758 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS. 



the Herbarium, Dr. Sereno Watsou — one of the students that he had 

 gathered about him — was capable of taking up the lines whenever he 

 should lay them down. 



Gray's standing among philosophers abroad, is manifested in his 

 recent reception in Great Britain. It is further shown in his haviug 

 been elected an honorary member of all the principal academies or 

 societies of science in Europe, including the Royal Society of London 

 and the Institute of France. He was president of the Association for 

 the Advancement of Science in the year 1871, and has been one of the 

 llegents of the Smithsonian Institution since 1874; and for ten years, 

 from 1863 to 1873, he was president of the American Academy of Arts 

 and Sciences. In 1884 his portrait in bronze, made by St. Gaudens, 

 was presented to Harvard College. 



One of the most gratifying testimonials from his fellows in science 

 was received on his seventy-fifth birthday. To his surprise there cauie 

 greetings or notes of congratulations from every American botanist, 

 old and young, and, along with the notes, a silver vase embossed with 

 figures of the plants more particularly identified with his name or 

 studies. It was delightful to witness, says one of his associates, his 

 child-like pleasure as he received the gift. Among the letters were 

 some from frieuds who were not botanists. The following lines were 

 from Mr. Lowell : 



Just Fate : prolong his life, well spent, 



Whose indefatigable hours 

 Have been as gaily innocent 

 And fragrant as his flowers. 



The vase is about 11 inches high exclusive of the ebony pedestal. 

 The pedestal is surrounded by a hoop of hammered silver on which is 

 the inscription: 



1810 November eigtiteenth 1885 



ASA GRAY 



In token of the universal esteem 



of American Botanists 



Among the flowers, in raised figures about the vase, the place of 

 honor on one side is held by Grayia polygaloides, and on the other by 

 Shortia galacifolia. On the Grayia side, the prominent plants are 

 AquUegia Canadensis, Centaurea Americana, Jeffersonia diphylla, Rud- 

 heckia speciosa and Mitchella repens ; and on the Shortia side, there are 

 Lilium Grayi, Aster Bigelovii, SoUdago serotina, and Epigma repens. 

 The lower part of the handles runs into a cluster of Diona3a leaves, 

 which clasps the body of tlie vase, aud their upper part is covered with 

 Nothokcna Grayi. Adlmnia cirrhosa trails over the whole back-ground, 

 and here and there its leaves and flowers crop out. The greetings, in 

 the form of cards and letters, that had been sent by the givers of the 

 vase, were placed on a simple but elegant silver plate, which had within 

 the engraved inscription : Bearing the greetings of one hundred aud 



