Miscellaneous, 463 



Queen's College under the auspices of the Principal and Profes- 

 sors. Professor Lawson, whose name as a botanist is already 

 widely known, has evidently been the initiator of this movement, 

 and will we doubt not prove the soul of the Society itself. His 

 practical knowledge of botanical subjects and his genuine scien- 

 tific enthusiasm, will we hope be the means of carrying on the 

 society's aflfairs with efficiency, and of infusing into the minds of 

 its younger members a zeal for the prosecution of this noble de- 

 partment of science. We hope from time to time to be able to 

 report good work done in the way of original research and dis- 

 covery in the fine region of country which lies around King- 

 son. Among other departments we trust that this Society 

 will draw attention to the fine array of forest trees which our coun- 

 try contains, not so much for purposes of commerce as for purposes 

 of preservation and economical use at home. The Canadian far- 

 mer has not yet learned the wisdom of planting as he has of cutting 

 down trees, and the time seems not far distant when in many of 

 the finest parts of the country the famous forestry of Canada will 

 have disappeared from our sight. This Society has much work 

 before it which we trust it will not only begin but carry out with 

 effect. Our readers will be interested in the following extracts from 

 Professor Lawson's admirable address. 



" Dr. Lawson pointed out the peculiar sphere in which the botanist 

 is called to labour, the range of his studies, and the means acquired 

 for their pursuit. It is of great importance that at the outset the real 

 object of our proposed Society should be understood. The estab- 

 lishment of a Botanical Garden and other appliances must be re- 

 garded as secondary to the great object of the Society, the prosecu- 

 tion of scientific botany. Botany is at a low ebb in Canada, at a 

 lower ebb than in most civilized or half civilized countries on the 

 face of the earth. At the close of the eighteenth century, only five 

 dissertations, on botanical subjects had been published by the 

 whole medical graduates of the great Continent of America. 

 Since then the indefatigable labours of such men as Michaux, 

 Pursh, Torrey, Harvey, Curtis, Boott, Englemann, Tuckermann 

 Sullivant, Lesquereux, and especially of one whose name and 

 fame rise above all the rest, Asa Gray, have brought our know- 

 ledge, of the botany of the United States on a level with that of 

 the best botanized countries of Europe. The Flora of Canada 

 has also been elaborated since then by one who still presides 

 over the destinies of botanical science, not in England alone, for 



