8 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [Jan., 



in 1892, in Avliich position he rendered especially valuable service. 

 He served on the Finance Committee from December, 1890, and 

 was one of the Council from May, 1891. At the time of his 

 death he was, and had been for a number of years, Vice-Director 

 of the Botanical Section. 



His influence on American botany, and on American science 

 generally, was exerted in such a quiet way that its full im- 

 portance will never be appreciated. His critical mind led him 

 to prefer • difficult subjects; hence carices, grasses and rushes 

 had especial charms for him. He could readily see what others 

 failed to observe, and ho became an authority on these subjects. 

 While in the midst of his heavy labors in reconstructing the rail- 

 road company, he was in active correspondence with Boott, Olney, 

 Engelmaun and other specialists in the study of these difficult 

 genera. Pie rather prided himself on going over oft-trodden 

 ground and noting what others failed to see. By his persistency 

 with Dr. Gray he finally induced this great botanist to recognize 

 two new species from oft-explored localities in New Jersey, Avhich 

 he named Scirpus Smlthii and Lobelia Canbyi, and this after 

 he had failed to satisfy Boott and Olney of the distinctness of the 

 forms. In explanation of his persistency he tells a friend, " When 

 there seems to be reason for my sentiments, I must express them 

 or die." In a letter to a friend, dated October 15, 1807, he 

 remarks, "At ]\Ioosehead Lake I also got Grcvphephorum melicoides 

 and Aspidium fragrans, heretofore only known as Western plants. 

 It is a comfort to penetrate the hub of the universe and make the 

 natives acquainted with their own plants. One feels good — that 

 is to say, much like a missionary." 



Apart from the beneficent influence the concentration required 

 by good proof-reading had in counteracting insomnia, it was 

 through his chosen work as proof-reader that he has left his 

 impress, especially on botanical literature. He begged his friends, 

 as a privilege, to permit him to read proofs for them. In the 

 course of such work the contributions of his botanical friends 

 underwent his ci'itical scrutiny; and the authors received the bene- 

 fit of his watchful care. The corrections Avould often be clothed 

 in dry humor. He once wrote to Dr. Gray on the issuance of a 

 new edition of his Manual, " Have you observed from Gray's 

 Manual that Solidar/o altissima grows only two to seven inches 



