246 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



gave a good account of the country which was then much misunderstood 

 and misrepresented, and resulted in correcting many erroneous ideas 

 regarding that section of the American continent. It contained many 

 very valuable data concerning the meteorology, geology, topography and 

 botany of the region. Among the valuable results of this tour was a 

 botanical collection containing many new plants which were classified 

 and described by Dr. Geo. Engelmann, of St. Louis, who commemorated 

 the valuable services of Wislizenus to science by applying his name to a 

 new genus, Wislizejiia, as well as to several of the new species of the col- 

 lection. 



Wislizenus again returned to St. Louis from Washington upon the 

 completion of his report, and served faithfully during the cholera epi- 

 demic of 1849. As soon as this was over, however, he went to Constan- 

 tinople in 1850 to bring back with him as his bride, Miss Lucy Crane, a 

 sister-in-law of Hon. Geo. P. Marsh, whom he had met while in Wash- 

 ington. After visiting his old home in Thilringen and the large cities 

 of the Old World, the two returned to the United States. Leaving his 

 wife with her friends in the east, he went to Panama and California in 

 search of a more desirable location. But he again returned to St. Louis 

 and finally settled down permanently. He was one of the founders of 

 the St. Louis Academy of Science and an active worker and one of the 

 officers of the St. Louis Medical Society and of the Western Academy of 

 Sciences. He was for many years president of the German Medical So- 

 ciety of St. Louis. His barometrical observations and his botanical and 

 mineralogical collections, together with his memoir, are distinct addi- 

 tions to science. He was interested in meteorology from 1858 till his 

 death, and in 1861 he commenced to study the atmospheric electricity 

 with the belief that this would be of value in connection with meteorology. 

 He discontinued this study, however, upon arriving at the conclusion 

 that it was valueless in this connection — a fact which is now generally 

 acknowledged. His last days were spent in seclusion, he being closely 

 confined to the house by his infirmities and the loss of his sight. He 

 died on September 22, 1889, in his eightieth year. 



In 1851 there began a most important movement for the advance- 

 ment of botany in St. Louis.-'^ In that year, Mr. Henry Shaw, while on 

 his last visit to Europe, first conceived the idea of establishing for him- 

 self a country estate on lines similar to those of many of the large Eng- 

 lish ones. In fact he had already started to build a home in the country 

 district west of St. Louis; 



This idea of a large private estate seems to have soon become changed 

 to that of a botanical garden, for in 1857 he commenced active opera- 



=^Trelease, Wm., Mo. Bot. Garden Report, 1: 84-90, 1890. Plant World, 

 5: 1-4, 1902. "The Academy of Science of St. Louis," Pop. Sci. Monthly, 62: 

 118-130, 1903. "The Missouri Botanical Garden," Pop. Sci. Monthly, 62: 

 193-221, 1903. 



