ADVERTISEMENT. v 



spondence, between our two venerable Pennsylvanians and their distinguished con- 

 temporaries, is happily rescued from present oblivion : and, if the Editor is not 

 utterly deceived by his own passion for such antiquities, he persuades himself that 

 the lovers of nature, and the admirers of native worth amongst us, will regard 

 with interest the illustrations of character, and of the times, which that cor- 

 respondence exhibits. 



In selecting from among the several Biographical Notices of John Baetkam, 

 hitherto published, the preference has been given to one written by his son Wil- 

 liam, which appeared in the first volume of Prof. Barton's Medical and Physical 

 Journal, in the year 1804. It is brief, and lacking in details ; yet probably in 

 the main more reliable than the others. But even that is obscure, and somewhat 

 inaccurate, in the account it gives of the elder portion of the family. 



It is remarkable that none of the published biographies of John Bartkam 

 mentions the name of his father ; nor could any of his descendants, inquired of 

 by the Editor, furnish that name, neither could they give the exact date of the 

 Botanist's birth ! 



, For these, and some other authentic particulars, the Editor is indebted to the 

 kindness of a friend, who obtained them from the ancient records of Darby 

 Monthly Meeting ; to which Meeting the family originally belonged. 



W. D, 



West Chester, Pennsylvania, 

 April 28, 1S49. 



