BULLETIN 
TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB 
Biographical Sketch of Dr. J. Bernard Brinton. 
[Wirt PorTRAIT]. 
The botanical community of Philadelphia has met with an 
almost irreparable loss in the very sudden death, on December 
6, 1894, of the distinguished scientist, Dr. J. Bernard Brinton, 
the founder of the Philadelphia Botanical Club. 
The many expressions of sympathy and high regard which 
have been received by his family from his fellow members of the 
Academy of Natural Sciences, the Torrey Botanical Club and 
numerous other scientists with whom he was engaged in active 
correspondence, prove conclusively that his premature death 
causes a vacancy which will be difficult to fill. 
He was preéminent in more than one respect ; most emphati- 
cally, however, in the happy faculty of imparting to others his own 
enthusiasm and love for the study of the Natural Sciences. He 
was noted for the accuracy of his observations in field excursions, 
in which he was generally recognized as the leader and guide, — 
His methods were always painstaking and careful, and in his 
aim to secure choice specimens no trouble, labor nor expense 
was too great. His botanical specimens were preserved by the 
most approved methods, mounted in the most artistic style and 
identified with the most scrupulous care. His mechanical ingen- 
uity was frequently exercised in preparing specimens of fruits, 
stems and other organs, so as to advantageously exhibit their in- 
ternal structure. In his desire for absolute accuracy he frequently 
sent difficult genera to monographers for scrutiny and revision. 
