CHARLES WILKINS SHORT. 313 
sylvania Journal of Medicine,” etc., of which he was for some 
time one of the editors. The most important is his Catalogue 
of the plants of his native state (which he widely and assidu- 
ously explored), and several supplements; with well consid- 
ered characters of some new species, and acute and diserimi- 
nating notes upon several imperfectly known plants: These 
and the copious manuscript observations which he was for 
many years accustomed to communicate to his botanical corre- 
spondents, showed what he was capable of accomplishing, had 
not a most retiring and unambitious disposition unduly lim- 
ited his exertion. It was not activity or persevering labor, 
but publicity, that he shrunk from. He was a very industri- 
ous botanist, and an effectual promoter of our science in this 
country. His great usefulness in this field was mainly owing 
to the extent and the particular excellence of his personal col- 
lections, and to the generous profusion with which he distrib- 
uted them far and wide among his fellow-laborers in this and 
other lands. He and the late Mr. Oakes—the one in the 
west and the other in the east, but independently — were the 
first in this country to prepare on an ample scale dried speci- 
mens of uniform and superlative excellence and beauty, and in 
lavish abundance for the purpose of supplying all who could 
need them. Dr. Short’s disinterested activity in these re- 
spects has enriched almost every considerable herbarium both 
at home and abroad, and set an example which has produced 
large and good results among us. The vast improvement in 
the character of the dried specimens now generally made by 
our botanists may be mainly traced to the example and influ- 
ence of Dr. Short and Mr. Oakes. As might be expected, Dr. 
Short’s own herbarium is a model of taste and neatness. It is 
also large and important. To one himself so solicitous “to 
do good and to communicate,” contributions from numerous 
sources naturally flowed abundantly. He, moreover, sub- 
scribed to all the North American distributed collections 
within his reach, and he set on foot or efficiently furthered 
several distant or difficult botanical explorations. He pur- 
chased, at a liberal price, the important botanical collections 
of Texas and northern Mexico, left by Berlandier, which 
Lieutenant (now General) Couch acquired of his widow and 
