403 
Rev. Henry Muhlenberg, D.D. to J. E.. Smith. 
Lancaster, State of Pennsylvania, 
Dec. 1, 3792. 
Honoured and dear Sir, 
Pardon a stranger that intrudes upon your stu- 
dies: an enthusiastical love of botany, and irresis- 
tible desire to know the plants of my native country, 
stimulate me to do it. Since a number of years I 
have endeavoured to explore the Regnum vegetabile 
America Septentrionalis, in particular of Pennsyl- 
vania Media. PartlyI have been successful, and have 
gathered pretty near all the plants of my neigh- 
bourhood, being upwards of 1200 in less than ten 
square miles. Of these I sent in 1786 a specimen, 
and in 1790 an Index Flore Lancastriensis, to our 
Philosophical Society at Philadelphia, which will be 
published in the third volume of their Transactions ; 
and am now making a full description at least of 
the indigenous plants, after Withering, Lightfoot, or 
Thunberg’s method. But I met so many adversa- 
ria, nova genera et novas species, which I am not able 
to class according to the present editions of Lin- 
neus, that I long ago and earnestly looked fora 
friend, who would kindly assist me to find out 
which plants are already described by Linnzus, and 
which are nondescripts. Some of my doubts have 
been cleared up by my worthy friend, Dr. Schreber, 
the editor of the eighth edition of the Genera Plan- 
tarum ; but very many remain. 
Dr. Stokes, in Withering’s Arrangements, men- 
tions the gentleman to whom I could address myself 
2D 2 
