EDWARD LEWIS STURTEVANT. 77 
the library at his disposal, he began to purchase the works 
of old botanical writers and thus continued his search. 
This led to the expenditure of large sums of money and the 
gradual accumulation of the finest Prelinnean library in 
the United States. An extensive importing house in New 
York made him constant shipments of rare old botanical or 
agricultural works, and thousands of dollars were thus 
spent. Being desirous that this valuable collection should 
be kept intact and yet in a place where it might be available 
to students, in 1892 Dr. Sturtevant donated these volumes 
to the library of the Missouri Botanical Garden. The size 
of the collection is indicated somewhat from the fact that 
it numbers over 500 titles and many more volumes than 
that. A list of the books occupies 86 octavo pages in the 
seventh annual report of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 
In the words of Dr. Trelease, ‘‘ No conditions were 
attached to this gift, though it was suggested that the col- 
lection be kept in a group by itself.’’ It is accordingly 
kept by itself and is known as ‘‘ The Sturtevant Prelinnean 
Library.”’ 
Dr. Sturtevant was an active member and one of the 
founders of the Society for the Promotion of Agricultural 
Science, and presented a number of papers before its ses- 
sions during his life. He served as its first secretary and 
fourth president. He was also a Fellow in the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science. 
The pen contributions of Dr. Sturtevant cover about 30 
years and number many titles. He was a facile writer, 
and, until sickness incapacitated him, found time to furnish 
contributions of a scientific character to Science, American 
Naturalist, Botanical Gazette, Torrey Botanical Club 
Bulletin and several learned societies. 
In his library I found 12 scrap book volumes, some nine 
by seven inches, of about 100 pages each, filled with his 
writings, cut from agricultural and other journals, these 
extending from November 2, 1867, to October 6, 1896. 
