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< THE 
AMERICAN 
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, &c. 
Arr. I—WNotes of a Botanical Excursion to the Mountains of 
North Carolina, &§c.; with some remarks on the Botany of 
the higher Alleghany Mountains, (in a letter to Sin Wm. J. 
Hooxer); by Asa Gray, M. D. 
Tue peculiar interest you have long taken in North American 
botany, and your most important labors in its elucidation, indicate 
the propriety of addressing to yourself the following remarks, re- 
lating, forthe most part, to the hasty collections made by Mr. 
to the higher mountains of North Carolina. Before entering upon 
our own itinerary, it may be well to notice very briefly the trav- 
els of those who have preceded us in these comparatively unfre- 
quented regions. The history of the botany of the Alleghany 
Mountains, would be at once interesting, and on many accounts 
useful to the cultivators of our science in this country ; but with 
my present inadequate means, I can only offer a slight contribu- 
tion towards that object. 
‘So far as I can ascertain, the younger (Wittiam) Bartram, was 
the first botanist who visited the southern portion of the Allegha- 
ny Mountains. Under the auspices of Dr. Fothergill, to whom 
his collections were principally sent, and with whom his then sur- 
viving father had previously corresponded, Mr. Bartram loft Phi- 3 
ladelphia i in 1773, and after travelling in Florida and u owel 
part of Georgia for three years, he made a transient visi 
Vol. xx11, No. 1—Oct.—Dec. 1241. 1 
