THE FLORA OF NORTH AMERICA. 245 
Michaux’s explorations extended from Hudson’s Bay, which 
he reached by way of the Saguenay, to Florida, as far, at 
least as St. Augustine and Pensacola; he was the first botani- 
eal explorer of the higher Alleghany Mountains, and, cross- 
ing these mountains in Tennessee, he reached the Mississippi 
in Illinois, and was as far south as Natchez. His original 
itinerary, which I once consulted, is preserved by the Ameri- 
can Philosophical Society, at Philadelphia, to which it was 
presented by his son. It ought to be printed. That little 
journal shows that it was not Michaux’s fault that the first 
Flora of North America was restricted to the district east of 
the Mississippi River. He had a scheme for crossing the con- 
tinent to the Pacific. He warmly solicited the government at 
Washington to undertake such an exploration, and offered to 
accompany it as naturalist. This may have been the germ 
or the fertilizing idea of the expedition of Lewis and Clark, 
which was sent out a few years afterward by Jefferson, to 
whom, if I rightly remember, Michaux addressed his enter- 
prising proposal. 
Leaving out the Cryptogams of lower rank than the Ferns, 
we find that the Flora of Michaux, published at the begin- 
ning of this century, say eighty years ago, contains 1530 
species, in 528 genera. No very formidable number; as to 
species (speaking without a count) little over half as many as 
are described in my “ Manual of the Botany of the Northern 
States,” which covers less than half of Michaux’s area. 
Eleven years afterward, namely, in the year 1814 (the 
preface is dated December, 1813), appeared the second Flora 
of North America, namely, the “ Flora Americe Septentrio- 
nalis,” by Frederick Pursh. This was not confined to the 
author’s own collections, but aimed at completeness, or to give 
‘“‘a systematic arrangement and description of the plants of 
North America, containing, besides what have been described 
by preceding authors, many new and rare species, collected 
during twelve years’ travels and residence in that country.” 
It appears that Pursh was born at Tobolsk, in Siberia, of 
what parentage we do not know. He himself tells us, in his 
preface, that he was educated in Dresden, and that he came 
