14 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



opment, indicated the method by which the latter take their devel- 

 opment from the flowers of the male plant, which, as such, was 

 without fruits and occupied the center, sending out sparks of fire, 

 which, directed to the female plants, represented perfectly the pol- 

 len transported through the air to fertilize the female flowers. 



" At the foot of the male tree were placed various decorations 

 alluding to the features of a garden, which illuminated the Plaza 

 with brilliant, spectacular, and fascinating lights of different colors 

 and changed gradually into others no less entertaining. As the 

 three trees disappeared there appeared an inscription in letters of 

 fire which said, AMOR URIT PLANTAS, which is what the illus- 

 trious Carolus Linnaeus holds in his ingenious dissertation, Spon- 

 salia Plantarum.'''' 



At the same hour on the following day the botanical course was 

 opened under the direction of Cervantes in the residence of the chief 

 engineer of the city, D. Ignacio Castera, who also offered his garden 

 as a laboratory. The botanical lectures were attended not only by 

 the young students of the University but by numerous professional 

 men, one of whom was D. Jose Mariano Mocino. The city govern- 

 ment lent asf^stance to the new undertaking by setting apart for a 

 botanical garden a parcel of land, a portion of which is now occupied 

 by the home of the Institute Medico Nacional. 



Mocino was a young physician, native of Mexico, who so distin- 

 guished himself in his botanical studies that only seven months after 

 the establishment of the botanical course he was appointed member 

 of the scientific commission. A fellow student, Maldonado, was 

 given a like appointment, that he might engage in the work of dis- 

 sections. These two, besides Castillo and Longinos, were directed to 

 explore the more remote parts of New Spain, while Sesse reserved 

 for himself the exploration of the central regions of Mexico, and 

 Cervantes confined his attention to his professorial duties. 



Moqino's explorations extended on the south to the coast of Ta- 

 basco, which he visited in December, 1794, continuing his course into 

 Guatemala. In company with Castillo he went north to the Tara- 

 humare country, into what is now Chihuahua, and later he traveled 

 in California, and as far as Nootka Sound, and still later in Jalisco, 

 Michoacan, and other regions. Mocino survived the peril and fatigue 

 of his travels, but not so Castillo, who died in the City of Mexico, 

 July 26, 1793. 



Besides Cerda, the official artist of the expedition, D. Atanasio 

 Echeverria,^ a native of Mexico, was employed in making drawings 

 of botanical and other objects. A pharmacist, D. Jaime Senseve, 

 also was appointed to the commission, and likewise D. Jose Antonio 



* The genus Echeveria, of the family Crassulaceae, was named In his honor. 



