Gross.] 180 [November. 



might find in his retirement the ease and comfort for which he had 

 so long sighed. 



He was now in the fifty-fifth year of his age, with all his faculties, 

 mental and corporeal, in full vigor. It was believed that one of the 

 objects he had in view in quitting the school was to write a work on 

 the botany of the Southwestern States, for which he had long been 

 engaged in collecting material. His herbarium was one of the most 

 extensive and complete in the country, and few, if any, were so 

 thoroughly and intimately acquainted with its flora. With descrip- 

 tive powers of a high order, with leisure at once elegant and refined, 

 with a scholarly mind and independent wealth, he was capable of 

 producing a work of the most profound interest and value, replete in 

 originality and calculated to reflect vast credit, not only upon him- 

 self as an able and finished botanist, but upon the scientific character 

 of the nation. He might, in a word, have eff'ected for his favorite 

 science what Wilson and Audubon so happily effected for ornithology. 

 But, strange to say, he never accomplished his purpose. He seemed 

 to be afraid to enter upon the task. Writing was distasteful to him, 

 and his days and nights passed without yielding any scientific fruits. 

 His vast collection of dried specimens, one of the richest of the kind 

 in the world, is now in the possession of the Academy of Natural 

 Sciences of Philadelphia; and other hands than his will, doubtless, 

 ultimately delineate and describe it. It was originally bequeathed 

 to the Smithsonian Institution at Washington, but as there was no 

 suitable apartment for its preservation, it was fortunately sent to this 

 city, whose scientific men cannot fail to appreciate its value and im- 

 portance, and to render it ultimately available to the permanent fame 

 of its author. 



Most of Dr. Short's time during his residence at Hayfield, was 

 spent in his herbarium, a model of elegance and neatness. It was, 

 in fact, his daily study, absorbing nearly all his attention, especially 

 in the winter. Here, year after year, he prepared, arranged and 

 labelled his specimens, receiving and sending collections to all parts 

 of the civilized globe, mainly through the hands of European botan- 

 ists, and they through their colonies in more remote regions. In 

 this labor, one of love and almost of necessity to him, he was often 

 assisted by his daughters, many of whose happiest moments were 

 thus spent in his presence, under circumstances of the most gratify- 

 ing and delightful nature. The labels used upon his specimens 

 were generally printed by their own hands by means of a small home- 

 made press. 



In summer his garden afforded him great delight in the planting 



