12 



INTRODUCTION. 



which so animated his master as to dispel the anguish of 

 his malady and relieve him from a tedious confinement*. 

 Kalm was a Swedish divine, who was afterwards elec- 

 ted professor at Abo, and the American Laurel* which 

 has been dedicated to his memory, is a splendid monu- 

 ment of his worth as a botanist. 



Many of the plants of the New England states were 

 first enumerated by Cutler, while those of the south and 

 west were brought to light by the labours of Walter 

 and Fraser. 



We may well feel gratified to gaze on forests which 

 excel all others in the variety and usefulness of their 

 productions. They had charms to tempt the intrepid 

 Michaux, from a climate the most salubrious, a soil 

 the most productive, from the pleasures of refined so- 

 ciety, from the bosom of his family, and the circle of 

 his friends. They had allurements to retain him 

 twelve years in this happy exile, during which time he 

 explored every recess from Georgia to Maine, at one 

 time investigating the productions of nature, at another 

 the improvements of art, always seeking and always 

 ready to communicate useful information. From him, 

 probably for the first time we learn that the single fam- 

 ily of Oak comprehends within the limits of our own 

 country, more species than the whole amount of the 

 trees of Europe. One hundred and forty trees have been 

 enumerated in our forests, of which ninety-five are em- 

 ployed in the arts, while those of France contain less than 

 twenty, only seven ofwhich have been used for building. 

 The vain champion ©f reason and philosophy, whose 

 name deserves not to be remembered, once rested an 

 argument on the diminutive productions of our soil. 



* Kalmia. 



