356 THE BOTANISTS OF PHILADELPHIA. 



JOHN W. ECKFELDT. 



John ~\V. Eckfeldt, M. D., was born in Philadelphia 

 January 29, 1851. His grandfather was Adam Eckfeldt, 

 first coiner of the United States Mint. His father, Jacob 

 R. Eckfeldt, occupied the position of Assayer of the Mint 

 at Philadelphia from 1832 to 1872. His mother was Emily 

 Levering, daughter of Mark Levering. Dr. Eckfeldt 

 received a public school education, later entering the Friends' 

 Central School at Fifteenth and Race Streets, and after- 

 wards completing his course of study at the Lauderback 

 Academy, entering the University of Pennsylvania in 

 September, 1869, and graduating in medicine March 12, 

 1872. Soon after graduating in medicine he began the 

 practice of his profession at Haverford, Delaware County, 

 remaining there until the fall of 1880, when he removed to 

 Philadelphia, where he soon gained an extensive business. 

 Dr. Eckfeldt early acquired the love for natural history, 

 devoting much of his leisure time to the studies of ento- 

 mology and botany, when desiring to concentrate his 

 efforts upon the latter science he abandoned the former. 

 His principal aim soon became manifest, for he prepared a 

 large and valuable herbarium, which became greatly 

 enriched by the aid of numerous correspondents. His 

 attention was then drawn to the cryptogams, and his whole 

 devotion was given to the then unexplored branch of 

 lichenology, which, at the time of the death of Dr. Tucker- 

 111:111, was a new field for extensive study and research. 



Dr. Eckfeldt's literary work consists of some short 

 papers and synopses of species. Among some of these may 

 be mentioned, "A descriptive Enumeration of some rare 

 North American Lichens," " Description of some new North 



