12 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



in another place ' he apparently refers more spec i fi cal I}'- to them when 

 he speaks of ■' botanical productions of Canada which have been received 

 from the Lady Dalhousie, Mrs. Percival, Mr. Sheppard and 3Ir. Todd, 

 etc.," and also refers to " plants of Newfoundland and Labrador, gath- 

 ered by Dr. Morrison, who afterwards fell a victim to his courage and 

 love of science in exjtloring Central Africa." To this list may also be 

 added the name of Titus Smith, already referred to, and that of Garry, 

 an officer in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company, one whose name 

 survives in Fort Garry, now Winnipeg, as also in Quercus Ganyana, of 

 Douglas. A careful search of the usual records fails to disclose any 

 information concerning any of these botanists, who were evidently well 

 knoAvn to Sir William Hooker. It seems probable, therefore, that owing 

 to their work being wholly confined to collecting, and in the absence of 

 j)ublished writings, their names have gradually fallen into neglect, and 

 the part they played in the advancement of Canadian botany — important 

 if obscure — cannot now be ascertained, and it is more than probable that 

 there were many others, of whom all trace has been completely lost. 



The year 1850 is noteworthy as marking the commencement of a 

 period of exceptional activity in botanical research throughout the 

 civilised world, and in this Canada participated, though not to the same 

 extent as other parts of this continent. Nevei'theless, our progress since 

 that time has been due to native botanists in a far greater degree than 

 formerly. It was at the commencement of this period that Dr. Barnston 

 became known as a botanist of enterprise and ability, and one who 

 would, had he lived, have taken an important part in the questions of the 

 day. 



It is to this period also thai the late Abbé Bruuet belongs. This 

 scientist was well known to the leading botanists of his day, and to him 

 we owe the foundation of the fii'st botanical museum in the country. 

 For many years the herbarium at Laval University took precedence 

 over all others. The Abbé Brunet was also w^ell known thi-ough several 

 scientific papers, and his death in 187G involved a distinct loss to the 

 science he represented. 



To the Abbé Provancher we are indebted for the first distinctively 

 Canadian work on the vegetation of this portion of the continent, and 

 his Flore Canadienne has continued to serve as an important guide to 

 a knowledge of the flora of Quebec. In Le Naturaliste Canadien, 

 l'Abbé Provancher also continued to work for the advancement of 

 Canadian botany. During the later years of his life he was local secre- 

 taiy of the Botanical Club of Canada. By his death, in 1892, Canadian 

 science suflfered a severe loss, more particularly as he was one of the very 

 few French naturalists among us. 



1 Hook. Bot. Misc., I. S)2. 



