54 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb, 



Michaux published the result of bis observations in a Flora of 

 America ; but it is very meagre, compared vritb later works on that 

 subject. Michaux the younger never visited Canada that I am aw^are 

 of, but derived his information respecting our trees from his father. 

 Francis Masson, that celebrated collector for the Royal Gardens 

 at Kew, who introduced so many of the floral beauties of the Cape 

 of Good Hope, visited Canada about the beginning of the present 

 century. He passed a good portion of his time in Montreal ; and 

 oh how I did yearn for the benefit of his acquaintance, with a 

 view to information on plants of the country, but all my sighing and 

 yearning were doomed to end in disappointment. He died here 

 about the year 1804, at the house of Mr. John Gray, at Cote St. 

 Catherine, a benevolent and much respected merchant. The 

 mention of John Gray reminds me that he kindly fostered the Kev. 

 James Somerville while in a state of mental aberration. With 

 Mr. Somerville I was much acquainted ; he was devoted to the 

 study of natural history. It will be recollected that this gentle- 

 man was a patron and benefactor of this Society. We now come 

 to the name of F]:ederick Pursh, the celebrated botanist, who 

 made his appearance in Canada in 1815. I became acquainted 

 with him, and derived much valuable information from him about 

 plants. He visited Anticosti in 1817, and brought back a large 

 collection of living plants, rare in other parts of the country, some 

 of which I cultivated in my garden ; but the greater portion of 

 them perished in the packages in which they were brought up. 

 Among those which survived were Ligusticum Scoticum, a beau- 

 tiful Thalictrum, which he named T. purpurascens, and an Allium^ 

 identified with A. sclioenoprasum, Pursh's Flora of North America 

 is a carefully got-up book, and was the standard text-book till Gray's 

 appeared. Pursh died here about 1821, at the house of Robert 

 Cleghorn, Blink Bonny, a nurseryman, and a good botanist, — aeon- 

 temporary of Loudon. Poor Pursh was thriftless ] in his declining 

 years living mainly on the hospitality of his friends. Colonel Hamil- 

 ton Smith, the learned historian of the natural history of man, 

 visited Canada in 1817, seeking information in science generally. 

 1 became acquainted with him, but his sojourn here was very short. 

 Now, ladies, allow me to say a word of encouragement for you. 

 What will you not succeed on attaining when you set your 

 hearts on its accomplishment, as the example of the Countess Dal- 

 housic will show. This lady became an accomplished botanist^ 



