1883.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 21)3 



had already' devoted much time to it, when it became apparent to 

 his fellow-members that the Academy would be greatly benefited 

 by employing him permanently for a compensation. In 1874 he 

 was elected one of the Curators, and on solicitation was induced 

 to partially give up his business as a bookbinder and accept the 

 meagre amount which the ISociet}^ could afford to pay him, 

 giving in return the greater part of his time to its work. The 

 entire museum was removed under his direction and arranged in 

 cases in this building in a very short period — the actual removal 

 being accomplished in about a month, the unpacking and display 

 in the cases in about five months. He has been annually re-elected 

 one of the Curators of the Academy at successive elections, 

 invariably receiving the full number of votes cast, however many 

 candidates were in nomination, thus showing the value and appre- 

 ciation of his services. 



Although he continued his interest in the study of conchology 

 and entomolog}', and made quite extensive collections in both of 

 these departments, he seemed to have taken an especial fondness 

 for the study of botany, which he never afterward allowed to 

 falter. He was one of the first to discover that the ballast 

 deposits in and around Philadelphia and Camden were prolific in 

 introduced plants, and his knowledge of conchology sometimes 

 enabled him to determine the part of the world from which those 

 deposits came, as occasionally fragments of shells were found 

 therein. 



In one of his journcyings to the swamps of Cape May County 

 he met Coe F. Austin, the noted cr^-ptogramic botanist, who died 

 at Closter, N. J., a few years ago, and who at that time was 

 engaged in the study of the flora of New Jersey. There at once 

 sprang up a real friendship between them, which increased as 

 time a*dvanced, terminating only when Austin died. The interest, 

 however, which had been created to endeavor to complete a list 

 of the plants of New Jersey was not allowed to abate ; and for 

 se-^eral 3'ears past, in connection with other botanists, the work 

 has been approaching completion to such an extent that a 

 preliminary catalogue has been compiled by N. L. Britton, and 

 printed under the auspices of the Geological Survey of New 

 Jerse}^, in which the name of C. F. Parker frequently appears. 

 Probably no botanist has made more frequent visits to the pine 

 barrens and swamps of that State, nor collected so extensively 



