294 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OK [1895. 



Mr. Durand died soon after. The collection was in a deplorable 

 condition. Mr. Durand had been very generous of his time and 

 abilities, but all he could do was in connection with the North 

 American herbarium. The building was on the line of a dusty 

 street, and the dust-covered packages of genera or natural orders 

 were quite repel lant. Mr. Redfield's cheering calls were bright 

 spots in my lonely task. I tried, however, to interest some of my 

 correspondents in behalf of the herbarium. Dr. Gray's reply was 

 suggestive. "What is the use of throwing valuable material into a 

 dust bin ? ' I was pondering over the note when Mr. Redfield 

 made his daily call. "Never mind that," said he, in his cheery 

 manner, " I shall have more time soon, and the new building is to go 

 up near my residence. We will show them what sort of a 'dustbin' 

 we shall have after a while." From this time he began active work 

 on the herbarium, looking at first into the few collections, and com- 

 menced the great task he imposed on himself, resulting in giving us 

 a herbarium of which botanical science everywhere is proud. His 

 intelligent earnestness made friends for the Academy everywhere, 

 and it is pleasant to note that among all these friends no one was 

 more liberal or generous than the author of the "dust bin" note. 

 With the exception of the three summer months when he took a 

 vacation to northern sea shores, every day was given to herbarium 

 work, while many of his evenings were devoted to correspondence 

 with botanical friends all over the world. At his death he had 

 catalogued and indexed so that any specimen can be examined in a 

 few seconds, the whole collection numbering some thirty-five thou- 

 sand species of flowering plants and ferns. He had, with the aid of 

 an assistant, verified and fastened one-half of the specimens. 



The Academy is indebted to John H. Redfield not only for his 

 great labors in behalf of the herbarium, but for the influence of his 

 personal character. His amiable qualities endeared him to every 

 one with whom he came in contact; his generous helpfulness, espe- 

 cially to younger botanists, carried gratitude to many distant re- 

 gions; eminent men from all parts of the world honored him and 

 nave him pleasure by calling on him and enjoying his hospitality 

 when passing through the city. The Academy profited by the many 

 gifts of plants made as a tribute to'his worth. It is probable no one 

 ever heard Mr. Redfield make an ill-natured remark of another even 

 under temptation. Always full of good humor, he would even in a 



