THE BOTANISTS OF PHILADELPHIA. 379 



Professionally, he is a chemist, having, as chemist of 

 the Sharpless Dye-wood Extracting Company since 1882, 

 paid especial attention to dyestuffs. 



Since 1874 he has been a student of botany, his studies 

 being mostly confined to the local flora, especially that of 

 Delaware County. He has been enabled to make several 

 additions to the flora of the county, contributed to the 

 records of the Delaware County Institute of Science, Media, 

 Pennsvlvania. He has been a member of the Botanical 



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Committee of that society for six years, Chairman of the 

 Committee two years, and President since 1894, having been 

 re-elected in 1894 and 1896. Lately, Mr. Palmer and his 

 brother, John Palmer, have interested themselves in the 

 study and collection of diatoms. 



Mi\ Palmer has written several popular science articles 

 for The Student, The Friend, and the Philadelphia Weekly 

 American. A paper on " Isoetes Saccharata " appeared in 

 the Botanical Gazette for January, 1895, and one on " Respira- 

 tion in Diatoms," in Proceedings of the Academy of Natural 

 Sciences, 1897. 



Mr. Palmer is a member of the Society of Chemical 

 Industry (British), the Society of Dyers and Colorists 

 (British), Societe Chimique de Paris, the Franklin Institute, 

 the Academy of Xatural Sciences, Philadelphia. 



F. D. CHESTER. 



F. D. Chester was born October 10, 1861. and was 

 educated at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, 

 and at Cornell University, where he received the degree of 

 B.S. in 1882, and M.S. in 1885. From 1882 to isxr>, he 

 was Professor of Geology and Mineralogy in Delaware 



