94 THE BOTANISTS OF PHILADELPHIA. 



He was able to inform Dr. Cutler, in the spring of 1791, that 

 he had collected more than eleven hundred different plants 

 within a radius of three miles of Lancaster. In a letter 

 dated November 8, 1791, he w^rote : " I am collecting, as far 

 as possible, all I can learn concerning the medicinal and 

 economic uses of our plants and am waiting it down. If 

 the medicinal application seems to be sufficiently confirmed 

 from different sides, and agrees with the character of the 

 plant, I either try it on myself or commend it to my friends. 

 I raise most of the grasses in my garden, and experiment 

 how often they can be cut, and whether they are readily 

 eaten by horses or cattle." An exchange w^as made with 

 Prof. Schreber, of American plants for foreign grasses ; and, 

 besides mosses, grasses of New England were obtained 

 from Dr. Cutler, especially such as grew near the sea. 



Muhlenberg furnished Dr. Schopf with notes on the 

 medicinal properties of plants, some of these for use in his 

 contemplated work on American Materia Medica. When that 

 work was published in 1787, the author most ungratefully 

 omitted to mention his indebtedness to Muhlenberg. 

 Similarly, when Muhlenberg first saw a copy of Bigelow's 

 " Medical Botany," he could not help remarking after look- 

 ing through it : " This gentleman has appropriated to him- 

 self all my explanations, without making any acknowledg- 

 ments." 



Muhlenberg presented to the American Philosophical 

 Society in July, 1785, an outline of a " Flora Lancastriensis," 

 containing the results of his observations on plants and 

 their habits, and, at the same time, a manuscript calendar of 

 flowers. In February, 1791, he communicated his " Index 

 Flora Lancastriensis." This is arranged according to the 



