Section IV., 1897. [ 3 ] Trans. R. S. C. 



I. — A Review of Canadian Botany from 1800 to 1895} 



PART II. 



B}^ 1). P. Peniiallow, 



(Read June 21st, 1897.) 



The history of bottmicîil progress in the 18th century closed with 

 the memorable work of the elder Michaux. It was therefore peculiarly 

 fitting that the beginning of the 19th century should see his important 

 contributions to the botany of this continent essentially continued by his 

 son, François André, who made a distinct advance upon the work thus 

 admirably laid down, in his North American Sylva, a work which, until 

 the last, few years, has stood unrivalled, and which has placed the 

 author's name high in the list of eminent botanists. 



Following close upon the labours of the elder Michaux there came 

 one whose deep interest in the flora of this region had been aroused by 

 essentially the same influences that led his predecessors, Kalm and 

 Michaux, to undertake a labour which at that time was fraught with 

 enormous difficulties, and which, while it seemed to greatly enrich the 

 science they loved so well, and for which they endured so much, brought 

 to them no gain beyond the reward which springs from the consciousness 

 of a duty nobly conceived and as nobly discharged, and the enduring 

 approbation of their fellowmen. I refer particularly to one whose work 

 was one of the most important elements in the progress of botany in the 

 early part of this century, not only in Canada, but also in the United 

 States, and the close of whose life of toil and suffering among strangers 

 was invested with a pathetic element which yet makes the place of his 

 death and burial of more than ordinary interest to those who cultivate 

 the science of plant life. 



Frederick Pursh was born at Grrossenhayn, Saxony, in 1774, and 

 educated at Dresden.^ In his account of the motives which led him to 

 undertake his memorable work, he says : 



'■ Among the numerous useful and interesting objects of natural 

 history discovered in the vast extent of the new continent, none claim 



1 For assistance received in the preparation of this paper, I desire to record my 

 obligations to Prof. John Macoun and Dr. J. G. Bourinot, of Ottawa; Mr. Harry 

 Piers and Dr. A. H. MacKay, of Halifax ; Mr. John M, Swain, of Prince Edward 

 Island ; Mr. G. U. Hay, of St. John, N.B. ; l'Abbé Laflanime, of Quebec ; Prof. W. J, 

 Fowler, of Queen's College, Kingston; Mr. A. Alexander, of Hamilton, Ont. ; Prof. 

 L. W. Bailey, Fredericton, N.B.; Rev. Moses Harvey, St. John's, Newfoundland ; 

 Rev. F. W. Vroom, King's College, Windsor, N.S. ; Dr. T. J. W. Burgess and Mr. 

 H. Mott, of Montreal. 



2 Mr. James in the Journal of a Botanical Excursion, says he was born at 

 Tobolsk, Siberia, but as he gives no authority for this statement, and as I have been 

 unable to confirm it, I have adopted the data given by Pritzel as the more trust* 

 worthy. (Pritz. Thes. Bot. Lit,, 1872, 2.54.) 



