

LETTER OF COMMUNICATION 



York State Museum 



January jo, !Ql8 

 The Ilonornblf John II. Finlty 



President of the Universitv 

 SIR: 



The scientific survey of this State, established in |H % V> under the title 



' The Natural History of New York," embraces in its monumental rejx)rts 

 two volumes treating of the flora of the State. These volumes, prepan-d 

 by the distinguished botanist, John Torrey, bear the inscription: l-'lora 

 of the Shite of \ew York; Comprising Full Descriptions of All the Indigenous 

 and \\ititrnlized Plants Hitherto Discovered in the State, with Remarks on 

 Their Economical and Medical Properties (1X43). The species descrilx.il 

 in this work were entirely of the phenogamous or flowering plants. Until 

 that time no summary of the New York flora hail Ixvn brought together; 

 and the service rendered to the people of the State by the publication <>t~ 

 this compendium was of a high order and was received with enthusiastic 

 appreciation. Doctor Torrey *s books served the needs of the time and 

 expressed the state of its knowledge of the New York flora. 



Seventy-five years have passed, and in that long stretch of time botan- 

 ical science has grown widely and apace. The field of cryptogamic botany, 

 that which deals with the flowerless plants, the mushrooms, mosses, lichens 

 and their kind, was not entered in these- early reports; it was obscure and 

 little understood; its mostly inconspicuous growths did not attract the 

 eye or invite the observer; nor were its important relations to the economy 

 of the community even suspected. 



The early official botanical investigations of the State were formally 

 terminated by the publication of John Torrey 's reports. Not till 1867 did 

 the need of continuous official attention to this department of science meet 



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