154 THE PLANT WORLD. 



of the correspondence carried on with native and foreign bota- 

 nists regarding their local flora, and the transmission of speci- 

 mens. Miss Colden first made known our pretty little Copfis, or 

 gold-thread. 



A nnich more important event was the arrival here, in 1785, 

 of the elder Michaux, who established a celebrated botanical 

 garden at New Durham, X. J., the site of which is now occupied 

 by the Hoboken cemetery. A brief account of this garden may 

 be found in the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 11: 88, 

 1884. In that year I saw growing there a barberry bush which 

 apparently represented the last trace of Michaux's plantings, ex- 

 cept that the European medicinal shrub Khamiiiis Frangula, 

 which he appears to have introduced, has established itself in the 

 adjacent lowlands, and at some neighboring points. Michaux's 

 garden was established especially for the temporary cultivation 

 of plants designed to be sent to France, or to yield seeds designed 

 for such shipment. Nevertheless, so zealous an investigator as 

 Michaux could not fail to utilize this agency for purposes of 

 study, and his great work. Flora Boreal I- Americana, published in 

 1803, and other works on North American botany, were thus 

 materially enriched. Michaux's work in this country was con- 

 tinued by his son, one of whose important publications was a 

 Histoire des arbes forestiers de rAineriqiie Sef'teiitrioiu'ile. after- 

 wards translated into English as The Xorth Aincrieaii Syl'i'a, 

 and this also profited largely by the observations made by the 

 father wdiile maintaining his garden. 



During the time when the Michauxs were so active here, Mr. 

 Samuel L. Mitchill was assiduously collecting plants in the vicin- 

 ity of his home at Plandome, Long Island, a catalogue of which 

 was published in 1807. His work is of s])ecial interest to us, 

 since he was the first professor of botany in Columbia College. 



The flora of ^lanhattan Island was at this time being very 

 actively studied by ]\Iajor John Le Conte, who in 181 1 published 

 an important catalogue relating thereto. 



It is a well recognized historical fact that up to this time, and 

 indeed for a long period following, botanical work proper in this 

 country consisted chiefly in the collecting and naming of plants, 

 and the describing of new species. 



