THE BOTANISTS OF PHILADELPHIA. 347 



public schools until the age of ten, when he was taken 

 down with a severe attack of scarlet fever, leaving him an 



O 



invalid for many years thereafter. Upon the advice of his 

 physician, he was directed to follow out-door occupations. 

 He devoted his time as it seemed to agree with him best, 

 roaming the hills and valleys in search of natural history 

 specimens such as birds, plants and animals, which he 

 collected without the knowledge of method of determining 

 their species. 



In due time his father engaged him to a nurseryman, 

 Mr. Charles Davis, of Warren County, New Jersey, a friend 

 of the family, who took a great interest in him, and often in 

 his absence entrusted his property to his care, and when 

 Mr. Davis disposed of his nursery, Mr. Bechdoldt engaged 

 himself in a minor position at Lafayette College, Easton, 

 Pennsylvania, where in due time he made the acquaintance 

 of Dr. Green, Dean of the Parclee Scientific School, through 

 whose kindness he was given entrance to all the scientific 

 departments of the college. In 1865 he was quite successful 

 in finding a number of rare plants, as well as being the first 

 to notice the coral fossils in the glacial drift of college hill. 

 Through the influence of Dr. Thomas C. Porter and his 

 assistant, the late Dr. A. P. Garber, he was guided in his 

 botanical researches, in which he was quite successful in 

 the finding of rare and new species of plants. 



His parents having purchased a small farm in Seiders- 

 ville, a village about three miles south of South Bethlehem, 

 Pennsylvania, he moved there with them in 1871. In 1872 

 he was elected a member of the South Bethlehem Natural 

 History Association, and during his membership the 

 following papers were brought before the society : 



