1914] The Ottawa Naturalist. 53 



A PLEA FOR T-HE PUBLICATION OF A NEW 

 ILLUSTRATED FLORA OF THE 

 PROVINCE OF QUEBEC. 



In the annual report of " The Quebec Society for the 

 Protection of Plants" for 1911-1912, the following statement 

 appears: "Many years ago Abbe Provancher published a work 

 entitled 'Flore du Canada in two volumes, which has been out 

 of print for some years, and is now very difficult to procure. No 

 work on systematic botany has taken its place in Quebec, con- 

 sequently this phase of the study of plant life has been, to a large 

 extent, neglected in the French schools of the province. I would, 

 therefore, suggest that the society request the Government of the 

 province not only to reprint a revised edition of Provancher's 

 work, but also to publish a school edition of the same. The 

 publication of these two editions would give a stimulus to the 

 study of plants, and indirectly would tend to a better knowledge 

 of weeds on the part of the rising generation." 



As an admirer of Abbe Provancher, and one who, more- 

 over, has followed closely in his footsteps for the past ten years, 

 I beg leave to express an opinion on the matter. 



There is no doubt that the name of Provancher has a 

 prominent standing in the history of Canadian science. Under 

 strtiggling circumstances, without special training or laboratory 

 facilities, far from technical libraries, he, however, accomplished 

 a stupendous amount of work and cleared the ground most 

 efficienth' for future workers. 



The ''Flore Canadienne" was a most extraordinary achieve- 

 ment for the time, and, although fifty years have passed, — fifty 

 years of feverish activity — even though it is now largely obsolete 

 on account of the steady advance in botanical studies, we must 

 admit whatever our language is that no other book, as yet, 

 has attempted to displace it. 



Nevertheless, the proposal of reprinting Provancher's work 

 is a rather sad acknowledgment of inabilitv ; to state my. opinion 

 briefly, I consider that such a reprint, if the essential features 

 are preserved, would be a step backwards. 



In the course of the last half century the systematic botany 

 of North America has benefited by the labour of a host of serious 

 workers. Unknown regions have been penetrated, thousands 

 of new species established and the nomenclature more than 

 once disturbed and subjected to new investigations. 



Mentioning only the Province of Quebec, the careful survey 

 of Prof. M. L. Fernald and his Harvard friends has shown, in the 

 Gaspe Peninsula, the existence of an altogether tmknown flora 

 akin to that of the Rockies. Of this fact, of course, Provancher 

 had no suspicion. 



