Dr. Hooker on American Botany. 271 
bergit. It is well known that Dr. Muhlenberg possessed 
very extensive materials for a general description of ot 
plants of the New World ; but what has become of these w 
have been unable to aceriait. His herbarium is in the pos: 
session of the American Philosophical Sitiety : 
Another of the friends of Parsh was Dr. B. Smith Barton, 
a physician and a naturalist, and un aestionably a great pro- 
moter of meine and especially of Botany, in America. He 
was appointed Professor of Natural. History in the university 
of Philadelphiain 1789. . We recollect, in our early youth, 
reading with great delight some of his Fragmenis of Natural 
History, as they were appropriately termed, which first 
brought to our notice many highly curious objects of that 
country, and reminded us of the writings of our own Stilling- 
fleet an ite. He has the credit of publishing an elemen- 
tary work on Botany, which, though rather diffuse in style, is 
ful of entertaining anecdotes ; ; and the references and terms 
being.all made applicable to American plants, it must have 
coe — towards recommending the study of ‘botany i in that 
oer. Marshall, author of a work on the forest trees of Amer- 
ica, was then keith , and he imparted to Pursh some useful 
materials, principally afforded by his garden, rich in trees and 
shrubs. 
The sons of the celebrated John Bartram, before mention- 
ed, possessed an old established garden, founded indeed by 
the elder Faget at Philadelphia, on the banks of the Del- 
ware- Mr. William rere, the well-known ating of _ 
valuable works on science that was ever~ published i gee 
country, the American Ornithology.* Mr. ursh appears to 
* We cannot help here, though but little rarer with the subject 
of this paper, Eg ys extract from the interesting life of Wilson, 
pub blished by M rr. Ord, i in the 9 oar volume of the American 
