NOTE. 



IT has been my aim, in collecting and arranging the 

 " Letters " from Dr. Gray's large correspondence, to 

 show, as far as possible in his own words, his life and 

 his occupation. The greater part of the immense 

 mass of letters he wrote was necessarily purely sci- 

 entific, uninteresting except to the person addressed ; 

 so that many of those published are merely fragments, 

 and very few are given completely. I have made no 

 attempt to estimate his scientific or critical labors, 

 for they are sufficiently before the world in various 

 printed works ; but something of the personality of 

 the man and his many interests may be learned from 

 these familiar letters and from even the slight notes. 



Dr. Gray began an Autobiography, but went no 

 further than to give a brief sketch of his early life. 

 This fragment is placed, with some notes illustrative 

 of the early conditions in which his youth was passed, 

 at the beginning of the work. 



It is owing to the kind assistance of many friends 

 that the Autobiography and Letters are thus pre- 

 sented ; among whom should be especially mentioned 

 Professors C. S. Sargent and Charles L. Jackson, 

 Dr. W. G. Farlow, Mr. J. H. Redfield, and Mr. 



Horace E. Scudder. 



J. L. GRAY. 



BOTANIC GAKDEN, CAMBRIDGE, 

 July 1, 1893. 



