SKETCH OF L. D. VON SCHWEINITZ, 835 



his family with him. Lewis was removed from the Nazareth 

 seminary and after the family reached Germany was entered as 

 a student in the theological institution at Niesky, in what was 

 then known as the j^rovince of Lusatia, in Silesia. Here he made 

 the acquaintance of Prof. J. B. de Albertini, who became his fast 

 friend and his fellow-worker in botanical investigations. After 

 completing his course as a student he became a teacher in the 

 academy. His leisure at Niesky was occupied in the pursuit of 

 his favorite science, in general reading and study, and in writing 

 for the literary journals of the time. In his Memoir of von 

 Schweinitz, read before the Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila- 

 delphia, Walter R. Johnson says of his literary activity at this 

 time : " Scarcely any important topic in the wide field of science 

 escaped his notice, and especially did the constitution and man- 

 agement of the affairs of his social and religious fraternity call 

 forth from his pen many able and spirited articles." 



The first published botanical work of von Schweinitz appeared 

 in 1805, when he was twenty-five years of age. From the begin- 

 ning of his residence at Niesky he had given especial attention to 

 the fungi, previously little studied. The association with Alber- 

 tini had continued and the discoveries of the two friends in this 

 field had been so many as to warrant the publication of a volume 

 of about four hundred pages on the fungi of Lusatia embodying 

 the results of their united efi^orts. It was written in Latin, as 

 was still the custom for scientific works in Europe, and the 

 twelve plates, containing figures of ninety-three new species, with 

 which it was illustrated, were drawn and engraved by von 

 Schweinitz's own hands. In this work the authors creditably re- 

 frained from the then too common practice of giving new names 

 to the already known plants included in their descriptions. 

 They were convinced that natural history had been grievously 

 burdened by the accumulation and confusion of synonyms, many 

 of which promoted no other purpose than an unworthy ambition. 



Soon after this Mr. von Schweinitz began to preach, and in 

 1807 was called to the Moravian settlement at Gnadenberg, not 

 far from Niesky. " Considered as literary performances," says 

 Johnson, in the memoir already cited, " his sermons were charac- 

 terized by the utmost simplicity, both in style and delivery, and 

 were addressed more to the heart than to the head. His dis- 

 courses were invariably practical, not argumentative experi- 

 mental, not speculative." It was now the time of Napoleon's 

 continental wars, and troops were quartered at Gnadenberg. 

 The inhabitants found the presence of the soldiery irksome, but 

 the happy disposition and winning deportment of the young pas- 

 tor had much influence in preventing collisions. The next year 

 he was invited to Gnadau, in Saxony, where he remained four 



