The Evolution of Botany. 191 



In 1803 the first elementary work on botany was written 

 by Prof. D. S. Barton. About this time President Jeffer- 

 son projected an expedition, under Messrs. Clark and Lewis, 

 across this continent to the Pacific. This was a means of 

 introducing to the. knowledge of botanists a number of 

 plants which were' previously unknown, though the princi- 

 pal collection made by these explorers was lost. That 

 region was subsequently explored and vast additions 'made 

 to our flora by Messrs. Nuttall, Nicolet, Fremont, and 

 others. 



Dr. Samuel L. Mitchell, Michaux (at Paris), Major John' 

 Le Conte, F. Pursh, Dr. Jacob Bigelow, C. S. Rafinesque, 

 Dr. W. P. C. Barton, Dr. George Sumner, Rev. Lewis David 

 von Schweiiiitz, and Stephen Elliott contributed papers 

 on botany to the various scientific journals. S. Elliott 

 published the Sketch of the Botany of South Carolina and 

 Georgia, a work of value and indispensable in the investi- 

 gation of Southern plants. Dr. William Baldwin aided in 

 its preparation. 



In 1819 Dr. John Torrey, with others, published a Cata- 

 logue of Plants growing within Thirty Miles of the City of 

 New York, and in 1826 a Compendium of the Flora of the 

 Middle and Northern States, and later several other works. 

 We are much indebted to the labors of Menzies, Fraser, 

 Lyon, Bradbury, Scouler, Richardson, Dr. F. Boott, Dr. J. 

 A. Brereton, Prof. Short, Dr. Beck, J. Bachman, Rev. M. 

 A. Curtis, Prof. John L. Riddell, Edward Hitchcock, Dr. 

 John Torrey, H. B. Groom, Dr. W. E. A. Aikin, J. A. Lapham, 

 W. S. Sullivant, Dr. George Engelman, Edward Tuckerman, 

 S. T. Olney, and many more. These botanists all wrote 

 papers on or catalogues of the floras of the various locali- 

 ties surrounding their homes, or of entire States. 



About 1820 many of the schools began to teach botany, 

 and soon a demand for suitable books arose. Among the 

 most successful which appeared was the Manual compiled 

 by Prof. Amos Eaton, of Troy. In 1842 Asa Gray published 

 his Botanical Text-Book, and in 1845 Alphonso Wood pub- 

 lished his Class-Book of Botany. Since then numerous 

 botanists have engaged in botanical studies and made con- 

 tributions to the science. Cook, Schrench, Coulder, Bastin, 

 Rusby, and others are able botanists of to-day. 



We see that America has and had several botanists who 

 have done considerable original work in botany, but we all 

 must acknowledge that we are decidedly behind European 



