830 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



began when Bartram was about thirty-five years of age. In his 

 early letters Collinson makes many inquiries about American 

 plants and requests for specimens. He sends Bartram seeds, 

 roots, cuttings of trees, vegetables, and flowering plants culti- 

 vated in England, packages of paper in which to preserve speci- 

 mens, and gives him directions for collecting and drying plants. 

 From time to time he sends presents of cloth and other articles 

 for the use of the botanist or his family. For Bartram's " im- 

 provement in the knowledge of plants " he early offers, if dupli- 

 cate collections are sent, to " get them named by our most know- 

 ing botanists, and then return them again, which will improve 

 thee more than books." In this way the learning of Dillenius, 

 Gronovius, and other eminent men was brought to the aid of the 

 humble colonist. Collinson obtained for Bartram many orders 

 for seeds and roots of American plants, and early secured for him 

 the patronage of Lord Petre, whose gardens and hot-houses were 

 probably the most extensive in the kingdom. This noble ama- 

 teur ordered quantities of seeds from time to time, and when Bar- 

 tram asked for a yearly allowance to enable him to extend his ex- 

 plorations, Lord Petre agreed to contribute ten guineas toward it. 

 As much more was obtained from the Duke of Richmond and 

 Philip Miller, and the twenty guineas were paid each year till 

 1743, when Lord Petre died. The first expedition that Bartram 

 made with this assistance was an exploration of the Schuylkill 

 River. He transmitted his journal of the trip and a map of the 

 river to his patrons, and with both of these Collinson reported 

 Lord Petre to be much pleased. 



Besides plants, Collinson asks Bartram at various times to 

 send insects, birds, and their eggs and nests, terrapin and other 

 turtles, snakes, shells, wasps' and hornets' nests, and fossils, which 

 last were then regarded as " evidences of the Deluge." " My incli- 

 nation and fondness to natural productions of all kinds," he writes, 

 "is agreeable to the old proverb, ' Lil-e the parson's ham — refuses 

 nothing.'" During the second year of his allowance Bartram 

 complains that it does not recompense him for his labors, and he 

 also finds fault with Collinson for giving him seeds and cuttings 

 that he has already, and for not having answered some of his let- 

 ters. Collinson, in a business-like reply, shows that Bartram's 

 complaints are due to his ignorance of commercial affairs and 

 the difficulty of transatlantic communication, and to his ex- 

 ceeding the commissions of his patrons — whereupon the botanist 

 promptly apologizes. 



In 1738 Bartram made a journey of five weeks through Mary- 

 land and Virginia to Williamsburg, then up the James River, 

 and over the Blue Ridge Mountains, traveling in all about eleven 

 hundred miles. Most of the botanist's expeditions were made 



