46 THE PLANT WOELD 



there lie went to Gnadeu, where he was pastor until 1812, when he was 

 appointed by the Brethren general agent of the church in the southern 

 states. Before leaving Germany he married Louisa Amelia LeDoux. 



While on the way to America some time was spent at the University 

 of Eael, where he received the degree Ph. D. Pursuing his journey to 

 this country, which was reached after a tempestuous voyage, he settled 

 at Salem, North Carolina, where the United Brethren had an establish- 

 ment. Here he devoted all his spare time to the study of the fungi of 

 the region, and published as the result in 1818 his Synopsis of the 

 Fungi of North Carolina^. The same year his business necessitating a 

 visit to Germany, he improved the opportunity to establish correspond- 

 ence with the leading systematic botanists of Europe. 



Upon his return to America he began the formation of the magnifi- 

 cent herbarium which is now in the possession of the Philadelphia Acad- 

 emy of Natural Sciences, and contains types of most of the species 

 described by him. 



In 1821 he published a pamphlet on the "hepatic mosses"^, and the 

 same year a monograph of the genus Viola. At the close of this year 

 he returned to Bethlehem, Pa., as general agent for the Brethren and 

 Superintendent of the Institution for the Education of Females. Here 

 he diligently pursued the collection and study of fungi, most of his 

 work being done in the \dcinity of Bethlehem and Nazareth. He car- 

 ried on correspondence and exchange with Fries, Steudel, Brongniart, 

 Ledebour, Hooker, Martins and others, whose specimens enrich his col- 

 lection. The value of his botanical work was recognized by his election 

 as honorary member of various scientific societies in this country and 

 Europe. As the result of his studies at this time he published several 

 papers, one being a monograph of that difl&cult genus, Cai^ex^. 



In 1824 he made another visit to Germany, returning the same year. 

 From this time he devoted most of his effort to the collection and descrip- 

 tion of the material which formed the basis of his most important publi- 

 cation, the Synopsis of North American Fungi ^ ^ . Always physically 

 frail, in 1830 he was taken with a severe cough, and his health continuing 

 to fail, he made a journey to Indiana, from which he derived some benefit, 

 but suffered a relapse and died February 8, 1834, leaving his wife and 

 four sons. 



Personally Schweinitz is described as a retiring but most genial and 

 lovable man. He was honored and respected by all with whom he 

 came in contact. As a result of his botanical work, he published about 

 1400 new species, mostly fungi. Owing largely to the imperfect facilities 

 for study which he possessed, numerous corrections in his work are 

 necessitated in the light of our present knowledge. As a pioneer, 



