose composition he had already become so familiar. 

 Once introduced to this science, his love for it rapidly grew into 

 an absorbing passion, and he developed an intense desire to make 

 botanical explorations. He therefore eagerly seized an oppor- 

 tunity which presented itself in 1850 for becoming associated 

 with the United States Boundary Commission to settle the 

 boundary between the United States and Mexico, his position 

 being that of botanist, to which were added, after the fashion 

 of the times, the offices of quartermaster and commissary. The 

 duties of this position occupied him for nearly four years, when 

 the commission was disbanded and he returned to his home in 

 Providence. His duties while on this commission were performed 

 in no perfunctory manner. Thoroughly in love with the work 

 which his position brought to him, he secured a collection which 



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will ever be historical, and which formed the subject of Dr. 

 Gray's important contribution, ** Plantcc Novce Thnrbcriance'' 

 It was upon this expedition that Dr. Thurbcr discovered the 



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curious niostylcs, which he at once recognized as something 

 very curious, and which he subsequently accurately classified, in- 

 sisting upon his determination in the face of the persistent incre- 

 dulity of both Torrey and Gray, until his earnestness led them to 

 an investigation and confirmation. Almost immediately after 



his return to Providence he was made a member of the Visiting 

 Board of Brown University on Applied Chemistry, and from that 

 institution he subsequently received the degree of A. M. In the 

 year of his return he received, chiefly, I believe, through the in- 

 fluence of Dr. Torrey, an appointment to the United States As- 



