GRAY, ASA. 



381 



Austria, and met all of the eminent botanists 

 of the day, forming life-long friendships with 

 some of them. In 1838 he was chosen Pro- 

 fessor of Botany and Zoology in the University 

 of Michigan, but he never filled that chair, 

 although his name heads the list of the fac- 

 ulty; and in 1842 he resigned that appoint- 

 ment to accept the Fisher chair of Natural 

 History in Harvard University, which place he 

 held until his death. On his return from 

 Europe, he pushed to rapid completion Parts III 

 and IV of the "Flora," which were issued in 

 June, 1840, and completed Volume I. Of Vol- 

 ume II, he issued Part I in May, 1841, and Part 

 II in April, 1842, while Part III was not pub- 

 lished until February, 1843, when he had set- 

 tled in Cambridge. His energies were there- 

 after for a time most closely directed to his 

 duties at Harvard, where the botanical depart- 

 ment of that university was practically created 

 by him. On his acce.-sion there no herbarium 

 was in existence; there was no library, and 

 only one insignificant greenhouse in a garden 

 that was all confusion, containing only a few 

 plants of value. He soon brought together an 

 herbarium and library, and arranged the gar- 

 den systematically : but his collection of plants 

 shortly overran his housa and was in every 

 room. Dreading their destruction by fire, he 

 offered to present his collections to Harvard 

 on condition that a suitable building be erected 

 for them, and accordingly, in 1864, through 

 the liberality of Nathaniel Thayer, of Boston, a 

 brick building was provided for their reception. 

 At that time (November, 1864), the herbarium 

 contained at least 200,000 specimens, and the 

 library had about 2,200 volumes, and when 

 Dr. Gray died the herbarium had nearly doub- 

 led in size, and become by far the largest and 

 most valuable of its kind in America. The 

 library, at the same time, was roughly estimated 

 to contain something over five thousand vol- 

 umes and three thousand pamphlets. The 

 botanic garden was also improved during his 

 administration by the addition of several green- 

 houses, in which were cultivated a choice se- 

 lection of exotics, and the garden itself con- 

 tained good representatives of the temperate 

 regions, the collection of the Composite being 

 especially important. His work as a teacher 

 continued until the close of his life, and under 

 his immediate instruction have been at one 

 period or another nearly all of those who have 

 since aided in the development of botanical 

 studies in the United States. Dr. Gray was 

 relieved from the active duties of his chair in 

 1872 by the appointment of Prof. George L. 

 Goodale to be his associate, and in 1873 he 

 was still further relieved by the call of Prof. 

 Charles S. Sargent to the care of the botanic 

 garden, while in 1874 Dr. Sereno Watson be- 

 came curator of the herbarium. 



Dr. Gray's scientific work began at a time 

 when the old artificial systems of botany were 

 giving way to the natural system, and with 

 Dr. Torrey he was among the first to attempt 



the classification of speck-* on the natural basis 

 of affinity. After tiie publication of the two 

 volumes of the "Flora of North America," 

 which brought it down to the end of the 

 (.'<iini>osit(R, the accumulation of fresh material 

 had so increased that to finish the great under- 

 taking would require an appendix larger than 

 the original. In 1*73 he again took up this 

 w.rk, and published Part II of Volume II on 

 the Gamopetalce in ''The Synoptical Flora of 

 North America" (New York, 1878). He is- 

 sued Part II of Volume I the Cap-rifcl'msm- 

 composites in 1884, and his last labors, just 

 before his death, were on the grape-vines of 

 North America. The valuable acquisitions 

 of the National Government exploring expe- 

 ditions were referred to him, and the results 

 are to be found in numerous memoirs pub- 

 lished in the official reports and as separate 

 monographs. The most important of these 

 are "Plantae Lindheimerianae," an account of 

 plants collected in Western Texas by Ferdi- 

 nand Lindheimer (Boston, 1849-'50); "Plantse 

 Fendleriamv Novi Mexicanse,"a description of 

 plants collected in New Mexico by August 

 Fendler (1849); "Plantae Wrightiana? Texano- 

 Neo Mexicans, " describing the extensive col- 

 lections made by Charles Wright (Washing- 

 ton, 1852-'53); "Planta? Novse Thurberiana?," 

 being those gathered by George Thurber, bot- 

 anist to the Mexican Boundary Survey (Bos- 

 ton, 1854); u Genera Florae America Boreali 

 Orientalis Illustrata" (New York, 1848-'49); 

 and a report on the botanical specimens 

 brought back by Capt. Charles Wilkes (1854). 

 He also reported on the plants collected in 

 Japan by the Perry expedition in 1856. and, 

 in one of his more important papers upon 

 "The Botany of Japan" (1859), based upon 

 the collection made by Charles Wright, of the 

 Rogers Exploring Expedition, he demonstrated 

 the close relationship between the floras of 

 Japan and Eastern North America. Dr. Gray's 

 relation to Darwinism was important. Al- 

 though a man of the deepest religious convic- 

 tions, and thoroughly imbued with a firm 

 belief in a divine Creator, he declared, " I am 

 scientifically, and in my own fashion, a Dar- 

 winian, philosophically a convinced theist, and 

 religiously an acceptor of the ' creed ' com- 

 monly known as the ' Nicene ' as the ex- 

 ponent of the Christian faith." It was largely 

 through his efforts that Darwin's "Origin of 

 Species" was published in America, and grace- 

 ful tributes to his influence are rendered by 

 Darwin in his " Life and Letters." Dr. Gray's 

 literary works consist of collections of papers 

 variously published and of lectures, notably a 

 series before the Divinity School of Yale in 

 1880. They are U A Free Examination of 

 Darwin's Treatise on the 'Origin of Species.' 

 and of its American Reviewers " (Cambridge, 

 1861); "Darwiniana: Essays and Reviews 

 pertaining to Darwinism" (New York, 1876); 

 and "Natural Science and Religion" (1880). 

 The degree of A.M. was given him in 1844 



