242 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



ing a skiff and set out for New Orleans in it. They soon were caught 

 by a steamer going their way and they boarded her and abandoned their 

 skiff. Upon arriving in New Orleans the talk about Texas decided him 

 to go farther west^ and he arrived in Galveston in January, 1839. He 

 stayed in Texas about a year and then returned to Illinois where he 

 taught school for some time. 



In the fall of 1841 he found an uninhabited island in the Missouri 

 about three hundred miles above St. Louis, and he took up his solitary 

 residence there. When the spring rise came it caused him to leave. 



In 1844 he sailed for home, and while on this trip first learned that 

 sets of dried plants might be sold. On his return to America and to 

 St. Louis he began to collect and was aided by Dr. Engelmann in naming 

 his specimens. He visited different parts of the country between Chi- 

 cago and New Orleans for the purpose of collecting. Dr. Engelmann 

 commended him to Dr. Asa Gray, and he was furnished with the author- 

 ity to accompany some troops which were being sent to Santa Fe, so 

 that he had free transportation for himself and luggage. He returned 

 to St Louis in the fall of 1847. In the spring of 1849 he started on 

 another collecting trip to the West. He was unsuccessful, having lost 

 most of his stock of drying papers in a flood, and he was forced to re- 

 turn to St. Ijouis. Upon his arrival here he found that all of his large 

 collections and notes and journals had been destroyed in the great fire 

 which burned much of the business section of the city during his ab- 

 sence. In 1849 he embarked for Panama, and after four months again 

 returned to Arkansas, and finally went to Memphis, where he went into 

 business. In 1854 he went to Venezuela and collected for four years, 

 during this time exploring alone mountain ranges which were scarcely 

 known at that time. He made very large collections, which are of great 

 value. He returned to Missouri in 1864 and bought a tract of land in 

 the town of Allenton, about thirty miles west of St. Louis. This he be- 

 gan to clear and cultivate in company with his half-brother, who was 

 half-witted, and who always was dependent upon him. Here he re- 

 mained for seven years, with the exception of a month spent in the Gray 

 Herbarium, assisting in its arrangement. During this time Mr. Letter- 

 man became acquainted with him, and from 1870 to 1871 they met two 

 or three times a week and nearly every Sunday with green plants to be 

 identified. He seems to have collected but little in the vicinity, but was 

 very familiar with the plants of the general neighborhood. After clear- 

 ing his land and putting up his house, mostly with his own hands, he 

 spent most of his time writing a book. This is undoubtedly his " Mech- 

 anism of the Universe," which was unfortunately published at his own 

 expense later. Failing health forced him to dispose of his farm and re- 

 move to another climate. In 1871 he sold the farm and left for Europe, 

 intending to live there the rest of his days. He, however, returned and 



